ellz

What breed of dog do you have? That will also make a difference as to what shows you can enter. And of course, most importantly, is your puppy registered on Main Register? If not, then you cannot enter ANY shows. After the age of 3 months and until 6 months, you can enter a Main Register puppy in shows in the Baby Puppy Bitch Class. You can enter any All Breeds Show, any show that caters for your group alone and any show which caters for your breed, or group of breeds alone. Open shows, Parades and Members Competitions are unusual in NSW so you would be mostly looking at shows which say All Breeds Championship Show in their heading, or which clearly offer classes for all breeds in all groups within the body of the schedule. If there is a specific breed club for your breed, you can also ring them for advice, or alternatively look in the show section for a club that is in your local area, I'd imagine there would be a few. Give the secretary a call and I have no doubt you will get a lot of help from them. Hope this information helps.

I wish I could say yes.....but..........

HA dogs wouldn't last long here either Kirislin. ANY dog that bites a human unprovoked for ANY reason goes to doG here. HA isn't tolerated. DA is different, a lot depends upon the circumstances and how well you manage them.

Eyes first Skin issues second (not as common) Digestive issues (not as common again)

Hmmmm......biggest challenges in order would have to be health, followed by temperament and then type. I feel that if you choose your dogs properly and breed the best you can to the best you can that type is relatively automatic, ie they will still look like an American Cocker Spaniel. It is breeding the dogs that people can live with (ie, good, stable, sane temperament) for a LONG time (ie good health) that is the most difficult and most important IMO.

Well, I can try Steve. It's interesting...and frustrating!

How long is a piece of string Whippets? Half of the problem is identifying what kind of cataract it is. Many vets will allow a unilateral cataract to pass an eye test, claiming it to not be hereditary and that only bilateral cataracts are hereditary. The reality is closer to being ANY cataract is potentially hereditary AND blinding and ANY cataract should be removed from the breeding program, as should the parents. But many breeders don't. And many, as Steve said, THINK that their dogs should be ok and continue breeding with them. And editing to add: This is also why many breeders will not breed from an ACS under the age of 3 years. It was always anecdotally accepted amongst reputable breeders that 3 was the earliest age to breed whereupon most issues would have become apparent.

What if you have dogs you are sure don't have eye problems? With American Cockers you can never BE sure without testing. There is no such thing. Supposedly clear bloodlines have broken. The breed is one fraught with heartbreak. Thats interesting what is the mode of inheritance ? Therein lies part of the problem. It is still largely unknown. That is part of the reason that the breed is one of the few where DNA markers have not yet been established. The only mode of inheritance that we can use is Simple Mendalian, which is of course only as good as the numbers. It used to be that if a dog reached the age of 7, it could be certified as being permanently clear, but even that has been revoked in more recent years because older dogs were still breaking with cataracts and PRA.

What if you have dogs you are sure don't have eye problems? With American Cockers you can never BE sure without testing. There is no such thing. Supposedly clear bloodlines have broken. The breed is one fraught with heartbreak.

For my part I think Staffords should be 12 months and American Cockers 24 months (AT LEAST). I'm going on a health slant here. Most Stafford issues can be either DNA tested for, or seen at a young age. American Cocker eye issues don't tend to come on very early in life, more after the age of two than anything else, even 3 as it used to be generally accepted. And there are few American Cocker eye issues that have DNA markers at this stage so it is reliant upon being seen by the human eye under proper eye examination.

Temperature, temperature, temperature! When the temperature drops SUDDENLY by 1 degree or more, you will have puppies within 12 - 24 hours (under NORMAL circumstances!).

My bitch Ali is a good example of that. Cycled "normally" until she was 18 months old. Finally came back into season at 3. Didn't have another season until she was almost 6.

I see where you are coming from, however instinct is hard wired....it would be like training you to breath in a certain way all the time rather than the way you are hard wired to....you'd slip up. Unacceptable aggression is not instinct (although can have genetic links), dogs become aggressive for all sorts of reasons and you have to understand the nature of the aggression. To me training and Leadership are 2 different things. I've seen the most awesome trained dogs be aggressive in an unacceptable manner. Leadership is not an easy feat for humans....training humans how to be Leaders to their canines should happen before training in my opinion and even then aggression can occur i.e. fear aggression is said to be one of the trickest forms of aggression and some Behaviourists believe it can only be managed and never cured. I hear you and understand..... And it only reinforces my belief that certain individuals should a) never own dogs and b) if they DO own dogs, they should never be allowed to take them offlead to ANY public place!!!!

I still maintain that a DA or HA dog is NOT well-trained and should not be in a public place. IMO for a dog to be considered "well-trained", training and control should over-ride instinct. If a dog still has aggressive instincts, it is not well-trained.

No to both. My feeling is that a dog which is either DA or HA (or both) isn't able to be effectively controlled by its owner so no matter how well trained it was in other areas, it would always be a risk. And I'm another who doesn't let their dogs offlead anywhere unless it is safe to do so and only when there are no other people or dogs around.

All age classes above baby puppy are eligible for challenge points. So if he wins Minor then he competes for the challenge. The class winners stay in the ring after challenge dog is awarded, and the second place getter from the class the challenge winner came from comes into the ring (provided there is one). It is then considered with the class winners for the reserve challenge. If there is no second place getter from the challeng winner's class, then the other class winners stay in the ring and only they are considered for the reserve challenge.

All of the dog classes are judged to completion, followed by Dog Challenge and Reserve Dog Challenge. This is followed by all bitch classes being judged to completion and followed by Bitch Challenge and Reserve Bitch Challenge. Best of Breed and Runner Up Best of Breed are judged and then all Class in Breed runoffs are judged, if not already eliminated by Best of Breed or Runner Up Best of Breed which are automatically their age class of Breed. If you win a Class in Breed award, you then need to wait until your age Class in Group award is judged, whereupon all class in breed winners of the respective breeds in the group are judged. Again, this is dependent upon eliminations by the awards of Best Exhibit and Runner Up Best Exhibit In Group.

Bit sad about some of the comments. The advice given should be the same whether the person is known to you or not.....your advice shouldn't necessarily change just because somebody is a DOLer. And that is not intending any disrespect to Steve...advice is advice whether a DOLer is concerned or not.

What would be even better for her is to just give her the raw chicken drumsticks and eat the rice yourself!

Something else that occurred to me when I was watching my 2yo Arabian filly at play this morning......the greying gene must be same in most species....even the location of the start. She is a classic example. Born bay and now greying rapidly...it started at the tip of her muzzle and along her mane and now her entire face is almost white with greying starting to occur over the rest of her body as well. If anybody is interested, I can post before and after photos when I get home tomorrow.

Is she registered and if so, have you attempted to contact her breeder?

Coates Pet Transport are another. My most recent experiences though were with DOLer wayrod and I cannot recommend him highly enough!

poocow works for AQIS so she'd be able to help. So, I believe, would Angelsun.

I think pretty much hair is hair and the breakdown is the same no matter what the species. As for pattern....I believe it is very much the same no matter what breed. Much the same as people where generally the first signs of grey are the beard and moustache (if male), the temples and along the part.

Genetically, black staffords CANNOT be the "true" black seen in other breeds. Even the blackest looking Stafford is still a black brindle. There can be many different coloured base coats with the brindle striping as the overlay. A black dog is simply a brindle dog with very wide brindle stripes that almost completely mask any base colour. A mahogany brindle is a rich red with stripes. A tiger brindle is a yellow/fawn with stripes etc etc. In very basic terms which Sandra will be able to elaborate more on. This is just Stripes 101 - the generic version!