cowanbree

I personally wish more judges would non award ccs. I don't expect perfection but they need to read what they are signing which is I consider this dog worthy of the title champion. If the judge can't see correct movement etc or the dog is not up to standard, they shouldn't award the challenge, it makes the title meaningless.

My vet did advise me to take the litter sooner rather than later so we did an elective c-section at day 59. In the end my concern was for the bitch and she had a green discharge pouring out of her. Day 59 they are usually viable and I decided it was in my bitchs best interests to do it early. I was lucky, they were all fine

My last litter my bitch had a green discharge about 2 weeks out from whelping. It steadily increased (as did my panicking) until day 59 when we did an elective c-section. During that 2 week period I had her scanned many times and the puppies looked fine. I don't think she was given any meds and when the c-section was done all the pups were fine and no sign of where all the green was coming from

If you have a Dyson they have a car tool which is a mini turbo head, magic for pet hair

As long as you feel he would look after the dog I would certainly consider him having one. Dogs adjust to whatever their situation is and they seldom are as bonded as people think they are. Do they enjoy their fellow dogs company, yes but chances are after an adjustment period they would be just as happy if he got another dog for company or may even prefer to be an only dog. Dogs live in the moment for the most part.

It does have it's uses. An old time breeder told me in the case of seizuring newborns to give them a bit of brandy which relaxes the brain and prevents more seizures and gives you time to get the their body temperature up and then feed them.

That would be very interesting to watchmy puppies from work. Was it overly expensive to set up? I assume it still needs a power source?

To be honest in the beginning it was beyond her so I just put newspapers down and spent a lot of time bathing her bottom. I started out carrying her in and out to the toilet but it was very distressing for both of us. As she improved we did use the towel. She always had the will to eat but all the food kept falling out of her mouth so I had to hand feed her and I syringed fluid in. The first 3 days she showed very little signs of improvement and every case I read was back to normal within a week more or less. I was sure she had been misdiagnosed but she did come right. I would have to say however that she never got worse. The dog I woke up to was as bad as it got. That said I don't know how she could have been worse.

My 15yr old sheltie had one experience with this, I thought she had a stroke. Her recovery of 2-3mths was a lot longer than most people report but while she never returned to 100% what she was, she did have quality of life. For Kell, it was 2-3 days before she could stand at all, about a week before she was able to eat without assistance and over a mth before she was able to walk without me assisting her or panicking she was going to fall. Her biggest obstacle was stairs and lino. She kept the head tilt and was always a bit unsteady on her feet. I had to put non slip mats down over the lino as otherwise she wouldn't walk on it

Very interesting reading and so true

Have you considered fostering for the guide dogs or similar?

My vet has a huge room as a reception area but they have wedged the chairs in one corner. Depending on the dog I am taking in I tend to stand off on the other side of the room. They are appointment only so there doesn't tend to be too many there as there is only 1 vet. That said the odd time I have had an issue I just very firmly tell them off. I have however had some horrific conversations in the waiting room, some people shouldn't own dogs and even rescued a sheltie there to get pts as he was a nuisance. That nuisance is now adored by his new owner, sleep on her bed and goes everywhere with her

I know in NZ the past few year the homes are just not as plentiful as they used to be. Breeders were left with unsold puppies and that made them reluctant to breed again so there was a period of about 18mths when there were very few puppies of my breed. This meant everyone had bitchs waiting to have their first/last litter and so everyone bred them all within a very short period of time which left unsold puppies again and so it goes on

Depending on the dogs it may be fine. I have 7 bitchs, about half are desexed and there is never an issue. I am careful when they are in season but otherwise they are pretty good. I have had bitch issues in the past though and I find it is generally between entire bitchs and once they fight they can never be trusted again. My boys on the other hand are far more likely to fight but 10 minutes later are friends again. I don't tolerate bitch fights and have rehomed dogs over it in the past. It is no way for either the dogs or you to live with the constant risk of fighting dogs especially when it isn't just a bit of hair pulling

I would suggest that he is going through a fear period and these need to be handed very delicately. I believe Steve has a article on his website about how to handle these. I have aussies and they can be reserved by nature. My very first one was a happy outgoing bitch who loved everyone until about 9mths old when she got a fright at a dog show because a judge whistled at her. I immediately started getting her out and about and intensely socialising her and she just got worse and worse. I now know she was going through a fear period and I handled it completely wrong and ended up with a fear aggressive bitch

I am not suggesting anyone needs to be perfect but I am suggesting she needs to look at her kennel management. This is the second time she has had 3 litters in a row accidentally. The first time it happened here there would have been a heck of a shake up and things would have changed. And yes my lines have reasonable sized litters of 4-6 puppies. I would have 3 litters over the lifetime of a bitch if needed but haven't had the need to currently. They would never be in a row though

I don't really understand how things like this happen once let alone twice. I have yet to ever have a back to back litter although I would consider it the case of small litters but I would never for a moment contemplate 3 litters in a row. In fact none of my bitch's have even had 3 litters let alone to the same stud dog each time. I would be aborting if not seriously considering spaying - she would have done her bit for the breed in this house

I have cremated my last 4 dogs. The first one I had put in a lovely wooden box with a plaque on it but it is quite a big box so the other 3 are in cardboard boxes. They currently sit on my bedside cabinet and when I am ready I intend to plant a tree over their ashes. If I am never ready their ashes will be buried with me.

I don't really understand why you can't train the Dobes to be gentle with the smaller dog. I have an aussie with shelties and although it has been a lot of work she knows rough housing with them is out so they have modified their play. Aussies are extremely rough and tumble but Nova is my 3rd one and with supervision is fine.

Thanks everyone, you have given me a lot to think about. Just to clarify the runs are within a building of kinds, from the outside it just looks like one huge shed but in fact the internal court yard has no roof over it. The runs themselves are roofed as is the connecting office block. She is going to trial some visual temporary barriers. It certainly cant stay the way it is presently. The noise is unbelievable and I wouldn't board my dogs there where they are exposed to so much noise. Some of the dogs have gone hoarse from barking, they are so over stimulated.

I have a friend who has purchased a boarding kennel. The complex is relatively new and has 30 odd runs in a rectangle formation facing into an open air courtyard all within a building. No issues with the runs themselves, they are great runs but to me the set out leaves a lot to be desired. Any movement sets the dogs off barking and the noise is extreme. There are people coming and going quite frequently and obviously a large turn over of different dogs. It is not possible to change how the runs are set out but we are looking for ways to reduce the noise. My suggestion is we put a visual barrier in front of the kennels, effectively fencing off the court yard. They would still hear anything going on but not be able to see it. I would be interested in hearing from other kennel owner/workers to see if they think that would be effective or how they try to reduce noise?

I adore my oldies and can't imagine dumping them when they need you the most. People just don't understand, my mother visited recently and said I should get one of them pts because he was so old and grey looking and his health wasn't as good as it used to be. She didn't greatly appreciate it when I said things aren't looking good for you then. No parallel for her, if you must have dogs they should at least be attractive and healthy

I have used the drops from the chemist for babies, is it coloxal drops with good success.

Why do you want to change it? Depending on the breed it could be what they are bred to do. I have a tribe of shelties and 1 aussie and where ever I go they all follow. I don't see it as insecurity but rather part of their nature. The only time it was an issue was when one of them had to be physically touching me at all times so we introduced a mat

A favourite position in this house And quite a lot of this