Bedly

Anybody have the link to the Working Bedlington site? Is it still going? I changed computers and lost a lot of stuff, and can't find the site by Google. Bedly

Thanks, Whiptail, that's most informative. I'll read through the club's site. Alas, its breeders page isn't up yet. I don't suppose there are any good working IWS in Australia. There are only about 8 breeders on the main dog site here, and they all boast about show wins and imported champions, so they'll be useless in the field. One lot mention working trial awards, so a few of the show dogs may have some ability.

Very interesting topic. I've been fascinated by IWS for a while, but imagined they'd be mainly show dogs and not used for work. Are they any good on rabbits, or are they a wildfowl specialist? Would they flush and retrieve in a Springer sort of way?

David, I'm dismayed to hear that even someone as well connected as you cannot find a good bitch pup. Here I was thinking you'd be a bloke to go to for a future dog. As to working Bedlington shows, while they sound a good idea, they have their dangers. If they are just judged on looks, they'll go the same was as KC shows, and so will the dogs, if many didn't come from that side in the first place.

I think all of us here feel the same about the direction show Beddies have taken, and most probably understand how and why it has happened. To give them their due, they make wonderful pets, which is all most people want. I'm one of them, really. My pup (if he's still a pup at 11 months) is a show-bred Beddie, and he's a fabulous little fellow. He's not an extreme show type, but I don't think he'll have a lot of work in him, other than maybe chasing a few rabbits (and don't start on what terrier work is or isn't - I'm not addressing that here). Some show breeders are uneasy at the distance th

These are brush-tail possums, and they are opportunist omnivores. They feed on rose-shoots too, and other garden plants and fruits, but they've found the left over bird grain to be an easy and regular meal. They are lovely animals, but can be a bit of a menace. Most rats here, at least in domestic circumstances, and the Norway brown rat, but we also have some of the blacks; and we have native rats of different sorts, which are rodent rats which introduced themselves before Europeans arrived. Whatever they are, I can do without them. I'll set up a bait station at the weekend.

Thanks everyone, especially Ditch. I'll try that tyre arrangement. I have to be careful with poison, as I also have 3 possums that feed there every night, and I certainly don't want to harm them. They are far too big to get to the tyre bait, though.

I have the frustration of rats coming to my bird-table every evening. When I go out, they scarper across the rose-trellis into tall shrubs and disappear. They are gone before the dogs even see them, but they can't get them anyway. The poor old cat, who is well over 14, just sits under the bush watching the rats. I know I could poison them, but that seems cheating. Anybody got a tree terrier?

David, you are dead right: he is a show bred Bedlington. That's all you can get in this country. I'd have got a working type if any had been available. Of course, I could have imported one from the UK, but you have to know what you are doing, what's around, what lines are sound, what breeders are honest etc, etc. Basically I wanted a pet anyway, but one that might bush a few rabbits and be fun to take on country rambles. These show-bred (pseudo) Bedlingtons are great pets and very appealing in character, and I love this little bloke. I hope before long to go to the UK to suss out the dog scen

Where are you, Pip, if you're not in England? No, there's no test to screen for the gene for the disease. It's very common in Persian cats, and they do have a gene test for them, but so far they can't get anything working for dogs. They can do an ultrasound to see if the dog has the disease, that is, symptoms, but if the dog is healthy and is a carrier of the dud gene, you can't tell. One day they'll have a test, just as they have for the copper toxicosis gene. One thing I was considering was breeding this Beddie to a Whippet to get lurchers, but I'm now cautious about spreading a disease gen

That's a great photo! What a squeeze. Is that gap about 4 inches? You'd never believe it without seeing it. My late Beddy was a great one for squeezing under things like gates, but I doubt she'd have tackled a gap like that. My pup is still spannable, but is over 17 inches at the shoulder, and he's not 8 months old. He doesn't look big, to me anyway, and I got a shock when I measured him. He's the bloke whose brother died of polycystic kidney disease, so I won't breed from him, as he's probably a carrier. It is a variable disease, well known in Bull Terriers in which it has autosomal dominant

Believe it or not, I've a mate who free fed his Labrador. There was a big open bag of kibbies in the house, and he also got a daily meal of tinned food. He was the leanest, fittest Lab I'd ever seen. Anyway, the bloke got a Lab pup that had the typical Lab food obsession, and it quickly became as fat as a fool, so the free feeding stopped. The idea is a good one: the dog can regulate its intake without any stress or worry about food. It won't work for all dogs, though.

Same with my bloke. He's 6 months old and I can only just span him. I've got small hands though, 6.5 inches from wrist to tip of finger. I expect him to end up 16 inches high and about 10 kg. I never blame the fox, but the chicken owner. If you want chickens, have a secure pen. Nothing difficult about it. The poor old chooks, then the foxes, pay for the owner's incompetence.

Mate, you have my condolences, not just for the poor pup, and not just for your personal trauma, but also for the compromise of your feelings for Tag. I hope that changes with time. I've wondered how I'd react to such an event, but it wouldn't be good. There's no knowing about dogs or what motivates them. After all, he'd be praised for killing a fox and thought the world of. Killing a pup is vastly different in our view, but how different is it in the dog's view? I remember someone telling me of a Beddie show kennel he'd visited in New Zealand. They had 5 or 7 Beddies when they went out, and

That's a good point, Oyama. To what extent are these named lines reality, and to what extent just names? I would think that once the originator of a famous line is dead, the line is pretty well finished too. Yes, there may be Rillington, eg, dogs about here and there, but I doubt that anyone is keeping the line going in a systematic way. If so, they must be crossing in other blood, or it would be horribly inbred. Mind you, the original kennel would have brought in other blood too, but as part of a considered plan. I'd be grateful for advice on good lines of Beddies that are really available.