Sanvean

Macy was on Iams when we got her and was very uninterested in her food, as well. We've switched to the Natural Balance kibble (mixed with the rolls), and she gobbles it right up now!

I don't know what texture the Japanese Spitz coat is, but Maltese breeders advise not using whitening shampoo too often, because it can dry out the coat and cause it to break.

There are some good quizzes out there to help you select the right breed for you: [url]http://www.ivillage.com/pets/tools/breedselector/questions/dog/size[/url] [url]http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/search.htm[/url] Do you have other pets? Do you have very young siblings? How much energy and time do you have for exercising your dog? Also, you'll want to take into account what your parents want, as I assume you'll be going to college or moving out in the next few years.

We're asking these questions because a breeder who can't give a satisfactory answer to them shouldn't be breeding dogs. But apparently that doesn't bother you.

[quote name='Rosebud']I kept talking about what so and so said or what so and so's dog did or what troll was passing through to a friend.[/quote] I do that too! I always tell my fiance, "Somebody on Dogomania said..." "I'll ask the folks on Dogomania..."

How sweet!!!

Macy's middle name is Marie :D (Our kitties are Janie Jean, Pawnee Marie and Nimo Bob.)

WOW! Congrats!!! She is the most beautiful newborn I've ever seen -- you must be SUCH a proud daddy!!! :angel:

That's awful! How irresponsible! :x

I think they're darling! Jay would probably vomit if I put any on Macy, though :roll:

The one I met was named "Brick" and was about 150 pounds. He was a true gentle giant!

The poste said "golden lab"...I assumed he meant golden retriever, but you're right -- could have been "yellow lab"!

WOW! Gorgeous scarf!!! I would get a cream-colored scarf from Macy,. if she shed enough. (I could get a whole sweater from the kitties, I bet!)

[quote name='Anonymous']I'm in this debate because I think it's unfair to automatically label any breeder who deliberatly breeds 2 separate breeds as a bad breeder.[/quote] But you still haven't told us the kind of breeder you're getting YOUR dog from, if you think that some folks who breed mixes can be so great. Do you mind answering my questions from my previous post? Again, here they are: What tests does he/she run on the parents? What are the parents' temperaments like? What does this breeder do when people can't keep puppies?

Rosebud, according to this site, they are not big droolers: [url]http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/leonbergers.html[/url]

We have State Farm, and when I called them to see if we needed to make any changes in our policy after we got Macy, our agent said they didn't care what kind of dog we had, as long as he/she isn't attack-trained.

I leave Animal Planet on the television :D So far, I haven't tried music, but I'd probably do some light classical if I did.

The only dog that comes to mind is a Leonberger, though they're darker than goldens. (I've met one once, and he was an AWESOME dog.) Could this be it? [img]http://www.ziplink.net/~bmcslord/leonberger.jpg[/img]

[quote name='visiting']When the smaller-sized Maltese began to gain ground in popularity, early breeders would often confine their breeding stock in pens too small for them to even turn around, so as to promote a smaller progeny. [/quote] I forgot to add that this is a load of codswallop, as anyone with an elementary notion of genetics knows. I dye my hair red, but it doesn't mean my kids are going to have red hair. (And the Maltese breeder whose site you got that off of is not particularly reputable, either.)

Don't worry, Rosebud, I'm not ticked off when people show their ignorance ;) The Maltese was developed for a specific purpose: companionship. Breeds that people of the time felt were suitable were used in the creation of the Maltese (although the Maltese IS considered one of the oldest breeds, and it is generally the other way around!). However, as I have pointed out before, MANY breeds now meet this need. People of, say, 15th-century Malta didn't have access to hundreds of breeds of dogs to choose from when they wanted pets. We do. So tell me about the breeder of your mixed-breed puppy, Visiting. What tests does he/she run on the parents? What are the parents' temperaments like? What does this breeder do when people can't keep puppies? I know that Macy's patellas were checked, as were all of the other dogs'. (Luxating patellas are a common Maltese problem.) I met her father, her sister and other members of her family -- they all had gorgeous temperaments. Her mother lived with a different breeder, as Macy was 5 at the time I adopted her. Her breeder told me that she was responsible for Macy for the rest of her life, and that she was to be the FIRST person I called if I ever couldn't keep her, for any reason. I seriously doubt anyone who's cross-breeding "poos" or "oodles" will do those things.

Here's the T Town URL: [url]http://www.geocities.com/ttownpits/[/url] Appalling.

As long as they have a good reason, it doesn't bother me. I kind of wonder WHY they're mixing them, but I assume it's to try to create a better guide dog, not some cutesy-poo mix. However, I DO love it when guide dog candidates are rescued from shelters! Our group recently placed a beautiful mix who was going to be trained as a guide dog but, sadly, failed his hip X-ray.

Well, my mom has a Web cam (it was about $100) and has it connected to her Yahoo profile. I can look at her Webcam while I'm logged on to the Yahoo Messenger; I would think you could do that, but you'd have to be logged on to Yahoo at home all day and this would probably entail keeping a computer near your puppy.

Rosebud, of course I wasn't referring to you! ;) I totally agree with what you posted about the Ridgebacks, though. The were crossbred with a WORKING PURPOSE in mind -- not, "Hmmm, what will the puppies look like if we breed Fifi and Buster?" Solodogsmom, I also concur with what you wrote. There are occasionally legitimate reasons to create or even re-create a breed, as with the Olde English Bulldogge and Victorian Bulldog, which try to weed out the health problems of today's English Bulldog. But this sort of thing should obviously be attempted only by VERY experienced breeders who know a ton about canine genetics, health, temperament, etc.

OK, but you tell him that if gets out of line, Macy and I will be headed down there with a baseball bat and a very small set of teeth ;)