AlTRPD

Thought you'd like to know that the teams have started listing things in Santa's Grotto now. The Wildcat's have some very nice, designer Christmas sacks already available to order and us doggies can even have our names on them, so no arguing which is which on Chistmas day when Santa Paws has been. See here for Santa Paw's sacks Now I'd best go and hide before the other teams get cross with me for not mentioning their plans. Fact is, I don't know what those are yet! Scampi

I have it on good authority that there will be some more faux fur throws available very soon, 'cos they are on order. Trouble is, they go almost as fast as they are listed. That means it's best to key your eyes peeled and grab then quick when you see them. Scampi

Thanks, everyone who has ordered and/or plans to. May I suggest your doggy pals would look really good for Christmas wearing some of the lovely, braid decorated and sparkly collars and leads or harnesses over Christmas - a bit like the pretty decorations I see going up already in some houses around here. There are going to be some fab Christmas stockings available soon off Alibullie and Viv, too, and with your dogs' and cats' names on. (Hint to my mum, and I'd like mine filled to the brim with meaty treats, please. ) Thanks. Scampi

Kathy, there are some of those coats in the bilberry check available now, and I have some cut out to bind, but do you want navy or burgundy binding, please? Once the ordered fittings arrive, I'll be able to get these finshed. On the subject of Bilberry check, we have just half a roll of that fabric remaining and, as it was from stock destined for M & S and was bought when they moved their contracts overseas, it cannot be replaced. Once it has gone, that will be it. If anyone wants coats in that fabric - which is super quality - please order/buy ASAP to avoid disappointment. Kathy, I think your blankets worked out at £45 all together, but Margaret has the details.

Every now and again I do wake up and pay attention to what the human beans say when around here and last night I overheard something really shocking! (No, not how Santa Paws isn't visiting me this year!) Present in the room were that long-haired bloke who smells like a horse and is owned by a fawn scruff-bitch like me, but bigger; that little blondie woman who smells like old sheep dogs and horse, and my mum, who often smells like ducks and chickens. Well, having a right serious conversation, they were, and about whether or not to place an order for all the fittings, fabric and webbings that were either out of stock or running low at TRPD's HQ. The convo went something like this... Long-Haired Bloke: 'Roughly what is it all going to cost?' Mum: 'Conservatively, about £1,500 if I order it all. About £1,000 if just the essentials and good selling things like the faux fur for those throws.' Little blond: 'And if not?' Mum: 'If not, then I can't complete a lot of things like coats that are just waiting for straps, which will affect things like the Coldies and Oldies project and the plans for Christmas parcels; oh, and some orders.' Long-haired bloke: 'I think it's reached the point where, if sales don't improve, we just accept that changes have to be made and the onus has to be on the group's members to decide how much the various projects mean to them and whether that is enough to keep it all going at this level. Let's face it, they get super quality products and excellent value for their own pets, even with the postage, and can see for themselves where all the profits go and what animals and rescues benefit - having a direct say in that, too.' Little blond: 'What about if this big order goes in, but the sales don't generate enough to pay for it and we end up having to cover it out of our group's funds or even a loan out our own pockets, then we say 'that's it' and just use up whatever materials remain, as best we can, and call it a day when that's gone?' Long-haired bloke: 'I think it will have to come to that. Sadly, many people don't realise or appreciate what they've got until it's gone. Perhaps if they do value it, it isn't too late, but at the moment it's touch and go.' Okay, so this IS gossip I am passing on, but it smelled very much like it was straight out of the horse's mouth, and there are lots and lots of doggy rescues that would be affected all over the country if things don't improve soon. If YOU want to help, please visit: TRPD - Pet Craft Project Sales and treat your pets to some lovely extras for Christmas. They will really appreciate it, and at the same time you'll be helping to ensure the project can continue to help lots of other less fortunate dogs in rescues and foster homes all over the country and in Ireland too. Thank you. Scampi

A hazel nut tree overhangs the roof of my field shelter and at present it is laden with nuts. Squirrels can often be heard bouncing around on the roof gathering the fallen nuts.when I'm feeding or grooming the horses. For such little, lightweight creatures, they make quite a racket.

IMHO where some online forums fall down is in not having a single, primary purpose that is both clearly stated and adhered to. For example, the forum of a rescue centre's primary purpose would, presumably, be to aid them in their welfare work and responsibly for homing animals in their care. To that end, all activities on their board have something directly or indirectly geared towards that purpose. Even the chat threads that might, at first, appear of little consequence, have a valuable part to play in building friendships and relationship with contacts. As to what is or isn't acceptable on any board, the simple way to decide is for members to ask themselves whether what they post has a positive and constructive effect towards the primary purpose of the group. Yes, of course there can be grey areas, in which case, perhaps consideration needs to be given as to whether a post's effect might be deemed negative to the primary purpose or even worth the effort of posting. For example, a joke can lift the spirits of readers, even one told at the writer's own expense, such as how my office chair almost landed me on the floor today when I leaned back (the seat screws had fallen out) but I was saved a nasty fall by all the boxes of our PCP's Wildcat team's unsold stock cluttering up the place! However, were I to threaten that team's members that, unless they get a lot of it sold very soon, I will give it all to the opposing, Wolves team, then that, even said in jest, might well be detrimental in its effect on that team's members and therefore the primary purpose of our forum. Were I to post something like that and, meaning every word, then the consequences could be far reaching. From triggering a resentment and risking possible disharmony between the teams through the use of that sort of emotional blackmail and threat, there is no telling where it might end and how many supportive members might be unnecessarily upset in the process. That certainly wouldn't benefit the primary purpose of our forum. On a personal level, it wouldn't benefit me either! The last thing I want is the stress of having lots of hassle to try to deal with. That takes me away from the positive and constructive aspects of what I do, and I am sure that others involved in the running of forums can endorse that. As Rick says, sometimes the best way to deal with those we don't like is simply to ignore them. And that has to include not renting them out one's headspace! Contrary to what they might believe, they are NOT that important. Remember, today's peacocks are simply tomorrow's feather dusters and fighting peacocks are in grave danger of damaging their plumage.

Rescue police or rescues, pleez, please allow my to illustrate just one small example of what can be achieved in an atmosphere of co-operation, if not affliation, between boards and their members. A while ago the Pet Craft Project's original industrial sewing machine went to the bridge. It was a certain Jaffa Cake loving individual's generosity that largely funded the replacement, enabling the work of the PCP to continue. How many members here and on how many other boards have pets sporting items made on that machine? However many that is, all have combined to enable over 50 items THIS WEEK ALONE to be sent out to rescue centres throughout the UK and Ireland. Those ranging from collars and ordinary leads to training leads and harnesses. At the end of this month AT LEAST 140 (yes, that's the latest total ) greyhound collars will be despatched to greyhound rescues situated all over the UK and Ireland. Every one of those produced on that very same sewing machine but funded and made possible by members of at least SIX different online dog rescue forums. By rolling up sleeves, acting and working together much bigger things can be achieved and those positive and constructively towards what we all claim to have in common - concern for animals in the care of rescues. To that end, I now need to police myself (or maybe monitor myself ;) ) back to the sewing machine, 'coz I am falling behind and have only sewn 123 of those greyhound collars to date!

Good article, Snow. Well, done. I used to work in an area where common conflicts often escalated into more serious affairs and the consequences then had to be faced - generally from behind bars. There I became aware that many of the people I was dealing with did not know the difference between action and reaction. Certainly not that actions were taken by applying the brain, whereas reactions were driven by the emotions. We are all powerless over the first thought, which can often be the result of an emotional reaction, but we all have a choice over whether to act on our first thought or replace it with a second, and more rational one. Reactions, whether online or otherwise, often reveal far more about the person reacting than about what or whom triggered their reaction. When training, one tutor remarked that there were only three types of people in the world - those that believed in God; those that did not believe in God; and those suffering under the delusion of being God. The latter being both the most dangerous and also the most emotionally vulnerable. Okay, so my training was geared towards dealing with a particular area within society, but egos don't only exist behind bars in real terms. They are just as recognisable on the PC screen as in the school playground or even the world's political stage. Indeed, you can be sure that when anger is being displayed, in whatever form, the person exhibiting it feels under some type of threat. That can often be identified as a threat to their ego and, thereforre, exposing their vulnerabilities. Pride, or rather false pride, inevitably increases vulnerability. In turn, an increasing sense of vulnerability is more likely to result in a greater liklihood of emotional reactions occuring, rather than a rational action or response.