Author Archives: Vanessa

Grooming Truth for a Tibetian Terrier

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This breed of dog is a smart family dog with a very high maintenance hair not fur. Just like people hair, its has to be combed daily from root to tip. Can you imagine what your hair would look like it you only combed the tips once a month–avoiding the roots?

Here is a pelt of Tibetan hair matted fused together at the roots with nice straight stands on the right side in photo where, owner was brushing without metal comb. The hair should never come off in one piece. It’s a haven for fleas, fungus, ticks and hotspots.

It seems to be a secret to prospective new owners not knowing what they are getting themselves into for the next 12-16yrs. Monthly I get stories from new clients in frustration not being told the TRUTH of coat care by their breeder. Unfortunately despite the benefits of low dander and low allergy does come at the cost of the the home grooming involved to keep your Tibetan’s hair unmatted over ½ inch long. Some say that the adult coat is easier than puppy coat to keep up but its lots of work regardless.

Here is the TRUTH:

Fine tooth metal comb, root to tip daily to three times a week depending if your dog mats in a day or a in couple of days. Using a brush alone will NOT keep mats away especially if using the wrong type of brush.

Most harnesses, clothing, flat collars, choke chains, burs, and outdoor activity will cause matting if hair is not dealt with daily.

Food and water need to be combed out of beard daily to prevent a sour mildew smell around the face area.

Grooming every 4-6 weeks will not avoid matting. Only daily home coat care will prevent this.

Common areas that I educate about matting are:

Armpits

Ears flaps inside and out

Jaws

Beard

Throat

Chest

Flanks

Inside all legs

Base of tail

Backs of legs

Ribs

Undercarriage

I wanted to blog the truth of this type of hair and know that if you are having problems with this that there is a solution that involves LOTS of daily care and detail along with the right tools. This coat care is also needed for ANY low shedding/low allergy type dog with over 1/2 inch of hair.

Labradoodle “inventor” regrets decision

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Man who ‘invented’ the labradoodle regrets decision to breed world’s first designer dog

BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Original article found on NYDailynews.com

Wednesday, May 5th 2010, 1:57 PM

Labradoodles, a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle, have become a popular 'designer' breed for pet owners.

Kazmierski/Getty
Labradoodles, a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle, have become a popular ‘designer’ breed for pet owners.

The creator of the popular labradoodle wonders if he was barking up the wrong tree when he came up with the idea for the world’s first designer dog.

The 81-year-old Australian man says he’s not sure he made the right decision to cross a poodle with a Labrador retriever back in the late 1980s. Since then, designer mixed-breed dogs have proliferated, giving pet owners the choice among groodles, snoodles and spoodles, among others.

”Today I am internationally credited as the first person to breed the labradoodle,” 81-year-old Australian resident Wally Conran told The Australian. “But I wonder, in my retirement, whether we bred a designer dog – or a disaster.”

While working for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia in the early 1980s, Conran was contacted by a vision-impaired woman in Hawaii. She needed an allergy-free guide dog since her husband had allergies to dogs. Though no breed is completely hypoallergenic, Conran decided to try crossing a poodle with a lab. Once he found a trainable poodle with a good temperament, he mated it to the lab and three puppies were born. The vision-impaired woman’s husband learned that just one puppy was allergy free.

The new crossbred dog was a good fit for allergy sufferers who were vision-impaired, but the world’s first designer dog didn’t really catch on until Conran came up with a great marketing idea.

“I decided to stop mentioning the word crossbreed and introduced the term ‘labradoodle’ instead to describe my new allergy-free guide-dog pups,” he wrote.

The name caught on and interest in the labradoodle soared, but he began to worry about “backyard breeders producing supposedly allergy-free dogs for profit,” Conran wrote. He felt that he had opened up a Pandora’s box.

“Were breeders bothering to check their sires and bitches for hereditary faults, or were they simply caught up in delivering to hungry customers the next status symbol?” he wrote.

And, Conran added, “It’s not something I’m proud of. I wish I could turn the clock back.”

No such thing as”teacup” dogs

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The word teacup is something that makes me immediately think scam and heartache to those who are not familiar.  Very small dogs sold under the term “teacup” are usually sold to people that have no idea that the term is made up and a great marketing strategy which can bring in $$$. If a breeder says they specialize in “teacups” RUN, RUN, RUN !  “TEACUP” puppies are in reality premature puppies SOMETIMES purposely being separated early from mom earlier than 8 weeks  to promote stunted growth which can be very dangerous with improper development but bring in $$$ from uninformed owners.

The word “Teacup” has been used to merely describe the size of a puppy, meaning it is very small and will probably be under the standard size which is 4 to 7 pounds.  Their bones are VERY fragile and can be broken by jumping off of a couch, falling off of a bed, being stepped on or worse.

Some of the problems that may be encountered are both genetic and congenital in these pups.

The risk of open fontanels (soft spot from the cranial bone not forming), portosystemic shunts (PSS- abnormal vessel that allows blood to bypass the liver. As a result the blood is not cleansed by one of the bodies filters: the liver.), hypoglycemia, cardiac problems, collapsing trachea, luxating patellas, Leggs Calves Perthes disease, seizures, hydroencephaly, blindness and digestive problems can be increased.

Problems such as respiratory problems can remain or worsen throughout their lives. These pups are so fragile that they do not live more than a few years. There is no such thing as a “tea cup” Yorkshire Terrier, Maltese, Poodle, or ANY other breed for that matter.  They simply do not exist. “Tea-cup” is just a marketing ploy given by unethical and unscrupulous breeders to drive up the price of their puppies!

Do your homework and if you are looking for a toy breed, don’t fall for the scam of “teacup” anything. Toy breeds each have their own guidelines and reputable clubs that work hard to educate and preserve.  Unfortunately I know more horror stories than good ones in regards to people buying online without any physical meeting.

Check with AKC.org to see what is appropriate for the dog of your choice.

Canine clothing

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Dog clothing may be a necessity for those that shiver when its cold.  Dog clothing is not for everyone however some dogs cannot do well with the cold.  Our dog is sensitive to heat and cold.  I always carry a dog sweater in my car for those chilly nights when we are out dining at a patio.  Dog clothing can be quite silly and ugly.  It’s hard to find likeable dog clothes.  Here is a list of great clothes.

Londonrex.com–I met the owner at the SF dog show and I loved that she made these herself out of vintage clothing at thrift stores.  She had a sophisticated selection with lots of unique patterns and styles.  She does custom orders and sizing.

Londonrex.com

Londonrex.com

Chiwowwow.com–offers a variety of clothing everything from canine rock jackets to Marvel comic canine clothing.

Chiwowwow.com for boys

chiwowwow.com for girls

Earthdoggy.com–Earth friendly dog store with a variety of warm wear.