sandgrubber

I agree. There was a fad for 'rare silver Labradors' and a few corrupt breeders pawning off Weimerarner cross pups with pedigrees, probably faked, of no particular distinction for mega bucks. That's also pretty standard in markets, hence the well known maxim 'buyer beware'. It's worth warning people off snake oil salesmen (or women). But $1800 vs $1200 with a long wait or $1200 with no particular distinction in the pedigree is bugger-all difference. If Guy isn't raising his prices when he has a long wait list he is either a man of principle or an idiot, depending on whether you accept market principles or laud people for putting principles before economics. I'm a breeder. I would gladly pay $600 more to avoid the ugly Laboratory Rat look of pink eye rings and nose that sometimes go with choco labs. Hell, I'd pay $2000 more for a fantastic pup. Beats the $8k plus and misery of quarantine for importing the equivalent. In some cases, Sandgrubber, cynicism is justified. Outside of your breed, blue Staffords are a case in point. Twice or even three times the price of another coloured SBT for a blue.. no imports involved either. People are paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars extra for a colour. Not a better quality dog, just colour. We all know there are breeders out there whose dogs never darken a show ring and who are making money hand over fist by riding the wave of popularity generated by people who often don't understand that by insisting on a particular colour, they are compromising on almost all other aspects of their pup. Some of those breeders are listed here.. no titles on the dogs, pups advertised with colour as the prominent feature and some damned ordinary dogs used to produce the pups. There will always be exceptional breeders who choose to focus on developing and improving a particular feature of a breed. The trick is trying to steer puppy buyers away from the profiteers and towards the pioneers. The penalty is, as you suggest, long waiting times. And some folk just won't wait.

Amusing. When someone says pedigree dogs cost too much everyone comes on saying that the initial purchase price of a dog is almost immaterial compared to the long term costs of good care. But when some breeder charges a few hundred dollars more than they do, or their friends do, everyone gets judgemental. Blackboy has been charging $1600 for chocos, pet or show, for some time. Long wait list. It's a market, guys. People who are investing to try and produce the best shouldn't get finger wags for charging what the market will bare. If the purchaser wants a cheaper choco pup, they will find one eventually . . . may mean a longer wait or a lesser quality. I'll bet that there will be a long wait list for chocos at Driftway, both show and pet quality. Economics 101 teaches that when stocks are low and delivery times are long, prices rise. One reason that we aren't producing enough pedigree dogs is that prices are often low and do now adequately reward the breeder for the expenses and time involved in raising a quality pup. If more people found they could go to, say, part time employment to spend more time with their dogs . .. and produce four or five litters a year out of well-cared for dogs . . . I think the supply problem for pedigree dogs would resolve itself.

I would consider a thermostatic for a thin coated breed in winter. Otherwise I'd go home made. With Labbies I find that the bitch generally HATES added heat, which does more harm than the heat does good. If it's cold, I find localised heating by a lamp or heating pad is preferable. I make simple boxes, with no floor, that are built to be unscrewed and stacked as four flat boards. I use waterproof plywood, which is easy to work with and will withstand washing.

sorry . . . I didn't mean to imply you didn't know what you were talking about. You obviously do and are trying to do the right thing by your dog(s)

Interesting. Where did your stats come from? I don't know where you find statistics on dog ownership by breed or how you conclude there are 4.5 million APBT's in the US. dontbullymybreed.org says the pit bull WAS the most popular breed in the US in the first half of the 20th century . . . but gives no references. They also say Pittis are extremely common in some places, eg, Chicago. I was born and raised in the US and lived there for about 45 years. I met a lot of dogs. Not many APBT's however. According to the AKC the Labrador is the most popular breed, topping registrations of any other breed by around a factor of two. Next most popular is the GSD, followed by (surprise to me) the Yorkshire Terrier. Btw. Yes I do have a thing about the Filo, partly from having spent time in Brazil, but mostly because, in the reading I've done on dog temperament, the Filo is the most extreme breed in the extent to which, by breed standard in its country of origin, dogs are expected to be hostile to unfamiliar people. If you can find another breed where pups are expected to snarl at strangers by 12 weeks, or where biting the judge at a dog show is acceptable, I'll be happy to add that breed to my personal list of breeds I think should be prohibited from import. I am against BSL in most cases, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. An import ban on a breed selected for HA is prevention.

Rubric, do you have any links for ataxia in dogs? Our mobile vet once told me that an elderly husky who was staying with us looked like he had ataxia . . . never heard of it otherwise. A quick web search finds it as a human disease, and doesn't indicate it's genetic. p.s. hope it's not offensive to be curious about something that may be a grave problem for your dog. Apologies in advance if it is.

incorrect. The breed standard puts liver and chocolate on the same line as alternative names for the same colour. I don't like 'liver' cause I never know whether it's supposed to be a rich bloody colour like raw liver or a grey colour like a Wiemerarner. They're technically Liver - I guess that'd be enough to put most people off

WA is said to stand for 'wait awhile' but it also stands for pay a lot. Everybody overcharges around here. Gripe gripe gripe grump grump grump.

You want WELLBRED purebreed dog. If you know what you like in a dog, the breed is a good way of predicting what the cute puppy will end out to be. The WELLBRED is important, cause all breeders aren't equal. Ask questions. Find out what you can about health problems of the breed, and whether or not the breeders you talk to do adequate testing. Ask about the temperament of sire and dam . . . a fair portion of temperament is hereditary. A good breeder is selling a registered and to some extent guaranteed product, backed by a family tree. If you don't buy pedigree, you're likely to end out with no guarantee, and no evidence for health or temperament . . . . and you may end up with a dog that is NOTHING like what you thought your were buying. I have a few boarders in my boarding kennel whose owners went to the petshop thinking they were buying a small breed and have ended out with very large dogs.

If you can get a choco with Ch and RRD scattered around both sides of the pedigree for less than $1800 you're doing very well. I generally find choco litters are sold out before they are born if I bother to list on DOL. Nothing wrong with going to the National . . . but the demand for chocos is so strong that you'll find lots of competition to get a pup. Note, my girls tend to have 10 pups. I tend to get a few calls a day when I list an upcoming litter, even if/when I list the price at $1500 for a choco. In part this is regional. But if you want a good choco pup from one of the breeders who doesn't discriminate by colour, expect to spend some time on a wait list. I don't know why puppy buyers care so much about colour, but they do. And a lot of people are on the wait for chocos. For this breed Alfie, I'd be interested in a breeder who puts titles on the front end (show) or back end (performance) of their dog's name. With such a capable breed, there are breeders around who do both! If you have a particular purpose or sport in mind for your dog, then a breeder with dogs with runs on the board for that is also a good bet. There are breeders who produce chocolate pups who tick all those boxes.

Personally, I call them a dog garrote. But only because I think a prong collar gives clearer feedback to the dog. Cruelty is a frame of mind. You can be cruel with most any training device. Sensitive people are only cruel by accident, out of ignorance. You're not likely to do that. And many dogs come fine, despite a little 'true' cruelty. Unfortunately, lots of people don't give a hoot about their dog's welfare. Doesn't sound like you're part of that problem. I was having a laugh about that the other day with a friend, it's gone from a choke or strangle collar, to a check chain to a correction collar, when people start feeling bad about this name I'd like to know what they'll change it to next Not intended to make the OP feel bad, at the end of the day the device is still the same, you'll either feel bad about it or not, changing the name wont change your feelings

I doubt there's a single answer, as lots of microbes might find woolly feet a good environment. If one thing doesn't work, try something else. My favorite 'kill all microbes' solution is chlorohexidine . ..unlike peroxide, it won't burn, unlike iodine/betadine, it doesn't stain. It's the primary ingredient in the stuff doctors and vets use to sterilise thermometers. I got a bottle from a dentist who wanted me to use it as a gargle but it tastes like toxic waste. Sure is good for sterilising things, though.

Call the manufacturer or the store you bought it from. Btw, you can buy a new one for $220 from whelpingsupplies.com.au That is assuming you have RTFM'd. These days you can usually find the f'ing manual online. Just google the manufacturer.

Deaf puppies often compensate remarkably well. It's common for deafness to go unrecognised until the dog is a year to two years old, and it clicks with the owner that the dog may be disobeying voice commands because it can't hear. Dogs pay a lot of attention to body language . . . deaf dogs often get sit, stay, etc. from inadvertent body language, and in general are quick to learn hand signals. The problems come when the dog is at distance and may not be looking your direction. Also, deaf dogs are in more danger of getting run over and MUST be kept away from roads. Not that any dog should be allowed to wander onto a road. You may not find you have to do anything special . . . other than not blaming the dog for not understanding voice commands and making double sure it doesn't wander. (Based on experience with placing a Lab pup whose deafness wasn't recognised until he was two, and talking to a lot of people and reading what I could find at the time in effort to help the owners. I ended out providing them with a second dog to serve as a 'hearing ear' for their first dog. A deaf dog will often learn to rely on another dog to make up for its own lack of hearing).

So, what's new. The RSPCA here puts you on a long, long wait list if you want to turn your dog over for rehoming. That's just a polite way of saying, 'go elsewhere, we're full to capacity'. If they are full to capacity, that may be the right thing to do.

Lacote has spent, literally, hundreds of thousands of dollars importing dogs from the US and elsewhere and has definite opinions of the type he admires. If you like that type and have the money, I would say, go ahead. Chocos are selling for $1500 standard in WA and I think in many other urban areas. They are not rare, but they do cost more to breed, as, at least in WA, it always means doing AI and stud fees are often higher. Lots of breeders are using the dogs from Lacote these days. I think it is legit for someone who has made a major investment improving the breed to charge a premium. There are a handful of people working hard to improve the quality of chocolate Labs in Australia . . . historically there have been a lot of chocos with health, temperament, and/or conformation problems. In the US, UK, and Canada, and to some extent, Canada, work on breeding excellent chocos is much advanced. Breeding for colour is fine so long as your are not breeding for colour at the cost of health, temperament or conformation. Black is the original and dominant colour for Labs. We have yellows only through a century of breeding for colour . . . and I'd say the standard of yellows is as good as that for blacks. I see nothing wrong with bringing the choco up to the same standard and using the fact that people are lining up to buy chocolate pups even at a premium price to pay for the extra cost of working with a colour where, at this point, high quality often requires use of a distant, often imported, dog. It will not be done without a few people spending big bucks importing quality dogs (and occasionally bitches).

+2 If you want to mininise aggression, work to get them to like one another . . . walking as a group is a good exercise. Separation often increases aggression. In boarding kennels I often find that dogs will fence fight in a most annoying way until I open the gate between two yards, and then they just ignore eachother or the aggression turns to play. + 1

I've been scratching my head as I read these posts, wondering if we've all been deceived by the so-called 'premium' dog food lines. I don't think we know enough to answer. The stories in this thread raise questions . . . .but it would be useful to know about all the dogs that were raised on cheap biscuits and scraps that didn't live to a ripe old age before coming to conclusions. I'd guess, on average, the long lived dogs discussed in this thread were born 20 or more years ago. At that time I'd guess there were a lot fewer options for dogfood, a lot less hype to buy the expensive stuff, and a lot fewer people pushing natural/wholistic diet for dogs. So the stories don't tell us much about which diet is healthier.

I've been told that dogs secrete something that smells a bit like corn chips between their toes . . . it apparently serves some sort of appeasement function in dog communication. My dog trainer/friend told me this . .. I think she learned it in NDTF classes. I wouldn't bother trying to wash it off . . . just stop smelling your dog's feet if you don't like the smell.

How tragic. Poor everyone. I agree on trying again with Petplan. If they are offering six weeks free insurance, but no coverage for the first three weeks, they're being pretty deceptive . .. and perhaps the pro-Petplan position taken by many on this forum should be reconsidered.

The 21 yr old scotty that used to live next door was fed supermarket food and table scraps throughout his life.

All my dogs are chipped and registered with an Australian microchip registry. What happens if I go to the USA? Can I get the chips scanned and enter the data on a North American microchip registry? For that matter, what happens if you import a dog into Oz? Does the European or US chip number get transferred to the Australian registry?

If you're friends with any local breeders, a lot of us keep a stash of Clavulox (or Amoxiclav). If you're in a dairy area, you might look for a large animal vet rather than the usual . . . they know LOTS about mastitis.

Yes, breeds are changing, as is the mix of breeds. I have Labbies. I think the breed is popular because Labbies are usually low aggression and good with people . . . easy dogs to live with. In the days when retrieving was more important and dogs were valued for retrieving, selection was for dogs with strong drive and good endurance. With more pups going as pets, the pressure to select for drive is off, and more laid-back temperament is often perferred. It's easy to find Labs who won't retrieve . . . and you occasionally find one who doesn't even like to swim. Sure, some of this comes from training . . . but you will also find it runs in certain lines . . . even when the breeder who has the stud dog does retrieving and values working dogs. Early in the century, I doubt that a dog who hated water would have much of a career as a stud . . . however good his conformation. . . . especially if he threw pups who disliked water. I'd be interested to hear the equivalent story from a SBT breeder. Staffies and Labs are more or less tied for numbers of pedigree registrations in Australia. Seems to me that the Australian staffie is much more of a larrikin and much less tough than the SBTs found in Europe and the US. I'd guess there has been breeding down of the fighting nature and bringing out the waggy comic aspects that make the SBT such an endearing breed.

Wondai. Wondia in which state? If it's in QLD , no help here. If it's Wondai WA, that's just down the street and I might have some way to help. PLEASE mention what state when posting on DOL. Lots of states have places with the same name.