Carolk9s

He's a very unique and pretty boy! Too bad no one has adopted him yet, I would think because of his special looks he would have found a home. Another reason why its so important to spay and neuter even most purebreds, as long as shelters are forced to kill animals to make room for more, there are few good reasons to breed.

[quote name='Kiger']I don't see how it would matter which registry you use for agility if the events are similar. I don't know much about it, but aren't the same skills required across the registries?[/quote] er, yes and no. Basic skills are the same but beyond novice, AKC is more about speed and obstacle discrimanation, UKC is more about control and some very different types of obstacles. At this time UKC still does not have weave poles in Novice, AKC now does.

I'm not sure I understand why UKC is considered a 'sham' registration? Now there's a lot I don't know because I am not involved in conformation showing in any way. I know of many Belgian owners whose dogs are dual titled in AKC and UKC. I have watched Belgian judging at a UKC show, I felt the scrutiny was more more pronounced and I really like the assisted animation part. The UKC judges also write a critique of each dog, at least in Belgians, not sure about other breeds. So at the end, you have written details what the judge liked about your dog and what they perhaps did not like or felt was lacking. When I decided to register Jesse with the UKC, I provided AKC registration info, otherwise I would have had to register him as a mixed breed or provide detailed photos. I only registered him with UKC so we could do UKC agility. Perhaps the feeling that UKC is a less than desirable registry is why some people will only do AKC agility with their dogs, some actually look down a bit on UKC agility. Heck, it's all about having fun and bonding with your dog to me.

Marble, I compared the price for Frontline Plus at Petshed.com to the price of regular Frontline at Healthypets.com They are almost exactly the same. Healthypets.com charges more for Frontline Plus than Petshed.com I compared the 6 dose pack for dogs between 23-44 lbs. I have dealt with Healthypets and have been VERY satisfied but they are more expensive if you want Frontline Plus as opposed to Frontline. I still use regular Frontline personally.

THANK YOU ROWIE! 8)

Why HF the answer is really quite simple! Find the perfect puppy, groom and show for conformation, get his/her championship by the time he/she is 18 months old, get an obedience title or two, shave the coat and start your agility career!

I do not believe that a dog MUST be a conformation champion in order to be worthy of breeding. Depends a lot on that breeds conformation standards. I also think there are far too many breed champions that have been bred that should not be in any breeding program. In many working breeds, there are specific lines bred for work and the dogs NEVER see the inside of a conf. ring. The Belgian Malinois is one example, there are top notch working dogs that would be all but dismissed from the breed ring. OK, a stray thought just popped into my head, I do have to wonder if these high drive hard working Mals could/would herd sheep or ducks without putting them through the fence or worse. Now I have to pose this question to the BELG-L list!

And BTW, who could resist those adorable puppy eyes! Very cute!

I start training as soon as the pup/dog is in my life! Of course it is age specific training, short and sweet sessions multiple times each day. Learning to walk on leash, learning to sit, learning to stay, learning what no means, etc. Everything is positive, reward based so pup decides learning is a fun thing and not stressful. Teaching a pup to stay and/or wait is too important to put off, even if stays are just a few seconds to start off with. Learning to wait at an open door can save a pups life. Everything is gentle and lessons are kept very short, 3-5 minutes working up to perhaps 10 minutes over time. Even learning what NO means should be a rewarding lesson, pup looks away or turns away from the no situation and gets immediately rewarded. No's of course are no you must not chew on dangerous things that we must have forgot to block you from but will remedy right away, no you may not chew my fingers to the bone, no your head does not belong in the refrigerator, no you must not touch the hot stove with your nose. So go ahead and start teaching your little girl some of life's lessons!

Geez I so UN-fashionably late on this! Egg, welcome back! I too have been wondering about you and Duck and thinking where DID they run off too! So how is Texas treating you?

I too don't care much for the method of that trainer to encourage a dog to react. I would worry about encouraging inappropriate aggression in this dog. Barking will come in time. Jesse did not really 'alarm' bark until I moved to Richmond, he was about 2.5 then. One day this guy parked his truck at my curb and was walking across my yard to knock on the door. Had windows open since it was a nice day. I could barely collect myself to tell the guy no thanks didn't want to buy beef from him as I was marveling at Jesse. He was up on the couch, staring out the window, growling very deeply and VERY seriously. woo hoo my baby was grown! Now he barks and growls FAR too much, I tell him those nice people pushing the baby stroller have EVERY right to walk around the neighborhood.

[quote name='Kiger']I find it hard to believe that Missouri has a demand for any kind of dog seeing how it is the puppymill capitol of the world. And as much as I hate to refer you back to Petfinder, you will notice that there are 8549 labs listed on it. [/quote] I agree Kiger, I am also going to say, I've had doubts about this poster from the start but wanted badly to keep an open mind. I must admit my doubts are growing. Perhaps they are not as they seem.

I think you should spay her. As soon as possible. Think of all the labs looking for homes or being sold for $50-$100 a pup because someone wanted 'just one litter'. I am NOT trying to flame you or sound like I am jumping down your throat about this. Labs are HUGELY overbred, while most make good pets, some make good hunting dogs, some good show dogs, far too many simply make it to shelters and pounds and all to often, to the disposal room. Sorry if that sounds blunt but you must understand the truth and if you are going to assist in creating life, you must take every precaution to help create a healthy living being that will be loved and looked out for all it's life. If you decide you simply must breed her, will you be having her hips x-rayed to check for hip dysplasia? If her hips are less than excellent, will you breed her anyway? How about the male? Will you require that his hips also be x-rayed? Will you accept a male that has less than excellent (or even good) hips? Do you have any idea how painful, debilitating and life shortening hip dysplasia can be for a dog? This is just ONE of the many genetic tests you should do before deciding to breed two dogs together. How about having her eyes CERF'd? The males too? How about having her elbows x-rayed along with the hips? There are other genetic faults present in labs that you should test for, why would anyone possibly want to breed puppies that may grow up with health conditions that will cause them distress, pain, and a possibly far shortened life span? What if those puppies are then bred as well, just to have one litter? Well I could go on but I hope you will read this with an open mind, perhaps read it a second time as well. There are many things in life that we CAN do, there is a percentage of those things we should NOT do.

What do your dogs like to do for fun? You mean besides shed on the carpet, drool on the floor, dig in the yard, and basically annoy me? 8) They like to cuddle up close and give me sweet doggy kisses, especially at 3am. ok, I'll be serious, though they do seriously shed etc etc. My dogs LIVE to go for rides in the van. Riding in the van takes them to the doggie off leash park, it takes them to the agility practice place, it takes them to Petsmart, it takes them to Grandmas. If I have work to do in the front yard and would like the dogs out there with me, all I have to do is open the side door of the van, all 3 will charge out the front door, pile into the van, and wait for me to take them somewhere.

Candy flunked the CGC test too! She did beautifully in exercises 1-9. The 10th exercise was supervised separation from me, that's is what failed her. She actually behaved better than expected, no crying or jerking the leash, she jumped up onto the person holding her leash twice seeking reassurance. Its funny, the lady was so nice about it, said she was not allowed to speak to Candy and she felt sure if she had Candy would have been fine. I do think it's rather stupid, if I have to ask anyone to hold her leash for me, they would most likely speak to her. Anyway, perhaps we will try again someday, her confidence has grown a bit tho she is still clingy to me at times.

Way to go Kato!! Huge congrats to you both! I agree with your breeder, Kato will be a well rounded champion with a title on the 'other' end as well! Either obedience or agility, having his CGC would not hurt at all either. You could train him for obedience and special him in conformation until you are ready for ob. trials. If you are not interested in obedience, a class of it would lay some nice foundation for an agility career, much more enjoyable in my opinion.

I have not read this entirely yet but wanted to share the link right away. This LONG article discusses vaccination protocols as they are continuing to evolve. [url]http://www.dogs4sale.com.au/AAHA_Special_Report.htm[/url]

Sometimes my trips to MD to visit Mom are very spur of the moment! Depending on the weather, I might be up in MD the weekend of July 4th. I have not been to the Howard Co. Fairgrounds in a couple of years, maybe I'll get up there to see that show.

I wasn't at the show, I was in MD that weekend. Have you shown at the Warrenton KC grounds? I'll be up there on Saturday, June 7th for the Mattaponi agility trials. BTW, that photo is stunning, Kato is a beauty and looks very much like the champion he will no doubt be very soon.

Congrats Kiger and Kato! Good for you, taking BOB and getting a major! Is the photo from the Mattaponi KC show at the Prince William Fairgrounds?

Silly me, I forgot to say, around here we can also get the lattice panels in wood, they are much cheaper but are not flexible like the pvc and will rot and splinter over time. Probably just over 1/2 the cost of pvc but not nearly as durable.

Perhaps your dad would let you and help you put up a smaller fenced area instead of fencing the entire yard. Do you have any idea if stores, probably hardware stores, carry the pvc lattice panels in your area? Here I can get either 2x8 feet or 4x8 feet pieces. The 2x8 ft pieces run between $7 to $8 US dollars each here. It would be fairly simple to purchase say, 8 pieces of 2x8 plastic/pvc lattice, set them up so that Ben has an area 8 ft wide and 24 ft long to exercise in. Simply put one 2x8 panel at each end and 3 along each side. You can always add more panels to increase the width or length of this run. Something you can step over or simply put Ben in. If Ben likes to chase the ball, he could get a good exercise session with you tossing the ball for him. You would need to drive at least lightweight stakes into the ground and lash or tie the pvc panels to the stakes. You can then secure the ends of each and the corners to each other with cable ties or even light nylon rope. Now I would not suggest this for unsupervised use as Ben might get bored and dig his way out. I'm also assuming Ben does not jump over things easily. Not a very portable solution unless there's room for them in the car. The length being the trickiest part in transport. I am probably the PVC queen of the neighborhood, I have found SO many uses for the lattice panels, fence off parts of the yards, surround my peony plant so it did not get trampled, I also have made many agility obstacles using pvc pipe and bits of lattice.

When you say the loop is closer to the clip, is it the kind that has two hand loops? One at the end farthest from the clip and another down close to the clip? If so, this MAY be more leash than you need, I assume it was more expensive than a regular nylon leash with one clip and one loop. I'm not sure if you would use this type in puppy class, would this be puppy good manners/obedience class or puppy show class? The leash that has the extra loop closer to the clip does have it purpose though I have not personally used one. If you have a large dog, it can help with extra 'control' in situations where the dog might be intent on moving forward and you want a firm grip on the leash. Then again, a regular leash will accomplish the same thing when used properly. Did you get the heavy duty leash from Petsmart or another local pet store? This is just my opinion here, if I still had my receipt for that leash purchase, I would take it back and get my money back or perhaps purchase a nylon or leather leash that felt sturdy but does not have the 'heavy duty' extra loop on it. Don't get me wrong, this leash will still have its uses so if you cannot or don't want to return it, that is ok too! I think you will be fine with a regular weight nylon or leather leash, whatever you prefer.

Ok, I'm a day late as usual! [size=6][color=red]WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ROWIE! [/color][/size] So have you finished your homework? :D You let us know when we can kick off this party!

Oh, regarding size, do you mean length? A 6 foot leash is common, you can always hold more of the leash in your hand to keep your pup close to you. Width, 1/2 inch is sufficient now, would not hurt at all to have 3/4 or 1 inch width for your adult dog. Weims are very athletic dogs, you'll want a sturdy leash as she matures.