GETTING A BICHON? Checklist: choosing pet/show puppy

[Puppylove]

Ohhhhh, after reading this Del, I think I'll just keep Princess, after all    Well, except her "coffee stain" that is.....but, after all, we are in Canada so, they'll forgive it seeing as it is certainly far less than 10% of her coat!    Now I know why Princess has lots of black skin....I thought she was a polar cub!

[LadyDiane555]

in some countries the bisque(coffe stain) is not allowed, but in the USA we allow 10% as 2 of my champions have some bisque, you have to have it in a white breed somewhere along the lines or you start losing other pigment, as we see in the USA when the butt hole does not have skin pigment or black in that area , the scrotum or the root of the tail..............................black skin blotches isa good thing to the point of having also silver blue skin instead of the pink...........

I was gonna talk about LEGS but saw in the above 1st post it's covered.  Besides it being straight (when viewed from the front), the "feet" must not turn in or out (we had quite a  discussion about Bichons having "Queen Anne's feet" sometime back).  Also, the back legs should have a good bend of stifle (look at pics of show Bichons, while they're stacked).

when picking a puppy for show, what we are talking about is when you hold the puppy under his chin and behind his legs and look to the fron the legs should hang straight, you can only see this if you are holding one without any pressure on the joints.

as puppies we actually want to see them slightly toe out as there chests have not droppped into place and that than casues the toes to go straight forward.    but as puppies they are usually crooked looking ...........

[arwen]

When getting your new bichon please avoid getting them from puppy mills. Those who care more about profit than that of the welfare of the animals. If you wanted to read more about puppy mills please google it or click on the link below.

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills

[Princess Lucy Loulou (Tina)]

I had to laugh at the first part of this Dell as Lucy didnt score any a's b's c's d's ect, cos I didnt see giddy, giddy, giddy there