cowanbree

I have had a few dryers and have to say if you are budget conscious I rate the Pupkus fairly high for something that is relatively light in price. I can dry several shelties and an aussie all in a row without any issues

Due to a throat injury my dog Cowan can basically only eat fluid with a tiny bit of substance. Just about everything can be whizzed right down. He has dry food soaked overnight and then whizzed, mutton mince, anything really. What I have found does cause issues is things like rice or anything with ground bone in it as it seems to aggravate things. Hopefully your dog is not as bad as Cowan, he was feed solely by a feed tube directly into his stomach for a number of mths but it is manageable

Nova 10 weeks And at 9mths

Sterling and Asya 8 weeks And at 6years

They are very different breeds but they may in fact temper each other. I also own an aussie, previously 2 and the 2 aussies together were rougher and a lot more active than my current aussie ) which was one of the original 2) is just with the shelties. She has learnt that they don't tolerate the rough housing and she is a completely different dog.

I don't think many breeders could claim to have never had any genetic issues. I am a sheltie breeder and in my 25plus years in the breed I have encountered many genetic issues in my breed, hip, eyes, elbow, heart issues, thyroid issues. In saying that my breed is considered to be a generally healthy breed that on average lives until 14-16yrs. No breed is perfect, and it is not about what issues a breeder has had but rather how they have dealt with it.

I had a discussion with a former sheltie breeder in the park. Apparently shelties only come in sable. The tri I owned is a BC cross and the fact that he is a show champion means nothing because he knows his shelties. My merles are commonly called old dogs and I need to watch the blue eyed one as it is a sign of an unstable temperament. Oh and the most common miniature Lassie or even worse a baby Collie, get that all the time

I have a friend with a large breed and having lost a couple of dogs to bloat , she now chooses to tack the stomach as a preventative measure. Is this normal in prone breeds?

As long as they have had a vac past 12 weeks there is no need for another until 12mths after that date with the exception of kennel cough if you want to board him

My ideal home has a dog door into a fully fenced yard so they have the choice. I find my oldies prefer being inside with me the majority of the time but my younger dogs make full use of the acre I have and spend a lot of time outside being dogs before they come inside to snuggle on the couch. They are also outside in their kennel area while I am not home so they have the best of both worlds. There are lifestyles that are suited to outside dogs. Farmers for instance, the dog spend all day with their owners and are quite content to sit on the porch alone at night but the average pet owner with an outside dog spends very little time with them from my observation especially over winter.

I am not a fan of outside dogs and as a breeder if there is any hint of it the home would be automatically turned down. Even in the best of homes with owners working full time I don't see how the dog gets the time, attention and company it should. Allowing perhaps an hour for walks even if you sit outside with them for another hour that still means the dog is alone for 22hrs a day. Obviously there are some exceptions to this but I know a number of people with outside dogs and I am not a big fan.

I have seen some things done to dogs at dog shows that I don't agree with but the only one I regret not doing more about was many years ago when I was competing in Tux Wonder dogs. One of the exercises was scent work where they had to go and get the toy the judge had touched so Test B level. The scene was on a river bank with lots of things to make it pretty for TV and cameras so a lot of the dogs that would normally do this exercise with ease were just totally confused. One in particular was a top obedience exhibitor, his dog totally failed and had no idea what was wanted. After the exercise I was walking in the carpark where he thought he was alone and he was giving that dog an absolute hiding. This would be 20yrs ago now and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I did break it up and told him what I thought of him but I never reported him. I would today

RC also does a gastro one which is cheaper than Hills

I have everything well in hand in the case of my death and my family is well aware of it. My doggy friend has a current list of pets and my wishes as to what happens to each pet but I have often wondered what my family would do until that friend arrived as she lives 8hrs away or if I was unable to care for them or express my wishes. This thread brought it to mind so I actually rang my sister expecting she would know who to contact. Dismal fail. The card idea sounds a very good idea even if only to tell your family to look in your wallet so they know who to contact. I doubt hospitals would check your wallet? How do they find your next of kin?

Cowan had a bowel obstruction 2yrs ago with complications and peritonitis that resulted in him having 3 very long surgeries with a week of vomiting in amongst that. The combination of an extended period of vomiting and the stomach acid burning his throat while lying flat under aesthetic for long periods of time have damaged not only his throat but also the valve that stops the stomach acid going back into the throat. He was fed via a stomach tube for a very long period of time and gradually we have him eating liquids. He will never eat solid food again and I do have to manage the stomach acid issues esp not feeding within 3hrs of bed time but he is ok now. Really hope yours is not anything like Cowan as it was extremely difficult to get it under control. Losex is great and really helps with this issue

Cowan with all his throat issues suffers from this. He gets Losex daily to reduce the amount of stomach acid. We use Carafate on a bad day, crushed in 5mls of water to coat and protect the throat and on a really bad day he gets anti nausea medication that i can't quite recall the name of. His is due to medical misadventure.

I think the question you have to ask yourself is do you want him making your decisions going forward? It strikes me he is behaving in a very controlling manner. Are you ever going to be able to make your own decisions or is he going to want his name on every puppy you ever register? Personally I would pick a bitch myself, try to include him in the process but if he stalls again buy it anyway and see how it goes. Potentially it could be a bit difficult with your boys and he could stop you using them at stud but sometimes you have to lose a little to make gains. A mentor should be there to offer advise not control your every move.

I don't think most neighbours would have an issue with a couple of minutes barking. Mine are like loonies, racing round the yard barking but it is all over ins about 2 minutes so you would have to be pretty picky to have an issue with that small amount of barking. Mine know they get no attention unless they are sitting quietly so do a couple of circuits round the yard and then race inside via the dog door to be sitting lined up ready for their biscuit and pats. Most days they beat me inside so it doesn't take long. I don't tend to kennel them if I am going to be returning home late. I could stop it if I wanted by putting them on leads before they come out of the run but it seems a shame to suppress them like that.

I prefer the slickers personally. I know they are meant to pull undercoat but if used properly they don't

I have had a liberty which I didn't like, too slow and have used a ezycoat force dryer for years and been quite happy with it but last year I replaced it with a Pupkus and was quite impressed. Not only was it quite cheap but it was heated/non heated and 2 speed. Not quite the force of an ezycoat but the heat made up for it

Buy an older puppy/dog that is full vacinated would be your best bet

Sure was. I don't really like the collars esp the electric ones so it was a good solution for me. Now days I am semi rural and haven't done one for many years but it is tempting sometimes - nobody would ever accuse them of being a quiet breed.

I have debarked dogs in the past and in my opinion it is the best thing I could have done for them and I wish I had done it long before I did. I had spent years trying to keep them quiet via various methods with limited success and debarking allowed my dogs to be dogs without stress to me or the neighbours. There are 2 ways to do it. One is an incision through the throat and they totally remove the voice box. The dog has no voice. I don't really like this. The 2nd one it they go down the throat and clip the vocals which results in voice softening, my preferred option. This way they still have a voice but the loudness is gone. It was a very simple procedure, they came home and ate tea that night as per normal and it never caused me any issues at all. I would say it is very important that you get a vet experienced at doing it. It is a simple procedure but far more successful in the hands of the right vet. I personally travelled 8hrs each way to make sure it was done by an experienced vet. It can grow back and you may have to redo it but if you are able to keep her quiet for at least 48hrs it will stop scar tissue developing.

Possibly a Pekinese? Instead I have a house full of shelties and an aussie shepherd.

My Millie had this although not as bad as poor Raffi. Pred greatly helped her and gave her quality of life