Lowenhart

Is the stud dog's owner at all interested in the mating? Who is minding the dog while they are away? Could they not arrange to have a stud master/vet on standby to do the collection and mix up for the chilled and a trusted friend (or pay the extra $$ to the stud master/vet) to freight it?

You can get comfrey in a cream/topical ointment. I use it when I pull muscles or sprain my ankle.

Which is why I debate the value of the Kennel Cough vacc - as there are so many strains of it that just covering 2 strains gives a false sense of security. The pup was probably not vaccinated against the strain of KC they caught. Dogs can pick up viruses from the park, the dog show grounds (which can be frequented by all sorts of dogs in the week preceeding the show, especially at ovals etc), the vets, the local shops, from the dogs that walk past the property etc.

But soundness differs in breeds. In Pekingese, a "sound" dog moves wide in front with a roll, and narrow behind. A Chow Chow must have a stilted gait, mostly caused by it's "perfectly straight" rear. Some breeds are not supposed to noticably converge to the centreline when moving, others are supposed to single track. This is why I say:

I vaccinate at 8 and 12 weeks. My pups travel to between my house and my mothers house before and after their first vacc. However I make sure it's been at least 4 days since their 12 weeks vacc before taking them out and about to shows etc.

Structural soundness is part of breed type and lacking breed typical soundness is a case of lacking breed type.

You need more time and data for this. Personally, I get knees checked on my 8 week olds. I don't check again until after they finish growing. Growth spurts are a common reason for Patella Luxation to appear in previously normal dogs. These dogs end up normal as adults. I've found that the knees that pass muster at 8 weeks are good at adult recheck. Those with slight movement at 8 weeks are good at adult recheck. The ones that are definite luxation at 8 weeks are for life. I'm always conscious to breed with dogs who have the strongest knees.

They are called Bichon Maltais - The Maltese Bichon by the French. There are also Bichon Havanais (Havanese), Bichon Frise and Bichon Bolognese. I have Lowchen are contentiously a bichon breed as well.

Copied from teh Spring Fair site 2009...

Shot across the bows Shot in the arm Shot in the dark Like a shot Call the shots Take the shot Shotgun wedding

Because I have coated breeds, I use/recommend whitening condtioners made for blonde humans. Though I quite liked the CC White on White shampoo.

People who feed "Natural Rearing" (de Bairacli Levy's book of the same name) have a fast day. It is based on the idea that wild dogs will have days without any food and it's better for their system to have a fast day. Never heard of it as a training tool... I guess they'd be more eager to work for food after a fast day.

Why have a water meter in ther backyard??? That's nuts! Councils should be making it easier for themselves. All the problems it could cause

One of my dogs was forever sitting like a frog. Never hip scored but only started to develop arthritis in the hips when she as 14 years old. Lived until she was 15 and a half.

I suggest you do the spray to dampen the coat and then foof up with the dryer. I get up at 4am the morning of a show to bath/blowdry one of my dogs. She just looks best when done fresh that day. But she usually looks pretty scruffy by the time I get to the show... sometimes I wonder why I bother.

Current importing regulations do not screen for hereditary health problems. You just do blood tests and vaccinations to ensure that it does not have a contagious or communicable diseases. Who cares if someones neutered/spayed pet is a carrier for a heritary problem? Hundreds of non-breeding animals are imported into this country every year. These dogs and our breeding stock are handled exactly the same by AQIS. So they have to have ALL the same temperament and health testing even if they will never contribute to any gene pool. Yeah really logical there. What if you have a breed that has no listed health problems? I have 2 breeds that don't make the AVAs lists. What "Health" testing do they require? Import a dog first, THEN maybe you will understand how it works.

How do you do behavioural tests on a dead dog? You don't. So you can't have that semen. A young puppy is put in a stressful situation by a bureaucratic vet in it's home country. It's deemed to have a poor temperatment. So you can't have that puppy. In all seriousness, I'd like to see the data that backs the idea that the temperament of imported dogs directly correlates to incidents. Where are the figures that these imported dogs are causing mayhem here, or their direct decendants (generation 1)? It's clear that dogs are not welcome in Australia.

My favourite bitch was bred to a dog I gave a Best in Show to and just loved loved loved , and as soon as I heard I put my order in. Stuff like that rarely happens. It was a huge expense as the litter was born in Norway and I hadn't put any money aside beforehand so I just went nuts saving and made a deal with the breeder to pay installments. I have my boy and would not change anything.

Wow you guys have great employers! Depending on the circumstance, I try to have someone home for the first week (I work one day, they work the next etc). After that, I'm back at work 9-5. At weaning I feed Breakfast, Dinner, Late Dinner. I get up around 4-5am, put pups outside to toilet and make up their food and clean their pen. They eat while I get sorted for work, another quick trip out and then I leave. Get home, pups out again, another clean while their food soaks. They eat, the adults eat and then they are handled, played with etc. Then late night toilet stop while make their late dinner up, feed around 10:30-11pm and I go to bed. The first full day away from the pups is hard, however I do short trips out beforehand. If the mum is settled then it's not a problem. For "high maintenance" type breeds (that squash babies etc) it's different.

I use Pets Eternal (QLD) almost exclusively and had wonderful service. The one time I used Pets at Peace (QLD), I gave all the info for my boy when he was picked up but they lost the paperwork and I had to chase them up to find out when my boy was coming home. They then said they were waiting on info from me. I know stuff happens, his ashes were returned and they packed his collar in the box (I forgot to take it off before he was taken away) as I asked.

"Of" is usually approved if it falls into something like "Offer" or "Markof" or "Ofyer" The trick with the names is to hide it well.

Not all clubs bank their cheques before shows. It's frustrating! Trying to keep money aside when you don't know when the cheque will be banked is difficult. To be honest I run a very tight budget. Constantly checking to see if my cheque has been banked is time consuming. I don't have a seperate cheque account, so there are more things coming out of that account than cheques. It's not just a case of "balancing my chq book" but monitoring the comings and goings carefully. I'm not one who bounces cheques, but I have put the wrong cheque in the envelope when doing a few shows at once. Have to triple check everything now.

You contradict yourself....you say you won't be dictated to when you use a stud dog, but you feel you can tell those that use your stud, what they are to do? No Contradiction there Angelsun. I won't even ask to use a stud that comes with lots of restrictions on what I can or can't do with the options. If you can't trust the breeder (owner of the bitch) to decide the best for the puppies, then don't let the dog out to stud at all. What I do is, if you and the bitch pass muster (nice healthy bitch, who compliments my male and you are a reputable breeder) then you get to use my male without my interference. I don't have "public studs" so I can say yes/no to any enquiries. What I don't like is "Yes but..." with all the restrictions.

I won't use a stud dog where the stud dog owners dictate where and how the resulting pups are used. As a stud dog owner, I won't let my male be used by people if I don't like how they place their puppies. I help place puppies, but don't dictate who gets what. I can advise how they pups grow, but don't dictate what register they go into. I like to educate versus control. If you don't let people in the front door, they'll go around the back. I've refused to sell a person a pup but they got one by buying a pup from a male I bred. C'est la vie.

How fine do you think the chains are? I test all chains I buy on my own flesh and have no marks. ANY collar or chain can do damage if used incorrectly. I've used fine chains on dogs who were shown on completely loose leads (chain sat on their shoulder blades the whole time) because the "check" allowed this much freedom. But there was no chance the dog would slip out of the lead in the case of an emergency. Safe and humane.