ellz

Not so much the tail docking issue as it has been done prior to this date. Interested if its cruel to transport a dog that just given birth to 8 pups and had surgury 3-4 days travel back to vic in summer temperatures? I guess it would depend upon the individual definition of cruel, but there is no way that I would put a bitch and puppies through it.

What you're looking for is a dramatic temperature drop. A temp that has "averaged" over a period of days can be said to be a baseline temperature. Quite often, people say that taking temps doesn't work. In these cases, most have actually missed the drop. It can drop but not stay down. I would be taking her temperature every few hours if you are unsure and chart it properly....don't take a few temps in a day and then "average" them....that is really quite pointless. You will see a sudden dip, generally below the 37 degree mark, not a gradual creep.

Staffords cockroach and smile as well!! AND they can sleep anywhere!!!!!

American Cocker Spaniels are NOT a cross between a Cavalier and a Cocker. And no, they don't bark with an accent.

Stafford jaws do NOT lock! Nor are they human aggressive.

Like this?

They are also particularly talented at screaming!

Busy....very, very busy! On the subject of "black" Staffords....I found some photos today, they are the "blackest" dogs that I have had.....but if you tipped them both upside down, they both had one single brindle stripe inside their left back leg. Am Ch DayDream Love And Rockets (Imp USA) As a baby..... And at 3. And his "lookalike" daughter, Ellz Tattoo You As a baby...... And at nearly 10 years of age....

My memory isn't always good but I know that the couple I saw were darker than that puppy, which was what had me asking the questions in the first place. They were very dark, dark enough that Wendye actually carried them outside to see what colour they were in the normal daylight. But, be that as it may, I don't think I've said here that they ARE born black.....just that they can be very dark and almost look black. And as I said, I have seen that personally....what others have seen is their own experience (and the photos are great...I'd forgotten how cute Afghan babies are). When I worked at Calahorra I was fortunate enough to have experienced many whelpings and reared and trained many puppies of various ages in both Afghans and Whippets. That's an experience in itself!

It depends. Some people are allergic to the skin (dander) and some are allergic to the hair. And yet others are allergic to saliva.

Actually blue Afghans are born blue. I've had a few and they are definitely NOT black at birth. BUT they are not genetically dd so have black noses, they do however tend to have paler eyes. The dna colour study in Afghans: http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/Afghans.html Interesting. Not surprising that I'm behind the times, last time I spoke to Wendye about Afghans was back in about 1991!! The couple that I did see when I worked there though, and the ones which made me ask her were definitely dark at birth.....not the black-black that I'm accustomed to seeing in American Cockers, but certainly a very dark colour.

http://www.catonam.com.au/products.php

In the eyes of a dog, "kitty crunchies" almost deserve a food group of their own!!!! My lot will find one, no matter where it is hidden or how old it is. I've had to resort to the old baby gate at the bathroom door trick to keep the K9s out of the bathroom where the litter trays live, otherwise it isn't unheard of to find one of them waiting to catch the forbidden fruit "at the source" and the kitties do NOT like that one little bit. K9 noses tend to be rather cold on the warm bits!

My hardware (rings and clips) come from either Birdsall Leather in Sydney or Lefflers in Melbourne (via mail order). I do beading occasionally too and there are some really good online bead stores if you Google. Ebay is another source for beads too.

I think it's a breed-by-breed, individual dog type thing. I cannot run another bitch of ANY breed with my Stafford bitch and she is even starting to get narky with her 5 month old daughter now so separation there is becoming imminent. Yet I've had other bitches who have been just fine with same-sex "friendships". You're not really going to know until you try it IMO. BUT you must also have a contingency plan worked out for a resolution if you do try it and it goes pearshaped.

I will add that I have the drybed from Peperone? May pay to be aware of that if you intend ordering from them. I won't say that the issues/concerns I had were MAJOR ones, but they were annoying enough for me to cope with so I thought I would bring them to everybody else's attention. Maybe others aren't as pedantic as I am! I will also add that apart from the first couple of weeks, I LOVE the stuff. It is great for crate bedding, is fabulous in the trolley at shows and I have a large piece on the backseat of my car for the dogs to lay on. They know that "their" spot is the spot with the pink blanky. I'll also be ordering more, in different colours. BUT I won't be ordering any more greenbacked stuff. I prefer the other type.

Remember that there are effectively two types of "blue" gene. The dilute blue and the greying blue which is what Kerry Blues are. They start out black and turn grey with age. If I recall rightly from past conversations with Wendye Slatyer when I worked for her, the Afghan "blue" gene is the greying gene. A blue Afghan will invariably begin life looking like a black and "fade" as it grows.

Current thinking of some of the top repro vets in the USA is breed young and breed often.

OMG, don't talk to me about vocal Staffords! In all the years I have been involved with them, I thanked the LORD I didn't have one that made "monkey noises". I hadn't bred one, didn't own one and used to get REALLY shirty with the dogs at shows that made them! Until now.....I have one who not only makes monkey noises, but seems to have competitions with himself to make them better (or worse depending upon how you view them). NOTHING seems to work on him.....he plays with the spray bottle. He gets louder if you ignore him. He gets louder if you talk to him. I'm getting ready to throttle him and see if THAT works!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a dog ruined for the show ring because of a pushy judge. She was young and unsettled and suddenly, this very tall man wearing a hat appeared from out of the corner of her eye and she freaked. Then to make matters worse, he reefed the hat off and threw it down on the table behind her. From that time on, she had a table phobia AND a male judge phobia. The argument could of course be that she should have better temperament initially....but at 5 months of age, they're still learning where to put their feet, let alone where their brains should be in the ring. And then of course, if you search back in this forum, you can read about my battles with a young dog who had the wits scared out of him by an Indian judge at Brisbane Royal when he insisted upon judging the table dogs on the ground and loomed over, and scared the willy off my young dog to the point where he would wet himself when a (dark) male judge or anything resembling one tried to go near him. Thankfully, he came right and is not only a Royal BOB winner but is titled....but it took a LOT of work to get his confidence back. I really think that some of the problem is that many judges no longer exhibit and they have forgotten what it is like.

Really depends upon the dog. I talk to some because it reminds them where they are and what they are doing and is part of their correction and keeping them under control. Others just go out and do it and could probably even show themselves without me hanging onto the lead.

Only 3 days here, but I have 3 very Itchy dogs and one who's developed quite a large nasty hot spot on her face Looks like It's back to Dog Pro for my guys, with almost 20kgs of U/A now wasted Remember that U/A is higher in fat and protein than Great Barko, that could possibly be part of the issue as well. I have the opposite problem. A dog which itches on everything BUT U/A or G/B. I don't think It's so much the amount as the Dog Pro Is also high In protein, but more the source of protein that may be making them Itch Could be anything. But I have to say that U/A and G/B are the only thing that don't make my bitch scratch herself stupid. Personally I think it is the amount of oil in it. It was quite offputting initially to see the oily spots inside the bag. But, I repeat my mantra. You feed what your dogs do best on and what suits your pocket the best. Personally, I like what U/A and G/B does for most of my dogs and others who have seen them are quite amazed. BUT I also add other things to their diet, they aren't fed on a sole dry food diet. I estimate that dry food would only make up around 1/4 of their diet, if that.

Initially......neither. I found the puppies were spending more time trying to nurse from the vetbed than their mother in the first few days. And unless you're prepared to spend a heap of time washing and drying it......until they're a bit bigger I found polar fleece was much better. It is still super-absorbent and works as a wick, pulling the moisture from the top layer onto layers of newspaper below. Washes and dries quickly and still allows traction for little feet when they are moving around. I put the vetbed back into the pen when the puppies were up on their feet and eyes open and it was a lot better then. I also found that mum got VERY hot on the vetbed and wasn't as happy to stay with the puppies while it was in the box. And for background info, this was a litter of 9 Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppies and a first time mum who had had a c-section.

And for the OP. You may have to widen your search. I live in Tasmania and have recently sent puppies to Townsville and Cairns....both very dark black/brindles albeit they were on Limited Registration.

The same way you can have a dog which genetically carries tan points but doesn't actually show them (obviously anyway). For example.....there are many buff and red/white American Cocker Spaniels which are genetically tan pointed. Or a silver buff American Cocker which is genetically black but lacks the power to express the black colouration to its coat. It still has the genetic qualities of a black, just in a very pale wrapper. And MANY Staffords LOOK black to the naked eye, but either brindle out as they get older, or if you tip them upside down, you'll find stripes on their undersides or inside their legs. The stripes will be there....somewhere.