As Evolution is only a theory

*weeps quietly*

You can already get stick on feet Rusty. Evolve Fish

Wasn’t me then. I’ve only ever seen two others.

Wasn’t on the back of my Megane was it Piedi?! (A **** with a ‘real’ one passed me on dual carriageway a few weeks ago, cut back in to the inside lane, and brake checked me. No safety cameras, rozzers, or any other vehicles on a long straight stretch. I can think of only one reason it happened.)

PMSL at The Young Ones

‘Give us some easy ones, Bambi, you big bottom-boil!’

As IWH, we’ve had PetPlan for both our hounds. They have never argued claims, and pay direct to Ted’s vet.

Saw him in Stafford last week. Excellent stuff.

‘Hit by the bird!’

1 multi vit and 2 vit c/zinc effervescents in 1/3 pint orange juice, 1 3rd water, 1/3rd tonic water. add another pint of water. add fruit throughout the day.
2 vit c/zinc tablets during the day at 2-4 hour intervals, then in the evening, another pint of the concoction above, with a nip of cheap-5hit whiskey thrown in.
paracetamol as required.
worst i had was a couple of days when the rest of the world was in a right 2 and 8.

‘Anecdote’ is not ‘evidence’.

But I normally take Berocca daily when I get a cold and I find that helps. A massive tablet into water of vitamin c.

The plural of ‘anecdote’ is not ‘data’.

No worries Oxboy :O) And I am agreed that any potential owners should know that they can be quite a long way away in a short time. We put in months of work on this with Ted, and it still needs reinforcing in his mind.

cinnamon_girl -> It’s funny you should ask. I wondered myself for a good while and last month got round to buying a small GPS logger to fit to his collar. His record is 34 MPH, chasing his frisbee. I reckon there’s probably 2 – 3 MPH more in there on the lure.

anagallis -> We course near Stapeley, Cheshire. Straight run, no scoring or points, just fun for the dogs. Even with daily walks and runs, Ted is more settled after a morning coursing. I should work him, but it’s not really my thing. (That said, if he was any good, I’d be out occasionally with the local lurcher lads. I’d ‘put up’ with it for Ted’s sake.)

Big dogs needs loads of room and huge amounts of exercise.

Hmmm, generalisation again. Ted is 31″ to the shoulder, most people who meet him say (Little Britain Dennis Waterman style) ‘Ooh, that’s a big dog!’ He takes up no room and is as lazy as a lion.

We live in a terrace, and both work full time. With a bit of juggling of our jobs, Ted gets 60 minutes walk twice a day, EVERY day, rain, shine, Christmas or ‘can’t be arsed’. He’s never alone for more than five hours. He goes lure coursing once a month. He’s crap at it, but loves it.

but they all need lots of attention

I disagree. The only attention Ted needs is walks and people around in general, and a bit of a scratch at bedtime. If you’ve got a dog needing / demanding attention you’re doing it wrong.

Keeping a dog is as difficult as you make it. (By gum, I’ve made it difficult for myself in the past though!)

EDIT: Lovely shot Samuri.

A lot of spare time.

When I think of all the time I’ve spent riding bicycles. I mean, twelve a hours a day some times…..

Some lovely pics here, does anyone have a dog I could borrow or be an auntie to?

There are times I’d give you Ted and any amount you wish as compensation to sweeten the deal. Times measured in micro-seconds though 😉

Stunning hound, he is.

Steady on Oxboy, you generalised a step too far, and I wasn’t trying to make you look daft. Admittedly I could have started my response to you better, and for that I apologise.

There could be all manner of characters thrown from that mix. I agree that a puppy is an unknown quantity but don’t put people off the hundreds of fantastic lurchers / sighthounds in rescue after a home.

You’ve had 2 ex workers one was older and steadied down and probably a crap worker like the young one you have.

Ted (younger, current hound) is a terrible worker. He’s ridiculously prey-driven, but so soft-mouthed a working owner would weep. He’s got enough saluki in him to make sure I never have a ‘rose tinted view’ of dogs. He’s doing fine in a pet home. Ali was as keen as mustard, and very ‘successful’ on his walks with us, despite his years, until we convinced him he was retired.

Conclusion – Lurchers and other sighthounds can, and very often do, make fantastic pets / trail dogs. Like any other breed.

Anyway, for a pet go through a good rescue. Get one assessed for your family / lifestyle. There are too many good dogs needing homes.

Brant – two rescue lurchers so far. Superb dogs, both very different. Check http://www.lurcherinkorg for lots needing homes, and more advice than you can shake a stick at.

Oxboy – Tripe. Not all of them work / hunt, which is why so many are turfed out and are in need of rehoming. Like most things in life, you can’t generalise to that extent. Our first was an ex-worker, abandoned because he was slowing down at 6 years old. The most biddable dog I ever met once he figured out we didn’t want him to work any more.

Our current was homeless at around 2 years old because he is a total dead loss as a worker. In more than 2 years he’s only ever taken mixy rabbits, and ended down the vet after he caught a squirrel and it mauled him (I’m not joking!)

almost unique

AAarrggghhhh! (Sorry.)

Muffin Man is correct, that’s my favourite F1 car of all time. You can get a really good close look at one at the Single Seater Museum at Donington.

Tuna mayo sandwich, with one slice of bread just tickled with some lime pickle. Ooohhh lah lah!

and think to myself ‘is this all here by chance’.

No, it’s not. It’s there because of a complex series of natural processes operating together over an extemely long period of time. Just because something is extremely beautiful or complex doesn’t mean you have to invoke the supernatural.

Ha!

[:?:]

Too late, too tired, can’t be bothered, tbh.

Night!

And God Bless…

I’d post something along the lines of ‘**** it, I can’t be arsed to think of a comeback’ but I’m too tired.

😉

All seem to think that their views and opinions are more righteous than anyone else, who can really say who is right or wrong?

Would you like to be tried for a crime on that basis? Or have evidence, argument and counter-argument presented until a logical conclusion was reached?

I may adopt this phrase and pretend it’s my own :o) Actually I’ve abandoned atheism to replace it with pantheistic indifference. It’s basically the same but less dogmatic…

The only time I’ve ever agreed with SFB!

beefy – Member

Blummin heck, this has got very serious.

To all you non-believers, jedi’s, intellectuals, agnostics and every thing else, God really, really loves you.

Sorry if this upsets you, or offends your beliefs, but He really loves you.

I work in a high school and the daily act of worship is a mumbled prayer read from a book, this aint gonna win anyone for God so don’t worry about your kids, they are safe.

I became a Christian out of a alchohol and bmx fueled lifestyle, He met me where I was, in a mess, forgave me and set me back on my feet, He has helped me on the way and walked with me through everything.

I need no proof, or reason, just faith.

I would rather trust the creation of the universe to something rather than nothing.

Oh well, let the onslaught continue.

Did I mention God loves you?

This post makes me feel like weeping for every life lead in scientific pursuit, for the enlightenment of ordinary people.

I mean, FFS…

OK. Thanks for that Drac.

Geocaching is great fun. Just about any basic GPSr will get you going and give you a taster. Even a phone with a built in GPS will do it, or a PDA with a blue tooth GPS will do. I started with a Palm PDA.

As druidh says, the best place to ask is over at geocaching.com. Have fun.

In the last batch of snow I saw a car waiting to turn right at a junction. Somehow the driver had made it there with about 2 inches of snow on every window bar where the wipers sweep. I’m guessing the penny had finally dropped and he wound the window down to be able to see. Whereupon a huge amount of snow fell in on his lap.

I just about swamped my self laughing.

Precisely Miketually. I drive to work on a dual carriageway, and always swap lanes entirely to pass cyclists. The amount of drivers who still only give the cyclist a foot or two of clearance when there is a whole empty lane to move in to gives me the 4rsehole.

Sheer laziness, and utter contempt for other road users.

It’s pointless arguing on the internet, but I can’t let this one go by.

The problem of ‘surplus’ greyhounds is enormous. The RSPCA puts it at more than 13,000 dogs per year for England and Wales. ‘Surplus’ means won’t chase the lure, too slow. too old, basically just won’t make any money for the owner. The RSPCA puts estimates that nearly 5000 (some sources put this at nearer 10,000) of these dogs (per year) are ‘unaccounted’ for. ‘Unaccounted’ means they are disposed of without the knowledge of the greyhound ‘industry’. See the greyhound killing fields story (if they are the lucky ones), turned out on to the streets, or made to disappear.

Being involved on the fringes of a greyhound and sighthound rescue I have seen dogs with their ears cut off (to remove the tattooed registration marks) and chucked in a river with a brick round their neck. Or ears removed, and beaten to death, or ears removed and strung up in a wood, or….well you can see a pattern developing here can’t you?

Greyhounds are routinely seriously injured and destroyed at racing tracks.

If anyone has any respect or love for dogs, think twice before putting any cash in to this industry. It is based fundamentally on the cruel, unnecessary exploitation of these wonderful animals for public entertainment.

The statement ‘I guess they need a fair bit of upkeep as a pet’ is just that, a guess, and a wrong one at that. They make fabulous pets, needing a couple of short walks a day, and a hoon around off lead a few times a week, and are happy to lounge on a sofa all day. As for the industry keeping the breed going, well, I despair at that statement.

Sorry to hear how it turned out. Hope things are brighter for you and family soon. All the best…

I see you’ve already booked to see a vet, but remember that if you do choose to let him go, the vet can do a home visit. Our Ali was terrified of the vet, and I was terrified of the last thing he felt being stress and fear. When his time came the vet came out to us and he died in his bed with Sarah and I at his side.

It was one of the hardest things I had to do, and I nearly told the vet we had changed our mind when he turned up. I quickly reminded myself who we were doing this for, and that it was the last and greatest act of kindness we could do for Ali.

Such a hard decision, but I always said I’d rather he went a week too early than a day too late.

However it turns out, I can only sympathise with you and hope things get easier.

Greyhound Gap

Lurcher Link

More help and advice than you can shake a stick at, with dogs assessed in foster homes so you have a really good idea on what you will be letting yourself in for!

Our Ted is a Gap dog.