tonyd – Member
Please don’t do it unless you have seriously looked into everything about dog ownership and know you are ready.
The OP suggested to me that they’ve already done just that.
Am currently looking for a staff pup but the wife is suggesting a spaniel of some sort

See… The OP suggests the opposite to me… Someone who says they want a staffy but their wife quite fancies a spaniel rings massive alarms bells to me… Dogs are not to be taken lightly, and as a dog trainer I get worried when people zone in on (breed of choice) because they like the look or idea of them, having seen the results…

I’d ask again what the OP’s dog experience is and what the home situation is… Which makes a huge difference to which dog might be appropriate… Alternatively: cats, gerbils and hamsters are apparently also available…

tonyd – Member

There is a liver and white 14 week old springer for sale not far from me. Tempted…

Do it.

[spoilsport] Please don’t do it unless you have seriously looked into everything about dog ownership and know you are ready.[/spoilsport]

Very hard work if you buy from working stock, still hard work even if you don’t.

What is your level of dog experience, and what’s your situation at home?

EDIT: I’ve just noticed your dog is only 9 months old. I don’t let mine jump in the car until they’re over 12 months to help protect their joints – this does depend a bit on their breed, and I am neurotic about mine. Where I’ve said about getting him to jump in on his own below – I’d advise you don’t just yet. However, you still want the dog to choose to get in the car himself – so if you can use a box or ramp so he can climb in by himself that would be ideal – if not, then on balance and depending on his breed(s) I’d lift him in, even though that will be less effective at helping cure his anxiety – his joints are more important.

Have you tried other cars?
Is he in the boot or back seat?
Is he in a crate/box?
Is he food and/or toy motivated?
Do you make him sit to wait for a release before he is fed?

Depending on the answers to the above – if you were one of my clients – I’d be recommending something like this:

Chill out. Seriously – you are obviously worried out it – and the dog will pick up on that.

Ideally, you want him travelling in the boot. It can also help if they’re in a crate (depends how big he is of course). If he’s in a crate it gives you the option of throwing a blanket over – which can help settle many nervous dogs. Cars which are easy to get into win over difficult ones. Low radio on can help both him and you relax. For the time being, try not to go anywhere with him in the car. When you do: No loud music, no 30 mph over speed bumps, no going fast on roundabouts, no yelling at other drivers, very short journeys to begin with. Absolutely no trips to the vet in the car. (If you have to take him to the vets, park up 5 minutes walk away, and walk him the last leg)

Start feeding meals in the car – do this for at least 1 week. If getting in the car is enough to set the dog on edge – begin slowly – first couple of meals on the floor behind the car with the boot open. Then put the food bowl in the car. If – heaven forbid you have a dog which is not food motivated – then try the first meal inside the boot as breakfast on a Saturday morning to give you time for the next step. If the dog won’t jump in the car to eat – don’t make a fuss, take the bowl away for 30 minutes and try again, keep doing this for as long as patience allows until the dog jumps in of his own accord. If he really really won’t jump in, lift him in yourself without saying a word – and then sit on the edge as he eats. Hopefully you’ll make progress to him getting in by himself and being comfortable eating. After a few meals like this start the engine when he is half way through eating and see how he reacts. If this goes well, you’re ready to close the boot and drive him 50 yards down the road. Stop, give yourself a massive pat on the back if he survived and get him out. Walk him back home again if you don’t want to push your luck, or drive him home again if you think he’s really making progress. Build up journeys – always somewhere fun, and always short to begin with.

I’d also start playing games of fetch into the boot while the car is parked up somewhere safe.

Having said that – we had a guy once who said his dog would never get in the car, and went on about how he had to put the car in the garage with all the lights off, wearing a special hat, and lift the dog in while playing Beethoven and standing on one leg (I’m exaggerating, but only just). The trainer I work for nodded along and said – “OK – let’s try something”, threw a tennis ball in the boot, dog jumped straight in, and he had no problems from then on. It doesn’t always have to be such a big deal.

I don’t have rescues – I get my dogs as puppies – but they also don’t love travelling to begin with. I tend to operate a slightly tough love approach of just ignoring them – and they soon just learnt o accept (and love) the car. In time your dog will probably manage that too if you stay calm and don’t make a big fuss. But try feeding in the car, and try playing games. You can go down the drugs route if you wish (I have friends with rescue dogs who use dog zombie collars when settling a dog in to new things [ie Adaptil] and things like the Thundershirt to calm them) but I think that most things can be overcome with patience and repetition.

But honestly – you also need to chill out.

Just out of interest – how did they get on with the breeder?

Back to the breeder. Any responsible breeder would take a 3 month old pup back instantly. Any responsible breeder would also be livid if they found out someone had rehomed one of their pups after just a few weeks without informing them. They might also offer to refund some of the original costs.

If they’re not responsible and refuse, then send him to breed-specific rescue who will have no problem placing a 3 month old pup. A decent breed specific rescue will also offer advice. linky.[/url]

Private rehoming is (usually) a really bad idea. Without wishing to sound rude, your neighbours are probably not the best judge of what a good home will be given the circumstances.

grahamg – Member

…when your brother walks in to your room whilst you’re cracking one off in front of your full pron collection (everything carefully arranged on the bed), and instead of saying sorry and retreating, he actually just carries on in and starts perusing the mags, completely ignoring the fact that I’ve got my dick in my hand and trousers round my ankles. Frigging weirdo!

A guy I used to know walked in on his little brother (15) who had his pants round his ankles, standing in front of a girl who was sat on the bed with her top off and paying him some close attention. Girl is visibly shocked, little brother just looks nonplussed and asks him to shut the door.

Because it’s like a child having a tantrum. I actually agree with some of what he’s got to say – but if people can’t keep cheap insults out of it then they’re not worth talking to.

I think he may be more frustrated that his intellect ran out and he had to resort to puerile name calling. I’m not deluded about the dog – I accept that he could potentially be unpredictable – I was just making the point that if I chose to take him to Cannock on a wet Wednesday morning in February I don’t think there’s any harm being done. On top of which – he has never met me, never met my dog, and so the patronising suggestion that I only take the dog riding because I’m too feckless to walk him is fairly idiotic.

Yunki – I fully accept that dogs can be a nuisance – that’s why you won’t see me at a trail centre with mine this weekend. Just walking mine I get wound up by crap owners who don’t give a damn what their animal gets up to. But I don’t feel the need to take too seriously anyone who’s only recourse in argument is petty insults.

Irelanst: I wouldn’t worry too much. The person making that argument was so inarticulate that s/he had to finish off their last sad and ill-informed little diatribe by calling me a prick – which tells you everything you need to know about them…

cookeaa – Member

Glad to have helped

🙄

then carry on being a prick…

Nice. Aren’t you a charmer. Your insights into me are fantastically accurate and I have now learnt my lesson.

Either walk your dog or, if you have no time to look after it properly, get rid of it…

A dog is not a cycling accessory its a pet.

Thanks for that super-patronising summary.

My dog is under my control when I ride. I do pick up after him (he doesn’t crap on the trail anyway, prefering to find himself a nice patch of grass). He’s also wormed regularly, so the toxocara argument falls on its arse – if you’ll excuse the pun.

So I’m going to keep riding with him where and when I feel it is safe to do so. I’m sorry if the very thought of that offends some of you.

timidwheeler – Member

I agree with the majority. usual suspects who are making the same old anti-dog arguments against the same old pro-dog arguments from the other usual suspects

😉

mattjg – Member

The bikes in that photo look pretty obstructive to people getting off and on the train, and it’d be an ambulance chasers wet dream if there was an accident.

There was actually a decent bit of space, or there would have been if the knob in the orange jacket hadn’t just dumped his bike on without putting it in carefully and leaving more room. Plus, there was no-one behind where i took the photo from, and even if there was they could have gone off the other set of doors.

The green fixie belonged to a very trendy looking young chap. He had a hat on.

It isn’t really too far to do the whole thing by bike – about 75 minutes… But it can’t really face doing it both ways.

What really puts me off however is that the roads I’d need to cycle on are suidically dangerous: country roads with people doing 70-80 mph and overtaking far too close… Scary…

I was in Copenhagen a few months ago – they seemed to have a carriage just for bikes – it was a beautiful sight…

Typical of the sense of entitlement of many dog owners though most people, most of the time.

The ground nesting birds thing is questionable. If an area is open to bikes on trails then taking a dog along too is no problem – but (and it’s a big but) only if the dog sticks to paths and doesn’t go wandering.

I think that going to trail centres at quiet times every so often is ok, I wouldn’t take him regularly or on a busy weekend. Everything else is fair game.

My lab started at 1 year old but for no more than an hour with lots and lots of breaks to let him rest.

Pet plan here too – has already paid out more than we’ve paid in.

although some dont want to know until she is 8 weeks old, which is a pain, as want to get it sorted and out the way now.

How old will the pup be when you pick it up?

Overreact, much?

Not really – I was making a genuine point – the OP will get a lot further if he sticks with what is relevant. Adding “AND MY CHILD MIGHT DIE!!!” to it makes it all look like knee-jerk NIMBYism and will make people take it less seriously.

A 750 gram hardly touched jar of nutella which hit the floor and shattered…

I was on your side until you threw in the spurious stuff about how your 3 year old is going to be permanently damaged by someone’s house extension.

I mention this not to be rude, but because if you want to argue your case to people you might want to avoid them having the reaction I had. Which was to dismiss your otherwise legitimate complaint out of hand because of this bit of parental nonsense…

I still remember the conversation MrsH and I had when we agreed that we’d reached the point that we could fart in front of each other… I’d argue that this forms one of the corner stones of our relationship…

Doesn’t stop us both blaming the dog tho… Poor lad…

GoPro tripod adapter so I can spend a day mucking about in the forest filming without the camera falling over…

Now just need to teach the dog to retrieve the tripod and I won’t have to keep running round to fetch it myself…

And no… I didn’t pay GoPro shipping on it…

Great pics.

I’m loving my favourite walk at the moment which has recently served up barn owls, kingfisher, green and greater spotted woodpackers, deer, cormorant, great crested grebe, nesting kestrals and most spectacularly

an actual real life Otter…

I was giddy like a kid at Christmas…

He advised the government at the time and was instrumental in the drafting of the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.

One of the most ridiculous and ineffectual pieces of legislation passed in recent years – you must be so proud.

Jeyes fluid? I used it when ours was a puppy because he only peed on the patio. Just make sure you rinse properly and keep the dog off until it dries…

Saturday – long morning walk with the dog in the sun, then off to training with him to do some agility. Follwed by a bit of pottering in the garden finally planting veggies, and the first BBQ of the year

Sunday – Thetford with Mrs H, the dog and my brand spanking new GoPro to take videos of riding flat (dusty!) trails slowly. Giggling like a kid as I raced back and forth to get the camera.

nealglover – Member

[pedant]If you’ve been electrocuted, you must be typing from the “other side”[/pedant]

[bigger pedant] not according to the OED .. [/bigger pedant]

[super pedant] Some editions of the OED do indeed (incorrectly in my view) have it as meaning just getting a shock – but given electrocute is a portmanteau of execute and electric – the OED is dumbing down. It is a genuine portmanteau so blends not just the words but also their meanings. I’ve had a letter published in Private Eye on this very subject.[/super pedant]

I’ve never bought a house before the one I bought Q1 this year….but I knew it wouldn’t take 4mths with no chain. Sounds like you’ve had some bad advice if you already had your mortgage offer in March.

Our house was no chain and took 6 months.

Be honest with them. I’d be livid if everything was ready to go through, contracts ready for exchange and the other party just sat on them without giving a reason.

If you explain and they agree then no problem, if you explain and they disagree then at least they have the option of putitng it back on the market and you’ve done the right thing, if you don’t explain, and just mess them about for over 2 months, you’re scum.

1 = 2003 Marin Palisades Trail, about 3 months old. Replaced with a Nail Trail on insurance plus a bit of extra cash I’d managed to save. The Nail Trail frame in a different guise is still my “main” bike… Hadn’t ralsied it was 10 years old until i sat down to think about this… New bike time methinks…

My FIL has one with “3” seats from 2003 – using the middle one requires me to straddle the gear lever and handbrake…

I normally elect to sit in the back with the dogs.

Anyone ever been to the Dorset Cider Museum on the Wareham road to Dorchester? Crickey I was terrified – got back to the car and had scary visions of the tank having been drained and getting stuck there to be invited for dinner in the dark and scary farmhouse – where the main course would transpire to be – US!

Makes me shudder thinking about it…

Another thing that makes me shudder – in my local shop the other day I espied Builmers Bold Black Cherry flavour “cider”… I know i shouldn’t have – but i couldn’t help it… I had to buy one… It was like drinking one of those Cherry flavour ice pop things they sold in thge school tuck shop…

Bleugh

Nice healthy pint of Aspalls in my local for me I think tonight, made of fruit and vitimins…

Nothing 🙁

I was hoping for the memory card I ordered for the GoPro I was planning to buy this afternoon ahead of a weekend of fun and games… Sadly – no show…

Now I can’t decide if I should head and buy the GoPro anyway, and grab another memory card at the same time thus ending up with two when the other gets delivered, or call upon the last vestiges of patience I have and get it next week instead…

Decisions decisions…

I love my iPad – but I’d never use it to take photos. You look like a knob, and you get a pretty crap photo – so why bother?

As to the OP’s question – see what your osteo says.

He will say “You need to come back and see me for several more sessions…”

Coolio – thanks all for info. Might try and get one this week…

I never had “the chat” with my folks… I’m also catholic…

So I was pretty well screwed from early on I suppose…

Loving the commentators trying to gloss over the Oxford cox effing and blinding…