SparkyTansy

would they wash out amber/yellow eyes really? I suppose there are varying degrees of coloured eyes in weimaraners but they are all amber or yellowish.

And this is where a line should be drawn... removing colours from the gene pool for fear of BYBs is obviously a bad thing, but to lose a colour from the chessie gene pool imo is like taking away a section of their history. If the colour is banned, I'd say it'd be more likely to be a risk of being a BYB if someone got hold of some - just like what happened with the blue weimaraner - a disqualifying fault in the standard, and rediculous numbers being bred in the US, and this has now spread to the UK and Europe.

Bub not everything bad relates back to colour but in this instance with the dilute gene and it's thoughts of related issues to dilution alopecia and other skin issues then this is one of the things that would... Just like PF says the issue that might crop up in your pale goldens might be lack of working ability... or it could be something far more sinister health wise. The message here is that breeding for one thing and not taking into account anything else is the easiest path to end up with some kind of issue or health problem.

Weak stab in dark.. modes of inheritance of coat length might be linked to thryroid efficency. gotcha

I guess you can look at the issue being related back to poor breeding practices... the higher the incidence of the colour being bred as a fashion and in more recent times (such as that of the blue stafford), the more likely it's going to have poor skin health, because the desire to breed out the problem is far less among far more "breeders" who do not look for or test for skin issues. Dilution allopecia can be quite rare in some breeds, such as the weimaraner, where every dog is a dilute. Perhaps the issue was discovered early when the breed was being developed but steps were taken to minimise the risk of dogs breeding who had skin issues. The care taken in developing this breed may not take place among many breeders who are breeding specifically for the dilute gene. ST, the Weimy people can clarify this but my understanding is that Weims in countries that accept the Longhairs in their standards have fewer issues with thyroid than in countries where they don't... different genes I suppose in the LHs. True PF there seems to be more issues with weims in the US than anywhere else. They have far more indiscriminate breeders breeding for a "blue" weimaraner also The germans did take a while to accept the LH though... and have strict breeding and registration practices for LH to SH matings... Although, i don't really see what the LH vs SH has to do with the dilute gene? (sory if i missed something )

I guess you can look at the issue being related back to poor breeding practices... the higher the incidence of the colour being bred as a fashion and in more recent times (such as that of the blue stafford), the more likely it's going to have poor skin health, because the desire to breed out the problem is far less among far more "breeders" who do not look for or test for skin issues. Dilution allopecia can be quite rare in some breeds, such as the weimaraner, where every dog is a dilute. Perhaps the issue was discovered early when the breed was being developed but steps were taken to minimise the risk of dogs breeding who had skin issues. The care taken in developing this breed may not take place among many breeders who are breeding specifically for the dilute gene.

Thanks guys ;) Corvus perhaps you should change the name of this thread to the Reactive dogs support thread ;)

Of course you can! ;) omg the music from the bit in the wizard of oz just popped into my head - the bit where the mean lady witch steals toto. to the OP i suggest you do a bit more research into breeders of your chosen breed... find one you are happy with, get a cost and wait while puppy is born, rather than purchasing one NOW on a budget of X and (particularly if it's poorly bred) end up with health problems later.

Me too - until I started to play "who's that?" from Click to Calm. Basically, as soon as the dog looks at something that MAY trigger them, while they are still relaxed (ie you have nanoseconds) say "who's that" in a happy voice and shove a treat into their mouth. After a few goes, your dog will look at you when they see a trigger, and both you and the dog remain calm. I love the 'Look at that' game from Control Unleashed which is a similar concept. Works well with my reactive dogs. That is saying something! It's great with my fearful reactive dogs (who are predictable), and I also use it with my low threshold prey-driven dog when she spots birds etc. I believe this would work better on my more unpredictable boy, who is relaxed the majority of the time but tends to react when the object is close... my other reactor though, as in as soon as something is seen at a distance, she is on high alert, so her initial reaction is being alert and therefore no longer calm. how would this game be moulded to work it around her behaviour?

Monah I have found this to be the case with me as well - i become anxious no matter how hard I try not to be and of course that doesn't help the situation at all!

next week RS I promise!!!

I have two reactive dogs... one is fairly unpredictable in behaviour a fair bit of the time, but i am aware of some triggers. The other is fairly predictable.

Hmmmmm decided not to go tonight now miss valley can't make it and I now have a headache!!! we wno't be much fun at training so we shall stay home until next week!!

mira i'm sorry about Robi, but I am sure you are doing the very best for him. i know how hard it can be having a couple of dogs that don't get along... i'm lucky that my three get along so beautifully... but mostly I am pretty sure that Ari keeps my boys in line, and the boys have had a couple of Tiffs before when James was going throguh his "im becoming a man" changes. Valley you will certainly miss Lincoln I will too!! but I am sure he will have a great time learning all that retrieving and showing against the big guns in the east... and hopefully you'll have something to brag about while he is there!! I'm a bit excited about tonight... it's been so long since I've trained Spartan except in the back yard (so no laughing please!) so it should be an interesting learning curve for both of us!! I'm expecting a lot of drool, and a lot of slow walking.

Emery there are people who use blue take i think, but there are a fair few velcro dots on the sides too! if you get some velcro dots that will work. People also put up sheets behind - not sure on size, but if you do that then you may want to get some bulldog clips and some pins to pin up your ribbons

Emery there are people who use blue take i think, but there are a fair few velcro dots on the sides too! if you get some velcro dots that will work. People also put up sheets behind - not sure on size, but if you do that then you may want to get some bulldog clips and some pins to pin up your ribbons

Gorgeous Cruise i miss seeing him around

Reply is in the other thread about Rally O. I will bring the colour signs so you can laminate them ST. It's the full set (57 signs) but we can always start by laminating just the novice signs so your boss dosen't go mad. :D If I do get to host Lincoln's sire in Feb it probably won't be an exchange so you might have to help me handle one! There is a link on the DogzOnline Home Page about special sashes. *squee* on another note, ari won't stop putting her mangy ball in my lap!

I think there are only 3 left in australia... PM weiz4eva she has one of the only ones left...

I'd reply with the basics, but let them know you have no pups at the moment. That way, if they are genuine, at least you haven't left them with a bad impression...

nice one vCBR I'll get the signs laminated if you can give them to me on Monday? A Chessie exchange hey? I'm a bit excited!

Hey RS, you get to meet my tri boy soon i hope - we are considering Rally-o and i'll probably be training with him soon to see if it's something we might like to pursue.. then you'll get the chance to see an English Setter that is too smart for his own good!!

gees you guys i am away for a day or so and you rack up three pages!!! all this puppy news and new dog sports and chocolate cake i can hardly keep up!! but... going back three pages or so, if RS is going to cross over to the dark side and start showing, she's going to do it with one of these..

that is really sad RnH What a shame you can't have your own selection Rach! Back when i was doing TAFE (Swan days!) it was different subjects (what is the cert you are studying for?). i did Cert II in Animal care part time... i covered subjects like care of dogs and cats and some kind of genetics subject. If they offer you a genetics subject, i highly recommend it. SO interesting! Also, the lecturer for care of dogs and cats was a Goldy breeder... but i have no idea who it was. She was from the UK but that's all i remember! Ths was back befoe the days of me knowing about showing stuff!

double post