A quick NI-BI question

Which bloodline or breeder is Raven from Sutty? I'd be interested to see his litter mates.

you mean you want me to be abbreviated?
i thought i was??? ;-)

Not recognised so can call them anything you want. You could start off a new type called 'Shila's' or 'Isis's' if you wanted too Jem. Shila's sounds quite a nice breed or type name

I would say so as the reg numbers run as if from the same litter, but there was a question with regards to one of the dates of birth of the 3 boys, same paper work sire dams ect, but 5 months difference in the dob, which obviously isn't possible...

The only downsides of owning Shila's will be they hate going out in the rain and they have big ears as pups

My god im making myself look dumb but eh?

Most people dont like going out in the rain and they all have big ears as pups, i think your on a winner here.

Na i think i'll pass on this one she's already booked in to be spayed x

Well maybe you should rethink that one Jem and i mean that quite seriously as its been said on this thread you just need a good stud to iron out any problems with your bitch.
You hope to breed at some point down the line so why not with Shila?

Because I dont have the experience or Money to breed at the moment and Shila's my baby I couldn't so that to her,
Plus she as bought as a pet x

Hi Liz

I am curious ref soft ears. I believe this is an issue that also accurrs in GSDs also, infact I believe in the USA some actually , (correct me if I am wrong anyone?) take practical measures to ensure the ears of their GSD go up.
I do not think it is something that can always be predicted eg if two dogs are bred together that have upright ears I am guessing it is safe to assume there is a very good chance the puppies ears will be upright.......if a dog with soft ears /or a soft ear is bred from then I guess there is a chance the puppies may take after that parent..?

Here is a link ref GSDs and taping the ears:
http://leerburg.com/tapingears.htm

Well i must say WW i'd never heard of this before let alone seen photo's of it, thanks for the link.
As for your question you'd have to ask Inki as she knows percentages in litters of normal and soft ears much better than me.

You are welcome ref the link

every once in a while we will see pups at the dog park or at the training school with taped ears...the dogs don't seem to notice or care...it looks funny, but it must work or it wouldn't be common practice...

It may work on a cosmetic level but the fact that people use unnatural methods to get their dogs bits (usually ears) to do what the breed standard requires of them rather than let nature take it's course is the reason why soft ears (and other incorrect conformational points) continue to proliferate (sp?).
Until people stop mucking about with their puppies natural development (unless there is a medical reason) then you will never be able to breed away from the problem.
Becky

Soft ears will happen in cross breeds though...there is a soft eared bitch on Inkas mothers side, think I was told her ear had been broken lol....Yip I believed that too !

Silverflow and Alska in scotland both produced puppies with soft ears...

but if it is about genes, then surely it is a case of not breeding from dogs that that have the undesirable characteristic?

However, when it comes to breeds like the Doberman and the Great Dane, we all know they naturally have floppy ears but in some parts of the world this is corrected using cosmetic surgery. So it isn't about breeding in such dogs.

absolutely about genes but if people 'correct' problems such as soft ears they then 'forget' that the dog had a problem and go on to breed from it perpetuating it.
With regards to ear cropping in Danes and Dobermanns and other breeds then that is not a 'correction' of an ear problem but a cosmetic procedure carried out solely for looks.
Becky

Yes indeed, that is what I was saying, with the exception of forgetting 'problems', but yes I agree. Then you get people who breed from such dogs on purpose.....with no regard for whichever breed standard......or because they feel it is ok to take the risk.