Australian Terrier International

 About 7 years ago we fulfilled our daughter's greatest wish... to have her own dog.

For her 10th birthday, she received an Australian Terrier, a bitch from the Dorica's Kennel. Annika wanted also to show her dog, just like we were showing our Windhounds. She gathered information about Junior Handling and she really did enjoy it. The two of them were a super team with a lot of successes.

The family was also fascinated by the breed and we also - at our turn - had a dream which was to breed Mona. All our expectations were fulfilled. It is wonderful to breed a female with such a good motherly instinct.

Junior Handling Finals

Mona and Kati

Bobby, Mona, Nele and Kati

From the A-Litter we have kept a female, Kati, who was also very successful in shows. In January 2011 she offered us the B-Litter. 

 

We entered our offspring, Bobby-Lee von der Krabbenschmiede, who we kept from that litter, for the first time at a Special Terrier Show when he was just 10 months old. There were 12 Australian Terriers being shown. We were very surprised and absolutely delighted when he was selected as Best of Breed (BOB).

This was the coronation for Annika and the confirmation of her previous successes. We are very proud of both of them!

Bobby-Lee von der Krabbenschmiede Photo By: Nina Blaser

Meanwhile, Bobby has become father of a very promising litter in December 2012.

From Mona, a C-Litter was born in March 2011; we have kept a female, who unfortunately does not like shows, which is really a pity as she is lovely and well built.

For more information or to view their website please click here

All photos have a copyright by their photographer as listed on the photo.

 Canine Health Foundation  ATI Donor Advised Fund

While Australia enjoys warm weather, most of us are wondering when winter will ever end. Hopefully these photos will warm you up and remind you that better weather will be here soon.


Scott Pruter and Dusty (Stallings) Pruter

I was adopted by Scott and Carol and I've been having a wonderful summer. We have two homes and I get to go on hikes. This was my first kayak ride with Scott.
I love my new home. Love, Dusty


Photo Courtesy Of Camilla Andersson, Sweden
Cooktowns Red Hot Lady and Fårönas Äskil, "Molle"


Photo Courtesy of Nancy Mitchell White
Playing in the water with his dad, Don, the Battalion Chief
for a large fire department.

   Kimmo Aaltonen, Finland  

Photo Courtesy of Ulla-Britt Norgren  

Are you feeling warmer now?

David was born in November 2009 a little over 6oz in weight and apart from the fact his front left leg was bent back, which at the time we thought was from the way he was lying in the womb, he was perfect. David suckled along with his siblings but at three days of age we decided something was wrong. We took him to a local vet who advised us to put David to sleep, but being soft and already in love with him this was not an option for us. So at ten days old we took him to an orthopedic vet in Leominster who said he saw no reason for David to be put to sleep as he could live a perfectly happy life. During puppy vaccinations and checks the vet there said that in the future if his leg caused problems for him it could be "whipped off", which we thought ironic that a leg could so easily be removed but yet they won't dock? At 4 months Mum (Ceri) and I took him to our vet at Dole Road in Llandrindod; the x ray showed that he was missing his radial bone, but as the growth plates were not finished growing nothing could be done at that time, but once again amputation was mentioned.

As David grew he used the bottom half of his leg as if it was a foot and used his elbow to lift himself, etc. We knew that the way in which he was moving was twisting his spine so something had to be done for him, but all anyone up to now had offered was amputation!

As soon as he neared 12 months of age, which would mean his growth plates had closed, the time came to begin our quest. We watched one episode of the Bionic Vet and decided to peruse the Internet, finding both Langford Veterinary Practise and the Bionic Vet on line. We decided to go and see our vet Jane again in Llandrindod. Jane examined David and listened to us then agreed to contact them. The senior surgeon from Langford, which is attached to Bristol University, then got back to Jane quite excited and said that subject to certain requirements he could help both David and us.

After talking with Mr. Burton on the phone an appointment was made and we went to Somerset in October 2010 for a consultation where we met with Neil Burton. He explained that David's case was incredibly rare and not genetic. The operation he was thinking of had been performed just once before in the world and that had been on a Shitzu in America. Neil showed us a skeleton of a dog's leg; David got very excited when he saw it as he thought he was being offered a bone! Mr. Burton showed us which parts of the foot and leg were affected and explained the procedure, which would involve a bone graft being taken from David's left hip and being inserted underneath his foot, then a plate would be attached using several screws, spanning from his toes to his elbow. This would in effect fuse the leg and carpal called athrodesis, which can be used when a dog has broken their carpal, but whereas this would normally be attached to the radius, this could clearly not be done, so a delicate operation was called for where the plate would be attached to the ulna and the bone graft would hopefully give the extra stability needed in the long run. It was also pointed out that due to the lack of the radius even if the operation was a success David would always have a limp as his left leg is 3 centimetres shorter than his right leg.

Expecting to be called back at a future date imagine our surprise when he said he could perform the operation the following day as long as the x rays were as expected and that they could give us a reduction in the cost if we would agree to David being used as a teaching case in the University. Well, of course we agreed and found ourselves extending our stay at a motorway services in Somerset. David was duly operated on and became the first dog in the UK to have this procedure.

We picked up David now sporting a bright red plaster cast and were given strict instructions which spanned out for the next 3 months, both for us, David and for our vet. David remained his usual happy self and although we had to keep the weight off his leg David was happy to be helped around in his body harness. There were inevitably problems, as to be expected with such a big operation; the cast had to be changed weekly for 6 weeks which involved sedation each time, and huge nerves for our vets who were now part of vet history. These didn't always turn out so good, involving middle of the night trips to Somerset, holding his leg firm as the cast on one occasion had fallen off! After six weeks cage (bed and settee) rest the cast came off, the staples from his hip were removed and slow but steady exercise followed. David as ever just took everything in his stride. So after 16 weeks with no freedom we were able a few weeks ago to let him run free with his pack and extended Wyeafon pack, too, on the local showground.

David has shown us nothing but love and loyalty. He is All Australian Terrier and deserved the chance to live a perfectly normal life. David has paid us back in full.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to our vet Jane for listening and being on the end of a phone during certain nights and supporting us during David's recovery and Special Thanks to All at Langford veterinary hospital for everything.

Langford veterinary hospital performs the most amazing options for all sorts of illness and disabilities. This is their web site www.langfordvets.co.uk

 Lynne Jennings

Federal health officials have sent inspectors into Chinese plants that make chicken jerky pet treats, to investigate potential links to illnesses and deaths in hundreds of dogs in the United States, two lawmakers say.

Staffers for Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, confirmed Wednesday that Food and Drug Administration officials were conducting the inspections.

"Based on our ongoing discussions with the FDA, we are expecting important new information soon," Vic Edgerton, a spokesman for Kucinich said in an email to msnbc.

It's not clear exactly how many inspectors are involved or which plants the officials will visit as they attempt to solve the mystery behind at least 600 reports of illnesses including abrupt kidney failure after dogs have been fed chicken jerky treats made in China.

FDA officials declined to comment on the inspections.

CHIC Testing In The USA