Rileyroo

She is so lovely - I really want to meet her too, rather than just see her about to leap across a car park with you in hot pursuit I have orders from Fi which involve walks so we'll have to arrange one where we can all make it

This is on my list, as is a day on Difficult People, Difficult Dogs hosted via the APDT.

Ooh, that's a bargain. I won a guardsman double car crate for my Focus for £100 last week - very happy with it too

I have been doing college work all afternoon, and am just taking a quick break after a wee bit of excitement. I left a chicken defrosting in a bowl of water in the sink and heard an almighty crash about 5 minutes ago. I rushed downstairs to see a trail of water leading away from the sink, across the kitchen, and out of the back door. At the other end of the trail was a greyhound, with his teeth firmly into the back of the chicken Bless him though, he gave it back to me and I have put it back in the bowl of water to continue to defrost. I reckon as it will be cooked at over 200C it will kill any bugs he might have introduced. Poor thing didn't even get a proper bite out of it, just teethmarks. He is now shut in the spare room with me while I finish my assignment. I think he's very confused because he clearly expected to be severely told off and all he got from me was a cuddle.

That will never happen. Last night we got two humans, two dogs and one cat on our corner sofa, but the second cat won't get that close to the dogs or the other cat.

Ah, yes, Billy is VERY good at taking over and defending his space Kevin did try getting up on that side, but a quick glance from Billy was enough to deter him.

This is more like it - that's my rightful amount of space

With great difficulty Woe is me - the cat is too scarey. Don't worry about me though, I can make myself really small I shall just lie here, feeling hard done by

Good luck Fluke. You really are a very special hound Riley and Kevin hope to be able to join you on the common soon.

Thanks everyone, and especially for the gorgeous muffins, Wendy. We had a great day, really lovely way to spend a birthday.

Fabulous photos - it was a great day. Lovely to meet so many Fugees and their dogs. Riley and Kevin had a great time - we were so lucky with the weather. I managed to lose my phone - I realised in the car that I hadn't seen it for a while. Checked all my pockets, my bag etc. Rang it a couple of times and couldn't hear it, and no-one answered it. So I rang Orange and got it blocked thinking that it must have slipped out of my pocket when I was sitting on the beach somewhere. When we got home, I got up from the seat and it was underneath me - my bum is big enough to muffle the sound of the ringtone

Oh, poor Wispa. I didn't notice her coughing yesterday, and I hope it's not KC And a for Polly Pullli too - she's adorable

Excellent, thanks. If anyone sees two people (one of them freakishly tall) and two dogs looking rather lost then that will be us

Just sorting out maps / satnavs etc now and I'm a little confused Looking at the map / view that Wendy posted of the car park, is it signposted off the main road as the road turns to the left?

He really does do a fine line in bored, doesn't he Happy Gotcha Day, Sir H. I look forward to meeting you on Sunday.

Yes, both spaying and castration can alter the coat. Most noticeably in breeds like collies, spaniels etc with longer coats (which tend to get 'fluffy'), but short coats can change too.

Dog walking is big business where we are. There's one woman who clears over £100K a year (based on my rough calculations) but she walks 10 dogs at a time, often off lead on roads, and wouldn't get within a mile of being asked to walk a dog of mine. What I expect from a dog walker is: reliability, common sense, and to care about the welfare of the dogs they're walking. So, they turn up when they say they're going to and if multiple dogs from different homes are being walked together then it's in a well-matched group, with no more than 4 at one time. Dogs are transported in individual crates in a suitably equipped car / van unless they come from the same house and are happy to share. All poo is picked up, dogs are on lead where appropriate for the dog, but always around roads / livestock etc. No aversive methods are used - so the dog walker on the common that beats any dog that doesn't recall instantly is also never getting within 1 mile of my dogs, ditto the one that uses spray collars to stop the dogs barking in the car - and treats (if used) are dispensed sensibly so no-one fights over them. Most walkers around us walk for approx 1 hour - but the dogs will be out of the house for longer because of being picked up / dropped off and how many other dogs need also be taken home after the walk. Lunchtimes are busiest - as most people want their dog walked in the middle of their working day. We've had three dog walkers - the first started well, but became a nightmare and we sacked her. The second was lovely, and Riley adored her, but we stopped using her when Riley was ill. We now use the guy who runs the training sessions that I also teach at - and if he'd being doing dog walking when we first needed one we'd never have gone elsewhere. He charges £12 for an hour, never walks more than 2 dogs together (unless they are a family group) and Riley (and Kevin now) is as pleased to see him as she is us.

Great updates I'll bring the book with me on Sunday. A lot of the specific exercises in there are for mobile dogs too - but you can adapt lots of them and it's good for ideas. You can have a look through it and see if you want to borrow it or not.

Kevin, Riley and I are still coming - as is my husband, Paddy, now as he's not working after all.

Or it teaches the child that violence is an acceptable method of communication, one that's used by their closest and (should therefore be) their most trusted people. It might be something that many parents do (usually because they themselves are out of control or want to retaliate), but it's not something that should be encouraged, in my opinion. Learning that violence is an acceptable form of retaliation is not good learning.

She's looking wonderful, Sarah. Do you do clicker training with her - you could do lots of learning stuff with her to use her mind while she can't use her body so much. Chin targeting, front paw targeting, focus, settle, self control around food / toys / cats! Teach her to cross her front paws and rest her head on them etc. I've got a Learning Games book from Learning About Dogs that I'd be happy to lend you for some ideas if you want - otherwise I get the feeling she's going to drive you and herself nuts over the next 8 weeks!

She is so gorgeous

Oh, wow - how wonderful

I've seen the stuff for and against re bloat but it wasn't that I was particularly concerned with - it's more because when I first fed him and put the bowl directly on the floor he ended up eating like a giraffe with his front legs splayed out and it just didn't look comfortable, or particularly conducive to eating! On the meaty bone meals then he lies down and gnaws away at the carcass or whatever it is he's got that day so that's not an issue as the food doesn't stay in the bowl for more than a second, but for his other meals it seems better for him to eat with his legs / neck in a more normal position.

Thanks everyone