ellz

You may be interested in this thread that I started in General. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;hl=puppy+pack

I was lucky with my crew. I had 11 chipped yesterday at the TCA office by one of our TCA accredited chippers for $20 each. It used to be $22 but for whatever reason they dropped the price! I am NOT complaining!

Very sad to announce the passing of Dr Adolfo Spector (De La Gran Aldea American Cockers, Argentina). As an All Breeds judge, Dr Spector judged in many parts of Australia (as did his lovely wife Elena). He had a wonderful way with dogs and a true eye for quality. He will be sadly missed by his family and his friends universally. I was fortunate to have caught up with Adolfo and Elena again when Elena judged Hobart Royal 2006 (my young homebred Junior dog was Best of Breed) and we struck up an internet friendship subsequently. I will miss his wisdom and his dry wit and the dog world is poorer for his passing. RIP Adolfo. My sincere condolences to Elena, Augustina and Santiago.

Takes 2 minutes to do a row of chain!

I crocheted collars for my current 9 Staffords. I have used various things in the past, ranging from the premade puppy collars to ric rac and ribbon but NOTHING has been as successful as the crocheted ones. They don't come undone, they don't slip, they stretch slightly and if enough force is put on them, they do break making them quite safe for rambunctious puppies. The fussiest mothers cannot remove them and the best thing is that there is no limit to the number of colours! I've changed them every couple of weeks as the puppies have grown and their first one is in their puppy pack for their new owners.

I have had a late descending testicle in two different breeds. Both times, coincidentally, the "penny" dropped at 9 months with little or no interference, no massaging, no stuffing around with diet or supplementation. In both breeds, there was never any further issue with brothers, sons or other related dogs having, or passing on the problem. One of the most important things to remember is that it is generally accepted that monorchidism and cryptorchidism are passed through the bitch lines so throwing the dogs out of a breeding program isn't necessarily the answer.

Not unusual for a bitch with young puppies to still be bleeding slightly, the same as with humans who give birth. The discharge can sometimes be present for 6 weeks or more. If it were offensive looking or smelled, then it would be more concerning. As for the bitch being skinny, feeding puppies takes a lot out of a girl and not all bitches do it easily. My American Cocker bitch is only now starting to "bloom" again and she only reared one puppy who is now 11 weeks old whilst my Staffordshire Bull Terrier bitch who had a litter of 9 (now 7 weeks old) is maintaining her weight beautifully. But in answer to your question....a bitch cycle starts from the first day of her season so taking into account that it is approximately 9 weeks for gestation, then depending upon the normal length of her cycle, it is possible for a bitch to be thinking about coming into season again with puppies that age BUT it is more likely the discharge is a leftover from the litter she currently has.

So all the brindles, reds, pieds that have a cosmetic flaw aren't Staffords either? All dogs have faults; NO Stafford "conforms to the standard"100% No, that's not what I'm saying. A blue dog has a particular flaw that is not accepted in the standard, ie a nose that does not correspond with what the standard calls for. NOSE BLACK. That isn't just a cosmetic flaw, it is a genetic flaw. As I said, IF the standard were changed to allow a slate nose, then that would make things different. But until that happens a blue isn't acceptable in my eyes no matter how it is painted.

Yes and I've addressed this in the other reply that I made to in the post prior to yours. And I still maintain that until it conforms to the standard, it is still nothing more than a dog that has blue hair.

You can be as disappointed as you like. It is my opinion and I make no apologies for it. Until the quality of the blue, no matter what colour the pigmentation is, is improved and until they fit the standard and are bred and fully acknowledged by reputable, responsible breeders and are not looked upon as a money tree, I won't be changing my opinion. As I said, IF one appeared in my whelping box, it would be given the same care, love and attention as any other colour, but it would not be registered and would not be sold for an exorbitant price.

Maybe so, but the fact STILL remains (and therein lies the problem) that the breed standard calls for BLACK PIGMENT and this cannot be achieved with a blue coat. Doesn't matter who has tried or what they have done, how you squint your eyes, whatever faces you pull or no matter how much justification or how many excuses are given. Until the standard is changed the blue is still NOT correct OR accepted. And I don't think you can disagree with that. And yes, I'm well aware of THAT kennel's foundation bitch and I'm told she wasn't of the best quality either!

Wouldn't stress too much...have had three dogs in two different breeds not drop their pennies until 9 months. If he is REALLY promising, show him until 6 months of age and then sit on him for a while.

No, most would be something along those lines, although many are a LOT more expensive!

I'm happy with my puppies and that's what matters. It is always a risk when you post photos to anywhere that people will react negatively. It has happend now on more than one occasion so for my own sanity, I'm just not going to open myself up for the situation again. That said....Roger says "hi everybody" and sends you all a goofy grin! (note the little glimpse of bottom teeth in the photo! He does that a lot!)

I've been using it for years and haven't had any ill effects that I'm aware of.....but that is just MY personal experience, others may have more information.

As I've said, I agree with you entirely. All of my puppy people know from the outset, or at the very least prior to any money changing hands that there is an agreement in place. I either give it, or send it out to them so that they can read it and decide whether or not they still wish to purchase the puppy in advance of the date the puppy is to leave home. For example, this week I've sent the agreements for my Stafford puppies which will be ready to leave home in about 3 weeks. Everybody has read them, a couple of people have asked for clarification on a couple of points and without exception they are apparently in the post back to me so that I receive them in time to lodge with the TCA with the litter registrations and to be able to include copies in the puppy packages.

I use Aerogard. Spray it on the bodies and use my hands to apply it around the faces, just like you do with a child. I have also just invested in a couple of bug zappers and a couple of solar powered light/bug zappers for night time use.

I would say it could have been a perfume issue in the Skin-So-Soft. I use that in a spray bottle as an oil plus a very effective fly repellent so if it has that effect on bugs, then yes, it could be nasty on a dog which is prone to skin irritation. Alpha Keri is good stuff, if you're after a heavier type of oil then the Ego oil is another good one but is harder to rinse from the coat. On the rare occasions I put my dogs down in oil, I use either Alpha Keri or Ego....just a couple of capfuls in a tub of water and allow it to dry in the coat.

One day I'm going to go with you MM!

The problem is that there is no definitive answer as to how Alizin will affect any particular animal. This is one of the reasons that I, and others, won't use them. It's the unknown that worries me.

Could be a hormonal thing in reaction to the needling.

The following is one of the first "scammer revenge" sites.... http://www.eagle-wing.net/ClickPicks/Inter...gerian-01.shtml She can be found elsewhere using the name Busted Up Cowgirl...it's a good read and she does actually win in the end!

Another vote for Dogtainers, but particularly Dogtainers ACT. I will be using them to fly my current litter to new homes on the mainland in the next few weeks and have been using them pretty much exclusively for all other transport for the past couple of years.

No fair! That be blackmail oh bondaged bonded one!

Afraid not. I had some pretty dreadful stuff come back to me via the "grapevine" about the quality and condition of my puppies so I won't be sharing many photos any more.