sandgrubber

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?

Hi I don't know Mt Lawley, but there are places on the river around there where dogs can go off lead. The dog park question has all sorts of angles and I think everyone has to sort it out for themselves. If there are irresponsible people around, with DA dogs, dog parks can get awful. But generally there is some time of day where the 'baddies' aren't around and you can work out a routine that lets you meet other dogs, play a bit, and have a run and swim. You'll find lots of good food options if you like raw stuff. Australia is awash in meat. I buy in bulk from an outfit that exports kangaroo meat and makes dog rolls (cooked stuff . . . kinda yucky but better than canned food). You can get good basic ground chicken for less than $1.50/kg . . . about twice that for red meat. Or if you're happy to pay more, you'll find frozen BARF patties, etc. in the chainstore pet/garden shops (CityFarmers and Better Pets and Gardens). Try google on the names in parens and you'll probably find some description of what foods they carry. If you go to the shire website (xxx.wa.gov.au, where xxx is the shire name) and find some search option, you should be able to find dog park information).

I have had a few litters with white spots, never Bolo pads. Great story btw. I find people like the white spot on pets . . . one family named the pup 'Stella' for 'star' (Spanish and other Latin languages). They were quite disappointed when it shrank down to a few white hairs

Tears come more easily than words. RIP godspeed It's wonderful to see all the support this community has to offer. Sounds like Jed has a long haul ahead of her. I'm in the midst of moving between continents and feel unable to offer much but a financial donation. Wonderful to see all the support the DOL community has offered. I hope, and expect, that support will continue to flow for many months to come.

I think that if you really care about your pups, you'd be glad to spend adequate time with puppy buyers . . . including time BEFORE decisions are finalised. It isn't nice to be put on the spot and have someone say 'take it or leave it'.

I'd be interested to know what messes people have gotten into by inappropriate use of oxitocin. I'm aware of a few pups who were whelped dead that would probably have lived if the 'final flush' dosage of oxitocin had been given when the bitch went into post-whelping resting state with a pup still inside. I have heard rumors of awful things happening from incorrect timing for oxitocin. Never heard any specifics. Note, vets do some awful things too. I know someone who recently took a bitch in for a C-section .. . and the vets LEFT A PUPPY inside her. She whelped it dead and rotting a week later. Fortunately, she survived. READ. My arrangement with the vet is that she makes the meds available. I call her before using it. She and I have discussed at length the protocols for administration. She recommends a low-end dosage. I'm NOT saying get oxitocin and use it willy nilly. I am saying it may save you the expense and your vet the hassle of a visit at 2 am. Also, the situation after the whelping is complete . . . but maybe there's still a pup lurking in there . . . but it's been 2 hours since the last pup . . . is safe. Yes. Caution is required. Some people have done damage to bitch and pups by using drugs wrongly. That has also happened with herbals, over-the-counter meds, and all sorts of other things. However, sensible people who are capable of keeping a cool head after many sleepless hours sitting next to the whelping box may still do well to gain access to oxitocin. Oxytocin given at the wrong time during whelping can cause untold damage to bitch and pups. It is nothing to do with the actual administration or dosage. It is all about timing and the average inexperienced breeder would not have the knowledge to use their experience to time it correctly without the supervision of a vet. In which case, best off to leave it to the vet in the first place. YOU may have the knowledge and I daresay that I would have the knowledge given my experience with whelping my own puppies and those belonging to other people, but many/most breeders would NOT and I have seen and heard of some pretty awful things resulting from mistimed hormone shots.

Lovely pictures. Thanks for posting.

You would have no trouble getting an exception for such a dog under any of the California mandatory desexing programs. It's something of a misnomer to call them mandatory desexing. They are usually opt out desexing schemes . .. where you are required to desex by default but can easily choose to keep a dog / bitch entire if you play by the rules.

I just rehomed my oldest. She was not getting on well with the younger dogs and acting depressed. A family who already had an older dog . . . a pup they got from me seven years ago . . . came by asking if I might have any dogs available. The old girl loves children but isn't so fond of pups. She loves people period. I miss her deeply. Her snoring has been background to my sleep for nine years. But I think it's selfish to hold on to a dog when they aren't doing well in the environment you have to offer. It's lovely to talk with the new family and hear that my nine year old is doing zoomies with their seven year old, following the kids around all day, and that her biggest problem is that the bed is too high so she needs help to get up on it to sleep. Please hold back on judgement.

You gotta do what you gotta do . . . but a baby taken from his family is going to look to whatever he can find for support. Time makes pups more independent, as it does with human bubs. Have a good look at the puppy development calendar in the pinned section at the top of this forum. It may give you a better idea of what to expect of your pup, and understanding of approximately when he will need what sort of support.

Interesting article but doesn't give you enough to do a cost/benefit analysis. The problem is that word 'significantly' . . . which when a scientist uses it means, within the framework of the experiment, there's little chance of the observed results occurring at random. Sometimes TINY TINY effects are quite significant. So if some rare cancer is significantly more likely, it may mean bugger all. While a common cancer being more likely at a low test of significance (eg, no large study has been done so the error bars on the experiment are large) may be much more of a worry. I run a boarding kennel. Non-desexed dogs, especially males, are more trouble. They often don't play nicely; they often pee on walls and beds and occasionally my leg; and if there's a bitch in season in the vacinity they sometimes get moody and tempermental to the point of not eating. The desexed boys are generally more cruisy and easy going. All I've observed says that entire males who aren't used at stud tend to get pretty frustrated, and some of 'em don't cope with frustration very well. Too bad our society puts such a stigma on castration, and so much emphasis on testes. It would be interesting to know if eunichs are, in general, less troubled than entire human males. Long term risks of desexing

In theory you could use a boy at 8 months if you wanted to take a risk on the hip and elbow scores. The hip and elbow scores must be registered before the litter is registered, but that's usually four months after the mating. Given that Lab standards only require that hip and elbow scores are on file, rather than have them be of some standard, you'd still be able to register the litter if the scores came back bad. But in my experience, you'd have to be a pretty good studmaster to get a successful mating out an 8 mo old dog. Personally, I don't like to use a dog younger than 2 yrs, and I prefer to use an old boy who is tried and true. Using an older dog makes sure you see how the dog matures and whether any mid-life problems are apparent, and it avoids the bandwagon of everyone using such and such a dog cause he showed brilliantly in the National (or whatever), only to find out that he has some unfortunate tendency (throws bad mouths, poor temperament, yadda, yadda yadda).

I would say any litter with three pups born dead is a difficult whelping. Even if it only took three hours. Dead pups are hard for the bitch to deliver. They don't semi-crawl up the birth canal. Makes it hard for the bitch, specially if it's a big dead pup. I have no problem with people discussing oxitocin with their vet and using it if the vet feels comfortable dispensing it to them. Sub-cutaneous injection is really easy. My own vet knows my history and pointed out that I've probably spent twice as many hours in science labs than she has . . . so she wasn't worried about not measuring correctly or miscalculating dosage. My experience as a breeder is in the middle range, so she did request that I call her before administering the stuff (It's a lot less hastle to be waked up in the middle of the night to talk on the phone than it is to do a house call) . .. she was fine on my giving one jab when the whelping seemed to be over . .. to clean out any placentas that might be hanging around and / or give a push to that last pup. Btw labs seem to have a tendency to hold on to one pup and deliver it several hours later after everyone thinks she's done. Sometimes the pup lives. Sometimes not.

I believe the record shows that mandatory desexing can work, even where enforcement isn't strong. Below is text relating to the administration of the Santa Cruz law . . . note, Santa Cruz has no BSL and looks like free spey/neuter is available to most anybody who would have trouble coming up with the dosh. Sometimes we have to accept some regulation of our actions to allow enforcement of laws against irresponsible or outright vicious people. 6.10.050 Unaltered animal certification; administration. A. The director of animal control services shall administer a certification program to allow for unaltered animals over the age of six months when the director of animal control services determines that the following conditions have been met: 1. The animal is examined annually by a licensed veterinarian and is following the preventative health care program recommended by the veterinarian; 2. The owner has not been convicted of one or more violations of the following offenses within the preceding twenty-four months: a. County Code Section 6.12.100 (harassment, threat or injury by dog), b. County Code Section 6.12.110 (dog killing domesticated animal), c. County Code Section 6.12.130 (dog threatening or injuring livestock or wild game), d. County Code Section 6.12.140 (unrestrained vicious animal), e. County Code Section 6.16.020 (failure to acquire permit for a kennel/pet shop), f. County Code Section 6.20.030 E (refusing demand to produce animal), g. County Code Section 6.24.060 (failure to provide requested information), h. County Code Section 6.24.080 (interference with director of animal control services), i. Health and Safety Code Section 121705 (concealing bite information), j. Penal Code Section 286.5 (sexual assault on animal), k. Penal Code Section 596 (poisoning of animal), l. Penal Code Section 597 (animal cruelty), m. Penal Code Section 597.5 (fighting dogs), n. Penal Code Section 599aa (seizure of fighting dogs), o. Penal Code Sections 487e, 487f, or 487g (theft of animal); 3. The owner has not been convicted of two or more violations of the following offenses involving the dog for whom the unaltered animal certification is sought, within the preceding twenty-four months: a. County Code Section 6.12.010 (dog at large), b. County Code Section 6.12.020 (dog off leash); c. County Code Section 6.08.020 (vaccination required); 4. Within the preceding twenty-four months, the owner has not received a director of animal control services order involving the dog for whom the unaltered animal certification is sought, pursuant to: a. County Code Section 6.04.100 A (quarantine a dog for biting a person), b. County Code Section 6.04.100 C (impounding a dog for nonconfinement), c. County Code Section 6.20.020 D (impounding a vicious animal without notice,); and such determination has not been expressly overturned by the animal nuisance abatement appeals commission; 5. The dog for whom the unaltered animal certification is sought, has not been determined by the director of animal control services to be a “vicious animal” pursuant to County Code Section 6.24.070, unless such determination has been expressly overturned by the animal nuisance abatement appeals commission; 6. The animal is properly housed and cared for as follows: a. The animal is provided sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water, b. The animal is provided shelter that will allow the animal to stand up, turn around, and lay down without laying in his/her feces. That the area where the animal is kept is properly cleaned and disinfected, c. If the animal is a dog, it must be fully contained on the owner’s property and be provided appropriate exercise, d. The animal owner otherwise complies with any applicable state law concerning the care and housing of animals; 7. The owner furnishes the director of animal control services with a signed statement agreeing to the following conditions: a. The female unaltered animal will have no more than one litter per year, unless the owner furnishes the director of animal control services in advance of any breeding, a written statement from a licensed veterinarian recommending that the female feline be allowed to have up to two litters per year. This written recommendation may result from the annual examination required pursuant to subsection (A)(1) of this section, b. Offspring of the unaltered animal will not be sold or adopted until they are at least seven weeks of age, c. Records will be kept documenting how many offspring were produced and who adopted or purchased them; 8. The dog for whom the unaltered animal certification is sought is currently licensed as required by Chapter 6.08 of this code. B. Any person advertising to the public, the availability of any dog or cat subject to certification pursuant to this chapter, for adoption, sale, barter or other transfer must prominently display his or her unaltered animal certification number in the advertisement. The certification number shall also be provided to any person adopting or purchasing any dog or cat subject to certification pursuant to this chapter, that is bred in the unincorporated area of the county. C. Any owner of an unspayed or unneutered dog or cat who has been cited for failing to obtain an unaltered animal certification shall have his or her citation dismissed if they are subsequently issued an unaltered animal certification, or if there is proof that the animal has been spayed or neutered within thirty days of the issuance of the citation. D. Any owner who is denied an unaltered animal certification or whose certification is revoked by the director of animal control services for failure to comply with the requirements of this section may appeal such denial or revocation to the nuisance abatement appeals commission pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2.66 of this code. (Ord. 4490 § 3 (part), 1998: Ord. 4409 § 1, 1996: Ord. 4305 § 1 (part), 1994)