ellz

I second the suggestion of a snood to keep ears out of food (and water). For the gulping, you could try putting a large, smooth rock in the bowl. This often works for a piggy eater. They have to slow down to eat their food from around and under the rock.

When you have clipped a few dark nails, you can also see from the top of the nail where the "dead" nail begins and the healthy nail ends. The healthy nail will be shinier whereas the dead part is dull and often a bit flakey. If in doubt, just keep clipping a small amount at a time every couple of days or as suggested, get a Dremel and grind them back on a regular basis.

I'm not saying people can't be "put out" as you put it. What I'm saying is that it isn't necessarily the fault of the breeder. Pyoderma can go hand in hand with the fungal infection. Ringworm is highly contagious. Pyoderma can also occur in a young animal that has lowered immunity. That can also occur after vaccination. It's not so sinister. And it isn't always something a breeder can do anything much about. And sadly, these things always seem to happen to the puppies which are sold, resulting in recrimination and nastiness. It is a VERY stressful time for a puppy to be leaving home and going into a new environment.

Why did you buy it then if it had so many obvious issues?

The fact is that even the best families can get worms. It doesn't mean that the breeder was necessarily lax or neglectful. It simply means that they didn't worm at the correct developmental stage of the worm and that there were still eggs or larvae hatching. Just keep worming on a regular basis, according to the correct dosage with a good allwormer and that is all you need to concern yourself about.

If you didn't notice the problem when the dog was a baby, why would the breeder have noticed it? And even if they did, that's probably precisely why they didn't keep her as a show dog for themselves. But to be frank, as I have said before, breeders aren't in possession of crystal balls and there is nothing to say that it is just an isolated issue or a developmental one. Puppies develop at different rates and in different places and just because the laxity is all over doesn't mean a thing IMO. It could be environmental, it could be dietary, it could just be a good old fashioned case of bad luck. And even if it WERE an easily recognisable issue, it would only be recognisable if the breeder (or somebody else, like a vet for instance when doing vaccinations etc) had seen it before and knew what to look for. As for not going to the breeders' home. I don't think that is an issue. I don't always have prospective puppy purchasers visiting my home either. It is a security and safety issue for me and as most of my puppies are sold via the internet and/or word of mouth, it isn't really necessary.

And if entering more than one dog of the same breed, ensure that you have an extra handler organised if for some reason you should find yourself in the position that more than one of your dogs are required in the ring at one time. Also, if you are relying upon other people to assist you if you need to change dogs for different classes, genders etc., be sure to leave their leads and exhibit numbers handy so that whoever is helping you is able to do it as expediently as possible.

I have a set of these, cost under $200. They're light and easy to use, but I prefer my Lazor RX corded/cordless. I use these on dogs and horses and am very pleased with them. They cost under $100.

To eliminate the smell when microwaving the liver, put it on a plate and then cover it with an upturned bowl. I just nuke mine and then chop it. Some I put into thin slices for the dog I bait but don't feed and the rest is diced.

Flat feet can appear in the best pedigrees from the best dogs. Some dogs have them, some dogs don't. It's just one of those roll of the dice things. They might repeat the breeding and never get another flat foot. There is so much that can cause flat feet, some genetic, some environmental, some dietary and some physical. Until you're ABSOLUTELY sure that it isn't dietary, environmental or physical then I really would just put my energies into getting your girl right or as right as she can be, and if you're happy with everything else about her, then just let the rest go. If it were me and you contacted me, I'd certainly listen, but I don't think based upon what you said that I'd be offering any kind of financial compensation until such time as it had been proven without doubt that the problem was one that I had caused as a breeder and had sold you knowing that there would be problems down the track. And FWIW, I spent big dollars and imported a dog from the USA and he turned out to have the most shocking feet I've ever seen on a dog. He was used at stud and never reproduced the problem. He was raised naturally and carefully by an experienced breeder. It was just one of those things.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that even if the breeder HAD noticed she had flat feet, there would be absolutely no reason for them to think anything other than the fact that she had flat feet. Not unless she was already limping as a very young baby puppy and then presumably everybody would have noticed it and it wouldn't have become such an issue at the age of 6 months. Breeders don't have crystal balls, there is no way of knowing that every small issue that may make a dog not suitable for the show ring is going to be a major, or ongoing health issue.

OK, so did the other vet ever make comment on her feet? Or did you ever ask them about it?

Can I ask....is the breeder a registered breeder? How long have they been breeding for? Also, how long have you been seeing this particular vet for? If they say the breeder should have picked up the fault at a young age and this is your "regular" vet, then why didn't THEY pick up the fault themselves a long time ago?

Quite possibly so. A flat foot is a flat foot. But it happens in the best of families and it isn't necessarily something that causes every dog with flat feet problems. A dog with flat feet may never have an issue with them. As has also been pointed out, it can also be environmental. The slippery floors in your home may have exacerbated the issue. They may not have. Who knows. But certainly flat feet in and of themselves are NOT a precursor for future "issues".

What do you mean by bad stafford feet? Is it common? Fixable? Should it cause a limp? Should I be able to expect better for a dog that cost $1000?? I can see that the toenails appear quite long, but they were trimmed by the vet about 3 days ago when the splint came off. I think they seem excessively long because of the shape of her foot and the fact that her toes are almost pointing upwards. Very common feet in the breed. Not fixable. No, that price sounds quite reasonable to me these days. And no, they ARE excessively long and BECAUSE of the fact that her feet are flat, they require even more care because they will not make contact with the ground to wear themselves down naturally.

As far as I can see from the photographs, they are just bad Stafford feet (and not helped by what appear to be excessively long toenails). I'm not sure what a breeder could be liable for, but definitely, slippery floors aren't necessarily good for any developing breed of puppy, not just a Stafford.

That would still be an hour for a year old puppy and that would still be too much IMO. Smaller breeds probably wouldn't want to exercise for that long and it would potentially still be harmful for the larger breeds.

FWIW I have had three dogs with epilepsy....littermates. One had what we would probably call "Grand Mal" seizures. Not often but when they happened they were scary. He lived to the ripe old age of 15. Another had fairly regular mild seizures but we worked out that stress and extreme excitement was the trigger so we tried to keep his life pretty low key. He lived to 12 when he was euthanased for another reason, unrelated to the epilepsy. The third had very very mild "episodes". These manifested as extreme fear, not actually seizures in the true sense of the word. She was euthanased as a result of mammary cancer at the age of 8. She was the only one to have produced progeny and none had it.

Now granted mine is not the dinky-di real-deal Pedi Paws, just the "Pet Buffer" knock-off. But after the initial game of "snatch n grab" with the feet, my two puppies really didn't object to the whole ordeal one little bit. As I said, the cheap version would only be suitable for puppy nails or the occasional buff up before a dog show or something like that. I don't believe the more expensive version would be much better. But I also don't think it would take much for the average dog to learn to get used to the whole grinding thing, even in the hands of Joe Q who probably hasn't got much of an idea anyway. That said....my next major purchase will be a new Dremel because mine was "adopted" by Mr Ellz and I'm tired of going to his house to do toenails!

WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too much exercise for a puppy that age. Asking a puppy of any breed to do that kind of exercise is akin to asking a 2 year old human to jog around the block twice a day. You're risking long-term developmental damage to growing joints and bones. At that age, the only "real" exercise that should be done IMO is natural puppy play with small periods of on-leash "training" (make it fun!) thrown in for the sake of obedience and learning how to fit into the pack. You should always let the puppy indicate how much exercise it needs, but be aware that some are like the energizer bunny and need to be reminded to slow down. Ball play, fetch and other games are more suitable than jogging or long walks.

I've got one of the Ebay ones. It does an ok job on small, soft nails and on puppies. If you're just using them for a touch up between trims, ok but no good for a good file back. Any pressure completely stops the grinding wheel, they're not overly robust.

I've pretty much decided to buy some more and use them as semi-permanent fencing inside my three bay carport (when it is rebuilt) to divide it up for my dogs so that I have an all-weather area for them.

Mine were only used for smaller dogs but when I needed to fix them to stop the furkids from moving the pen across the dirt (no grass here during summer), I just used small tent pegs. The kind that come with children's tents or garden gazebos.

I paid $23 when I got my latest ones a few weeks back so I think it was probably in the offing. The price of metal and supplies has risen dramatically all over so that's probably where the increase comes from. Cable ties are still cheap though....I got 200 for $3 and we ALL know how handy cable ties can be! :D

I have a twin tank from the BARF shop and it is great. Unfortunately, due to water issues, I'm having to sell it, but I spent a lot of time researching them and went with the BARF shop baths because they offered more "bang for the buck" and were the best at customer service as well.