Malamum

We just adopted an 8 month old girl whoose name was Connie - didn't like that so we changed it to Kira. It's been a month and she responds to it very well. Our boy's name ends in a ee sound so I wanted a different sounding name for her. I also agree with K, if the dog has a not so pleasant life before coming to you then a fresh name for a fresh start is a good thing.

The rescue people need to decide if you have too many dogs for Roco to cope with, it's not up to your vet to tell them that you have too many full stop. :x :x I can totally understand your anger and frustration. When pointing out to him why you are NOT a hoarder ask him how many hours a week he actually spends doing all his "extra stuff", make him really think about it and give you a number. Then once he has done that say well that's how many extra hours I have to give to all my dogs. Hopefully it will make him think of it from another perspective, because I'm sure you are right, he is thinking in terms of what he can or is willing to do.

You are more than welcome :wink: They are both adorable.

If you can provide all the dogs you have with a good standard of living and also be able to give them all plenty of personal attention then I don't see what the problem is. I know I personally couldn't manage as many dogs as you do but If you can then who is anyone to critisize.

Here is the pic of the cute little couple [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VwAJA8obRe8swXujnqXSUkkfcejTIVaxqHrZMDcduewqNQ8RiGwd5COBil2oxyGywYjsJ3!dJdqJCJbuy2vheKZh!kjY42e7MxEiNjGWAvBcsHVDw!TnMtLhMbtCVXdJ/CassieMontie.jpg?dc=4675469202093337060[/img]

Courtnek, we don't get Lyme disease down under. When I was talking about ticks I was thinking of paralysis ticks (which I don't think you guys have) and they are nasty litttle suckers - can kill your dog.

I don

I have no idea, but I do remember watching that part with my eyes half shut as I was positive something bad was going to happen to it - but thank god it didn't :lol: :lol:

The concept of wider genetic diversity sounds ok in theory but I don't think in our current society it would make dogs any healthier. Like Courtnek said it would be a different story if all dogs were in the wild and natural selection was allowed to occur. However with man meddling and choosing which dogs to breed then I don't think breeding crosses is going to magicially improve overall health. Floating around terms like hybrid vigour only encourages an average pet owner to breed their lab to their next door neighbours beagle just because they can. However, I am all for dogs being able to perform the job for which they were originally bred. I belong to a malamute forum and all the breeders there work their dogs in a harnes in one form or another as well as competing in confirmation shows. No they don't compete in the Iditarod, as that is the extreme end of dog sledding but they do compete in plenty of other sledding activities which prove that their dogs can perform as they are supposed do. I'm only refering to malamutes here as that is the only breed I am really familiar enough with but in my opinion I consider the breed standard to encompass all points that would enable the dogs to perform as originally intended and to me it does seem based on purpose not athsetics. So with that in mind I don't consider confirmation shows a beauty pagent. So if people were to start breeding crosses instead of purebreeds, what set of critera should be used?

LOL Cassie, you only quoted the part of my post that you could pick apart and argue with. You seem to have left off that I did note that not ALL people who breed purebreeds are responsible - I am fully aware of that and I am also aware of the breed standards for some breeds being distorted to prefer looks over purpose, however I still fully believe that the percentage of responsible purebreed breeders far outweighs the number of responsible people crossing breeds. We don't live in a perfect world, there are always going to be people who do what we consider the wrong thing. However just because you think that some purebreed breeders are doing something less than desirable, it doesn't mean that it should be ok for Billy-Bob to breed his ooodle to Betty-Jo's doodle just so they can get in on the latest craze of designer dogs.

[quote]Quote: To be perfectly honest, I do not agree with mixing breeds I find this hilarious...where do you think our "purebreds' come from??? they were orginally crossbreeds or mixed breeds them selves...the only difference is our Purebreds are man made and have been sexully isolated from the greater population of dogs which causes a reduction in gene diversity which leads to genetic diseases.[/quote] I can't speak for the person that posted but I don't agree with breeding crossbreeds either. Not because I think that crossbreeds are in anyway inferior, but it's the people's motives for breeding them that I don't agree with. I know not all purebreed breeders are responsible but I believe that there is a gross lack of responsibility in most people who are breeding crossbreeds. I understand that the concept of purebreeds is a human one but I think we have done enough - there is no need to be creating more breeds.

Contratulations girls!!!! What a great result for your first show.

I am so sorry :cry:

It depends on if it was a designated off leash area. The original letter/post didn't say. To me that one little bit of info makes a big difference as to who is right or wrong.

Sweetheart, I am so so sorry. I am sitting here at my desk with tears in my eyes imagining how upset you are. :cry: :cry: The thing you will NEVER EVER get from any of us here is the "it's just a dog" line. We all know how much you loved her and totally understand your pain. I'm glad you and Boomer have each other for comfort.

Thanks Aroura, I'm always curious as to what it it like elsewhere. Though I have always assumed that further north means warmer temps - I was pretty wrong there. :oops:

I can't see the site that was posted for some reason but I guess it all comes down to where you are for what is considered rare. There are quite a few dogs that I have never seen in real life and one of those is a pit bull. It's funny how they are so common in the U.S. but I have never ever seen one. I also saw my first standard poodle a few weeks ago. I had seen plenty of toy's but never a standard. Most of the dogs around my area are labs, goldens, border collies, rotties etc..

That's pretty cool - a few less things to have to worry about. My calendar is full of the frontline and heartworm reminder stickers. If I ever decide to move out of Sydney, I'll have to come to Armidale. :wink: Just out of curiosity, how far away from the cost are you. If I remember right is Armidale approximatley the same distance north as Coffs but inland? And what are your ususal temps like - how cold does it get?

I am pro-abortion for both humans and animals, however I think they are both very different and can't really be compared. In animals we all know that spaying and neutering is the best option. If this is done when it should be, then the choice of aborting any unwanted pegnancies shouldn't need to occur. Abortion in humans is a whole different kettle of fish so I wont go there since that isn't what this debate is about.

[quote]Malamum, I'm happy to say we don't get ticks here, nor do we get heartworm - its too cold for them! [/quote] Wow, I didn't know that. You learn something new every day :D What about in Summer though? I know Armidale can get chilly in Winter and at night compared to Sydney but I thought it had to be below freezing for it to be considered too cold for mozzies and ticks??? I'm probably way off base here.....

I had a bit of a peek at what was written about Alaskan Malamutes and have to say it was pretty much spot on. The only comment I have on what was written is that I would say - can be prone to aggression towards other dogs rather than just aggressive towards other dogs. It's good to let people know that they do have that tendancy and that there is a chance that your dog will be agressive towards other dogs but it's not guaranteed. Some malamutes are fine with other dogs but others aren't it's just one of those things you need to be aware of and prepared for. While I don't agree with what was written about the APBT (the bit about human attacks was misleading and I believe incorrect) I do believe that it's good to list any possible negative trait for each breed. That way new owners know what they are getting into rather than being surprised and thinking they have an abnormal dog when that tendancy does appear. It's no good sugar-coating each breed and only listing the good things.

At 15 weeks old he doesn't need that much leash walking and I definitley wouldn't run with him just yet. As long as he gets lots of play time and runs around in the yard at home that should be plenty combined with the 10-15 minute walk each day. I have a large breed and I started taking him for longer walks when he hit 6 months, it was still at a fairly casual pace but we just built up the distance. Then once he hit year we then went further and faster and now that he has passed 18 months we are starting to go jogging. I really don't know how quickly pits develop compared to the larger breeds but I would still take it fairly easy and not push him too much until he is fully grown.

Doh, I meant to type pork :oops: :oops:

I use Frontline but since that's not what you're after I can't be of much help...sorry. How much is it for a little fella like Montie. For Indy I need to use the extra large and it is $60.00 for 6 pippettes. It should be cheaper the smaller you go. I am curious as to what you do for ticks though. Do you use any type of preventative. I know I am quite paranoid about paralysis ticks.

I do and haven't had any problems. I really can't see why it would be an issue. At night I generally give something soft and mooshy to go with the vege puree such as chicken mince, beef mince, port mince or some sort of fish etc and I also give chicken wings or necks at the same time.