Fee

Dear Mum. It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing. I had to elope with my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Dad and you. I've been finding real passion with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of her, because of all her piercing's, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes, and because she is so much older than I am. But it's not only the passion, Mum... She's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a caravan in the woods, and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves, and trading it with the other people in the commune, for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves it!! Don't worry Mum, I'm 15, and I know how to take care of myself.. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit, so you can get to know your many grandchildren. Love, your son, Nicholas. P.S. Mum, none of the above is true. I'm over at Jason's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the school report that's on my desk Call when it is safe for me to come home.

Thanks so much for going to see him Marion, he looks like such a sweet boy We are desperate for a suitable foster home for Sam, he is currently on his own with people popping in to feed and walk him and can't stay where he is much longer. Sam is around 11 yrs old and is neutered and vaccinated, and has been used to being in a home with an elderly owner who was around most of the time, he can get anxious about being left for too long. He is quite a shy dog, but will come round to people once he knows them, he seems less worried by women than men. He has had little contact with children, so we'd prefer older/teenage children only. He really needs a quiet home with someone patient and gentle who can let him come round in his own time. He's been an only dog but we think he's be fine with a quiet dog who didn't pester him. He seems to ignore the cats around where he lives, but we don't know for sure how he'd react to living with a cat. He isin the Stockport area and doesn't travel well, so something not too far away would be ideal, but transporting further afield is possible if necessary. If anyone would like more information about Sam or a chat about him please contact us on 08445 868656 or [email protected].

It might be worth contacting your local Cats Protection League and see if they can help. My uncle had a large colony of feral cats that took up residence in one of his barns in a remote field. The CPT came and trapped them all, neutered them and released them again so they could live out their lives but not keep breeding.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Todd was such a special dog - an absolute gentleman through and through All my love to Lynne at this sad time

That's lovely to hear I hope we'll get some Bessie pictures at some point!

Fabulous pictures, I'm so disappointed we didn't make it this year. It was a wonderful day for it - really lucky considering what it's been like recently!

Now that is odd - and very impressive that he managed it without knocking the other ornaments over

Well I'm certainly not going to attempt a graphical representation of my thought processes

I hope No-R and Holly both enjoyed their special days

I think making the Oldies Chat area and Doggie Chat visible to non-members is and excellent idea, I'm always wary of forums where I can't view anything or get an idea of what they are like before joining. I think the rescue sections are already visible to non-members?

This is fascinating stuff, it sounds as though (in this respect at least) Meg is quite normal I sort of imagine the thought process like this:

She's very pretty Thank so much for taking her, Bekki

Brilliant

Clever little Trixie .... But maybe Duncan is even cleverer, I bet you gave him a treat anyway even though he couldn't be bothered to solve the puzzle

Lovely pictures, they are both looking so well

Meg is, in anyone's terms, a very odd little dog - and I suspect way more intelligent than my other dogs (though that may not mean a lot ) In particular, the way she chooses toys puzzles me. We have a large toybox full of assorted toys and Meg likes the soft toys and has about ten favourites (teddy, monkey, slipper, etc) that she plays with regularly. What fascinates me is that when she goes to the box to find a toy, she seems to have a particular toy in mind, and she'll pull all the others (including her other favourites) out of the box until she find she one she's looking for. None of the other dogs do this, they will normally just take whatever is on top to play with. Just now she was lying quietly on her bed dozing, then suddenly jumped up, ran to the toybox, rummaged through and discarded all the other toys until she found Red Lobster, which she took back to her bed, put her head on it and went back to sleep. What is going on in her head? Does she have some sort of abstract concept of various toys and decide in advance which one she wants at that moment? Or is she just rummaging at random until a particular one takes her fancy? I could understand it if there was one particular favourite she was trying to find, but it's completely random which one she picks. Do other peoples' dogs do this - or is Meg (as I have often suspected) just strange? She also glares at cameras

That's fantastic Billy, what a wonderful achievement for Kiera You must be absolutely bursting with pride - well done to you both

Please check with your insurance company before fitting winter tyres, a friend of mine got caught out with this last year. Fitting winter tyres is prohibited by some insurers and it could invalidate your policy, others allow winter tyres to be fitted but class it as a 'vehicle modification' which has to be notified, and they may put your premiums up by as much as 20% while the tyres are in place. Madness

Thanks so much for joining us here and for the update, it's wonderful to hear that Bessie Buttons has settled in so well She is definitely a fine example of a Uniquehound (and a very lucky one at that to have found a lovely home)

What a great idea I guess as a committee member I won't be allowed to enter, so can reveal my cunning plan to sprinkle Benji with fake snow and tie tinsel round his neck and use him as a table decoration. That would have won surely?

Bummer, I've worn Hunters for years. Won't be buying them again

Collies are tough dogs. When I think back to my grandfather's working sheepdogs, they were outside whatever the weather - and in North Yorkshire the winters were pretty bleak. They slept in stables, which were solid and dry with thick stone walls but completely unheated, with straw for bedding and never seemed in the least bit bothered. During the day they had access to the stables, but tended to mooch around the yard or sit in the barn (dutch barn with open sides) if it rained or snowed really hard. As a child I used to beg my grandfather to bring them indoors when it was really bitter but he reckoned sleeping in the warm would ruin their coats for outside work, maybe he was right. It's not how I'd want to keep a dog, but they honestly seemed happy enough and completely unaware of the cold.

We may have got off lightly compared to some places with not much snow here, but it is arctic out there today with a freezing north wind. Timetable for today's walk went something like: Get into winter gear (several layers, scarf, hat gloves, coat, *new* fur lined snow boots with non-slip treads - 10 minutes (OH doing similar but simultaneously) Get Sophie, Taz, Benji and Meg into fleeces then waterproofs - 10 minutes Catch Jess who is doing kangaroo impersonation. Finally get fleece on - 5 minutes Catch Jess again and get waterproof on - 5 minutes Catch Jess again and get padded boots on - 5 minutes Check key, poo bags, treats, tissues. Forgotten phone. Remove *new* fur lined snow boots, get phone, put boots back on - 5 minutes Get leads on Sophie, Taz, Benji and Meg - 2 minutes Catch Jess and get lead on - 3 minutes Pick way very carefully 20 yards down frozen pavement. Realise that *new* fur lined snow boots are great in snow but totally useless on ice - 10 minutes Freeze arse off walking round bleak fields in arctic wind - 45 minutes Slide home along icy pavement - 10 minutes Check Sophie, Jess & Taz's paws for ice and grit, clean off - 5 minutes Pick lots of small, hard ice-balls off Meg's legs and between her pads - 5 minutes Attempt to persuade Benji to let me touch his feet without taking my fingers off (failed) - 10 minutes Give up and stand Benji in shallow bowl of water, dry off and hope for the best - 5 minutes Find places to dry off 10 damp dog coats + 1 pair soaking dog boots - 5 minutes Total activity time = 2 hrs 20 minutes Oh for summer walks where you can stuff keys in pocket, clip leads on and go

Awww Duke What a fab garden Jo, I'm very jealous!

How sad that you turned up to support a rescue and were made to feel unwelcome because you had the wrong sort of dog. I'd be pretty fed up if I were you as well As for the 'brave or stupid' comment, that sounds like someone who should have known better perpetuating the myth that greyhounds can't get along with smaller dogs or other animals. There are many people here who can prove that isn't true (me included - Meg is the same sort of size as Tess and she and my old greyhound girl adored each other). I've turned up with miscellaneous dogs for all sorts of events, fundraisers, street collections etc for various rescues including greyhound rescues and never had that sort of reaction, I very much hope this was a one-off on that particular day. I'm sure most rescues would welcome anybody who bothered to turn out and show support so I hope it won't put you (and Tess) off in future.