ellz

Just to name a few of the more obvious reasons why air travel is difficult. Being "Down South" doesn't necessarily make it a whole lot easier either depending upon your breed of dog. 1. Jetstar don't take dogs at all 2. AAE/Qantas have banned some types of dogs from travelling at all and others have to travel in specific crate types 3. Virgin don't use "large" planes on every flight and don't always advise of changes to their aircraft until the very last minute 4. There is a set number of dogs per flight on a plane. Much of the time you are lucky and are able to get on without a problem BUT if the number of animals is overbooked or the freight is overweight for some reason, they just bump the animals according to the room needed. I had issues sending a dog back to NSW recently because Virgin kept changing their plane. She was booked to fly out on the Friday afternoon but had to fly out on the Saturday afternoon instead with NO notice. She could not fly Qantas because of her breed. Believe me, I have no issues travelling with dogs to interstate shows if/when I want to go and when I can afford to do so and have done so many times in the past and will hopefully do so again in the future, but I think many of you are being so bloody-minded for no reason whatsoever. Just because YOU find it easy doesn't mean that everybody else does for various reasons and I think many need to be a lot more tolerant of that fact. There are VALID reasons why transport in and out of Tasmania is difficult and the TCA recognises that fact, as do many of the animal transporters. Editing to add: And I forgot my "false-start" when sending one of the Stafford puppies to Cairns a couple of months ago. I was told to turn up at the airport (Virgin) at 4.30am, which I did. Only to be told that the incoming flight from Sydney which was the return flight to Brisbane was cancelled due to issues on the runway that morning so I had to turn around and go back the next morning. On the other hand, putting a puppy on the plane to Flinders Island was easy. $33 plus the petrol from Hamilton to Launceston to Par Avion. And I didn't even have to book him on.

Don't worry, it doesn't matter how many whelpings you oversee, they all have the potential to throw you and I for one always dread them on one hand, but love them on the other. My BIGGEST pet hate is that first night or so when they're so tiny and vulnerable. I wish that timeframe were a bit less stressful!! Poor Koda, she was obviously in whelp from the minute she returned from the stud dog in Melbourne. I took weekly photos of her and I cannot believe how big her belly grew! Mind you, it didn't slow her down much until the last day. She still wanted to round up the horses and jump fences!! Being "confined to barracks" was NOT to her liking one little bit!

Firstly, don't worry. Normal gestation is 59 - 63 days so your girl could whelp safely any time from now and not have a problem. My girl's litter was very large and that is why there was sufficient hormone to send her into labour early. BUT, having said that, quite often bitches carrying very large OR very small litters simply don't go into labour and/or progress as they should. Secondly, I don't think you've seen the true temp drop. I think you've seen a normal range baseline temperature. As you can see by what I posted, my girl's baseline temps were also in the 37.5 - 37.7 range and it wasn't until I saw the drop to 36.7 that I went on "alert". You will know if your girl is having difficulties. In my case, it was more gut feeling and prior knowledge that helped me and also the fact that I live some distance from a reliable veterinary service so was always going to err on the side of caution anyway, even if it meant having an elective c-section done. In the end, it wasn't an emergency c-section, just a well-timed one but the whelping probably would have ended up as an emergency if I'd not acted when I did. Lastly.....this is what my girl looked like at 56 days. I've never had such a large litter in 24 years of breeding and I just had a feeling she would go early and I was right. By all accounts, your girl is progressing normally. Keep taking temps and watch for the drop. Watch her body language. You will know true nesting when it starts, it is very very easily recognised. As with humans, the contractions come in waves of pain so they will scratch and nest when the contractions are at their worst - it is a pain reaction. Between contractions they will usually pant and shiver. The wanting to go outside a lot is a natural thing, pressure on the bladder etc. BUT do make sure that from about now, you start taking her outside on a lead to go potty or she could dart off into a nice dark spot and you will have trouble getting her out. Carry a towel with you and a torch is a good idea too.

Just found the start of the temps I took for my Stafford litter which was born in November 2009. The vet says these were well timed and trusting my gut was a very good thing. The dam was HUGE and had 9 puppies by c-section on Day 59. 19/11 - Day 56 9.00am - 37.5 20/11 - Day 57 5.30am - 37.7 21/11 - Day 58 Noon - 36.7 7pm - 37.7 By midnight, she was obviously in labour (panting, scratching) but not "seriously". By 5am next morning I was getting concerned so rang the vet. Was there by 8am. C-section at 9. By the time we got in, placentas had started to separate and if I'd left it for another day I would have lost the entire litter and possibly my girl as well.

The temp drop you're looking for won't be a gradual downwards creep. It will be a dramatic drop to (usually) below 37 degrees that you may, or may not be lucky enough to catch. With the current temps, it could be that her normal baseline range of temps is mid to high 37's. So before I'd consider labour to be 12 - 24 hours away I'd be wanting to see around 36.7 - 36.9 degrees or sometimes even lower. You should also take the temp at the minimum first thing in the morning, before exercise and last thing at night, after rest.

My cats are WAY more expensive to feed and provide for than my dogs are!

Well, I would have eaten it otherwise anyway, but I think you'd go further to appeasing those who may not with a lidded basket. Dare I say that even those who have had full-on tongue kisses from a dog, may still find the idea of dog + food somewhat daunting. It's just human nature. My mother is one of those. Her dogs live in the house, sleep on the bed and are fed tidbits from the plates.....BUT actually put a plate down for a tongue wash or find a dog hair in the dish and it might as well be put in the rubbish bin!

Budget for it......on a pension Well yes, from puppy money and the other things that some do to earn extra on the side, like dog bathing and grooming.Yes things can be hard on limited income but it can be done. I wish it were that easy! As much as I sacrfice and try to save money for interstate jaunts, I'm still hard pressed to afford to travel to shows in Northern Tasmania!! I maintain that for the "average" exhibitor, interstate travel is difficult and getting more difficult as the airlines make it so. And not everybody is in the position of being able to add at least 2 days each side of their trip for travel by ferry either OR come to that is able to get to Devonport by road from the Southern part of the State to get on the boat in the first place with dogs. I'm not saying it CAN'T be done....as I said in my post with careful planning and budgeting, it CAN be done. But unfortunately not for many of us. I live in Tasmania by choice....I don't make a habit of complaining about living here because having lived in other States, I KNOW it is one of the best places to be...but regardless of whether you agree or not, it IS hard to get to the mainland for shows on a regular basis unless you have a money tree or a private jet.

If they're dog savvy people who like your dog as much as you do, then I don't see a problem. HOWEVER, you will always have somebody who expresses disgust at having a dog so close to food or food preparation so be ready.

And I'm sorry, but it is really still no clearer. You've received the answer to your original question about timeframes and whether people would do it. If the breeder is still not returning the deposit after all terms and conditions have been met then your only recourse is civil action.

I can't comment on WA because I haven't been there (although I have shipped dogs back and forth on occasion). From a Tasmanian perspective though, logistics are a NIGHTMARE and the airlines/Spirit of Tasmania don't help the situation much. Many of the airlines now use planes to come into the state that do not accomodate animals due to their size. If they do happen to be a decent sized aircraft, there is then a limit on how many dogs can be sent as freight and how many are taken as passenger baggage. Costs for accompanied dogs have risen considerably in the past few years and in some cases people have arrived at the airport to take a dog as excess and discovered that they are going to pay almost as much as it would have cost them for freight for one dog. And then you have Qantas/AAE who no longer fly dogs of certain breeds under any circumstances anyway. The Spirit of Tasmania is inconvenient with travel times. Their dog accomodation is not at all good and if you do have the facilities to keep your dogs in your own vehicle, you are still not always able to attend to them outside set hours which obviously isn't acceptable to most of us. Sure, people DO it, but I daresay most only do it under duress when there is no other option available. The boat also docks in the North of the State and it can take a few hours to drive to Hobart and if you aren't familiar with our beautiful State, that in itself can add a considerable time onto your travelling miles. There have been a number of very successful Nationals held here but I am sure the entries weren't as high as they would have been had the events been held elsewhere. I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that those shows were also held around the time of other major events here so as to make travelling worthwhile for the interstaters. Again, this is fine if you can take extended periods of time off work, or if you have accomodation available to you. Certainly can be planned for and budgeted for, but wouldn't, I'd imagine, be within the realms of possibility for the "average" exhibitor.

I love Les Pooches and will never be without one again. They are expensive and to the best of my knowledge are only available via mail order from the USA. If not able to get Les Pooches, I'll go for Doggyman any day. Doggyman are available through Pet Network, Petcetera and most other quality stores. Combs I can't help you with, I have a beautiful black ionised comb that I brought home from America with me and I cannot for the life of me find out its name or remember where I got it from. But any quality greyhound comb would be suitable.

Now that you have her name and number, and given that you had the dogs' name wrong initially, I'd be inclined to forward that information to the council so that their investigation is made a little easier.

I'd love to know who this is with.....I couldn't get prices like that for my puppies this year!!!!!

I have already stated my feelings about the disadvantages here of travelling to mainland shows from Tasmania. HOWEVER, my opinion about non-awarding of challenges is actually the same as Dellcara's. NO challenges should be awarded in a breed anywhere in Australia when a National Show for that breed is in progress. That may encourage more people to either take their dogs, or at least go and take advantage of so many dogs of a particular breed in one place at one time....and do some good old fashioned learning!! Part of me would like to say that no challenges should be issued for breeds at the same time as ANY breed specialty which may help numerically smaller breeds to get better speciality entries, but this is obviously not workable when there are so many breeds and so many specialties held at various times in most places in Australia.

Worm them all in 3 weeks.

Cost me $180 to send Stafford puppies from Hobart to Townsville and Cairns and $150 from Hobart to Melbourne (all in hire crates). If you're interested, I can possibly put you in touch with somebody who has a crate in Tasmania that they need to get back to Melbourne, so you might be able to cut some costs there.

When you import doesn't the paperwork mention something about prohibited breeds/aggressive breeds etc etc? Has been a few years since I imported last but I remember that this kind of question was on the import permit application somewhere. That may bear looking into.

HUGE congratulations!!!! I'm so very very thrilled for you all!!!!

That isn't necessarily the case. There are many reasons why a puppy can still have, or get worms, despite being wormed regularly. Not all worm products are effective. Not all worms react to particular products and it can depend upon the life cycle of the individual worm. And yes, it could be Giardia which is an infection caused by a parasite which attaches itself to the intestine walls causing irritation which is what produces the mucous. Treatment is usually Metronidazole (aka Flagyl) to treat the infection and Fenbendazole to kill the parasite.

I do not respond to mobile numbers if they are left as the sole method of contact. In the first place I see no reason why I should foot the bill for what is 9 times out of 10 a lengthy conversation and anyway, I cannot dial mobiles from my home number by choice. If somebody has sent me an email, then a reasonable assumption is that they have email capabilities and I am then more than happy to continue communication with them VIA email....up to a point because there will invariably be a need to speak with them sooner or later if our "relationship" is to continue. But by then, they will more than likely have rung me anyway or other mutually agreeable arrangements to speak will have been made. I have no discrimination against free email addresses. I tend to use them as well so as to keep spam and viruses away from my private address books. I only have a mobile number....I figure I'm a pretty logical person and refuse to pay for a landline when I have a mobile....do I get points taken away because I'm logical? I don't expect Breeders to call me though, I'm more than happy to call. Nah, but you get points added cos you're happy to call the Breeders! :D

No, I don't think Hugh can be found in the bible. - that's for sure OMG....don't tell HIM that.....he thinks otherwise!!!!!!!

Blushing! Flame and Woger give very nice cuddles....although Flame is still somewhat feral so it's a darned good thing that Woger can do good enough cuddles for both of them! Billie's incredibly cute. I will be looking forward to Billie cuddles when next we meet. Hopefully that will be at the show on the 22nd when we DOLers will be welcoming a VERY special guest all the way from the big West! The CBDC shows were very smoothly run. It was great to get home at a decent hour, that's for sure!!

Could get a lot of natural attrition in 40 days. Not every species is designed to float! Hmmmmm.....so you mean Noah's name was really Hugh?

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/...mania-news.html * Pics of Zara available on Mercury website. Oh dear - talk about the bogan, the pot and the kettle He's just dug the breed that little bit further........ A bogan pot and kettle? That would depend upon whether or not it was emblazoned with a Bundy sticker.