mum24dog

Anything I had to read for school I hated. Still hate "literature" but loved reading anything and everything of my own choice as a child. Aged 7 - anything about dinosaurs Aged 8 - astronomy Aged 10 - the Narnia Chronicles Aged 12 - Greek and Roman mythology and historical novels Aged 13 - 14 - ghost and horror stories 15 + - boys - books took a back seat 18+ - uni and back to reading boring books I hated. Never read Lord of the Rings and don't intend to - probably because I was made to read The Hobbit at school. All 4 of my daughters have hated reading (despite - or possibly because of my efforts to encourage them) but it's a very different world nowadays. Two of them started reading around the age of 17. Pam

Me too. My daughters insist on doing something special for me but I'd rather they didn't. Don't want to seem ungrateful though. Pam

Me neither. I don't need a physical reminder, although the fragment of a football that Charlie destroyed is still lurking in the garden somewhere and brings a smile whenever it surfaces. Pam

My father had a cousin who was quite a successful boxer in the 1920s. I'd heard about him when I was growing up but had no idea that he was black until I saw his photo in a press cutting. His father was from Jamaica - the rest of the family from Tipperary. It wasn't a shameful secret brushed under the carpet - just not worthy of mention. I'm not even sure my father appreciated how unusual it was for the time. I've read some letters from my father's aunt to my grandmother (her sister) and nowhere is there any mention of getting a hard time because of marrying a black man. My other grandmother was often called "the Jewess" when she was young because of her appearance. She was actually brought up as a Methodist and found it amusing. Pam

Pretty meaningless as a questionnaire and drove me mad - UTMOST (sorry for shouting) not upmost. daftest question was whether euthanising a healthy dog compromises its welfare. Pam

Mine didn't used to be too bad when we had the same regular postman but we never seem to get the samne one two weeks running now so no chance to build up a rapport. Pam

Definitely. Some people will always find something to chunner about. Pam

Apologies for referring to punishment. I was thinking generally but it didn't come out that way. Noone can judge whether your dog considers the spray collar as punishment without seeing him. However, from what you say he is displaying behaviour you do not want by his wandering attention. You give him a squirt to stop that unwanted behaviour. That is correction. Noone I know who has trained a deaf dog in agility has had to use such a device. I do know what they are and what they do - I have one myself gathering dust somewhere and I wouldn't have used it to get a dog's attention, deaf or not. The jet can be quite fierce - or maybe the one you have is adjustable. Has your instructor had experience of training a deaf dog? A different approach to handling may be needed from most dogs. You have to be visible which means your position may be different from other handlers. Here is some input from handlers and instructors of deaf agility dogs - http://www.agilitynet.com/training/deaf_roundtable.HTML Pam

Can you not find an agility class that uses positive methods? Agility is supposed to be fun. Punishing the dog while it is doing it is hardly the way to make it an enjoyable experience for your dog. If you're having problems with his attention only take one dog at a time and concentrate on that one. We have lots of dogs that are easily distracted in our classes but they all get over it with positive methods suited to each individual dog. They key is not to ask more than the dog is able to give at any time. If you have to correct your dog you have failed in that and need to take a few steps back. Pam

Just heard this from one of our club members. Man gets staffie for kids. Kids get bored and man can't be bothered to take her out so man's brother takes the dog to look after and she spends 6 months happily going to work with him at a garage where she never puts a paw wrong. Kids want dog back so it is returned, only to be thrown out again for weeing in the house because she isn't taken out. By this time her nails are curled under. The dog is now 5 years old and was destined for the RSPCA where we know what would probably have happened to her. Brother's work hours have changed and it wouldn't be fair for him to take her back. Enter our club member who knows the dog through the garage and he takes the dog to try and find a home for her. First new home ignores instructions about how to introduce the dog to their cats and back she goes. However, our member's 75 year old (but very active) father was missing his dog that he lost last year but was unsure about taking on another at his age. He has fallen in love with the dog and we have a happy ending. Our member was wavering about keeping her himself but his own dog still needs a lot of work so the timing wasn't good. This way he still gets to see the dog and his father has no need to worry about the future. Awwwwww. Pam

We hadn't had more than a tiny bit of snow before but yesterday heavy snow was forecast. What did we get? About half an inch that didn't last long. Pam

We're nearly in Cumbria and haven't had any to speak of. A bit this morning but it's virtually all melted now. Pam

It's taken me 2 years to decide on tiles for the kitchen. We've lived with a partly plastered wall all that time. Pam

On the face of it (and whoever knows the real truth in such matters) I think the RSPCA was quite correct to take the dogs, but the woman genuinely seems to have loved her dogs - too much, apparently. Would it have hurt to have shown a little compassion and given her some comfort that her dogs are OK? Put yourself in her position. Misguided - certainly. Stupid - probably. But a human being who has had her dogs taken from her and she doesn't know what is happening to them - definitely. Pam

We have had 2 in our agility club - littermates. One was laid back and not interested at all so he doesn't do it any more. the other is fine and quite keen. I've known another couple belonging to an agility person and they were both more like the first one. All can have terrier moments though. Pam

I'm an INFJ Counsellor and the summary is very accurate - apart from the psychic bit. Actually I'd be a disaster as an actual counsellor as I do tend towards the "pull yourself together" approach, but I see everything that the summary says in the way I approach my task of helping run our dog club. Pam

If the petition were successful (which petitions never are), thousands of dogs would not be reunited with their owners that wouldn't otherwise have been, and certainly "millions of little lives" will not be saved. Overemotive and exaggerated claims can have a negative effect on the message. Councils do not have good pound accommodation high on their list of priorities. It is up to every responsible dog owner to have their dog permanently identified know who to contact if a dog is lost and have the means to pay for the dog's release if located in a pound. It isn't the fault of the system if they don't. A few dogs will fall through the net; any system has its failures. That is no reason to impose an extra burden on an already overloaded system. The time limit isn't the real issue in reuniting dogs with owners who want them back - and many don't. Apart from better care in some pounds, it would help if every local authority had, by law, to have an up to date web site with details of dogs in its care and where found. Some do, like Wirral, and it must make life so much easier for all concerned. For the dog that noone wants, 28 days could be horrendous. It would be nice to think that every lost dog has a loving owner looking for it but it just isn't true. It seems to me that the originator of the petition, while no doubt well intentioned, probably has little or no experience of the rescue situation. Pam Pam

The Royal family may be a bunch of arrogant and unappealing t****rs but who would swap with them and live their lives in a goldfish bowl with every action under public scrutiny? I feel very sorry for the lot of them. I'd much rather be normal, even if a lor poorer. Pam

Labs Springers JRTs BCs and crosses Staffies (in no particular order) Lots of rescues. At this time of year I'm usually ankle deep in mud on the shore with mine so I don't tend to see many dogs whose owners don't like to let them get them wet and dirty. Pam

A REGULARLY BATHED DOG IS A HEALTHIER, HAPPIER DOG Is it b******s. We've had one of ours over 2 years and haven't bathed him yet - perfectly healthy with a lovely shiny coat and no skin problems. Clean as well - sparkling white where he should be. Pam

That you can change a man after marrying him. (Not in the sense of swapping him for something better.) Pam

Zebra. Pam

I bought a load of the bright pink collars and leads from them for our agility club a while ago - reason being that sometimes people turn up without appropriate gear and we lend them something for the class. In the past people have just disappeared with our collars and leads and the was that we'd be more likely to spot bright pink walking out of the door. I also bought a multi pack of cheap leads for myself because mine keep getting chewed but these haven't. Pam

But the urbanisation of Ireland is a pretty recent phenomenon. It can take a generation or more to change attitudes. And I'm not so sure how relevant pound figures are. What about the rural dogs that never make it to the pound? (Not just and Irish problem - it happens here in England too.) Pam

Probably more to do with it's being a predominantly rural country with the attitudes that often go with that way of life. Pam