Ruined themselves keeping up with Oxford on the bend… No hope this was over as soon as Oxford put in that push…

Cheap as chips and as fun as you like…

8 weeks is normal, 7 weeks acceptable in unusual circumstances, anything earlier totally unacceptable and much later means pup misses being properly socialised and bonded with new owner. I’d still be suspicious of a breeder trying to offload at 7 weeks even of you think it isn’t sinister. It sounds like they’re more interested in profit than wellbeing…

Badger and the claws have been thawed or covered over again – you can just see the impressions where they originally were.

To it tension you could try a similar set up to the way they do overhead lines for trains… Tie cord at one end, attach a pulley at the other end, thread cord through pulley, then tie cord to big heavy weight (like a log or something) so the weight is suspended and applying permanent pressure. That way you don’t get the problem of trying to tie a knot and keep the cord under tension at the same time…

Well I wasn’t on the bike at the time – but the suicidal pigeon that decided to cut across my path as I drove to ride one day got a pretty serious shredding via my spokes:

Pulling bits of wing out of the disk brake was pretty grim…

http://www.protectedplanet.net – tries to source protected areas information from those working on the ground…

Firelighters are cheating.

Don’t chuck a massive log on top of kindling and shut the door straight away – all you’ll do is smother the burning kindling and cut off air to it at the same time.

As others have said – put smaller log(s) on while kindling is still getting going (so that kindling hasn’t all burnt out before the log can catch) and leave door open longer so that the log catches before you shut it up…

Ta very much – I was scared it might be city cycles which does indeed look shocking….

JT Cycles it is

For a 59kg max girl – then yes that is pretty decent…

If you’re planning to go and watch I’ve heard rumours it’s going to get shifted to Dorney instead of Henley

Three – but I’m currently trying to decide if that should drop to 2 – please help me make my mind up…

Marin Nailtrail HT (which doesn’t fit me)
Inbred rigid fork single speed
Roadrat for commuting and scooting about town

Easy to criticise but what would you do if say paralysed and penniless after an incident like this?

I’d say something like: “I knew what I was doing when I chose to be a police officer instead of becoming a farmer/plumber/lapdancer – so I’m going to accept the professional risk I took, and the consequences”

I know you said the the Marin frame doesn’t fit, but why? Too small/big/short/long?

Too short in the toptube I think. I’ve never been totally comfy on it, and have tried messing about with the cockpit to fix it to no avail. Possibly I just need someone who understands bike geometry better than me to help. I find myself arching my back despite having a pretty long stem on and the sadle set back a way already.

Are the steerer tubes the same length and everything else compatible ?

I *think* so. I’m pretty sure that the headtube on the Marin is a fraction longer than the Inbred – so the fork steerer should be long enough and just need an extra spacer.

My concerns with Option 1 may seem a bit ridiculous: that I’d be chucking decent things on a bike which I bought complete for £350. As if somehow the frame is “too cheap” to put proper components on…

Also, I’d be losing a bike – which is totally daft as I can clearly only ride one at a time, and in any case I’ve not been riding either for ages…

I’m not a fan of ubiquitous Hilton/Marriot/Best Western faceless things either… When i was in NY I stayed in the Muse hotel. It is spitting distance from Times Square, well kept, nice bar, good rooms, massive comfy bed and good bathroom. Not cheap – but very nice.

The Muse Hotel[/url]

Dunno what the weather is doing around you but that sounds like a pretty good move to me. It was horrible at 6am here – and now the sun is out and the sky is blue!

While I don’t agree with people copying most of the techniques he uses – I actually think that Cesar Milan’s books are pretty good.

I wouldn’t advocate mimicking what he does on TV, but the concept of dogs basically needing exercise, boundaries and affection in that order actually makes a lot of sense… You just need to ignore the programmes which are all about getting quick fix results to look good on TV…

3 – 2 – 1… Flame Me!

Best advice I’d give on training classes is to go along to a couple without the pup before you pick one. I’ve heard some pretty bad things about vet-run puppy socialisation, which is basically just a free-for-all with loads of puppies running amok. It might look cute but isn’t really teaching them anything in my opinion.

I’d try to find a structured class which has a decent ratio of instructors to dogs, lets the whole family go at the same price, and where you get some kind of materials/handbook/exercises to take home and practice.

We we really lucky in that we got two recommendations for the same dog school. We’ve been through 5 courses of 6 weeks each to be allowed to graduate onto the club class. Nowhere near Cheltenham tho I’m afraid…

Anyway – what you getting?

I say take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure…

gravitysucks – Member

Cheers for the heads up Helios. Was thinking we were restricted to the garden for the next 4 weeks!

Time to head out and find the doggy friendly areas of this world…

As I undertand it – you need to be worried about parvo from other dogs if you don’t know whether they’re vaccinated, and from any dog or fox poo… So letting them on the floor isn’t a great idea until they’re vaccinated… But that doesn’t mean they can’t leave the house…

When we got our pup I carried him round for walks each day so that he saw bin lorries, skateboards, kids, other dogs, cats, policemen in hi-viz, sirens etc etc… I also let him meet friend’s and family’s dogs which I knew were vaccinated – in fact – here he is meeting my father in law’s dog at the tender age of 10 weeks:

Raw and added at the last minute here too – I only end up with rubbery ones when i’ve forgotten to get them out of the freezer soon enough and they’re a bit frozen still when i chuck them in the sauce – I then tend to overcook to make sure I don’t die of horrible food poisoning…

Lifer – Member

If all the evidence points to Halal slaughter being less less-humane than stunning would everybody who’s objected to Halal on welfare grounds in this thread start eating it?

I’m assuming that is a typo…

But if all the evidence did point to it being more humane then yes – I for one would change my view. However given that a single study from 1978 inconclusively suggests it might be less painful and only when administered properly – I’m sticking with my view that it causes suffering – and that suffering is unnecessary…

I don’t think you should be taking him outside (aka public areas) until the couple of weeks after the 2nd vacination. I would check with your vet.

You should certainly be taking him outside well before this. Just don’t let him wander round on the floor where there have been lots of other dogs so that you minimise the risk of parvo… Carry him about with you and let him see things. 8-12 weeks is crucial for socialisation…

I didn’t see the animals suffering too much.

So their suffering was within the limits of what you consider acceptable then? Why didn’t you say so before – that makes it all ok.

pingu66 – Member

The reason we have no dogs in parks, dogs on leads signs, no dogs in shops etc is that most dog owners are irresponsible twunts.

Holy over-generalisation batman… That’s about as accurate and helpful as saying “most cyclsts run red lights”.

There are about 8 million dogs in the UK. Assuming 2 craps per dog per day that’s 16 million craps each day, or 5.8 billion craps per year. If most dog owners didn’t pick up after their dogs you wouldn’t actually be able to move for dog crap. Assuming that dog owners spend 50% of their time on b-roads, minor roads or pedestrianised streets* then there would be over 8,400 craps per year per km of road. If dog crap takes over a month to breakdown, that would mean you would see 1 dog crap pretty much every meter, wherever you walked or drove, every day, all year.

*approx 350,000 km based on ordnance survey calculations, 2001

The basis of your complaint seems to be the premise that you need to keep secrets from your wife. So for those of us who don’t cheat – is there really a problem?

Who cares about patient confidentiality in your example? The husband is so stupid he deserves to get caught.

have the willpower to not overeat.

Yay – the magic word!

Tedious buffet sandwiches – I’m in an incredibly dull workshop that is seemingly refusing to end…

It seems the local cats have been using the border as a giant litter tray and guess who’s discovered all the poo!?!?!

This morning on our walk my lab gorged himself on a nice big pile of cat crap, then proceeded to lick me in the face as soon as we got home.

I was not impressed.

As a dog owner who bothers to tidy up after my dog and bin the evidence properly this kind of behaviour makes my blood boil.

Yup – this for me to – drives me up the wall. It isn’t difficult to watch your dog, notice when they take a dump, and pick it up.

I’m ashamed to say my father in law thinks it’s acceptable for his dogs to crap away from the path and leave it there, or to sling the bag into the bushes if he can’t be bothered to carry it. Grrr…

Mine fold down. 06 hatchback.

steviegil – Member

We never heard her crying in the night,

Ahh – I misunderstood then. Fair enough. We used to set alarms for the first couple of weeks, but he quickly got to the point of sleeping through from 11-6 without issue.

joolsburger – Member

I hate cages, what exactly is the point?

Well for us, we can’t keep him in the kitchen because it’s too small and freezing cold, so the only option is our open plan living room. I don’t agree with giving dogs the full run of the house (ours isn’t allowed upstairs) and certainly wouldn’t want him roaming around our entire lounge before he was toilet trained and over his chewing/teething stage. So a crate was the best option for us. It means we don’t set him up to fail. I know some people think they’re cruel – but I simply don’t agree.

5thElefant – Member

Sorry but that’s just not possible at 8 weeks. It is wrong. Let him get out of the cage for a pee on some paper.

Worked 100% with both ours. I’d assumed it was the norm. It certainly is “possible”.

I understand that puppy walkers for Guide Dogs are instructed to do exactly this – personally I’m too much of a wuss to feel happy forcing him to hold it all night long at such a young age so I got up twice a night to begin with… It didn’t last long and a few nights of disturbed sleep for me was worth it to think he was comfortable.

second night the same, little crying but an accident, last night the same as night 2! So i’m thinking i will get up around 3am to let her out for the toilet as i’ve read how distressing it is for the pups to mess their own bed..

If she’s crying in the middle of the night, rather than just after you put her to bed then I’d definitely get up to let her out to the toilet, don’t say a word, go outside with her until she goes, then pop her back in the crate and go back upstairs. At that age being able to hold on all night would be a serious achievement.

Drivers in the cycle lane (part 2)

I’ve got a fiver that says the sequel won’t be as good as the original, and there’ll be an obvious plot twist after 75 minutes…

One of these might work:

Fjallraven fire brigade frame

But you’d then be carting a whacking great extra bit of tubing around when the bike frame is surely all the structure you need…

I used to get the shakes and have cracking headaches when I tried to cut out caffeine. I used to stop drinking coffee for Lent and it was horrible every time – these days I just regulate my intake and don’t stop altogether…

When I did go cold turkey it took 2 weeks for the symptoms to stop.

Isn’t it because the real criminal is Blair and the Left can’t accept they royally screwed that one up by voting him into his mis-use of power?

As others have said – you’re not doing badly – you didn’t get overweight in 2 weeks so don’t be suprised you haven’t become skinny in 2 weeks.

Above all – ignore anyone who tries to tell you about Toxins – they are talking utter, utter, utter crap…

My personal preferred method of weight loss: Dysentry. 10 kilos in 10 days – which given my starting point made a fair bit of difference to my appearance…

i buy it from the butcher. no preservatives as far as i know and it’s sliced to order. assuming everyone buys shit food from supermarkets is a more of the lazy journalism the bbc seems to be getting better at.

The woman the BBC interviewed on breakfast TV this morning did half mention that it was different when you buy form the butchers. But then she went on to talk about how at the butchers bacon is “sliced off the pig” which conjured up an image of a pig standing patiently on the butchers block while a man in an apron took a knife out and carefully carved bits off it a slice at a time…

We’re doing this over here today…

But I’m on Petplan. Have 7k cover/year for life. Is about £30/month. Having seen Phil’s More Than recommendation on the other thread I took a look – and it seems like they are pretty much the same cover, except about £4 cheaper then Petplan per month – so i might think about switching when we’re up for renewal next month.