sandgrubber

I've moved to a vineyard property and the question of dogs eating grapes is becoming a possible concern as the grapes ripen and the dogs begin to find them more interesting. I asked someone on a vineyard forum about their two Labradors in the vineyard. Here's the reply: "My dogs eat lots of grapes despite my best efforts and have never shown any ill effects. They eat dropped fruit and once things get a little sweeter, I can't trust them not to harvest their own when I'm gone. The yellow has a stronger drive for food and I've busted her before with purple jowels. My Petite Sirah is within their boundary and it leaves a pretty incriminating stain on a yellow dog." I think the bottom line is that only some dogs get sick from eating grapes.

In boarding kennels we find about 1 in 10 dogs is nuts about hose chasing and has to be confined when we hose down the floors (using high pressure). Gun dogs, GSD's and terriers (mostly SBT's) are the worst offenders. Had a tenant who bred Goldies. Her bitches were so hose mad that they'd go into a fight to the death about who got the hose. Needless to say, a bucket of water was not a good way to break up the fight. My own Labbies are hose shy, though I've never disciplined them with a spray.

Confused. If it's prey model shouldn't the diet include fur and feathers as well as meat and bone. I'm about to begin a major gopher trapping exercise (I'm in California now and there are zillions of gophers everywhere). Can't figure out whether it's ok to feed the gophers to the dogs. (A gopher is larger than a mouse but smaller than an adult rat).

How many litters can a cat have a year? How old does she have to be to have kittens? What is the average number of kittens in a litter? How old does a queen need to be to have her first litter. I tried to do the math on this one assuming six kittens per litter, three of them females, two litters per year, fertile at six months. The numbers shouldn't add up . . . it's multiplication . . . and offers the potential for exponential growth, which often leads to explosive projections which can range from tens of thousands to multi millions depending on a few initial assumptions. For me the math wants to come up to a very large number. If you count not only the queen, but also all her progeny and her progeny's progeny, you can come to a number approaching 500,000 in the sixth year; change the assumptions and you end up with hundreds of thousands more or less. The most important, and most absurd, assumption you have to make to get a very large number is that all kittens survive and reproduce. Of course, most barn kittens die without reaching adulthood, and most owned house cats get speyed before they have a litter . . . or shortly after the first litter. Few families want to go through with a second litter. On the other hand, a ferral cat in an area rich in rabbits may succeed in raising litter after litter, and her kits may also succeed, for many years, ending out with enough cats to begin keeping rabbits in check, and more than enough cats to decimate native animal populations. I think people are being too hasty to dismiss the RSPCA's comments about cat fecundity. We aren't confronted with unwanted kittens everywhere because a large fraction of cat owners get their girls speyed. Personally, I'm glad that's the case. Btw, the issue is one of projections, not statistics or facts. Projections vary greatly depending on the assumptions made in the model used to make the projection.

Second that. Applecross does good Xrays and isn't extra expensive. If you're a breeder you get good discounts. I once had a dog done twice . . . Applecross' rays were much clearer than those done by the other vet.

I don't do insurance. I figure my dogs are healthier than average cause I take good care of them and keep them away from roads. I figure that with insurance you're always paying for someone else's bad decisions, plus the expense of supporting well-paid professionals in downtown offices. I have always been a saver . . . and the amount I've stashed away by not doing insurance is more than enough to pay for a $5k vet bill, should one arise. I'd say, set up something like a trust account for your dogs, and deposit your insurance premiums in it. It won't take more than a year or two to build up a pretty good buffer, especially if you have more than one dog. thanks for the advice. Yes it would take ages to save up...

In defense . . . there has been a lot of work on aggression in cockers, and it the problem appears to be genetic. I can't remember the authors, but they are in the Vet school of the University of Barcelona. Even if 'rage' is a myth, bad temperament through wrong breeding is real.

You can also train 'good hole' / 'bad hole' without a clamshell. In some places I've lived there has been a cool shady moist place that really suits the dogs on a summer day, and I've encouraged them to use it as a dig place. For the most part they stick to the chosen spot. One reason dogs dig is to stay cool in summer. Hard to fault a dog for doing that.

Given your great credentials with dogs, you might do as well posting a note on DOL asking if anyone plans to go on travel. Some folks have a hard time finding good house/dog sitters . . . eg, boarding kennel owners often don't travel cause it's so hard to find responsible people to look after the kennel. It's also worth putting an add on Gumtree.com.au. There are versions for most if not all capital cities and it's free to post. The rental market is pretty rough in capital cities and there are quite a few people looking to house sit.

Hard to say anything without knowing how they did the study. The author of piece I read clearly has an axe to grind. As a rule, when someone claims a scientific study proves anything, you can bet that the person knows little about science and has their own agenda.

WA doesn't require microchipping. I wouldn't support a requirement. The one time a couple of my pups got out and ended out with the Rangers, no one found their chips and called me. I called the rangers to report the escape and was told that they had the pups. My vet did a scan and found one of the chips was near the elbow. When I have chipped litters I find that many owners are blase' about transferring the chip to their name . . . and my guess is that many many people forget to do change of address on chips when they move. Chips are no panacea and I don't think governments should require them . . . nor codes of ethics.

Seems to me that whatever law gets enacted, it will be no better than its enforcement. The detailed nature of the proposed laws invites highly intrusive enforcement and in my years in Australia I didn't sense that authorities, in most locations, were likely to be willing or able to enforce such laws. I've moved to a county in California where we have manditory desexing, but breeders can get licensed to keep entire dogs with vet certificates. The law isn't used much and the vet I checked in with seems to be more interested in whether you give heartworm meds than anything else. The mandatory desexing rules are likely to be acted on if anyone is in frequent violation of dog laws (wandering dogs, dogs killing livestock, aggressive dogs not under control, dog fighting, etc.) Aside from these things, there's no enforcement and everyone seems pretty much to ignore the law. California and almost every county in the state are nearly bankrupt and people don't like government meddling. The numbers of dogs and cats in shelters has gone way down under these programs, probably because anyone can get a spey or neuter done for $42 under the subsidized scheme. I don't think there are any puppy farms left in the county... but I don't think that is due to mandatory desexing laws. I don't think I've seen a single oodle in the months I've been here (lots of chihuahua crosses, though). I don't think I've said this very well .. . but I do think there are much better ways to cut down on abuses in dog breeding than nanny state legislation. And I'm amused to find what seems, on paper, to be highly intrusive legislation works pretty well in practice here. . . cause it is mostly ignored.

Thanks guys. Interesting about prefixes being something of a free for all in the US.

I've arrived in California from WA bringing two MainReg bitches. I'm a bit confused about what happens with the paperwork. Does anyone know how it goes. I seem to find: 1. My breeder's prefix won't transfer and if I want to breed, I can register pups without a prefix . . . to get the equivalent you seem to need an established track record with the AKC 2. WA would like me to get export pedigrees, but the AKC doesn't give a damn about whether I have them and is quite happy with the original main register pedigree. Btw if anyone has ever wondered, dogs do suffer jet lag. Before the trip I've never seem any of my dogs (Labbies) sleep through dinner time, and they've been pretty restless at night.

I agree there's a need to be cautious about overseas sales. But blanket bans are not good. What goes around comes around. If I lived in the US or UK (not theoretical . . . I've just moved back to the US) I would hesitate to sell to Australia because it's a long ways away, they have lots of poisonous snakes, and quarantine can be awful for a dog. Australians depend on imports to enhance and expand bloodlines for many breeds. We should do as we would be done by.

My dogs are en ruote to the US from Perth via JetPets. Much to my distress, the puppy had a spill a couple days ago and did in her knee. Here's what the vet says after a second examination and looking at the Xrays. Bonza was still quite lame on the leg but almost impossible to keep from bouncing around, surprise!! The xrays showed a slightly bigger gap btw the tibial tuberosity and the tibia on the affected leg but it was not completely avulsed. However it is currently a weak spot so she could do that given the opportunity. Young dogs heal really fast, a fracture can heal in a couple of weeks opposed to 4-6 in an older animal. Consequently I would recommend 4 weeks of cage rest and walking. I am assuming she won't have many other dogs to bounce around with for a while so keeping her exercise steady should be easy enough. How would others interpret this? I think I'll start with little straight walks and gradually increase, and do everything I can to prevent jumping, running or sharp turns. I'd guess that swimming is ok. Does that sound about right?

I've had as many as five bitches, all entire, all Labradors. I have never had so much as a mid squabble, not even with seasons, pups, and whatever. To the contrary, they play well and fret when they are separated. They also tend to nurse one another's pups. I think there are a lot of things going on in how dogs mix . . . sex and desexing are only factors in a multi-dimentional picture.

I would talk with consumer affairs in both states. It's likely that you can claim 'defective merchandise' and take them to Magistrate's court to recover costs. Yes, it will be a pain. But slapping unethical breeders with costs and forcing them to take responsibility is better for everybody in the long run. That's why we have courts, Stonebridge

I basically agree. Dogs are unclean. They drag dirt into the house, and the bed if you allow them. They eat disgusting stuff with great relish. Etc. etc. I love 'em anyway. But I can't see the point of getting upset that some fraction of the people of some faith that I don't understand very well find dogs as pets intolerable. If they cross the line and try to impose their beliefs on others , they deserve a fight.

If guide dogs would allow such people to raise a pup, my respect for guide dogs declines a few notches. She was talking about this before she had a baby but when she realise that puppy must be inside the house.. she changed her mind. To her and her husband... dogs are strictly outside. No arguments. She is stubborn too so she won't bend on that. But, it's something I want to do... this can be my loophole of having 3 dogs (even for a little while), without the boyfriend getting all funny about it

I run a boarding kennel. Around 20% of our boarders are Labs. I agree that these people should not get a Lab pup. But my observations do not accord with this [below] post. Most of the Labs we get, like most of the dogs we get, are untrained or have had no more than puppy classes with little follow through on training. Less than 30% are overweight. I find huskies, goldies, and GSD's at least as bad for shedding. And I'd much rather deal with an ill-disciplined Lab than an ill-disciplined SBT, or GSP. As for socialising, I find Labs are THE MOST reliable breed in terms of getting along with other dogs. Ok puppies can be crazy. . . true of any breed . . . put 'em with other puppies or puppy-like dogs and you're fine. Please, no Lab bashing.

Depends on the girl and the situation. If I don't really care if I miss this one, I might wait until day 9 or 10 . . . especially if the girl tends to come on slow. If it's critical I might start at day 5, especially if another bitch came in earlier and the one I'm wanting to mate is likely to play catch-up.

Personally, I'd go to another breed. I am not willing to buy from a breeder who skips basic tests, for whatever reason. I will love whatever dog I get . . . and a year down the line I'd probably be glad I switched. I would also name the breed ... but I'm a loudmouth. All the hush hush stuff in the dog world does no good for canine health.

Easy problem to prevent. Just put a short spike securely in the middle of the dog/cat door . . .on the bottom. It will go between the animal's legs, but make the entry intolerable to human intruders trying to slide through.

If you want cheap/good dry food in Perth SOR try Advanced Pet Care in Naval Base. Their own brand is excellent, though the biscuits are too big for many small dogs . . . and they sell a 'mill ends' mixed biscuit bag for less than $20 for a 20 kg bag. They do custom formulations and most of it goes overseas. I think they make Natural Balance. Does anyone know if this is available in WA?