ellz

Many breeds can be sculpted into something pretty spectacular by a good groomer and/or handler. The "hands on" can be somewhat disappointing. Testicles can't always be seen and it shouldn't always be assumed that every dog in the ring has two....up until 6 months of age, they don't both need to be present. And look at it this way.....if a judge did not do a hands-on examination of the appropriate kind in their judges examinations, they wouldn't pass. It's as simple as that.

sandgrubber, it may just be that I'm in a somewhat "touchy" mood because I've had an absolute SHIT of a day, but I wonder if you realise how bloody condescending and sanctimonious you come across. I wish we were ALL as perfect as you....it would be such a wonderful world to live in.

I believe they ought to be KNOWN by SOMEBODY (and not just their vet). They may be breeding for one particular trait, but that doesn't mean that they are breeding "quality" dogs or even sound dogs for that matter. Breeding dogs isn't a piecemeal thing, it is a total package. So if they are trying to breed for one thing and neglecting the overall dog, then that is just as much of a concern as somebody who is just breeding for the heck of it. And editing to add: Believe me, I do not feel that the showring and results are the be-all, end-all of why a person should breed. But I still think that if somebody is going to have a good show at breeding quality dogs, they should at least have representatives of their own dogs out there to be compared with the breed standard by impartial people. If somebody is breeding that many puppies on a regular basis and they are ALL going into pet homes, then I'm sorry, but that is an issue for me.

Because I don't see why anybody who isn't producing "known" dogs can justify having that many dogs and breeding that many puppies. If at least SOME of their dogs don't hit the show rings, then they are essentially backyard breeders or potential puppy farmers. There has to be SOME form of accountability.

Nup, that's good old Tassie for you. This is where people ask if you're staying overnight if you happen to be driving to a dog show that is only 2 hours away!

They're obviously a fairly large kennel then so provided they have adequate assistance and the puppies are socialised well, I don't think I'd have too many problems with dealing with them. I'd want to be sure that they are well-known in show circles though if they are breeding at that volume. If they only had say, a handful of bitches and were breeding large numbers from them every 7 - 8 months I'd probably see things differently. No small, unknown kennel that doesn't show has any business to be turning over that many puppies IMO.

If they happened to have 26 puppies at a time a number of times per year, I'd be wondering. But if it is a once-off, or even a yearly thing then it could be a case of all bitches cycling at once, or as showdog said, limited availability to certain stud dogs, or limited time off for the human caretakers etc etc. I'd want to see the overall picture before I would condemn them.

I'd be getting another shot done between 14 and 16 weeks to be sure. My protocol is 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks. I think 6 weeks is far too early.

My day started at 5.30am, being abused by somebody who couldn't even wait a couple of seconds for me to wake up, let alone answer coherently. Then there was the guy who lives locally who took offence to me asking for his phone number and for trying to get him to commit to an appointment time because I didn't want to just give out my address for security reasons. He wanted me to just give him my address and he might "drop in later". Oh and then there are the true bogans who have read the advertisement which CLEARLY states M puppies, yet they only want a female. The children whose mummies have asked them to ring about the cute puppies. The people who ask if they are "real Staffies" and then when they ask the price say "how can they cost so much, they're ONLY Staffies!!" BUT the icing on the cake award goes to the woman who wanted a brindle male puppy but ONLY if he has 4 white feet, a white chest, a big white blaze on his face and wait for it.....a white tip on his tail. Yeah sure love, hang on and I'll go and dip him into the white paint for you. :D

Thank you...that feels better! Back to normal transmission! ;)

I guess it is all in the definition of "bad dealings". I flew two puppies out of Hobart yesterday morning.....one to Cairns, one to Melbourne. And over the past 23 years I have flown dogs to the USA, NZ and literally EVERY state in Australia with no really major problems whatsoever. Including one which flew to the USA and was actually due to land on September 11, 2001. Flight was delayed for quite a few weeks and he was held in Melbourne by the transport company to make it easier for quarantine purposes, but he still arrived safely.

Sounds that way. For a while, I was having a drama with her cleaning up EVERYTHING that they left behind.......and leaving the most revolting farts behind every time she moved. But now, she has realised the error of her ways and doesn't even lift an ear if she hears a squeal from the puppy pen!

My Stafford puppies are 9 weeks old on Sunday. They've been away from mum all day, every day for a couple of weeks. She is really not interested in them any more unless she thinks she can steal their food. I don't think she could give two hoots that the 7 still here are actually HERS. As far as she's concerned, I feed them, I clean up after them...they're MINE now!

Ahh...that's easy. She is retrieving them from my dam! There should be about 14 in there at the moment! Recently, I spent a couple of hours slitting tennis balls and putting them over the tops of the star pickets in my main horse paddock. I stopped at the end of the row and looked back to survey my work and what did I see? Not ONE SINGLE TENNIS BALL!!!! And.....my 5yo Arabian gelding with the last one in his mouth, ambling towards the dam which he promptly dropped it into! Can I hear you say dog food?

I prefer to leave them to it but will assist if I think it necessary. Will always stay nearby and assist in the case of young animals or if they are showing signs of any aggression towards each other. Mind you, my latest experience of a young, virgin male was that he jumped the bitch and tied literally in the blink of an eye (hence the arrival of Bad Alice). But had I PLANNED to do the breeding, no doubt I would have had to sit there for hours and encourage him. ;)

Can't help with anything but suggest you contact Eagle Pack themselves to find stockists. They're very good at answering enquiries.

I can safely state that my crocheted coloured puppy collars are absolutely bitch and puppy-proof! Nobody is rougher on each other (and their collars) than Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppies. My collars have stayed put and have only been taken off by myself (with scissors) to be immediately replaced with the next size. Not everybody can afford, or has access to a reader.

With 9 puppies, all either black brindle or brindle, it was a case of be organised or go bonkers!!!

My current litter of 9 Staffords were colour-coded at birth. They have a crocheted collar in their individual colour and all of their paperwork corresponds with this colour. Each puppy has been known by this colour as their "name" for all identification since they were born 8.5 weeks ago. They are also identified by these colours on my website and in all photographs. When they were microchipped, I had already made up a Puppy Record Sheet for each and as each puppy was chipped, one of the spare stickers was put onto the sheet corresponding with their colour. When vaccinated, I also had written vet checks done and each puppy had a Vet Check sheet which I had put another of their spare chipping stickers onto. As the vaccinations were put onto the vet computer, their microchip numbers were entered at the same time creating a permanent record.

I have no objections to breeding terms providing it is fair and BOTH parties benefit. Unfortunately, when one is a pet home only, the deal does tend to lean very heavily towards favouring the breeder and can often lead to nothing but inconvenience for the pet owner. As I said in my reply earlier, for the average pet owner I would simply NOT recommend going into breeding terms. Particularly with a breed like Staffords where pet puppies are dime a dozen. If somebody is an aspiring breeder and exhibitor, breeding terms can be a very good way of acquiring animals/bloodlines that may not normally be available to them under the usual circumstances so can be very beneficial in this respect and also if the owner/breeder of the bitch is an experienced and knowledgeable person it can be a great learning curve. But the reality is that in almost every situation, a pet owner really has no need to be involved in strings attached situations and should look elsewhere for a puppy even if that means waiting for a little longer.

They're ok if sharp but do blunt quickly. I use a rotary grinder now except on very small puppies and then I use human nail clippers.

A few years ago, I imported a 7 year old American Cocker from the USA. Primarily as a stud dog. He had been shown as a puppy in the USA but had spent the bulk of his life in a kennel being used at stud only. When he arrived here, he had already been clipped off. It took a year to grow his coat back. He hit the ring at just past 8 years of age. Was titled and an All Breeds Best In Show winner at 9 years and 2 days. If they've got the attitude and the quality, it won't matter what age they start! Good luck!

You do whatever makes the dog look best. But you do have to be BRUTALLY honest about assessing this. Sometimes people assume that because a dog CAN free bait, that it looks good. The opposite quite often applies. The other thing about stacking and staying beside your dog is that you are "in place" if slight corrections need to be made, or if your dog moves unexpectedly. If you're in front of your dog free baiting it, it can take major manouvering for you to get the dog back to rights whereas if you are right beside it, it may only take small subtle placements of a foot, or readjustment of a lead etc etc.

If you're going to desex then depending upon the individual dog, gender may not necessarily be that important unless you have PARTICULAR reasons for wanting a bitch. Unless you have an interest in obtaining a quality bitch for showing and ultimately a foundation for your own breeding program then I definitely wouldn't be going for one with strings attached. There will be other puppies. If you have found a breeder that you particularly like, or whose dogs you particularly like, you may just have to put your name down on a list and wait until an unencumbered puppy comes along.

Get them to check for an avulsion fracture which will usually require surgery to repair. Basically what happens is that the ligaments hyper-extend and pull a flake of bone off the leg, allowing the patella to move. This happened to a puppy that I bred some years ago in a kennel accident en route to her new home in the USA. She slipped on wet cement during a comfort stop. Went into the crate on 4 legs, came out on 3. Surgery at the Michigan University cost in the vicinity of $2000 (USD).