cowanbree

What breed are you interested in Kiwioz, I may be able to refer you on to a suitable breeder with an older dog to rehome. I am also in NZ. most breeders don't use DOL to rehome older dogs, it is done via word of mouth usually and always on trial

I do a questionnaire and find it a good basis for further conversations but the most important question on it is have you had pets previously and what happened to them. You would be very surprised what they tell you and it gives you a very clear picture of the priority a dog has in their lives

That is correct. They do have shade cloth over them but it is only 70% so I have replaced it with 90% today which surely will help. Issue now is that it is pouring rain and the water is pooling on the 90% instead of passing through it like it used to. Hard to meet every requirement isn't it but it rains a lot more than it is hot here.

I have recently changed a couple of my run floors over from gravel to concrete pavers because one of my dogs started eating the stones. It has worked quite well since I have done it but I am finding on hot days the run floor is not as cool as the gravel and I come home the other day to some of the dogs looking rather distressed. Half of the outside is totally roofed and the other half has shade cloth (70%) on it with 3 sides enclosed (tin fence, wooden fence and garage) which has always worked really well previously. It allows a breeze to get through and isn't totally enclosed which can build the heat up. They have small internal runs which are out of the sun that they could go into but they are normally out lying or playing in the outside runs. They are not interested in pools and do have trampoline beds to lie on in the outside runs if they want. We don't have a lot of really hot days here and the temperature was only about 30 (which is hot for us) so I don't really want to make huge changes which may affect how well they work for the rest of the year but I am looking for ideas. Is there something you can paint on the concrete to make it not absorb heat?

I have had a fear aggressive dog and with the help of a trainer we managed to really help her so that she was a happier less anxious dog. Don't get me wrong she still would have bitten in the wrong circumstance but I managed her and for the main part it wasn't too bad. She went out and about as a normal dog but was never loose with anyone she didn't know well. The advice I would take from her is get her vet checked, esp thyroid and go to a well recommended trainer. Anything else is just a stab in the dark

As a breeder I have seen time and time again young couples that are excellent homes prior to having children have a complete priority change when they have a family and the dogs are just not a priority anymore. Certainly some family still manage to include the dog in their family but many more don't and when you have been burnt a few times by situations such as this it tends to make you wary. I also don't really like my breed to be placed with young children as I don't think they are suited temperament wise. Over 5yrs is my preference

I find it quite amusing, Jed has said numerous times that she is not talking about all people who work full time but rather people who want to leave a puppy home alone all day every day as babies without making any arrangements for them. I think there are a lot of breeders out there that aren't posting as most of my breeder friends feel the same way. I think as breeders we all have our criteria's, I also don't consider any home that has them sleep outside or young couples that are yet to have children or have children under 5yrs. Why because in my experience that doesn't work for my breed. It certainly does upset some of my potential owners and I may miss out on some wonderful homes but homing my breed is not generally a problem and I am prepared to wait for what I deem the right home.

Personally unless you can actually see the ulcer and know it is getting better I would be getting her scoped so you know exactly what you are dealing with

I think it depends. Some people who want a cute 8 week old baby and work full time expect to just pick it up and then troop off to work the next day leaving the puppy home alone for 9-10hrs. I don't find that acceptable and don't sell to that type of home, don't need to as I have plenty to choose from. If however you can come home for lunch or have someone popping in for an hour to feed and play with the puppy or similar we will talk further. I also want to hear commitment to the dog, not a huge social life that basically means the dog sees you for 1/2 hr a day before you race out to meet friends. I am not saying you can't have a life but activities every night and working full time isn't really fair on a dog. I also far prefer that there is more than one dog. I personally work full time but whenever I have a litter either I or someone also visits at least once a day. I figure if I can commit to that until they are 3-4mths why would a pet home be able to

When you say there has been an improvement do you mean it is healing or just that she is eating as pred makes them very hungry and could make her eat regardless of how sore her throat is. I have had a dog with an ulcerated throat and we ended up putting a feeding tube in so he was nil by mouth for 6 weeks and then he was medicated with Carafate slurry to put a lining on the ulcer, losec to reduce stomach acid and codeine for pain. Pred actually inhibits healing as far as I am aware.

Mine will give me a script but I have to pay for it which means it is no cheaper really

When I have a confirmed bitch in whelp. I may say I have a litter planned prior to that but I only keep names once I have puppies on the way as in my experience people don't wait.

Mine always sit on the seat. Never occurred to me it was an issue

Personally my maximum litters is 3 although if I had no other options and the bitch was under 6years I might consider a 4th. Can't imagine having 6 litters from a bitch and it would be very risky anyhow. In my experience the older a bitch is the less puppies they have and the greater likelihood there will be issues.

Thanks, done and dusted

How do you get it to calculate free shipping? In the past it has happened automatically but it doesn't seem to be working this time. Does it only apply to the items that state free international shipping?

I have kept 2 from a couple of litter, never had any issue with it. They bonded with me as usual and weren't overly bonded with their littermates. I would say however they lived with a number of other dogs and I was careful to do separate outings for each dog so they weren't always together. To answer your other questions, they were housed together as babies but once they were old enough to run with the adults they were spilt up and I only showed one at a time which worked out fine as they were ready to show at different times

I was at a pet shop yesterday and while checking out their puppies I noticed that they appear to be using what must be a pet toilet for them to toilet on. The run was spotlessly clean apart from this. I can't imagine the pet shop spending much time training them to use this tray. Does anyone use these for their litter and how do they find them? Do the puppies just naturally use them from a very young age? It would be a lot easier than the power of newspaper I go through currently when I have a litter.

I think it is an individual thing rather than a breed thing. I have had a sheltie old at 8years old and currently have a 13yr old that is a hoon. She has to be locked up when we play ball or something really active like that as she still thinks she is a pup and ends up hurting herself racing round

I think you would be surprised how quickly they adapt to apartment living. I took one of my dogs Brody to Uni with me. Prior to that he lived on acreage but he adapted just fine and he was only about 2yrs old. Also as a breeder I regularly have my dogs back for holidays and stud purposes, have one at the moment actually. They seem fine with it and slot in as if they have never left. I wouldn't however do it all the time as it would be confusing for them but say a weekend a mth or so would be fine

At 7yrs old he would probably be quite happy to lounge on the bed and go for a couple of walks a day. I would keep him and make it work

I would get some lactulose from your vet. My old cat gets it on her food daily to keep her regular.

I use a dog sitter and it does take a bit or work to find the right one but it can be brilliant. Be very careful, check references carefully and start out with just an overnight trip where you aren't too far away in case of things going wrong. Mine aren't to take my pets off the property and only have to be here from about 5pm until at least 9am with no visitors permitted but it has at times been difficult to get people to stick to that. Now I have one that my dogs likes, she rings me if there is an issues and is worth her weight in gold.

Not necessarily - I have known many puppies conceived from"slip" matings - no tie ... I know but the vast majority tie and she doesn't actually sound like she is in season and then add the fact that she is meant to be desexed.

Just to be clear though when you say active what exactly do you mean? It is not uncommon for dogs to mount each other and pretend to mate each other but it is normally just playing or sort out dominance, they have only actually mated if they tie which means they are physically stuck together for about 10 minutes or longer. Did you witness a tie? I only ask this as I have had more than one phone call from pet homes sure their desexed pets are mating each other. It looks very much like the real thing but there is no tie. Personally if she has been mated I wouldn't muck round with hormone injections when you intend to desex her anyhow