ellz

Yes but you will probably have to enter the show details yourself. I asked Jeremy (the site owner) about this myself and this is the reply that I got from him. <paste>All Events in the community are actually added by users, the idea to keep the costs low is that everyone add's events as they need them then they are there ready for the next person.<end paste>

I'm pretty sure in QLD you pick up your numbers and catalogue when you get to the show. In NSW/ACT numbers are posted out before the show (usually you'll get your numbers the week of the show) and if you have paid for a catalogue you pick it up from the show secretaries tent on the day. In VIC numbers are supposed to be posted out two weeks before the show. I'm guessing there are very few late entries in Victorian shows. Don't know about other States and Territories. Tasmania is compulsory to send a SSAE and the numbers and breed lists are SUPPOSED to be in the exhibitors hands 7 days prior to the show. Catalogues CAN be pre-ordered (although a limited number are usually available for sale on the day) but are always picked up at the show.

Yep, the mucuous is generally a dead giveaway for worms.

I use a Rok rotary grinder (under $40 from Mitre 10) and have no issues with it whatsoever. It also came with a flexible shaft so that I can get the body of the tool away from the dogs and just deal with the grinder. Very handy with wriggly puppies.

Bitches don't need to be put onto puppy food any more. Advances in nutrition have seen a big change to the quality of dry foods and any good quality dry and/or an otherwised balanced diet is much safer nutritionally than juggling with puppy foods.

Would definitely recommend plates. My old deceased Staffordshire Bull Terrier shattered his elbow at 17 weeks of age. His elbow was plated, pinned and screwed. He recovered completely with a minimum of fuss and a fairly long rehab period of gentle walking and swimming after the initial crate only period of 6 weeks. We opted to leave the hardware in place at the end of his recovery time. They literally just pulled out the pins, filed down the screws and put in a couple of stitches to close the holes. He hit the showring for the first time at 10 months of age and nobody could even tell he had been injured. Including the judge who awarded him Best In Specialty Show in an entry of 191 Staffords. If you look at his show side front leg, you can't even see the scar!

+1 My fences have been strengthened from my side to keep my horses in my property. However, my neighbour's side of the fence still allows his lambs to fall through from time to time whereupon they generally perish. I have NO liability in this case and he has told me that. I do what I need to do for the safety of my animals. If the worst should happen and they get injured on my fence, or do manage to get through onto his property then that is MY responsibility and I have to act accordingly to ensure it doesn't happen again. It is beyond comprehension that these people are not taking the incident seriously. $4000 this time....what next?

You can enter your dog in whichever class you want to, even if it is a "backwards" step in the schedule. In the case of your question, yes you could enter your dog in puppy class again if it is still inside the age criteria. Likewise if you show your puppy in puppy at some shows before it is 9 months old, you can still show it in Minor at others. We have this happen from time to time here in Tassie when a show on the Saturday might offer Minor Puppy, but the show on the Sunday doesn't so you have to enter Puppy instead. Then the following week, the next club might offer Minor again. And when my Stafford puppies go up into puppy in May, I'll be showing one in Minor (when I can) and the other in Puppy and alternate them so that they both have a chance at a fringie in the younger class. Oh and if you show your dog in Open, State Bred or Aust Bred but it is still under 3, you can still show it in Intermediate as well. And you can even show a puppy in Open one week and then put it back into Puppy at the next show if you want to. As long as you abide by the age criteria, there is no rule stating that you HAVE to stay in the same class every show.

Be careful of anything containing alcohol, it can be VERY drying!

Well, if they're not willing to help ensure their pup's safety in the future, I personally wouldn't be giving them anything. Are they naive enough to think that a puppy is going to think "gee, I did that and it hurt me last time, I'm not going to try that again?"

One of my past dogs HATED kids in hoodies and baseball caps with almost equal passion. We were at the Hobart Royal and a young boy with Downs Syndrome wearing a hoodie AND a baseball cap walked up to my dog and started talking to him. Instead of freaking out and practically falling off the table like he normally would have, my dog lay himself down on the table with his face pressed right up to the boy and they had some kind of a conversation, interspersed with cuddles and gentle kisses from both parties. The grin on the boys' face was legendary and the wagging tail on the dog was such that I have never seen before. I think he knew that there was something different about the person wearing that hoodie and cap and he responded accordingly. And likewise, when I lost my baby in 2006, my Stafford bitch wouldn't leave me alone. If I sat down, she either sat right up close to me or ON me, or she would sit quietly at my feet, staring into my eyes with a very sad, soft expression on her face. After I came home from hospital, she spent many hours laying along my back with her head on my neck. She absolutely point blank refused to leave my side, even to eat and go outside to the toilet. They really do know.

First litter, the big test will be what happens if/when I mate her again.

I was always told if an ultrasound showed X puppies, to double it and that would be closer to the number. I also only ever do u/s (and not all the time) to confirm, not count. So much can alter the results...timing, skill of operator, quality of machinery just to name a few. My most recent experience with u/s showed a definite pregnancy at quite early on and he counted 6 puppies. She gave birth to 9 but two of the puppies were in double sacs so it is possible she may have reabsorbed a couple as well. We also had her xrayed. The xray also showed 6 puppies together with a lot of fluid and what they said at the time was probably faecal mass. Upon opening her up for the c-section, they realised that her uterus was all twisted in, around and under itself so a count was almost impossible.

So do I, but by the same token, I won't "label" a bitch as a "bad mother" until she has been given every opportunity. If there is every sign that she is not successful, or if I get "that feeling" (as I'm sure many breeders do) that the bitch isn't going to change....then a decision is made.

When I lived in suburbia I played muscial dogs like most other people do. One in, one out. Crates if I can't be there to directly supervise. Doors and walls between if and wherever possible. However on rare occasions, a boy would be a howler and not being able to see the object of his affection made him even noisier so on those occasions, they were crated safely next to each other so that he can see and smell her and this helped the noise considerably but did sometimes make musical dogs a tad more hairy. I had an oops in suburbia when my Stafford bitch went through a CLOSED laundry window to let herself out to the dog. And of course, I had my recent oops out here in the country which was entirely my fault for not paying attention when I got home from a show one afternoon and letting myself get distracted. Up until that time, I was using my outdoor pen and the shed which has been partially converted with panels and shadecloth to keep them separated and so that the bitch could empty but not leave too much scent to drive the dog bananas and had managed to avoid an accident for almost 2 years.

As a breeder, I would also be interested in knowing that she didn't make proper arrangements for a bitch in season so that I was forewarned if she should decide that she wanted another puppy from me in the future. The outcome of this would certainly be an indicator of any future possibilities for her in my eyes.

And how do you know that the Breeder of this bitch hasn't done all these things. In an ideal world people would be responsible and use their heads, we shouldn't have to legislate, draw up contracts or rip the organs out of baby pups to stop this. And in an ideal world, people would ensure that their in-season bitches were safely contained so that next-door's dog couldn't knock over the fence and get to them too. :D Or alternatively, people would have their companion animals desexed so as to prevent the above from occurring.

Double standards on the part of some vets unfortunately. They'll do it for rescue but many are reluctant to do it for Joe Q off the street unfortunately.

I think they can be needled to abort the pregnancy up to around the 42 day mark (on average a dog pregnancy is 59 - 63 days). There is also the option of removing the puppies and uterus all at once. Some vets won't do this due to the increased blood and risk of haemorrhage, but many vets would rather do this than have another litter of unneccessary puppies on the ground.

I'd be asking why she didn't take her to the vet and have her needled and if there is any reason why the bitch wasn't speyed in the first place. And yes, like Steve, it's not your business but if it were a dog I'd bred, I'd like you to make it mine! :D

Don't worry Elfin, I'm another cynic. Many people with breeds that are prone to eye staining give their dogs fish antibiotics (usually in the drinking water). Apparently it changes the PH levels or something. Personally, I don't think there is smoke without fire and eye discharge generally means that there is something else going on with the eye. I'd rather treat the cause and completely remove the symptoms......but that's just me! :D

Well if you ring the dog ranger, they will come and dispose of the body but the owner will probably not have much say in the disposal of it and they may have ideas of their own. Alternatively, you could give your vet a ring (unless you know which vet your neighbour uses) and see if they can hold the body until the owner is notified. But you'll probably still have to notify the ranger so that they can notify the neighbour unless you wish to do so yourself.

Yep, he's one of the lucky ones (and so are you! )!! I know when my Stafford puppies are teething (and they are now at 3.5 months of age) because they like to chew on anything that doesn't try to chew on them first. Rocks, bricks and wooden furniture are particular favourites!

How old is Charlie? If he is a young adult, he WILL most certainly have lost teeth, it's more that you haven't noticed the transition. Some dogs do it with the minimum of fuss, others look like a motheaten paling fence.

You'll find that if she is in a small class, that you will have to be pretty much "on" the whole time as it will go quickly. However, if she is in a large class, or sweepstakes or something like that most judges will tell you to "relax the others" whilst they go over each of them. It certainly isn't a bad thing to play with them in the ring, you just need to be mindful of the effect that your dog has on others in the ring at the time. I carry a soft toy in my pocket and if I have time, I'll play with my babies....but much of the time, they're more interested in the other dogs in the ring anyway.