Lowenhart

Your options are: 1. Get another handler 2. Don't go to the show 3. Hold the lead with the right hand but show the dog on the left While you may be able to do up and backs offside, you won't be able to go around the ring like that. Depending on how you show the dog, you maybe able to hold the lead in your right hand but still show the dog on the left side. My suggestion is that although you love to show, it's not worth risking your health and healing times. Get someone to show for you this weekend or if you can't, then stay home.

You'll be able to her a call name what ever you like but her show name will probably end up being something belonging to a litter theme. Grey's are such great dogs. I've met quite a few of McGreevy's greyhounds and they were all honeys.

She isn't interested in the toys or food in the ring because she is not relaxed. Her tension is feeding off yours. You don't necessarily have to compete in other sports, but training her to sit or jump over a bar will help build her confidence in you and her surrounds. You can teach her at home or at the park to little things. May be to do a special turn, or to spin. Choose a trick and teach it and have some fun :p As well as teaching her new tricks, you need to learn how to control your nerves so the dog doesn't react to your tension. Both of you need to be relaxed and have some fun.

To be honest, there is no 1 perfect cure and there is nothing instant to fix it. I've had my successes getting dogs who hated to show, to appear like they liked it. Some had an obvious reason for hating showing (a huge scare) and others just never got to learn that it was great. You will need to work on getting the dog to relax first and foremost. Don't push showing, initially you are working on having them calm and responsive. Then introduce games inside and outside the ring, it maybe you teach a funny turn on the up and back which makes you giggle or you play a toss the toy game before going in. I do recommend for dogs needing confidence (but do not have a identifiable fear) to give Larch which is a Bach Flower essence or Confid which is a Australian Bush Flower essence. You can give both if you want to. It seems to make them bolder, which I reinforce with confidence building excercises - teaching a "trick" or behaviour, and carefully controlled outings.

:D

Did you know the Plush Puppy Pin brushes are Human wig brushes? I used to buy them for $5 each from Price Attack in Brisbane Norris Hair supply also used to sell them for about $7. I use them for my hair as well I get the ones with the bent pins that are no longer good for their coat, dogs come first!

I was just pointing out that Human stuff is OK for dogs, as long as you dilute 1 part shampoo : 10 parts water. It's a common thing among non-show people to dismiss human products for dogs, claiming pH issues etc. Well dogs can have a broad range of natural pH on their skin and simple chemistry says that you can make a solution from water and an alkaline or acid and make it more pH neutral. So the Afghan is a client? Is it a show dog or just family pet? If it's a family pet you can use whatever dog brand you wish. For a show dog I recommend Laser Lites which just happens to be human base products from a human shampoo/condiditoner factory (well it was at the start) mixed to their formulation with a "Laser Lites" sticker on it. If it covers your butt then fine.

Don't forget you'll have to get them rewired to work here as they have a different voltage system to their mains power.

I have pulled dogs to allow others to title or give them a more even chance. Right now I regularly exhibit against one of the top 5 dogs all breeds in Australia, my dogs rarely get to see the group line up despite my thinking they are of quality to beat the dog. It's a nice dog with a lot of wins under it's belt. I have no issues with the dog or it's owner, but after 3 years of RuBOBs it gets a little frustrating. So to finish my dogs or even to get them into a BIG line up I have to travel to get away from that dog. My dogs do manage to pick up groups, against nice competition in other breeds. So I understand the frustration of someone just trying to get the final points on their dog but constantly getting pipped at the post. I have no qualms dropping a champion from a show to give them a chance to gain some points. As long as I feel the dog or the circumstances warrant it.

There is nothing wrong with Human products for dogs as long as it is diluted (1:10). Most big name "dog" products are based on human formulations, including Laser Lites and Plush Puppy. If you can keep a dog in top show condition with bathing every 5-7 days in human products for years on end, then what is the problem? Just don't use the human shampoo & conditioner neat, it's too much. We used (human) salon products for years and years on our coated dogs. I still use human shampoo and conditioner for maintenance baths because LaserLites is very expensive for keeping a number of dogs.

Solid Black (as most show Border Collies appear) is a dominate K locus allele and totally independant to the A locus. So if a dog is Kk (Black, carrying non-black) and AyAt and bred to the same, you can get - Black, Red or Shaded Sable and Black & Tan in the one litter. A true phantom would be a dog like the sire, who has white markings hiding his tan points, whereas I believe the dam just has a single copy of K and has a Ay gene. Who knows what A series genes the KK (Black, carries Black) dogs have, especially if they are bred to other KK dogs. Half the dogs could be carrying sable

Just because something is genetically linked (as being on the same agouti locus) doesn't mean the standard writers knew about it or cared that it is genetically possible to mate two standard coloured animals and get non-standard colours. Why for the longest time didn't the Great Dane standard include Mantles when they were key to the production of good Harlequins? Why isn't Brindle points allowed in Basenji when they now allow Brindles and Tri's have always been there? It's a genetic possibility but not allowed by the standard. Standard writers aren't geneticists. And phenotypically (what you see in front of you) Black & Tan is a different colour to the shades of sables. Have you searched out people's opinions on the history of the colour? Like this page.

If you got the Afghan from a show breeder you might want to discuss products with them. They should have an idea on the kinds of coats they have and the best products for them. I would recommend Laser Lites too, but you use different products in the range for different coats. Good luck!

Further to my previous post. Each dog recieves one copy of the allele (gene) from each parent so has two alleles on each locus. So a Sable/Fawn/Gold can product Black and Tan as it is recessive to both aw and ay ie aw/at = Wild Type carries Black & Tan ay/at = Fawn (Clear Sable/Red/Gold) carries Black & Tan Both these dogs carry a single copy of the at gene but do not show it due to the dominance of aw and ay. In most cases a dog will ba at/at to be Black and Tan and will only give at genes to their offspring. This is my favourite genetics page. The person writing is actually actively involved in finding the markers for each colour and understanding colour inheritance scientifically.

What is Sable? Some people call any golden dog with a few black hairs (mask or ears) "Sable". The "a" locus is theorised currently to be: aw - "Wild Type" or Sable. Each individual hair is banded. ay - Red/Golden at - Black & Tan a - Recessive Black, as seen in Puli and GSD

There is some train of thought that genetically there is just 1 North American Puma, just given different names in different regions. There is a paper published on that here. I don't believe you can equate purebred dog breeding as being the same. Dogs are kept "pure" by strict human intervention, whereas if they were allowed to range there would be interbreeding where the dogs domain intersected. If they can put the "Florida Panther" in a better position by using the same type of cat that lives in Texas then that is great. But they still have an uphill battle. I think it's an interesting project, and I hope they secure more land for the cats and keep them off the highways...

Resurrecting this to just note my disappointment and seeing Maremma pups in a suburban pet shop, again. I think Maremmas are great dogs who do fantastic jobs, just not for inexperienced people expecting them to be Golden Retrievers. Yes I have heard sales staff describe them as being just like a Golden. I feel bad for those who will end up rescuing these dogs and wish there was more responsibility taken by the pet shops when it comes to the sale of these dogs. I do wish to see the ban of selling of dogs & cats in pet shops, probably more due to the fact that those selling them have little to no idea about the requirements for the dogs.

Showdog, there are products that lessen the incidents of knots. I had an issue with a tendon sheath in my wrist which made brushing (and a pile of other stuff) excruciating. Spending 3.5 hours a week on one small dog was not helping. I was ready to clip off as I was brushing with my other hand it was starting to get the same symptoms. Even though I had someone who would offer to do the dog for me every now and then, it wasn't enough to keep on top of his coat. So I found a product that kept him knot free for 3 weeks. It gave me time to rest my wrist and let the treatments actually work. Who would think this takes 3.5 hours when I consider 45 mins to be "normal" grooming time for the breed? I didn't recommend that product as it attracts dirt, which is fine for my city dog who lives in the house and frolics on grass. I recommended Showsheen because Anna Stromberg who worked for the world famous Grandeur kennels recommends it here .

I use cheap lino for the puppy pen as it's so easy to clean and easy to throw out. My last couple of Lowchen litters were born/raised in a petpack lined with paper and bedding. Once the pups are up on their feet I take them outside to start toileting, for the bigger breeds they might spend most of the day out in a puppy run and just sleep in their box at night. The little guys get carried out first thing in the morning, right after they eat and again before I go to bed. When they toilet outside they get lots of giggles and claps followed by cuddles. The pups get quite used to the routine and I instruct new owners on how to keep it up. I work full time so my program works well for most buyers. Not all pups learn at the same rate, some pups go to their new homes almost housetrained and others still don't quite get it. I don't train to toilet on paper, it just doubles the training required.

You can try using the horse product "Showsheen" which is available here. Everybody has a different idea of what works best, and it can depend on the dogs they have. I have products that are fabulous on one dog and a complete failure on another. There is no one great product, just lots of people who use lots of products and think what they use is the best.

Has there been a change in the dynamics at home? Is another dog getting more interaction/time than before. This sounds like it could be attention seeking behaviour. I had trouble with one dog starting to eat my shoes again because another dog was getting more attention due to an injury. I just was more watchful of my things and how much attention each dog got.

I've experienced the same thing, lucky my dog was using the outside terrier as 'sparking' material as well. It is double handling. The same person kept crowding me in the line up, I kept moving up and they did too. In the end I had to tell them to back off, even AFTER I stood between my dog and theirs. They are a serial offender!

I haven't done any AI's yet but Phil Thomas has collected my dogs and done other reproduction related things and he is great. Nice way about him, great with the dogs, describes things in english and has a great team behind him.

The puppy does NOT have to be microchipped to be Dogs Qld registered. There is no rule in QLD requiring that. Qld State government brought in rules that before rehoming a dog, it must be microchipped but there are plenty of simpathetic vets who also believe 6 weeks is too young to microchip. The microchipping laws came in progressively in QLD but SE QLD has had it since 2009. From here Personally I would not be worried that the puppy was homed at 8 weeks without a microchip. But then again, I'm not exactly pro-microchipping. Get the pup chipped when you can, let the breeder know the number so they can record it if neccessary.

I'm so sorry to hear about your girl and hope she is doing OK. With ANY of these topical treatments you have to be careful about other dogs licking as they are all pretty much poisonous if ingested. If you have to, keep dogs separated until the spot on has dispersed. If you have one that loves to lick the others, keep them separated for a bit longer.