My parents took in a stray mongrel when I was quite young.She was a pleasant creature but I think that my parents must have miscalculated her age because at the supposed age of 8 she would no longer go out for a walk.

I have an 11 year old Parsons Russell.She remains a puppy and will chase a ball all day,though has given up on squirrels.They are considered to be a highly intelligent breed.Once she has met someone then she will remember them forever and at the age of 6 months probably understood more words than your average Sun reader.Highly inquisitive,whenever she sees an open door,be it someone's car or house,she always have to have a look in.Somewhat yappy,of course,but no one can come remotely near our house without us knowing about it and that could be considered as a good thing.

Glad to see Lurchers get a mention.

My family has had plenty of different breeds,from the first (that i knew) farm dog - a Bouvier des Flanders called Himself , to me currently housing a rascal Shar pei who has kept me sane (barely) the last 12 months..

Rob, greyhounds are basically 40 mph couch potatoes. Whether that ticks the right boxes for you is up to you. If not, try an animal sanctuary. Oddly enough, the best ones are the ones with which you have to go through annoying palaver with interviews, form-filling and home visits. By and large they do tend then to match you with something suitable to you and your life.

Re breeding pure-bred dogs (or anything), how many generations do you want to go back? Ultimately we, chimps and dogs all share a common ancestor. A fair benchmark is the thoroughbred racehorse. Every single one descends to one of three imported, early-18th-century Middle Eastern stallions in the top (male) line of the pedigree. That's where they get their stamina. But the bottom (female) line goes back to any number of unclassified, unnamed native English mares of the same period, from whom they got their speed.

As early as 1791 the General Stud book was established and the breed was effectively closed. So in a very few generations, with a wide variety of inputs, you can establish a distinct, new breed.

In the case of the terrier cross mentioned above you'd presumably try the same cross many times, sometimes with 3/4, 7/8 or 15/16 of one side over the other, until the best examples became established as foundations to start a distinctly new breed.

But I've never tried it, so stand to be corrected.

I was from a cat family growing up Wallflower.* I think it's not until you get a dog as a puppy and raise it yourself that it you realise how great they are; before I got my first I was rather indifferent.


*We did have a dog when i was very young, which i don't remember: he was a chocolate labrador. He was poorly trained and apparently a royal pain in arse, and I had assumed he died because he was old. It was only a couple of years ago that I discovered that my parents had him put down because they couldn't tolerate him anymore. I don't know if it's a generational thing, but I consider that facking unforgivable.

I agree with sfbtw, once greyhounds get in from the field they just want to fall asleep in front of the fire!

I love most dogs, but when I had to live with a boxer for a week, I thought I was in for a week of slobber and high maintenance, it turned out all my fears were miles off - absolutely brilliant dogs, and soft as anything

always thought poodles were pampered sissy  dogs


however, after 5 mins of research (google) i find they are hardy little shytes who can more than hold there own in the doggie world.


much respect

alsation / doberman / rotty / doberman / chihuahua cross ......would be favourite

Emden... I am told that a badger will beat any dog, rotty, alsatian, pitbull, anything.  The dog wont get hold of it and a few swipes of their earth digging claw will make them give up if it doesnt kill them.

so badgers are our favoutite dogs??

If you have a dog you are lucky. If we have animals living freely safely in this country we are all lucky. Live and let live.

Dachshund.

Ein Dachs is a badger and ein Hund is a dog.

Breeding is evil. So many beautiful mixed breeds looking for a loving home.

1 Greyhound
2Puggle

I'm watching the second part of the series about dogs on BBC2 at the moment.

It's been about working dogs so far. Very good.

About 10pm one evening in the middle of last summer I was walking the bitch pictured on page 1 along a lane when a row of three badger cubs came trotting towards us out of the twilight. One saw the dog off the lead and fled, one stood still, but the other carried on trotting towards us.

The dog must have been thrown by this behaviour, because instead of charging in as he she normally does with badgers, she just stood there, tail wagging uncertainly. Finally the badger cub came up to her and the pair sniffed noses for a short while, before the badger realized it was alone and scampered off to join the other pair. The dog just stood there, tail wagging.

It was like something out of a Disney cartoon, a beautiful moment in the twilight.

that's the way it is. but I love dogs too.

says cat owner Tommy who doesn't have a dog.

Indeed, kenny.
That's cats all over for you though - they see someone who's a bigger mug than who they live with and jump ship!

Dogs are loyal.
You wouldn't get a well cared for dog moving home - like you do with cats.

My cats are pampered like prize bulls, Tommy as you can imagine. They'd never leave me. The ones that leave usually can't get any peace due to young children running around.