SparkyTansy

wow nevafollo they are gorgeous puppies - congrats Also congrats to you poocow!! poor Smisch - fingers crossed something for you soon!!

wow well done!!!

Verspa (Versatile Spaniel) Verjig (Versatile Jig - I always think cockers do a jig!) Versniel Versel Jorma/Jormad/Jorel/Joreline/Jadel/Jaline Have you tried some Gaelic words? Croith = Wag ildanach = versatile deach = duel (as in duel title) corraigh = excite (also means irritate though!) suairc = Merry leim = jump/leap my brain hurts now!

Oh that makes sense now, I understood that there was 2 genes from Mirawee said, but I didn't understand how they work together...now I know lol So is this possible, homozygous black bitch, if bred to yellow, can she produce yellow pups? I think... yes... if she is a Homozygous (black) bitch she can still carry yellow so she'd be EeBB. if she's mated to a yellow (ee) she could produce yellow pups but she would not be able to produce liver pups. If she was a heterozygous (EeBb) black bitch, depending on the yellow sire, she could produce choc and yellow (if the sire was a yellow with heterozygous black gene) I think... lol

the confusing part is as mirawee said, that it is on two genes... yellow (which can mask black/choc) and the black/choc gene. If the yellow gene didnt exist, it would be a case of remembering that black is dominant to chocolate. You can have three different possibilities then, Homozygous Black (black dog, not carrier for choc - BB), Heterozygous Black (Black dog, Choc carrier - Bb) and Homozygous Choc (chocolate dog - bb). When you introduce the yellow gene, the presence or non-presence of the yellow gene (Ee or ee) dictates whether you will see the black or chocolate. a chocolate dog cannot carry black, because chocolate is bb, but it can carry yellow (Ee). In this case MG Gibbs' granddam being black would have been black carrying chocolate and maybe yellow, and Gibbs' mum being chocolate would have the bb which could never produce black unless the sire carried the black gene, in this case, Gibbs' father, who is yellow masking the black gene (eeBB)

Wow you poor tings SS... how frustrating for you!! have you got some info so that we could help you out with some more ideas? names/places/breed... first dog names? how about Polytycs :laugh:

Awwwww gorgeous I vote for the second from the right :D The one without a head in the first picture? I can't pick coz you can't see them well enough I will wait until I see photos once they can walk :p And then I will let the breeder decide anyway ;) I'm just surprised they aren't marked or have collars! I could only tell 3/6 without their ribbons on (two because of white chest markings and 1 because it was a girl!)

mirawee!! Well explained :)

Pups are very cute Mirawee!! I couldn't pick they are all too cute. :)

I hope it all goes well and that she is pregnant!! sounds as though you had some successful ties!!

I picked the English Setter breed out of a book when I was 8. I did research and tried to meet as many as I could, and finally when I could have my own (19) I was ready for an ES. In saying that now I have two Weims and two ES, I have found the Weim to be more suitable at the moment, and my OH prefers them, so it's quite possible I'll end up with more Weims in the future, but the ES will always be my fave. I have had weims since I was 8 as they are my mum's favourite breed.

I recommend you look for Labs that are titled in retrieving, perhaps contact the Retrieving club in your state to see if they can recommend a breeder who works their dogs.

Unfortunately, the most commonly bred ES in Australia are from showlines, and some of them do not have quite the instinct that their field bred cousins do. ES do show interest in birds at a young age but if not worked or encouraged they can lose that fairly quickly. Most of the competitive field work done has setters from field lines and while you can train and work a show line setter they have neither the speed or the drive to work the birds as successfully as the field lines. There is also very little opportunity to do any field work unless you are willing to head out to the middle of no where to find birds, and in victoria to do it competitively you must be willing to shoot. Some ES will retrieve but it's not their original function and many do not. I would suggest as a starting point look a bit more into field work and if when you get your pup it doesn't show much instinct, look into tracking, where the dog uses its nose to track human scent along the ground - a little different to field work but still working that brain and their instinct to follow scent. As an aside my youngest boy loved to "set" flies when he was younger. He could spend up to 10 minutes stalking a fly and times when his nose would be a CM away from the fly without attempting to catch it. was always a laugh.

I don't think that there is any breed of dog out there that i can look at and not see the beauty in them. There are breeds that I probably wouldn't have but I will probably look at an individual of that breed and think it's cute. In saying that though, whilst at a dog show the other day walking through the minefield of chihuahuas in their trolleys, while they were throwing themselves at the sides, growling and barking, whilst their owners laughed, and the large breed I was walking ignored them completely and gave off no body language that should induce such aggression, well that changed my mind a little about that breed. They were "less cute" that night...

The fact is many dogs, regardless of "temperament" do freak out at storms/fireworks. I do agree that measures need to be taken to minimise the chances. Depending on breed, some will find their way home in normal circumstances (if they don't get hit by cars etc) but if they do escape in panic, they may not be able to. Make sure your dog has collar and ID tag and is microchipped. If he is registered with council, he will also have his rego tag. Some can be trained not to go out the gate if left open, but you cannot rely on that as some temptations may prove too much. Dogs with sound temperaments take hardly any notice of storms and fireworks. Some dogs will bark at the noise or take shelter somewhere safe but they should never be panicked. It is not normal for them to freak out and try to escape. Breeders need to make sure they don't breed from dogs that do freak out in these circumstances as it is a very serious temperament fault and makes them very hard to live with. The best defence against dogs getting out is to have sound, jump proof fences and secure gates and doors. Whilst I agree that it can be a temperament issue that is genetic this isn't always the case. My bitch was perfectly fine with storms until she got a fright during a major storm one day where we were outside and a huge clap of thunder was right above us (scared the crap out of me too! I was standing in a puddle of water bathing a dog!). She's been nervous of storms since. While she was a quivering wreck in last nights storms, her daughter was perfectly fine and slept right through.

Maybe what you put across to the breeder was that you were responsible enough and that she might trust you with one of her beloved puppies on the main register to breed with (under co-ownership and her guidance). Maybe because you mentioned you were interested in breeding that she thought she was doing something positive by making that offer and maybe that it might get you interested in doing things the right way with your dog. To think that she would have sold you this puppy with your agreement to not breed, only to say that there shouldn't be anything wrong with wanting to "carry on his line" (hence breeding him later to some unknown, without the breeder knowing) sends shivers down my spine. What was offered to you was very reasonable. I think that by saying that you were uncomfortable with the arrangement was also reasonable however obviously this pup was too good to let go to a pet home, hence offering you your money back, because she had nothing else to sell to you.

yes I just heard that on the radio too!! I do like storms, but I was crapping myself driving to work - all i could see was massive bolts behind me driving down Roe. Apparently the three only sustained minor injuries and all were ok, I think. We had a big crash around 9am too - apparently it hit our other building on our lot. I hope my house isn't torn apart by Ari when I get home!!

washa when the season starts they train on Saturdays I think at the Gnangara pine plantation, but see below that post apparently they will also be doing some training south of the river this year.

it's quite bad now in Welshpool, although it looked as though it was coming from the south. Ari is scared in storms she woke me up at 2am Lulu, on the other hand, insisted I play ball with her outside during the thunder last night... thank goodness she hasn't picked up Ari's fear of storms!!

This is fantastic news!! I was planning on giving tracking another go this year with Ari, as last year she was on motherly duties for most of the tracking season! however like RS, it's a time thing...I've committed myself to a fair bit with Lulu this year, but I'm going to try and get the tracking in with Ari.

I gave them the recipe I used for their puppy glop, and what was given in combination with that... however I raised my pups on raw and kibble because I knew that some only wanted to feed kibble. I also told them that it was really their own choice what diet they fed, but made recommendations if they decided on kibble. I also purchased a book on feeding raw "real food for dogs and cats" which I gave them in their puppy pack.

know how you feel waiting Mirawee! I waited around 18 months for spartan and about the same for James...

Kelpie :) Bitch apparently has milk and was nesting last night :) I haven't heard anything yet today though... isn't that just cruel!?! Such a tease! Maybe it's a sign things are happening though. My pups whelped on my dads birthday.. needless to say he didnt get a phone call until quite late that evening.

I'm sure that is just the headline, I'm sure it wasn't meant to offend past winners...

I'm not sure what I'm up to this weekend CC besides a dog show on Saturday night... I might head to the beach at some point but it won't be planned if I go... might see you down there if that is where you are headed!