JudyHoffman

Oh yes it is up to the shelter to make sure this dog is placed in a home that is good for it and to give it basic obedience skills. Most shelters have volunteer trainers who will train dogs free of charge. A good shelter/foster home will help in matching the dog to the owner. I do not know if Nookie is telling the truth here BUT IT IS THE SHELTERS RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THE DOG IS PLACED IN THE RIGHT HOME SO IT DOESN'T COME BACK! When I foster dogs my input is quite valuable in the type of home the dog goes to, which is how it should be.

Cows milk is never ever good for puppies and was probably the cause of the stomach upset. If you want to add milk, you can buy baby formula with iron or better yet powdered goats milk and add to their food. NO MORE COWS MILK unless you want the dog to get pancreatis or colitis .....

He's a quick question ....... has your female been bred? You also should take her to vet for a sonogram or x ray. That will tell you for sure if she is pregnant. I have to think if you are asking this question that this breeding was not planned. A male should not act more protective of a pregnant female. Most females don't want to be bothered with the male if they are pregnant.

That's absolutely right Eric.

Citronella Collars should be used for training, not as a deterrent from an unwanted behavior. You should train Gunner not to bark training by redirecting his attention to you, this will limit and possibly prevent the barking in the future. It seems as if you are using the Citronella Collar in the wrong context, as a punishment vs. actual good training of the dog.

I'll give it a shot Eric. I am fairly new to this structure thing also, only 4 1/2 years now. The pasterns in canines is the area between the dogs "wrist" and "elbow". The picture of your dog shows him walking and putting his weight on part of his pastern, or that area of his leg. This is considered poor structure in any dog. Dogs do not walk on the souls of their paws, or pads as most people think. The pads are actually what we humans would call toes. Dogs, like horses, walk on their toes. When they walk on their toes, wrists and pasterns this is a poorly constructed front on a canine. When I had a litter of puppies recently, I watched how the pasterns grew. This told me a lot about the front structure of the puppies. Sometimes the toes will point out to indicate a weak pastern, sometimes they point in (like bow legged people) which also indicate a weak pastern and poor front assembly. It is better as puppies to have the toes pointing out, because the pasterns grow and straighten and straighten out the front assembly of the dog. Toed in, is not as good. That is what I said that your dog looks like it pulls it's weight from the front, instead of from the rear like he should. His picture showing him walking on part of his pasterns validates that point. Again, not a criticism of your dog, it's the only example I have. Please anyone with more experience, please feel free to correct me or add to my comments. I do not like to spread mis-information and I can always learn more about structure in canines.

Before breeding any dog the pedigrees have to be studied for diseases and genetic issues. There is no way that you can breed a 100% healthy dog and I am doubtful that your friend who breeds labs has no health problems in the lines. If I were to own a lab, I would surely get one from hunting lines vs. show lines. My herding trainer was very upset about the Border Collies going into the show ring and being accepted by the AKC, but again it is not the AKC that establishes the standards, it is the breed clubs. I've seen him try to work with conformation BC's who couldn't herd a sheep out of a paperbag. You have the BC's that are bred for work and then you have the conformation breeders. It is the conformation breeders that establish the standards, not the working dog BC breeders. His BC's are quite small, maybe 35 lbs and certainly not pretty like the show BC's, but for working ability, they can't be beat. My agility trainer owns one of his dogs and has been accepted to the Agility World Team for the US. The dog also has all of it's herding titles, at only 4 years of age. If you inbreed or linebreed to keep working qualities, she has to somewhere be developing health issues. I do not show in conformation and I agree with many countries in Europe that the working/temperment titles are so much more important than just a show title. Also, anyone of my dogs could win and finish in the breed ring, I just don't like showing.

and that is all that matters Eric, that you love him and treat him like he is the best, because he is in your eyes. People that know GSD's (and even some who THINK they do) will note his structure and possibly ask you about him. It doesn't matter, what matters is that you love him and know that he is the BEST for you! I have a 7 year old mix, that is the goofiest, fattest, laziest dog in the world, but to me he is the best, even above my purebred Belgians. His temperment is outstanding, his biddability is beyond reproach and he is so much fun to be with and gives the best cuddles ever. Yes, his structure is lousy and he snores when he is in a deep sleep, but I love him just as he is. So you see, in the long run it really doesn't matter if you don't show or breed your dog. It's the love bond that makes each of our dogs special to us!

Yes, from the picture he is. That is not good for the front shoulders, chest or elbows. But again, he is loved and adored and that is what matters, but when someone who knows GSD's and knows the standards and the proper structure and movement asks questions about incorrectness, an owner should not get insulted, but smile nicely and say "he is beautiful in my eyes". I would never ever breed Eric's dog to produce pups. The structure is not correct according to the breed standard. I do not mean to imply that Eric will breed his dog, what I mean is that I would not breed a dog with incorrect structure and movement and with pasterns like his are.

Your dog is quite handsome Eric, but bigger is not always better and the GSD is supposed to have the sloped or crouped rear to be "proper" in type. The rear is crouped like that for working ability and stamina and movement. I also agree that the breeders are making the croupe or slope way too severe in the GSD breed. You can see from the pictures that your dog pulls it's weight from the front instead of pushing from the rear, which is what I call rear wheel drive on a dog. Pulling it's own weight from the front can cause serious shoulder and elbow problems later in life, not that that will happen to your big boy, but it's always a possibility. Not a criticism, just that your dog is not properly built according to the GSD Club Breed Standard and it is not proper of the Working German Lines either. But he is handsome and quite regal and he looks like a wonderful companion and best friend. Love those perky ears!

Eric it is the breeders of GSD who are taking the GSD breed down the wrong path, not the AKC. It is the breeders who produce bad dogs, with bad hips, too much slope (in the case of the GSD), too little slope etc. Jeff, many many conformation dogs are also working dogs. Breeders/ Handlers these days are really trying to do what their dogs were bred to do. Even the best breeding of two dogs can produce less than good dogs for conformation/showability, but that doesn't mean they are not wonderful companions and pets. Kira's pups are the product of the #1 Belgian Sheepdog in this country in 2000 and 2001 (based on show points) and he loves herding and being a guardian. To me, he meets and exceeds the standard of the Belgian that the AKC uses.

Just to clarify, it is not the AKC that adopts breed standards. It is the Breed Club that writes and makes the standards and submits them to the AKC. The AKC just abides by them to judge the breed standard. If you want to change the standard, you have to change the Breed Club. For example (as this is my only experience) the Belgian Sheepdog Club of America writes the breed standard for all Belgian Sheepdogs. This is the standard that the AKC uses. It is voted on and the majority rules within the breed clubs. Another example, is in the US (AKC) the Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Tevuren and Belgian Malinois are considered separate breeds with different standards and that is because of the individual clubs. In Canada, the Sheepdog, Terv, Malinois and Laekenois are considered one breed with one standard for conformation, ability, performance and temperment. Here in the US it is not so. You will always find "Dog Show Snobs" ..... if you love your dog the way he/she is that is really all that counts wouldn't you think. There will always be rude people you encounter wherever you go and snobs wherever you go!

You should have her xrayed around day 52 - 54. They will get a pretty accurate count within 1 or 2. Do you have a mentor? A breeder friend who also breeds aussies? If they are like Belgians, they can produce anywhere between 4 - 11 puppies. They should gain about 10 % of their total weight during pregnancy, unless of course you are over feeding her. If she is 50 pounds, she should gain between 5 and 10 lbs. Food is more important later (after whelping) than before. My Belgian gained 8 1/2 pounds with 8 puppies and was her svelte self within 3 days of giving birth, and that was even full of milk. Good luck with the birth.

Feed the puppy in the crate and start training with the NILF method.

Are you still doing this training? It's not something they learn and do .... the training part is for his lifetime. Is he neutered? If not, he is entering a very dominant stage for unneutered males that could last up to 2 years from now. Raging hormones etc and it will take a long time to fix it. His behavior is horrible and no, he is not doing his job. His job is to do what you ask him to do, not to make an independent decision to do something. He needs to be under your control at all times and if not, you have failed him. A behaviorist is the way to go with this problem.

It depends. It can be up to 4 weeks or only a few days. You would need to know when the dog was bred. The first day or so it's not milk, but colustrum.

The are true gentle guardians of stock and family which is evident in the picture of Morga with the Beagle. Hair ...... oh my, you've never seen so much hair during shedding season. My herding instructor has 2 that stay out and keep the coyotes and vulchers away from his flock of sheep. The dogs take their guarding of the flock so personal, that if for some reason a baby lamb gets killed by a predator the dog will not let any dog in the field without a leash on. They are true gentle guardians.

No, I think it is more risky having her with diarrhea and getting dehydrated than changing from one high quality kibble to another. She is pregnant, the body makes dramatic changes while pregnant. I see nothing wrong with feeding her different food. When my bitch was pregnant, I would feed her chicken broth, cooked chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, raw chicken and anything else I could think of. She always had kibble available to her at all times when I could not cater to her needs :D It is much more riskier having her with diarrhea. Have you tried pepto bismol to help her tummy upsets?

Being a breeder myself (with a webpage to advertise my dogs) I would not sell a dog to a 15 year old. The contract would be with the parents and it would be the parents responsibility. The parents would be legally bound by the contract, not the 15 year old, irregardless of how mature they are. It wouldn't happen with one of my puppies. [url]www.ambercreek.net/sourire-belgians[/url]

If she gets diarrhea from Innova, stop feeding it and find something else. Maybe Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold. Being that she is pregnant, I would not add yogurt (calcium) in big amounts. Just change her food to another high quality kibble. Has she had an ultrasound yet? How old is she?

I question the ethics of any breeder who would sell a dog to a 15 year old without speaking to their parents first. Nothing against 15 year olds honest .... I just question how serious the breeder is for selling a pup to a kid. I mean most breeders want some sort of conditions, spaying/neutering, showing, obedience school/class and the burden would fall on the parents to have this done. As a breeder myself, I would not sell a pup to a 15 year old, their parents maybe, but not a kid who is under legal age, unless they were registered as Junior Handlers or something similar.

Just to add, I'm sure Dobie Rescue is just looking for someone just like you for one of their dogs. One of the Dobes who shows at Westminster was taken away from his owner because he kept him tied out all the time. He is now a champion in the show ring. One mans trash is another mans treasure .... check out Rescue! I'm sure you can find a great dobie there.

In that case Jeff you were right to direct him elsewhere. If offspring and siblings of the sire and dam consistently produced HD (assuming the sire and dam were bred multiple times and enough time had passed to have the offspring and siblings tested) then that was a good decision to send him elsewhere. Some breeds are more prone to it, like labs and gsd's because of overbreeding, line breeding etc. I don't know about the Akita's tho, I never researched them.

Jeff, This of course is just as disastrous as your second statement [quote]"Of course two OFA-excellent dogs could produce a litter w/ hip dysplasia"[/quote] As a breeder you would have more of chance of producing dysplastic pups with two OFA Excellent parents with OFA poor/fair siblings & offspring in 5 generations than you would by breeding two OFA Fair parents with Excellent readings on their siblings & offspring. Check out the genetics. [quote]You could also breed two OFA-fair hips and get disastrous results.[/quote]

It's not a good gauge is all I'm saying. In the OFA paperwork, it says in very small teeny tiny print "do not OFA Xray your bitch within 8 weeks of her season, since the results will be false" I did mine at 2 weeks after her season and they came back fair. If I had seen the "small print" and waited an additional 6 weeks, they would have come back excellent and her vets read them as good and stands by a good rating as far as she is concerned. It is virtually impossible to get the OFA to change their originally reading plus the cost to keep re-doing xrays with anesthesia is costly ... at $200 - $300 a pop. OFA Fair readings is not the only way to judge a dog from a breeder. There are show titles, performance titles, talking to previous owners. For a bitch to have a litter of 4 for a doberman is not bad. Perhaps she was older when she was bred, in the 7 to 8 year range. The older the bitch the smaller the litter. I know a Champion bitch Belgian Sheepdog who consistently produced 3 - 4 pup litters. There was nothing wrong with her or the sire, they were just weak producers. This means nothing ..... the male might have been a poor producer. You need to look at others litters he's sired, were they small? Hey it happens.