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I have been desexing our puppies at 6 weeks of age (Early Spay Neuter or ESN) for 26 years. My puppies are desexed when they are still with their mother and litter group, they wake up being cuddled by a friendly human and within half an hour of the surgery they are back with their siblings, up and eating their delayed breakfast. Baby puppies are remarkably resilient, the surgery is quick, simple and with appropriate pain relief it is remarkably stress free. Compare this with the stress of being taken to a strange place at 4-6 month of age, left among strangers and submitted to a major operation, then having to wear a weird plastic collar for 10 days. It is not surprising that most dogs hate going to the vet ever afterwards. Read more...

In March 2013 Bruce and I went for a 2 week holiday to New Zealand.  While we were away animal activists, posing as a potential buyers of Nyora in Condobolin, were taken to view the property  on the 3rd of… Read more...

Don’t overfeed your dog. “look at the dog not the plate” Pups who are lean in their first year  will be less prone to a range of joint problems and adult dogs in condition score 2-3 are less likely to… Read more...

People do wacky things when it comes to grooming dogs, changing the shape, colour and even species of the animal. We prefer to keep the hair the same length all over, so that the dog is still recognisable after the… Read more...

Grooming has become a growth industry with the rise in poodle cross-breds, and is now something of an art form. It seems that the Asian fashion industry might have a lot to answer for here, as weirdly groomed “cute” haircuts… Read more...

Traditionally dogs have been desexed at about 6 months of age, just before they reach sexual maturity. It was thought that desexing earlier than this might affect the development of the urinary tract and lead to urinary obstruction in males… Read more...

Some animal breeders, including many dog breeders, make a distinction between inbreeding (mating mother/son, father/daughter, brother/sister) and linebreeding (mating say grandparent/grandchild, aunt/nephew). To a geneticist linebreeding and inbreeding only differ in degree. Inbreeding occurs when animals are bred to their… Read more...

I worked as a country vet for 25 years. Most of my patients were purpose bred working dogs. They were fit and athletic, with very good temperaments. I saw them for injuries or infections and I rarely saw the genetic… Read more...

The best thing that can be said about adolescent dogs is that they grow out of it! This is the time when your dog discovers the joy of digging and chewing. Read more...

The following ‘problem’ behaviours are normal dog behaviours that people tend to find annoying. All dogs will do these things if given the opportunity and if not trained to behave more acceptably. Nuisance barking Most dogs will bark at strangers,… Read more...

Trial and error shapes most of the learnt behaviour of dogs and like people, they begin to learn as soon as they are born. In order to train your dog to sit, stay or jump through hoops you need to… Read more...

Pups become house-trained by developing a habit. It usually takes about 2-4 weeks of constant vigilance. You need to know a few basic facts about elimination behaviour: Pups are most likely to poo or wee after sleep, a meal or… Read more...

Teaching your dog good manners is no different to teaching your children manners in your family hierarchy. Good manners – like the hierarchical behaviour of a dog pack – are the social lubricant that ensures that friction is minimised in… Read more...

Your dog has been desexed prior to puberty and so will not mature fully in many ways. He is likely to remain more playful and submissive in his approach to your family and to other dogs than he would if… Read more...

Dogs are highly social animals, which is why they fit in so well with human society – they have adapted to cope with a complex set of relationships. The relationship between dogs and humans is remarkable. This association has been… Read more...

During this fairly brief period your pup progresses from the equivalent of a human toddler – about 4 years old, needing security and reassurance and prone to tantrums – to a 13-year-old ready to explore the world. Like most toddlers… Read more...

Breeding dogs is an area fraught with emotion and ferociously held opinions.  “Backyard Breeder” and “Puppy Farm” bring pictures to mind of neglectful greedy humans exploiting dogs – “for money”. We don’t have nasty names for breeders who deliberately inbreed,… Read more...

I, like many others, believe there is a big difference between ethical and unethical breeders. But some animal rights activists claim this distinction is false, and that all breeders – no matter how well they treat their dogs or choose… Read more...

As I noted in my previous blog post, the Australia’s ‘dog overpopulation problem’ is often greatly exaggerated by anti-breeding campaigners. But there were still 110,348 dogs abandoned in our country in 2012, and this is 110,348 too many. To solve… Read more...