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Dogs.info helping to raise awareness of puppy mills and backyard breeders.
Thinking of Buying a Puppy? Beware of Breeders Who:
1.Put pressure on you to buy their puppy or give you cheap deal.

2.Do not ask questions of you. A breeder who cares about the well-being of their puppies will want to get to know you to determine if you are the right fit for their breed and puppies.

3.Make you feel uncomfortable. You should have a relationship with this person/s for the life of your puppy. Reputable breeders will be pleased to keep in touch with you and offer advice whenever you need it. Walk away from any breeder you do not feel comfortable with – no matter how cute and adorable their puppies may be.

4.Will not allow you to visit their home and meet their dogs and puppies. This is sure sign that they are a puppy mill.

5.Do not health screen their dogs and puppies, or do not offer a reasonable health guarantee.

6.Cannot or will not provide you with references from past puppy buyers and veterinarian references.

Marmaduke the Great Dane
Marmaduke the world’s most lovable Great Dane, leaps from comic strip fame to big screen stardom. In this family comedy event, the “Duke” is living large in Orange County, California. But fitting in with his new four legged friends and a potential romantic interest isn’t always easy for a super-sized teenage dog. Watch Marmaduke Trailer, Comes Out In UK August 18th

Great Dane Breed Quick Facts:
1. Often called the “Apollo of dogs”, the Great Dane can trace as far back as time of the Egyptians. Drawings of dogs resembling Great Danes were found on Egyptian monuments dating from 3,000 B.C.
2. Due to their sheer size care needs to be taken during puppy hood not to over exercise them as this can lead to bone and joint problems when older.
3. They have a short, smooth coat which come in colours including:brindle, fawn, blue, black or patches of black with white (Harlequin).
4. Due to their height Great Danes need to feed and drink from raised bowls.
5. Male Danes stand at least 32 inches and females at least 30 inches tall at shoulder height.

More Great Dane Info

Top Dog Names 2010
Long gone are the names of Rex and Rover for your pooch the increase in the humanisation of our much loved pets has led to a trend of naming our dogs with human names instead. Choosing a name for your dog is important, you already may have a name picked out before you bring you new addition to the family home but seeing their personalities may make you change your mind. Keep it short, a long name will become a nightmare when shouting it out loud for obedience training.

The top dog names in the UK for 2010 according to AA Pet Insurance are:
1. Molly
2. Charlie
3. Poppy
4. Alfie
5. Max
6. Holly
7. Millie
8. Daisy
9. Jack
10. Oscar

Names not as popular than in 2008 are Jake, Barney and Buster.

NEW DOG BREED ADDED – For more info click Clumber Spaniel

Clumber Spaniel
Other Names:
Group: Gundog
General:
The Clumber spaniel is the heaviest of the Spaniels, this slow moving and stocky breed have a massive head with a hound-like face and expression, a deep muzzle, large square nose and broad low-set ears.The Clumber Spaniel is a fairly short dog, although it does have a rather long body. Clumber spaniels are dignified, affectionate, and make an admirable companion.

Coat: Clumbers have a dense, straight and flat coat with feathering around the legs. Colours include white with lemon or orange head markings.

Weight: Males 29 – 34 kgs, Females 25 – 30 kgs
Average Life Span: 9 -15 years

For more info click Clumber Spaniel

Harlequin Great Dane Puppy

Doggy Facts – Dog Coat Patterns
People often refer to a dog breed by the pattern of the dogs coat, for example “Harlequin Great Dane” “Blue Merle Aussie”. Here is a quick summary:

• Two-color coats: such as Black and tan, red and white. The coat has both colors but in clearly defined and separated areas; usually the top and sides are darker and lower legs and underside are the lighter color.
• Tricolor: Consisting of three colors, usually black, tan, and white or liver, tan, and white.
• Brindle: A mixture of black with brown, tan, or gold, usually in a “tiger stripe” pattern.
• Harlequin: “Torn” patches of black on white.
• Merle: Marbled coat with darker patches and spots of the specified color.
• Particolor: Two-colored coat with the colors appearing in patches in roughly equal quantities.
• Tuxedo: Solid (usually black) with a white patch (shirt front) on the chest, and white on some or all of the feet (spats.) This pattern is sometimes called Irish Spotting, Flashy, or Boston.

Basset Hound
Other Names: Basset
Dog Group Kennel Club: Hound (AKC, KC)

Appearance
A Basset Hound has a long, low-slung, heavy-boned body. They were originally used as scent hounds, for hunting small game such as rabbits. Basset’s have long ears, which were developed to stir up ground scent. Basset hounds also have great lung capacity and a large, strong heart so that they can hunt game for long periods of time.

Coat
The basset has a thick, short, dense coat that repels water effectively. Coat Colours include: black, tan and white, or any combination of these colours.
Weight: Males 70 lbs, Females 45-50 lbs

Average life span: 11-13 years

Temperament
Basset Hounds are independent with a sense of humour, intelligent, affectionate, loyal and entertaining. They have a very gentle and lovable temperament and are therefore great with children of all ages. They make excellent family pets, and will get along well with other animals. The males are also not male aggressive as they were bred to hunt in packs.
One of the most common reasons Bassets are given up for adoption is that they drool too much, and make a mess when drinking. If you don’t want a dog that drools this is not the breed for you.

More Basset Hound Info Here

Dogs.info Helping Raise Awareness of Puppy Mills
Puppy Mills – Understanding the facts
Dog Breeding requires excellent breed knowledge and outstanding responsibility by reputable breeders. Unfortunately dog breeding is often exploited as a profit making business with the sad consequence of cruelly treat bitches and puppies who are kept in inhumane conditions. The bitches are expected to breed many litters, once they are no good for breeding they are cruelly destroyed. The litters that are produced are very very unhealthy, malnourished, had very little contact with humans and will not have a long life at all. These unhealthy puppies are often taken away from there mother far before they should be which means they are denied the vital socialisation they require from their mother and litter mates. Remember when buying a puppy, puppies should still be with their mother and litter mates until at least 8 weeks old.

Who are these ignorant, selfish, greedy animal abusers? They are known as backyard breeders and puppy millers/farmers, what is the difference?

• Backyard Breeders are people who practice random or ignorant dog breeding on a small scale.
• Puppy mills or Puppy Farms are large dog breeding operations, and the people who own them are known as puppy millers/farmers.

Backyard breeders and Puppy Millers are only motivated by the idea of profit.  They are people who are ignorant of selective breeding goals and techniques, and are not familiar with the breed standard of their chosen breed of dog, they are cruel and abuse animals.

What to look out for:

• Be wary of outlets offering more than one or two breeds
• When visiting the seller note the surroundings
• Visit the puppy more than once
• Ask to see the pedigree papers and ensure the breeder’s name is on the certificate
• The breeder should want to know about you too
• Insist to see the puppy with its Mother – be very suspicious if you can’t
• Most importantly never, ever purchase a puppy whom the ‘breeder’ offers to deliver.

Think carefully before buying and do not buy the puppy because you feel sorry for it. If you trade with an unscrupulous breeder, you will be supporting their trade in misery. Every one you buy, another takes it place.

Here in the UK there are alot of scams coming from Ireland, which has been named  the capital of puppy farms. There have been numerous cases of people coming from Ireland and offering to meet up in a local car park/service station to deliver your  puppy, please avoid these scams. The US regularly receive large shipments of  Irish puppies of breeds that are costly in the US, such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. These dogs are shipped without quarantine requirements or scrutiny because Ireland is a rabies-free country.

Dont buy from a Pet Shop
Purchasing dogs, especially those claimed to be purebred, from a pet store is strongly discouraged by reputable breeders and animal shelters. While many pet stores claim to purchase dogs from “local breeders” instead of puppy mills, this is often untrue or is a difference in name only, as reputable breeders generally do not sell animals to pet stores. The phrase “local breeder” may also refer to backyard breeders.

Reputable Breeders
Reputable breeders raise their animals in humane conditions, provide good socialization and often formal training, and adhere to the breed standard. They are knowledgeable about major health problems associated with their breed, and with the principles of genetics, frequently undertaking specific matings to produce or refine particular desirable characteristics in their dogs. They are also sensitive to the requirements of their breeding adults — who may also be breed or performance champions — and the puppies they produce. Reputable breeders frequently screen potential customers rigorously, and usually provide a pedigree and health guarantee with their puppies. Always get proof of Kennel Club registration.

Find a responsible breeder, with great examples of the breed, health testing, showmanship or performance in their kennels or breeding program.

Help, Why does My Dog eat his poo?
Yuck Yuck Yuck it sounds disgusting to us humans but this is a very very common problem in our pesky mutts, yes they like to eat poo! The problem even has a name its called Coprophagia which is a condition that compels dogs to consume faeces either their own and/or other faeces.

Reasons your dog may be eating poo:

• Hungar or Lack of nutrients
• Boredom, anxiety, loneliness
• Worms : the worms feed off nutrients passing through your dogs disgestive system making him feel hungry
• To avoid punishment, if your house training your puppy may eat his poo to hide the evidence

Don’t worry here are some solutions:

• Change to a better quality nutritious dog food, make sure you are giving him the correct amount of food a day for his weight and daily activity.
  
• Does he have any other symptoms of worms? See our worming page. See your vet for treatment.
• Try and pick up poo straight after he goes.
• Try avoiding leaving your dog for long periods of time and make sure he has plenty of exercise.
• If you cant pick up the poo straight away you need a way of changing the way it tastes so he learns that it tastes horrible and not to eat it. Try adding a few chunks of pineapple in with his meals, this will change its flavour.
• Add lemon juice or hot sauce to the poo already in your garden, he wont like that. Hopefully over time he will learn that poo tastes horrible.