DOG DAY AFTERNOON

On neutering, you will be hard pressed to find a vet today that would recommend anything but neutering your pet early in their life, normally around six months. The reasons given are always the same, prevent unwanted babies and long term health benefits including a reduction in cancer.  But unlike your appendix for example where it's absence is not noticed in your daily routine, your reproductive (or sex) organs play a whole host of hormonal roles that stretch far beyond the manufacturing of babies. Like dry food, parasite control, annual boosting and casual steroid shots, these things are not without consequence for the patient and too rarely are these consequences ever discussed with the owner. It is not enough that we are told things are perfectly harmless. We must go into the decision with eyes wide open.  So here's what we know of neutering dogs early in their life. The implications for your pet and society as a whole are then discussed below. It's a whopper of

I read this post by Victoria Stilwell and thought that it was very interesting. Please let me know what you think. CAN YOU REALLY TRUST YOUR DOG TRAINER? By: Victoria Stilwell Hiring a dog trainer can be one of the best decisions you ever make on behalf of your dog, or it can just as easily take a turn for the worst. Because dog training is an unregulated field, any average joe can call himself a "dog trainer," and fool unsuspecting pet parents into using outdated or dangerous training methods. Many pet parents have fallen victim to so-called "trainers" that ultimately cause physical or emotional damage to their dog. And a common theme I've heard from these pet parents is that they all had a feeling that something wasn't right. But they trusted their trainer (they were a professional after all, right?), and assumed that their dog trainer knew what they were doing. I've heard stories of people whose otherwise friendly and happy dogs would

GOD said "I need somebody strong enough to pull sleds and find bombs yet gentle enough to love babies and lead the blind. Somebody who will spend all day on a resting couch and supportive eyes to lift the spirits of a broken heart....................So GOD made a DOG..

Spent a smashing day down at Woodhorn Museum yesterday. For more than 80 years Woodhorn was a coal mine. Work to sink the first shaft began in 1894 and the first coal was brought to the surface in 1898. At its peak almost 2,000 men worked at the pit and 600,000 tons of coal was produced each year. Production stopped in 1981 but the shafts continued to be used for neighbouring Ashington Colliery until 1986. It was turned into a museum in 1989 and was further redeveloped and opened again in 2006. The site is now recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Yesterday we went to see an exhibition called ‘Brickland’. It showed scale models of famous places around the world made of LEGO bricks. Heather and Mandy at Brick Land Woodhorn Museum There were other interesting things to see at the museum most notably was the mine exhibition. Walking along a corridor the exhibition laid out how the mine worked and more importantly how the miners lived in the early days. It was very inter