cowanbree

Get a male in co-ownership. It is the only way a newcomer would get one off me unless they are known to me. Once they have proven they are serious about showing rather than just breeding I might consider a bitch

That is a lovely story HMD, great to hear he is now living the life he should. There are all sorts of owners out there that really shouldn't own dogs sadly. They may not abuse them but neglect is just as bad. I am currently living next door (an acre away) to a neighbour with Goldie that almost never gets out of her tiny kennel and run. I actually thought she had died or been rehomed as it has been years since I have seen her even out in her yard but talking to the father of the owner he tells me she just never gets out. Not only an outside dog but no care and attention at all. I have offered to take and rehome her but I don't think that is likely and given she has food, water and shelter there is absolutely nothing I can do. It makes me very sad.

double post

As a breeder sadly I see this often enough to make me hesitate to sell to a young couple before they have had children. Every single time I get an enquiry I think of Jasper who was a puppy from my very first litter I sold to a young couple because they weren't quite ready to have children and wanted a new family member. For about 4yrs he lived a dream life, doted on member of the family and then they had children. As they had more children his life got worse and worse until he was living as an outside dog, kept separate from the family because they didn't have time for him and he was dirty and not good with the children. I tried my very best to get him back but they LOVED him, yeah right. I will always regret not just taking him the time I visited and nobody was home, I would now days. When he was about 9yrs old they had him pts for barking even though I had just been there a couple of mths prior and offered him a home once again, absolutely broke my heart. The only happy point is about 2mths after he was pts they e-mailed me looking for a puppy, obviously didn't realise who I was and I was able to make sure that no breeder sold them anything. I wish I could say the above story is a one off but I know a number of breeders who have had a similar situation and we all screen our buyers very well

I haven't found birth weight has a lot to do with their size mature unless it is an indication there is something wrong with the puppy. All a matter of wait and see

I have something similar with my Aussie Quest many years ago. She had what looked like a hernia, she was otherwise normal though. My vet said at the time that I hadn't kept her quiet enough to heal even though I had crate rested her for 2 days after the operation. Took about 3mths and it went back to normal.

I guess it also depends on the size of the litter. I have leased a bitch in the past and paid for her to be hip/elbow tested which is about 1/2 the price of a puppy. In my breed a normal litter is 3-5 and by the time you pay a stud fee and raise the litter there is no profit to share

Cowan loves getting his muzzle on as it means we are going out. It doesn't hinder him at all and in fact allows him more freedom as otherwise he would have to be on lead. I do still get the occasional idiot but most are respectful. He does scare a few people, apparently anything with a muzzle on must be aggressive.

I have a sheltie who can only eat liquid food so any treats or dropped food is quite dangerous to him. He wears a muzzle with do not feed written in bold letters across it but doesn't stop some people trying to give him treats as his Mummy is a meanie. It makes me so mad, I would never give a strange dog food let alone disregard something like a muzzle.

I googled Macrolone as I am in the same boat as you although not as advanced and if you read the side affects it could account for the symptoms you are experiencing. Personally I would stop giving it to him and see if they disappear

While I personally don't believe I would breed a litter solely to sell to another breeder as raising a litter properly is such a huge commitment for me I wouldn't judge another breeder who did as long as they were not breeding solely for the pet market or selling to other breeders who did. A sheltie litter has on average 3-6 puppies. If you are extremely lucky there is one, perhaps 2 with show potential so the remaining puppies are available to loving companion homes. I don't consider my breed difficult to obtain a well breed health tested pet puppy so there is no need to produce puppies solely with that aim and I believe this to be the case in most breeds. You may have to wait a few mths for a suitable puppy but that isn't a bad thing. As to the discussion re betterment of the breed, I also agree that breeding soundness is part of that - but only part of the entire breeding decision. My dogs must be sound examples of the breed that are typey, be health tested and be sound in mind and body before they are considered suitable. Looking round my lounge I have 9 shelties, 4 of them have been bred, 4 are either desexed or will never be bred and 1 is still too young to decide.

I have found that when the milk is coming in (2-4 days after birth) it is not at all unusual to have high temperatures. The bitchs are generally well within themselves but often pant heavily and have a temperature. I pay more attention to how the bitch is behaving and any discharge she has.

My stance on this is not so much it is bad for the bitch to have more than 3 litters but rather if you are only breeding for yourself and the betterment of the breed why would you need more litters than that? If she has not produced a suitable puppy to carry on with in 3 litters than I would have to say she is not producing and should be spayed in most cases. Or are we talking about breeding for the pet market?

I personally find desexing them does quieten them down, just takes the edge off. I have recently desexed a 5yr old and he is certainly a lot more restful that he used to be.

There will always be room on the couch for another sheltie but other than that my next breed will be either a blue merle Aussie or a Goldie. I have owned 2 aussies previously but lost both tragically young at 3 and 6yrs so am not sure if I am brave enough to try again.

Apart from the picture of yourself I could be that breeder. I get told so many lies by potential puppy people that yes I do interrogate them. Always do a physical home check, if distance is an issue I get friends or local breeders/rescue to do it. and yes ask and check references. I google earth their house, check them out on Facebook and ask a lot of question and not just about the dogs. I want to know these people and the life my puppy will be living with them and have no doubts. Now days if I have even a tiny bit of a doubt I cancel the sale, my gut is usually right. Yes some people are offended and go elsewhere but most people who have nothing to hide don't

Are they both desexed? Sadly in my experience once bitchs start to fight it is always an issue and while you can manage it they will never be able to be trusted together again. If they are fighting to the degree that they are causing serious injury rather than just a bit of noise and hair pulling it is time to give serious consideration to rehoming one in my house. Unless it can be resolved nobody including both dogs are happy.

I have had it with one of my elderly dogs and what worked best for him was the liquid incontinence meds. They aren't meant to work for males as they increase female hormones and are designed for females(I think, it was a long time ago) but my vet said they quite often do and worth a try. In my case it was sucessful

Did she actually have a fit? As none of the dogs I have had with vestibular fitted. They were just off balance and very unsteady with the head tilt etc

Thanks everyone. Indi is an exotic and an absolute doll. I have decided to just have him out with the oldies at the moment and see how it goes

I wouldn't have said Chi are a quiet breed if that is an important consideration, in fact I would have said they were worse than both Shelties and JS.

I have always had cats so I am not sure why they are so fascinated although they won't have seen a kitten but I keep hoping the novelty is going to wear off. They are closely supervised and don't chase him, they just follow and watch him all of the time. I have introduced them slowly, he spent the first week in the front room where they could look but not touch, Then he was moved to a wire crate in the same room and then loose on the crate. It is his choice to get off the crate and I am not sure that he is overly scared. He spends time playing or climbing with his posse following closely behind and all is well and then suddenly he gets hissy and hides. I do have a lot of dogs so I guess it can be quite overpowering.

Here is the lad a week ago on the grooming crate with sterling. He hasn't really progressed past this

It has been 18 years since I have had a kitten and there is so much I don't know. 2 1/2 weeks ago I added a 9 week old kitten to the family and to be honest I was expecting the integration to be a bit smoother than it has been. The kitten has a lovely temperament and is happy to sit on crates etc and let the dogs visit but when he gets on the ground he runs and all the dogs follow him. I am not the slightest bit concerned that the dogs will hurt him but I have quite a few dogs and they are following him everywhere which he is not 100% happy with as it can be a bit overpowering to have your own parade when you are so tiny. I spend my nights supervising and telling the dogs off. How long does it take for them to settle? Am I being unrealistic to think by now they should be able to be in the same room together supervised without issue.

They are very different in temperament. A sheltie is a soft gentle dog that bonds closely with their family and is reserved with strangers. They are happy to just be with and please their family and can be happy with a short walk but are also happy to go all day. Not suitable as an outside dog. A JS is more outgoing but I would think has the spitz nature which is more independent and less of a working nature Of course as a sheltie breeder I am naturally biased.