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This is called "topping and tailing" and is quite common in many breeds. Many, possibly most, American Cocker handlers do it. Also, if you watch many breeds, their handlers will use their tails to make them "pull into" a stack and then maintain tail pressure to encourage them to lean into their fronts to give the illusion of a good topline.

The trolleys rattle and the rattles and vibrations make them fall apart at the joins, unless they have improved their workmanship and figured out a way to secure the corners. The doors also come apart...the upright that the locks are on slips out of the sleeve of the bottom of the doorframe. Maybe they have fixed them....but personally, I'd rather spend the money on an OKS trolley. More expensive but quality.

I think things have changed. Last time I submitted a championship application you only had to write down the shows, dates, judges and points on the application form but things change, sadly probably due to dishonest people.

Sowwy! Sadly we aren't as advanced as the AKC where you could just go online and do a points search! ;) Moral of the story is....remember to pick up your CCs when you win them!! Incidentally, the TCA told me that even though DogsVic were accepting the letter they wrote to verify points...if the situation had been reversed, it wouldn't have been accepted here. Yet another reason that a single controlling body with uniform rules would be wonderful.

Sadly, no. You'll probably need to work out which shows you went to and contact the show secretaries to see if they still have the certificates or if they are willing to write a letter to verify the wins. I don't know about other states these days, but recently I needed to verify some points for a dog that I had bred and sold so I went into the Tas Dogs office, went through the catalogues and pulled the relevant ones and had them write me a letter to verify the points won. This was then emailed to DogsVic who accepted it as proof and processed the title application.

Just bear in mind that even another shot may not stop her from getting it. Especially if she has already been exposed and if it is from a different strain.

Sounds like canine cough to me....and unfortunately a C5 vaccination is like a human flu shot....it may stop them from getting one strain of the flu but won't necessarily stop them from getting ALL strains...but may lessen the severity of symptoms if they do get it.

I would think just $7. I have recently entered a breeders class and the cost was $10 for the entry not $10 per dog. Yep, one class, one entry fee. As Rebanne said, if you enter a breeders class or sire/dam progeny you only pay one entry fee regardless of how many dogs you have in your team.

I have always had good results on hotspots when using Preparation-H or any other good anti-haemorrhoidal creams. They contain an antiseptic to heal and dry as well as an anaesthetic which helps to prevent the itchies which are often the thing that stops healing because the dog won't leave the site alone.

OK, let me preface this by saying that I have absolutely NO experience with either of these products so am throwing the floor open to those here who know more about it than I do. I am perfectly happy with my own feeding regime (as are my dogs) but my friend is wanting more information on doing it differently so I have told her that I will ask the collective "brains trust" here at DOL. So, for an adult Stafford would you use the Vets All Natural Complete Mix + meat + raw meaty bones or would you just stick with a complete "premium" dry food from the Eagle Pack range? Or alternatively, would you mix the two.

Firstly, look at my bolded replies above. And to add to that...during my time in dogs I have imported 3 dogs from the USA, one from the UK and one from NZ. The first US import came via Hawaii and then into Australian quarantine. The second US import came from the USA, into quarantine in Hawaii and then into a home quarantine situation in NZ. The third US import came from the USA, directly into quarantine in Australia and to be honest, I think he faired the worst, probably because he was the biggest "pet" having always lived in a home environment even when being shown by his owner handler. It's a big decision and not one that anybody can make for you. In addition to the emotional outlay, there is also a quite considerable financial cost involved. All of the lead-up tests in the USA and the Australian quarantine fees, plus the transport costs can add up....quickly!! Good luck with your decision.

This reminded me of a name my son gave one of my very naughty Burmese kittens..SOAC....s#*t of a cat. Remember the old television ad that said "if it wasn't for snack packs a kid would starve"?? People we know called their cat Snackpack.....because if it wasn't for snackpacks a dog would starve! Not funny, until you discover the cat was 14, the size of a cocker spaniel and had EVERY dog in the street scared absolutely sh!tless! ;)

:laugh: my first Stafford bitch was Olive when she arrived, I hated it so changed it to Dolly. But here, it really doesn't matter what their "proper" names are because they get changed anyway. Fang is Fangles, Fangdog, Mangle, Long Nose and a few others. Tino is Onit, T-Man, Teapot and Teeny Weeny Little Peeny Roger is Bogdog, Boggles, Dodger and his friends all know him as Woger! :D

Somebody I don't know, I tend to stick to 9am - 9pm in the latter part of the week. From Sunday to say Wednesday, 9am - 8pm. If I know them or know their personal situation (ie work, studying, age, caring for somebody etc) I will ring according but usually never later than 9pm by arrangement or 8am by arrangement. Friends are open slather and those people who have my numbers know that they can ring any time of the day or night because I take the phones to bed with me and due to health conditions I keep weird hours anyway.

Current bedwarmers are Fang the Greyhound, Tino the Lowchen and Roger the Stafford who named himself! :laugh: Have had a wide variety of names....Buzz the black/tan American Cocker because bees and black and yellow (ie black and bright tan markings) and bees "buzz" :rolleyes: Ybot because he came when I already had a dog named Toby.... Rosie Bucket the Devon Rex cat... just to mention a few! ;)

I think you'll find many people asking the same questions. It seems to be a common discussion point in dog AND horse worlds at the moment. Have no answers I'm afraid, only empathy (my Greyhound is shedding bucketloads of hair when he should be getting woollier for our cold Tassie Winter) and a nod in agreement!

You'll be good to go. Sadly, to be perfectly frank, I think there are probably more dogs out there who have not completed their puppy vaccinations than most of us would care to think about.

Agree with Miranda. I think you may be part of the problem there....not meaning that in a nasty way. Sometimes, through our actions, we reinforce the wrong messages with our dogs. If you are cossetting her and "sooking her up" you are giving her the message that it is ok to be like this. Act normally and treat her normally. The health ramifications are no longer. In the scheme of things, 6 weeks along after a litter, her body is probably starting to think about cycling again. Move along. PS. How many litters has she had vs how many has she actually lost? I'm not sure of your situation and I don't want to sound nasty but if she continually "loses" litters I personally would be thinking that there is a problem and things either need to be investigated pretty strenuously, or she needs to be retired from the breeding program. Bitches with breeding issues tend to, if they even manage to have puppies, produce bitches which have breeding issues. Not something that most people need in a breeding program.

I thought it was codswallop initially. Could never managed to find the drop. However once I started to take it more seriously and time and chart things properly, it became really crystal clear. And to be honest, without it,a couple of my litters may well not have arrived safely and I could have lost the bitches as well. Not so much for the benefit of knowing that I would have puppies within 12 - 24 hours (which was spot on with the onset of labour), but because the information that I charted during my temp taking was very useful to the vet with regards to certain aspects of difficult labours. My last Stafford litter in particular would not be here had I not been charting, got some signs and had a "gut feeling" that I needed to get into the vet for a c-section. As it happened, the bitch had complete inertia and was carrying 9 puppies. Another time, my obsessive charting saved a bitch with a traffic jam and subsequent torn uterus. Charting, like many other things can be part of a really good overall "big picture".

Twice daily temps are fine about 3 weeks prior to due date...this gives you a baseline range for the individual dog. In the two weeks prior however, to be effective the temperature should be taken a minimum of 3 times per day, more if you are able. First morning temp should be taken prior to the bitch eating, drinking or moving around too much and all temps should be taken as close to the same time as possible. This makes it more obvious when there is a temp drop. And believe me, when you see it, you will KNOW it. Most people tend to get concerned and retest immediately because the reading will generally be THAT far out of left field so as to make you scratch your head and doubt your temp-taking abilities!! You may also find it easier to plot the temps on a chart, rather than just relying upon writing them down...like they do in hospital for humans. Sometimes the visual patterns make more sense than just the numbers.

First and foremost you should purchase from a reputable breeder who can match a puppy to your personal situation. Most Stafford puppies contain Energizer batteries, but there are certainly some which are a little more laid back than others. A good breeder will be able to help somewhat to slightly lessen the energy factor. Knowing the temperament of the parents is uber important in this regard. Proper management can play a part as well. Confining the puppy to a small, safe area when nobody is home will help to keep the puppy under control when it is not able to be directly supervised thereby reducing risk of damage to puppy....or house. Some breeders will not sell a puppy to a home where there is nobody home for very long hours. You may work 9 - 5 but the reality is that with travelling time, you can in some cases add another 2 hours upwards to the time alone. This is a VERY long day for anybody, let alone a puppy which is in need of education, guidance, company and love. I have had purchasers counteract this by having a trusted friend or family member visit the puppy during the hours it will be alone to deal with feeding, toileting and a little bit of socialisation.

What a load of crap, now it comes down to spelling/shortening a name as to whether you take advice from someone? Actually, it ISN'T crap! When you have had enough dealings with people who do the wrong thing by the breed (and the issues that they create), certain things raise red flags. One of these things is people who call the breed Staffies, another is people who don't know that the breed is NOT called the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier.....just to mention two of them. There are two breeds, the Staffordshire BULL Terrier (known as the Stafford by most self-respecting fanciers) and the American Staffordshire Terrier, aka the AmStaff. May not seem important to some, but it is most DEFINITELY important to serious fanciers.

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I agree, it could be tooth pain. But then, without actually seeing the episode, it doesn't sound terribly sinister to me, if she does it a lot at random times, being a Cocker and only 18 months old, it could simply be good old fashioned "zoomies"....

Exactly, because YOU believe it would be difficult. That's completely different to somebody else saying, "you should only have one breed because that is all you can do justice to"...... I get very tired of people who insist that they know best what another individual can cope with. Agreed fully....well said..... It's the same as those that comment on litters born....more than one a year makes someone a puppy farmer....some think more than one every two years....I've seen (and done myself) three litters in a year, and had no issues...just how things went....two or three years before the next mating took place. Guess I"m a puppy farmer? Now hang on a minute the pair of you. :) You are taking what I said out of context. Errrr Oakway.....YOU hang on and don't get "huffy". Take a look at the date of my post (16th March), look back through the thread and you will see that you have already replied to my post.......obviously Angelsun is just coming into the thread late ;) Nobody is speaking about you "personally"....my point is that each individual should know what they can reasonably take on. As they should in ALL facets of life. I daresay there are some people who say that certain others aren't doing justice to the breed of their choice, even if that individual thinks they're doing just fine...let alone do justice to second or third breeds. But overall it is a CHOICE people make and nobody has the right to tell them that they "shouldn't" or "can't" do something, provided they are able to manage physically, emotionally and financially and their dogs are not in any form of distress for any reason.