they just let a bloke out after 26 years (iirc). he stabbed a woman 60 times. 60 times ! would u want him living next door to you or your family ?

TTT , but after spending millions on him, he'll now be a 'reformed' character. Makes you sick.

How many cat owners are here?

Had cats and dogs throughout my life.....cats are more independent....as long as you got a cat flap you can leave them food and go away for a few days but dogs are more needy. Had a funny cat many years ago....beautiful long hair and her name was Magic. She used to play a game where she would meeow at the back door to go out and literally 20 seconds later she would be meeowing at the front door to come in....then she would race to the back door and the game would start again......used to drive me crazy at the time

I have not had any pets since I was a child growing up on a farm so 65 years ago. Like mitolo, I am a wildlife enthusiast and hate the sight of cats and dogs anywhere near wildlife. I know cats kill more but dogs are much more disruptive. I walk along Berrow beach on winter mornings and 90% of the other people there are dog walkers who encourage dogs to chase birds along the tide line. Cheddar Reservoir is another place where dogs are encouraged to enter the water and chase birds. Nothing is ever done about it. My pets are the wildlife in my garden. Any dog or cat that I see on my property gets a stone thrown at it.

owners fault sage

dogs are unlikely to catch a bird but harrassing cows sheep deer etc is a problem

but they have incredible utility. guide dogs(even though i disapprove of them) sniffer dogs, guard dogs, hearing dogs, bomb disposal dogs. dogs mankinds best friend easy, followed by horses(including donkeys)

i can think of better reasons to have one

Why do you disapprove of guide dogs Mitolo?

because cob im a bit of an evangelist for animal welfare and think the life is sucked out of them by becoming over-trained and dominated. it just seems unnatural and un dog-like to me, although, as ever, i stand to be corrected

i wouldnt think this way if there were not so many million potential carers and helpers for blind and deaf people in the general population who are economically inactive. about 9 million of em. they could better look afteer a blind person. the blind person can relate to them as people. you dont need too many of them (so you could be careful who gets the job by vetting them) and it would be better all-round as some of those economically inactive just aint cut out for certain jobs but might be handy for this one

all fanciful of course and will never happen unless im made president-for-life, which is a shade of odds-against but in an ideal world would be no offers

Mark Twain:
"the more I know people, the more I love my dog" very true Mr Twain

its mostly bad owners as opposed to bad dogs, ours is a rescue from Cyprus
hard to get a more loving dog tbh

I do think that some breeds of dog really do want to be given commands to obey, to the extent that they'll even invent them for themselves. My last dog was a mix of various breeds of sheepdog whom I got as a 4yo, and the first few times when she came in after being let out into the garden, she simply walked straight into the living room. That was no problem problem to me, the house is a tip anyway. But then one day she decided to stand in the doorway until she'd caught my eye and I'd pointed to her bed. And that's what she did for the rest of her life. She was just happier obeying a command.

You or I wouldn't be, but we're humans and they're dogs.

Agree, my dog loves being given a job, particularly anything that involves a tennis ball!

cant have that screaming. first, there really shouldnt be so many 'breeds' of dog. theres no way they would have evolved via darwinian natural selection. they are human-engineered mutations and often seriously unpleasant for the dog to live with. we all know about pugs, bulldogs, etc

consistently breeding in 'cuteness' ie defects is horrible cruel and reduces a dogs life expectancy by a chunk

its a bit like you seeking out a deaf partner, so you could pass it on. ok a bit extreme but you wouldnt do it

breeds were bred for obvious reasons but very few are working dogs any longer so just let them go and abolish the kennel club and all that sh1te. a dog lover would do this as its proven mongrels are healthier and live longer

yeh I know but he does plenty of rat and squirrel chasing too, trust me!

When a dog sees you coming home and are so pleased to see you that they go ballistic with joy, they really mean it.

..... Dogs don`t do insincerity, like humans who are expert at it.

I've always had dogs, the last one died unexpectedly a year ago and it was a truly painful experience as I loved him dearly. I'm struggling now about getting another one as nothing could ever possibly come close to how important he was to the family. In time I'm fairly certain I will but I'm not thinking that far ahead just now.

Well done NEC. So many poor dogs are horribly treated in easten Europe. You done a good thing. Must have been costly getting it back to UK. We always got our dogs from RSPCA or Dog Trust and usually took the ones that had been mistreated the worst.

Think in total it cost us £575 to get her here whicn included a donation to shelter, she flew from Nicossia to France, Eurostar then couriered her and quite a few others throughout the UK, Aberdeen unsurprisingly the last stop might have had to pay courier a few quid more and had to meet in an open car park to collect her due to restrictions - worth.every.penny!

It`s a canny likeness for sure Screaming.

To be honest, Gent was a bit of a hooligan. He was seven when I got him from Heaven's Gate Animal Sanctuary in the Mendips, and he'd only just been neutered. He and the other one, Lady, who was nine, had been together in a cage there for six months when I found them. I remember talking about them one afternoon at Worcester with Paul Holder, back when the latter was working with Stephen Little, and as soon as I mentioned that Gent was a setter cross, Paul said, "Loopy! He's a setter, what did you expect?!"

Lady was a delight though. As friendly as could be, except for one occasion when Dave Nevison called in to give me a lift to Newton Abbot. She simply would not let him through the garden gate, just stood there barking furiously.

"Can't you do something about this dog?"

"Just come in, she won't bite."

So Nevison put his hand on the latch, whereupon Lady jumped up to try and take a chunk out of it.

Perhaps she'd read about the dangers of tipsters in the Post.