Kiger

I think it's potato leaves and stems, not the actual potato itself. Lots of dog foods have potato in them. And here's another link: [url]http://www.doberdogs.com/Toxic.html[/url]

Aw, poor little girl. She looks confused. :lol:

I found out yesterday that my vet is going to breed Labradoodles. It seems even people who should know better are doing it now. :niewiem: And she wanted a Kato puppy. Not gonna happen now.

[img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/bigsnow.jpg[/img] [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/sleep.jpg[/img]

Eaglepack, huh? :P

I can't get it around here, but it's supposed to be good. If you like the rolls, another brand is [url=http://www.redbarndogfood.com/products/index.htm]Redbarn[/url]. Kato went nuts over it and was stacking himself for the Redbarn rep at the last show.

[quote name='danyell'](Believe me breeders aren't just giving these dogs away -- $$$$)[/quote] And the reputable ones aren't making any money off them either. You can bet the millers sure aren't doing any health checks. And who cares if the parents live in cages their whole lives pumping out puppies so long as people can get their cute, little, fuzzy mixes. :roll: Not all these mixes are cheaper then a purebred either - how about $2000 for a Labradoodle. People are getting taken to the cleaners. Here's some reading for you. [url]http://www.geocities.com/mutts02/designer-mutts.html[/url] [quote]Would a responsible breeder deliberately cross dogs with completely different and potentially incompatible physical structures and temperaments? Would they deliberately mix any breeds? No, not when they know the results will be completely unpredictable and that there are already thousands of accidentally bred mixed breed dogs in need of good homes. [/quote]

[quote name='Horsefeathers!'] Then again, ignorance may be bliss in this sense. Maybe if I go into this thinking that I can do it and it will work, it will. [/quote] You never know until you try, right? :) If you already know how to do the grooming, you should be fine!

Congrats! Very impressive.

Hoo boy. I found the culprit tonight. Diagnosis tapeworm. Ick ick ick!!! Back to the vets we go...

Kato has the same "problem". He had mushy stools on Canidae too, so I switched to Wellness. He was okay for a bit, then mushy again. He's been on it for several months now. I honestly don't know what to try. He looks great otherwise. I did get a sample of that Chicken Soup dog food. I mixed it with the Wellness and he picked around it to get to the CS. Only thing I don't like about the CS is it has salt added. It smells like chicken though whereas Wellness smells like herbs to me. He was even getting freeze dried "BARF" for awhile, but same problem - ok in the morning, mushy by afternoon. I'm going to try the filtered water thing too.

Didn't mean to step on toes. At least in conformation, the Shibas that I've seen that were UKC champions were poor representations of the breed. One was completely black - a mismark if there ever was one. This dog would never win at an AKC event. 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=Mary's Mama]PS - I met my very first Shiba at the park this weekend and all I could think about was how Kato is so much more beautiful!![/quote] Thanks. Unfortunately, a lot of Shibas in this country come from backyard breeders. That's why I said above that the Shiba was one instance where you wanted to look for a show breeder. They are the only ones who are really trying to stick to the standard - some better then others. Seems like everyone else just breeds cute puppies and doesn't worry about the rest.

[quote=Mary's Mama]I think too many people put too much weight in AKC, it is not all that it is cracked up to be.[/quote] But what else is there? All the other "registries" are sham registries put in place by commercial breeders and millers - UKC, CKC, APRI, APR - there are too many of them to name. And it's not that political and not all the dogs are mutated into show freaks. Westminster is political - I'd say all the big shows are. Small shows, you'll get some judges that definitely have a bias, others are fair. We won 6 out of the 10 times we showed - so it can be done.

[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956766.stm[/url]

With Poodles - yeah, you might have a problem because you are a novice. From what I've seen, they are mostly handled by pros - and the grooming is time intensive. I pull Kato out of the car, fluff him with a brush and he goes in the ring. The Poodle people are in the tent grooming away for hours. Some breeds are more novice friendly then others - Poodles, Dobies, GSD's, etc... not so much. I don't want to discourage you. I still think it can be done! The big thing is to find a breeder who will show you the way.

I live in an area that is loaded with ticks and mosquitoes. Fleas are a bit harder to see, but I'm sure we're infested with them too. So far no sign of anything on him - and I know they're out there because I found one crawling on my pantleg after walking through some tall grass. My parents used Advantage for years, and the one year they left it off, the dog brought fleas into our beach house. Ugh. So I can't say for sure if Advantix does all it says it does, but it does appear to be discouraging the little buggers.

[quote name='Lemon-dog']:o This may sound daft but i never knew there was a dog called a cockerpoo until i read this thread.[/quote] All about "poo" dogs: [url]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/NoPuppyMillsVA/Poo-dogs___Designer_Mutts/poo-dogs___designer_mutts.html[/url] [url=http://www.canismajor.com/dog/poodogs.html]Much Ado About Poo[/url]

Glad your dog is okay except for the bad hair day. I would suggest getting one of the topical flea and tick treatments like Advantage or Frontline. Or, your vet can give you a new one called K9Advantix. I use it and I haven't seen a tick on him yet, and my area is loaded with them. It repels and then kills ticks and fleas. I hope he kills a bunch of them everytime we walk through the tall grass. :chainsaw1:

[quote name='Horsefeathers!']Carol... that is almost too brilliant to work. Could it really be that simple??[/quote] That's what I'm trying to do. I don't know if I'll ever get around to it, but this dog is definitely smart enough to do obedience - the question is, is he too smart for his own good? :lol: In the case of Shibas, there is one breed where the conformation stars are definitely more like the standard and true to form. The more "Americanized" versions seem to be the ones coming from pet stores. Some barely resemble Shibas. I know I could take Kato out and hunt birds with him - don't think he'd come back though. :P

The depths that some people can sink never cease to amaze me: [url]http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-223678120030529-170517.html[/url] [quote]Nelson Rodriguez was arrested after sheriff's deputies found his landlord's missing Akita-mixed dogs mutilated inside the Rodriguez's Pine Castle home. Rodriguez told Local 6 News Thursday that he cut the dog's tails off because he wanted some entertainment. "I did it because I need to be entertained," Rodriguez told Local 6 News speaking through a translator. "I have to be entertained. I had to do something." After Rodriguez cut the tails off of the three puppies and two adult dogs, he put some of the dogs and their tails in his freezer and refrigerator, Local 6 News reported. [/quote] [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/whack.gif[/img]

That dog was actually from the 50's, but he has a long line of descendents. Here's one kennel I found by doing a search on the name: [url]http://www.pinaforekennel.com/index.html[/url] Ale Kai Kennel was also mentioned in the article as breeding this line. This looks like a good place to start: [url]http://www.poodleclubofamerica.org/usamap.htm[/url]

[quote name='danyell']Actually I think mixed breeds are getting more and more popular. How do you think most of the recognized breeds came about hundreds of years ago? [/quote] You know, I always hear this and it annoys me to no end. Want to know what the difference is?? These new mix-breeders are not striving for anything except the almighty buck. There is no standard that they are working toward so they can get recognized by the AKC. How many years has the Cockapoo been around? It's still not a recognizable breed because all Cockapoos look different. If these people were interested in anything other then scamming money from the unsuspecting public they would be breeding Cockapoo to Cockapoo to create a dog that you could instantly recognize as a Cockapoo. Instead they just take any old Poodle and Cocker and stick 'em together. Some look like Poodles, some look like Cockers, temperments are all over the map, no health guarantees... Gimme a break, they are not trying to be a recognizeable breed. Bucks for Pups all the way. And to the person who spent $500 on a mix... Why didn't you try a rescue?

Funny, there was an article in the last AKC magazine about a very famous SP line that still retains its working ability. I looked it up - it's the Puttencove Promise line. So if you want to show conformation plus then there are still Poodles out there that can do it. I don't think SP's have gone through a radical makeover like GSD's - hair makeover though definitely! :lol:

Canned pumpkin - pure, not the pie mix - clears up loose stools. I learned this trick after Kato would come back from dogs shows with the poops.