sandgrubber

IMO, stuff like this kills the Kennel Clubs. They become one more mindless burocracy. When it comes to working and sporting dogs, there are so many excellent dogs that can never have pedigree papers.

So long as his body condition is good, I wouldn't worry. I've never had Newfs, but have raised many Labs. Pups go through periods of not wanting to eat a lot. It's far better to be a little skinny than to grow too fast or get fat

As a Labrador breeder, I looked for "good bone", as in large and solid. I've stepped away from the breed a bit, now have a field bred Springer (ESS) that I'm thinking of breeding. Which means asking myself what to look for in a stud. Look at photos on Springer FB groups I see a wide range in build types. I've begun to wonder if a more wirey frame (think kelpie) isn't better from a structural and health perspective. Seems like the lithe breeds have fewer problems with hips and elbows. Is that going to be true of individuals within a breed as well? Opinions?

15 weeks, or 15 years? I suspect autocorrect has been at work

... another Frenchie breeder looking for free veterinary advice and vanishing when advised to see a vet?

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/rural/2020/11/sheep-and-dog-best-friends-escape-home-find-online-fame.html A sheep and a dog who are best friends managed to escape their home and go into town for an outing. Graham the lamb and Charles the dog live with Gareth Richards in Onemana in the Coromandel....

How are the pups doing?

I'd imagine prices have been changing with all the disruption to air travel. Best to get fresh quotes.

Follow up. I took Bonza to a vet in a different practice. No conclusive diagnosis. He says the x-rays don't rule out osteosarcoma. On the off chance that some sort of infection was involved, he gave me a 21 day course of clavulox. Bonza seems to be getting better, very gradually. At least she's more cheerful and putting a little weight on the foot. I've decided it's better to wait until this is more resolved to write to the practice manager of the first vet.

If you see signs of dehydration (google if you don't know what they are), go to an emergency vet. Not something that can reliabily be diagnosed by misc people over the internet. At 13 days dehydration can be fatal.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/17/pet-flea-treatments-poisoning-rivers-across-england-scientists-find?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

I doubt anyone can answer that. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and wonder

Interesting article. I think the last paragraph is the most important : Although merle is one of the more popular coat patterns of dogs, it is not without controversy. Merle-to-merle matings can result in double merle (MM) offspring that have ocular (including blindness and microphthalmia) and auditory defects; this is possible even for merle-to-cryptic merle matings. We hope this work will raise awareness among breeders that there are merle varieties that do not fit the standard phenotypic description and that this knowledge will prevent undesirable matings and mischaracterizations.

BTW, to my knowledge, there are no open breeder's forums. The Animal Rights community makes it impossible for them to exist. Posting access to the DOL Breeder's Community Forum is by application, and approval is generally restricted to pedigree breeders registered with a canine body that issues pedigrees. If the OP had established her/himself in that community and made it clear that they are working with a vet(s) this discussion would have gone differently.

I've been in this group for years. If you wish to avoid the sort of advice you have gotten, make it clear that you are acting on veterinary advice, but hope someone can clarify details (or some such). It's pretty common for people to come online and ask the group to act as a substitute for seeing a vet. Often that does not fly well.

I don't have a big problem with genetic testing so long as they don't say carriers can't breed. There are now so many tests on the list that few dogs have an entirely clean slate and breeders are forced to be realistic... and it's worth avoiding breeding carriers of rare but serious diseases. It's not all that expensive, and one swab can do it. The fact that the genetic testing industry is largely unregulated does bother me. It's annual eye exams that I find unreasonable. In gun dogs most of what they examine for is extremely rare, except in mild forms, and many eye problems don't show up until 6 or 7 years of age. Not everyone has a veterinary optometrist nearby.

Bonza has had a severe and hard to diagnose limp (front left) for a couple of months now. X-rays inconclusive, but don't suggest osteosarcoma. Cartophen and Meloxicam don't help much. On my 3rd and most recent vet visit the vet gave her a couple jabs of a painkiller,which I thought she told me was codeine. She told me that it would make her drowsy. It damn near killed her. Poor girl. I found her the next morning lying outdoors with dew all over her. At first I thought she was dead cause she was unresponsive and her breathing was hard to detect and she felt cold. When she did awaken, I assumed something associated with the limp was killing her. It turns out she was given the maximum recommended dose of a synthetic opiods called Vetergesic...commonly used for post operative pain relief. The warnings that go with the stuff are dire. I am furious at the vets for 1) prescribing it at all... it's active for less than 24 hours so what's the point; 2) going for maximum dose; and 3) only telling me that it might make her drowsy. Mostly I'm just venting. I'm changing vets and getting a second opinion on the limp. Does anyone think there's any point in laying out my reasons for doing so to the practice manager?

No. Sadly IMO, the ANCK will not give papers unless both parents are registered. Some other sort of papers could be done up but they won't cut the mustard with the pedigree world.

Given high puppy prices and the popularity of Frenchies, you should be making good money on puppy sales. No need to cut corners. Go to a proper vet for advice and if that doesn't succeed, get a second opinion or consult an infectious disease expert. It sounds like something is out of control in the environment you manage. Yes, the dog version of Fenbenzadol is expensive, but is the dose/absorption etc right when you use a goat formulation? Etc.

Health testing is something of a sacred cow. My reading is that,at least in gun dogs, the required annual eye checks do not contribute a lot to health, and become a serious barrier to many would be breeders who live a long way from major cities.

Use a reputable pet transport company. The rules are so complicated that DIY doesn't work well. I hit problems because my dogs had to do a domestic flight before the international flight, and the company I worked with was so focused on the international part of the journey, no one informed me that a vet check was required within three days of the domestic flight. This caused several hours of intense anxiety waiting for vets to open and rescheduling flights, but it worked out OK. So if it's a multi-leg journey, make sure you have met requirements for every leg.

DNA analyst of ancient dog remains shows a complex history of origins and domestication https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6516/557.full

An earlier summary of the same study https://skeptvet.com/Blog/2020/01/new-evidence-about-when-to-neuter-your-dog/ Personally I would like to see the details (pay wall problem). A one percent increase may be statistically significant but still unimportant in the real world, especially when N is large. I'd also like some evidence that the dogs sampled accurately reflected their breeds. I can imagine, for example, that the difference between field and bench Labs might be greater than the difference between Labs and Goldies.

One issue that hasn't been made explicit : do you want a watch dog (will alert bark, but not threatening) or a guard dog (will scare people, may or may not be trained for protection). I personally avoid rottis, Malanois, GSDs, cattle dogs, etc because they scare people just by breed reputation. Also, dog aggression is fairly common with the guarding dog breeds. You may or may not find this a good thing.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/300136566/kiwi-dogs-eat-70000-possums-in-a-year-demand-for-pest-pet-food-grows Somehow I don't think Possy-yum brand will sell so well in Oz.