Nice People 12: Nice in Nice

bugslet

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GDB2222 wrote: »

LIR and Bugslet, I hear you, but I don't agree entirely. These dogs have been bred almost entirely for looks, and possibly temperament. Not for robustness, intelligence, longevity, or a host of other desirable attributes.

Would I blame parents for a child with a genetic disorder? Yes, if it is testable, and they chose not to test. Perhaps blame is too harsh a term, because there may be good reasons for that decision, but it's certainly a term I would use for professional dog breeders that let certain conditions get out of hand. There's nothing inherent in the Labrador breed that requires them to have hip problems, for example. So, yes, I blame breeders for a allowing that to develop.

I'm not a million miles from disagreeing with you GDB.

Mr Bugs loved the miniature schnauzers and they are pretty straightforward dogs; my love is all things Spitz, which includes all the Husky variations, Samoyeds, Keeshond, the faffiest they get is the Chow and the Papillon. The reason I like them is that you look at them and you can make comparisons with a wolf, triangular ears, ruff round the neck, bushy tail. I can't be doing with dogs with elongated bodies and flattened faces, that's a tamper too far. danes for me are in the middle, they are fairly straightforward apart from their size.

So I can concur to a degree regarding the breed in its entirety but knowing my friends, they have enough knowledge to raise a Dane in the best way possible and to ensure that the breeder breeds for health.

BTW, if you ever see pictures of the Bulldog from a 100 years ago, looks nothing like the deformed creatures we see now.:(

bugslet

GDB2222 wrote: »

Are Wonga still giving away new loans?

Why, do you want to buy a dog:rotfl:

neverdespairgirl

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I have about 15 sloes from an allotment neighbour, and have bought some gin to make the sloe gin from - no idea how, and I doubt there'll be much to share, but how exciting anyway!

My recipe is a 3 litre jar, in which I put 3 lb of sloes, 12 oz of sugar, and fill up with gin. You can weigh your sloes and reduce accordingly?

neverdespairgirl

Swapping texts with Spirit now - she's in a rehab place for over 65s, which is a bit tough for her, and she's well over a decade younger! But she is walking better.

Generali wrote: »

TBH, if I miss a day or two I just let it slide. It's simply not possible to catch up.

It does mean that I get some surprises now and again!

You know Mrs Chewy's pregnant with twins, right? Or is that a surprise?

lostinrates

GDB2222 wrote: »

Dog shows have a lot to answer for. The winners are judged according to how they look, rather than for example how good they always are with children or that kind of thing. There ought to be points for looks and also points for other attributes, including obedience and agility, etc. so, a dog that does not look entirely true to breed can still win if it has other attributes that are outstanding.

But not all dogs are BRED for agility and obedience! Some, like toys, are bred just for looks! You would be comparing apples to oranges. Dogs are not just dogs. They have been bred for very different behaviours.

Try hosting a hunt on a dog show for the hounds, or a shoot for the gun dogs? A race or a course for the runners and coursers. Then what for the fighter and terrier stock. And the water dogs!:D

They are being shown and evaluated against their own BREED yardstick, how true to their breed standard they are,

The purpose of animal shows originally was literally just to show your breeding stock ..the anatomy.

Temperament and obedience does count fwiw, you can get sent down the line if your dog doesn't settle, snapping would be unacceptable...the dogs get handled all over by the judge, you might want to snap if some strange geezer touched your vulnerable areas, and ring craft, his performance is meant to test obedience, a dog show is a very distracting place for a dog to be! They are exhibited alongside other dogs and.....have you ever walked though benching areas? Crikey. One day I'll make a point of going down the benching areas of a 'reactive breed' and see what that's like. Benching is a pretty incredible test of temperament IMO. And endurance. It might not look like much to you, but those minutes in the ring have been a testing day for a dog. GDb, may be you'd like to come to crufts with me if I'm not benched this year? I can show you these things?

There are vets at shows. A few years ago at crufts, last time I went I made a complaint to a ring steward about two dogs who refered to ring judge and the vet was called. More and more the veg thing is going to come in to question. More and more dogs are being sent out,

Nikkster

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My recipe is a 3 litre jar, in which I put 3 lb of sloes, 12 oz of sugar, and fill up with gin. You can weigh your sloes and reduce accordingly?

Mine is half a bottle of sloes (which have been in the freezer), topped up with gin. I'll make a sugar syrup up to sweeten to my taste at the end.

This is my first try though, so it might go horribly wrong...

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Ok, neither thing I was thinking, small pellet poison. In the bait section, in a residential area I thought they would be confined to bait blocks that get locked in, like I described to you. In case of pets or children. E.g. I am not able to use those in my farm yards. ( nor would I) but I can in my feed rooms and internal buildings where no kids or pets should wander unaccompanied. More effective than covered grain I guess . They don't need to eat much to kill them, really a surprisingly small amount. My guess is a fair few have already snuffed it if a lot of bait has gone.

It's a shame there's not a counter, so you can see how many've entered/left .... and/or wifi enabled boxes, so you get an alert every time one has a nibble


I guess she took one look at me and didn't need to ask about kids/pets, probably thought "no way kids or pets come to this woman's house ... probably has a house full of cat pictures and wears purple at weekends"

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

I say that like you too.

I heard a funny one on telly the other day, can't think what it was now though ....

The Ikea advert surprised me - I call it I Key Er
Advert called it: Icky Er

I call it I-key-er too. As does everyone, I thought?

OH talks about oh-REG-en-oh, I say oh-reg-ARN-o.

And I thought it was "LEEE-dul", but I've mostly heard it from a German mate or OH's who works there.

bugslet

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Swapping texts with Spirit now - she's in a rehab place for over 65s, which is a bit tough for her, and she's well over a decade younger! But she is walking better.
?

Bit grim, but at least she's up and about and improving.

Nikkster wrote: »

This is my first try though, so it might go horribly wrong...

I'm prepared to sample any 'offcuts'.:D

Nikkster

bugslet wrote: »

I'm prepared to sample any 'offcuts'.:D

Thanks for your kind offer. If you can find any 'offcuts' you'd be welcome to try them - I think you'll struggle though!