I used to live in Lancaster - I now live 20 miles outside. Grew up in Heysham and moved to Lancaster when I was 21.

Helen

I love the old bit of Heysham there is an outside cafe down there with what must be the best view in England to sip a coffee on with dogs at your feet after a good run on the beach, do you know the one I mean, are you N or S of Lancaster now.

yes, I think so. Is it past the church if you go down the one way street? I used to walk the dogs - well, neighbours dogs as I wasn't allowed any when I was living at home - on the barrows. Spent 21 years in Heysham and spent most of my childhood on heysham moss. Shame it's being ruined by all the new houses.

I live n of Lancaster, just over the N Yorks border. Rob works in Swaledale and I work in Lancaster and it was pretty much in the middle.

Helen

That will be a lovely bit of countryside that you are in then Helen.

[deleted]

Hi There,
I'm Naomi... I am 26 and Married to Lee (26). We live in South Wales with our little girl Lauren (3) who is always suffering from one illness or another :rolleyes: and we have another baby due 20th Feb. I am currently living on Curry and chips thanks to the new baby :D
I'm 5'6 and have shortish dark hair (and one small tattoo).
I work as a building layout designer in a great job where I read Champdogs all day :)
I have two dogs at the moment, a White GSD (Miller) who is nearly 4 yrs and an Alaskan Malamute (Kiera) who has just turned one.
Naomi

*Thats* confusing ?

What about you posting under the name Trevor and signing Nicky? :D :D

Now *thats* confusing :D :D :D

Melody

My name is Jacqui, im 18.
I live in Middlesbrough.
Im currently doing a BSc in Psychology at Teesside University.
I have 2 cats and within a week-2weeks will have 1 Pomeranian :D
Jacqui :)
x

My name is Helen and I'm an internet addict...oops, wrong board <g>

I'm 26 and own Holly, Harvey, Goldy and Lucky - ESS, GWP, Pointer and Pointer. I am married - 4 weeks now! and we live in a market town in North Yorkshire.

My main interest is working gundogs and all four dogs work. Holly, not so much since she had her leg removed but I'm going to try and get her out on a friends shoot to do some beating and Rob is going to see if he can do some work with her on the local shoot to his work. Harvey & Lucky work on the grouse moors counting grouse. Goldy went into semi retirement but will be used for some chick work next year - finding grouse chicks. We are also going to use Harvey for rough shooting and wildfowling as he has exceeded all expectations.

Hopefully, you are all still awake!

Helen

My name is Sara and I'm mid 30's. I'm married to Pete - no children.
2 Golden Retrievers (Sam aged 26 months and Phoebie 8 months) - Pup I have recently started showing so very much a novice.
Have owned GSD's in the past and have had dogs (but for a 3 year break) since I was about 14.
Live in Lincolnshire on the outskirts of a village.
Work as a Customer Service Manager for a company who run courses for teachers.

I'm Liz and yes I know it says steve
Ilive in lancashire with Steve and have 2 kids and dobe murphs
I stay at home all day and this how I keep track of whats going on on this board:)
I want to travel the world and work with children :D
( sorry that bit got away from me then -thought I was a miss world contestant :D )
liz

Phew I managed to copy this over from another thread. Glad I didn't need to retype it. Should I delete the original?

Hi Keithhas,
I'm just a dog lover.
My family have always had dogs since before I was even born.
The ones we've had since I've been around (43 years I'm afraid :() are - 2 cocker spaniels, 1 cairn terrier, 1 pyrenean mountain dog (first introduction to showing), 1 yorkshire terrier, 1 Golden retriever (Honey). We showed her, took one litter from her, kept the best bitch (also showed her a little) and the breeder of Honey bought the best dog (Louis). She showed him and used him for stud. Unfortunately, Louis wanted to be the top dog and was more suited to being a one dog family so, since by that stage, I no longer longer lived at home (but my father moved to live across the road from me after my mother died) Louis came to live with me and my son when he was 3 (Louis that is )
Unfortunately, Louis went to Rainbow Bridge in January 2001 when he was 13. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make but I know it was the right one. He couldn't even manage to get up on his feet that last morning. His sister who lived with my Dad went to the bridge in January this year exactly a year to the day after Louis. :(
I then decided I wanted another Golden retriever plus a Tibetan Terrier so it could sit on my knee (mind you the Pyrenean used to do that :D :D). Anyway, since I wanted to rehome rescues I registered with both Golden and TT rescue. I was lucky enough to get Toby, a rescue TT in May 2001. A couple of months later, I was offered a rescue Golden but I felt it was too soon since Toby had been mistreated and needed a lot of TLC. However, since having Toby, I've been converted to TT's and I've arranged with his breeder to have another adult TT next summer. :D :D :D :D :D :D
I do miss the Goldens but I don't miss the hairs (TT's don't cast :)) and I've got a bit of a spinal problem and can no longer work so the TT's are a nice size for me to handle.
Gosh, I do go on but, I hadn't properly introduced myself when I started posting anyway so it's time I did. :) Probably bored everyone to tears now :) So I've only got a little personal experience of a few breeds but I like to think I've got some common sense ;) ;)
I'm single with one son, Simon. He's 25 and in the army and I live just south of Glasgow
Dot

Hi, I live in Essex with Steve, my partner. We have Daisy, Pip, Scooby.Kai, Kloud, Millie, Dusty, Star, Erin, Neimh, a selection of Wolfhounds, Lurchers, Working Beardies Bedlington. I have owned and breed Wolfhounds for the last twenty one years I am a dog and horse fanatic. I have one grown up daughter, Caroline. I love the internet, especially fond of Champdogs, Chatting, and all dog and horse sites. :D

Hi Philipa,

Is it possible for you to send me a piccy of your lot? I love lurchers etc.

Helen

Yes Helen will do with pleasure :)

I'm Natasha, 32, work in a trust company as an administrator, forming companies for people etc. My fiance is Steve, who is 28 (toy boy) and have two cocker spaniels: Starr (3) and India (14 months)

Natasha

PS: Forgot, live in Jersey, in the Channel Islands :D

Natasha,
Lucky you living in Jersey. Haven't been there since I was a teenager. We used to go to a B&B in St Martins. The folk that ran it later moved to St Aubins. I think they have a small hotel there.
Dot

Dot, i'm the next parish from St Martins. Gorey Village, but my horse is in St Martins, and I used to live in the Parish a few years ago., all my rellies live there...it's really beautiful around this area...would recommend it to anyone !!!:D

Natasha

I'm Fiona, 27 next month, married to Chris 32 for the last 7yrs. I'm mum to Jonathon, Eloise and Isabelle and they range from nearly 7 to nearly 2.

We live in a small village between Reading and Wokingham, Berkshire although I'm originally from Horsham, Sussex where I lived for over 20yrs. We've just got the one dog at the moment, Holly - mad black cocker spaniel - who'll be a year old in December.

I don't have a 'proper' job but I do teach Jonathon at home so I don't have any time to work even if i wanted to!!

Fiona (5ft 2in, ??? lbs with size 3.5 feet :D)
x x x

I'm Anne 47 spinster of this parish, a fulltime carer for my Mum who has Parkinson's Disease. I have 2 Beardies at the moment, Una 12.5 and Cava 17 months. I've had Beardies, Beardie/Border X, Boxers and a Beagle. I've shown a bit but mainly do obedience and did agility. All the dogs have competed except one Boxer and the Beagle he did what he liked. I've train others in ob/ag but just work my own dogs now. I used to be a children's librarian so I've worked with children and animals :-D

Hi,
Oooohh err, i hate this bit. Okay, my name is Emma, im 22 and from lancashire, near Manchester. I dont work, (permanently sick) due to various reasons, mental and physical. I currently own, Saffi, a collie x gsd, who has suspected brain damage, and Rocky a staffie x lurcher x gsd who is too smart for his own good!
I also have a very odd cat called Sailor.
Previously i have owned, Scruffy, a terrier crossbreed, who had fairly major separation difficulties, as well as being a stubborn little sod, Karma a Bull Terrier x Whippet, who i had for around 12 months. She was incredibly possesive, dominant and fairly vicious. She kept up a campaign of war against Saffi and in the end i admitted defeat and returned her, with a full history to the dogs home that she came from. Before that i had Moomin, a beardie x ? who had serious issues also, he only had a month with me, but he was very very possesive, agressive (without due cause). a very odd dog, and had I not had a cat and Rocky i would have persevered with him. He was matted from head to toe, but put up with repeated bathing adn shaving, covered in sores and bite wounds. He would decide something was his, and kill everything in his way to get it, including me! Somedays when out walking he would just stop and scream. there seemed to be no set pattern to this at all, but very very chilling to hear.
In the end i took him back to the dogs home also, gave them a full history of what had happend, but their vet didnt listen to me when i told him about all the sores adn bites on his neck, adn when he scruffed him to hold him still, Moomin bit him. so he was pts. A post mortem (which i demanded, as i knew he was a nice dog really) revealed that sometime earlier (like a few months) he had a blow to the head, which had caused some damage and a fractured skull.

Also i have rescued a very tiny puppy Murphy, i found him in a cardboard box along the towpath of the canal near Stalybridge, i looked after him for 6 weeks until i could find him a home, as i was living with my mother who hates dogs. He is now called Henry and is a lovely little dog.

I also like horses, though i dont have any i have worked with them a fair bit. I am very into tattoos, and look fairly scary, i have 12 tattoos so far. i like music of most kinds, and play the drums and guitar.

Anyone bored yet? I would like to own a pedigree one day, and also a lurcher, but i like them all so much, i would not have the room for them all!!!!!

Emma

HI Guys
Ali- 5ft 5 and a half ;) Longish brownish :rolleyes: hair and same as Fiona ????????lbs :D
Am nearly 30
Married to Gorgeous Graeme :D
Have 2 boys, Jake aged 8 and Callum aged 4.
Have 1 insane boxer. 7 month old brindle/white bitch called Ruby. :rolleyes:
Work part time as a receptionist. :(
Part time college course ( studying for my BHSII) :)
Now my little boy is at school I am going back to my original career path as a Riding Instructor and as you all know am currently struggling to shift some excess weight with WW. Once I have lost it I am getting another horse (yippeeeeeeeee :D :D )
Completely addicted to Champdogs and have made some fantastic chatting buddies :D
Forgot to add, I live in a small village near huntingdon in Cambridgeshire :)

A beardie called Una......didn't come from Mrs Cornthwaite by any chance?

No, I went through a dictionary of girls' names and found this not pronounced Ewe-nagh it's Oonagh. Never thought about Una Cornthwaite before. Una is an Irish name, and if I have another bitch I like Ciara (kee-ra) I know they are a Scottish breed but people find it hard to pronounce Gaelic names on first sight. I have this thing about having to like the look of a name as well as how it sounds. Sorry I'm a bit strange:-D
Anne

This made me laugh Ann, an American I once met had named their child Siobhan (Shove-awn) as they liked the way the name look but they pronounced it Sigh-ob-i-han

sorry, i have a strange sense of humor, but irish names can be funny

Theresa

Hi Theresa,
not just Irish names I had a friend whose sister was a Primary teacher, new child started for some reason they had to ask child his name don't know why they didn't have it. Child said Gooey, oh said teacher and how do you spell that don't know said child. Mother picked up child and was asked how to spell name. What do you think she said?
G U Y
:-D
Anne

hi all,
irish names, my two girls are going to have problems when they start school,roisin who is 2years and is pronounsed rosheen, niamh is 9 months, pronounced neeve, and plain old katie who is 6 years, my user name is my 13 month old whippet bitch aoife pronounced eefa.
i am a few weeks off the big 40, my name is tina and my other half is liam a irishman from donegal, he was a good catholic chap until i got my hands on him!!!!!.we live in a small village between w-s-m and burnham-on- sea, not realy classed as village, shop, postoffice cricket club all in the same building, garage on the main
road. have 3 whippets at the moment, aoife who i show and will start lure coursing with at the end of the month,maybe race as well,darius not my choosing who i have in partnership with aoifes breeder,and merlin who is my brother but have had him here since he was nine weeks and awaiting the birth of a g.s.d who is due on my 40 birthday, pressie from other half aoife was last years pressie, totaly besotted with dogs have been since i was a child,dad had a g.s.d brought over after the 2nd world war but was devistated when he was p.t.s at 18 months old, and bred field spaniels, most of the family have dogs brother has lurcher and j.r terriers,
uncle is a farmer and has bred working b collies, i have had g.s.d since my twentys. i am about 5"3 hate to think what i weigh, short fat and hairy,long gone are the days of size twelve keep dreaming though, have now short dark hair always ware odd earings as lost one at bath ch show, have my nose piersed and small tattoo on shoulder of four leaf clover with katie on it have to pluck up courage and have the other two names added, regards tina

HI, I'm Jean (48) married to Peter (49 but 50 next month, so suggestions for pressies please). I am 5'2, size 5 feet and dye my very short hair brown (as close to the original as I can get).
We started with one Samoyed (Muttley) then fell in love with Malamutes and when Muttley was 4, had Karla, who was born in quarantine. Four years later we bought another mal, Nikki, whose mother was Karla's litter sister. All of these sadly passed on as time went by and when Nikki died :(, we were so upset that it took us two years to decide that we just couldn't live without another Malamute. After quite a bit of research, as I am as picky over finding the right breeder for my pup as any good breeder should be over selecting the right person for their pups, we finally got Chewi, who is a thug nearly 13 months old, as some of you have heard! But he is very much loved:D, in spite of the embarrassment he sometimes causes me :O
Champdogs has become my favourite message board since I found it, as I have had some good chats on it, received advice and support. I have also met some of the mal people on the board and hope to meet up with them and others at future shows etc, and make some long lasting friends.:)

I'm Margot, aged 16 (but trapped in a 59-yr old body!) married to Adrian, who is 61, going on 8. We have 3 sons [$ 1 daughter: Alastair, who is 35, unmarried, and back at home with us following the breakup of his relationship with a nasty piece of work who managed to lose him his home] Sarah, 33, who is married to Chris [$ living the life of Reilly in Hong Kong with their two little sweeties, Jared (5) & Ella] Jonathan (Noj) 30, living with Julie & Maddison & Nik (24) who is also still at home.

We are owned by our 1 lab (Purdey), 2 Aussies (Thor & Loki), Alastair's lab Gipsy, 7 cats (persian Buster, persian Fudge, half persians Taggie Gladys & Winston (Sarah's cats left for us to look after when they left for the LoR) and 2 mad blue siamese crosses Lilly & Dilly.

We live in the middle of a golf course in Essex, in an old house which we bought years ago, converting 2 cottages into one - and needless to say, we're still at it! We've always had loads of animals, starting with a little blue farm kitten (Willa) and a lab/alsation cross (Simba) before we had the kids. Willa left home (wise cat!!!) when we produced baby no 3, and went to live with a prosperous couple whose garden backed on to ours - one, was obviously okay, two was enough & 3 was TOO MUCH!! Simba lived to 15 years old, by which time we had moved to Orsett, and had acquired a border terrier (Tramp) as well as Nik. After Simba died, we got a labrador - Jet (yes, he was black) , and he and Tramp became notorious in the neighbourhood as gourmet bin divers - the kids would let them out of the garden & they would "hunt" round the dustbins of the houses round the golf course (made us vv popular with the neighbours). We then "fostered" my sister's old lab, Gemma, when we all thought she was too old at 12 to adapt to a town life, and looked after her until her death at 17. Next came Purdey now 12.

With all these dogs, I used to buy my food from someone living in the village who bred dogs. Over the years we became friends, and when she bought an Aussie, we fell in love with it, and when she had pups, well, that was it - and we got Thor. 2 years later, we got Loki - same parents - and that was it! Kathie told us, if we were serious about breeding from them, we would have to show them - and so we started showing this year. It was about this time that Al moved back in - and as he can run faster than me ;-), he shows her! We've just acquired our affix - and we are looking forward (hopefully) to puppies in November. We are getting her scanned next week - cos we were supposed to be going to Hong Kong in November - so if she's not in the Pudding Club, we can still go.

With all these aminals to keep, of course I'm still working!!!! I slope off to the City Mon-Fri and Adrian waltzes the trolleys round at Asda.

Think that's enough rabbiting on - after all, I am supposed to be at work.....

Hi everyone,
My name is Sara: aka toodles or eog or basically as long as its nice, I don't care whatcha call me :D :D
And I'm a dogaholic :)
Supposedly I'm almost 36, but I have severe troubles with insomnia, so over the years, I've packed in more hours than I ever could concieve of Does tend to age one faster than normal ;) It's the mileage, not the years :D :D :D

Hubby (just turned 33 and keeps me young) and I will be married for 10 years in Nov. He's from southern New Jersey, I'm from Pacific NW: we met in Bitburg, Germany and married in Denmark 7 months later :D

My parents had dogs while I was growing up. I was allowed care and responsibility of smaller critters: guinea pigs, hooded rats, mice, parakeets, etc... I loved the dogs, but they lived along side me and were not "mine." I did take them through obedience school and work with them. But I was "buddy" not "leader" to them :)

When I was 15 1/2 I worked at a vet clinic until age 18 and went into the US Air Force as a cop. Only one woman a month was allowed into the K-9 corps and it was a pretty blonde that made it in my crew :rolleyes: I was really mad when she washed out a month later

So I 'hung' out with the k-9 crew learning and working with their dogs through the next 8 years when I could. Soon I "rescued" a lab-shepard mix whose mother had been killed by JDs. He was a sweetie and I still miss him. There were problems, but we got through them. A year later, I took home two sister pups (abt. 5 weeks old) that had their mother shot by mistake.

Everyone lived happily together...well, except my first non-esteemed spouse. I stayed together for the dogs' sake as long as I could (rather pathetic, eh) since I would have to go into the dorms if we split up. I couldn't make it work longer than 4 years though. I took the two 'girls' to a no-kill shelter miles away and was eventually contacted by their new appreciative owners. :)

Eventually, I was reposted in Korea and then Germany. When hubby and I were first married, he proved his love to me :) He bought me a Mercedes (12 year old red tank :) ) and brought home a posting from the vet's office looking for a new home for an 8 year old Yorkie (he didn't like small dogs then-- so this was a MAJOR newlywed concession). AWWWWW. :) :) :)

So Pepper came to live with us. After we moved to New Mexico, Samma (westi-doxi) and then Chienne (Cocker-chihuahua) joined our happy family :rolleyes: Pepper was pts in 1989 at 13 due to failing kidneys.

Samma and Chienne are my constant companions who are treated better than many people. Now that we're back in Germany, they have visited castles, fancy restaurants, nice hotels, and wonderful forests/fields :) They're true characters and really my best friends after my husband.

I just finished Master of Education program through OU (university of Oklahoma). I've been working as a sub. teacher at the local high school. It's a good part time position. But I'm looking around at options and trying to figure out what I want to do now that my education is finished for the moment. Odd not having any "goals"

I have helped quite a few people through the years to live better and understand their dogs... but nothing formal for other than being a student several times, observation, investigation, and suggestions on what to do with dogs.

I love this board for the vast knowledge bank that it possesses with all of the adult experiences :) :) Plus people are just durn nice on here :D :D

Better stop blathering on now, I think I've said enough :) :)
toodles

Hi All

I'm Tracy (23) Married to Matt (26)

We have one dog, Bailey (Black Labrador) who will be a year old on 1st December and two horses Blue (15.3hh Gelding of unknown breeding),who is 17yo and Lucky (13.2hh New Forest pony mare) who is now 24yo.

No children and we live in a village Cambridgeshire

And I work as an Accounts Assistant and Matt is an IT Manager.

Hi my name is Fiona (yes another one) and like the other one I weigh ??????lbs ;) and am 5ft 1. I am 37 (shh don't tell everyone) I am on my second and last husband, Stu, who is another Toy boy at 34. He's an absolute gem but don't tell him I siad that. Between us we have 5 kids, here goes, Danny (13), Ben (nearly 12), Jessie (nearly 10), Zoe (nearly 9) and Ryan (8, and has 666 tattooed on his head), mine are 1, 3 and 5. We have Flossie Dog nearly 2 who we've had since an 8 week old pup and Doodle Dog, 5 who we adopted from Westie Lover ealry thi syear. Yes you guessed it they are westies. And loved and spoilt to bits. They have totally different personalitites and keep us entertained with their antics for ages. I don't have the patience to show but my daughter Jessie is keen to start ringcraft classes and learn. I work as a paid employee in the voluntary sector, supervising a team of curently 8 volunteers and am in the middle of organising a community networking day for friday. Eek (I think I'll cancel it) I am alos doing a part time degree course at college in Wrexham in computers, go t to HND this year yipeeeee. Hubs works as a carer looking after a young man in his own home. By the way I live in Flintshire, North Wales.
I meant child no 1, 3 and 5 not ages ;)

I am Lucy and I am 35yrs old. I have auburn hair, now out of a bottle:D and am 5ft 8 inches tall. I am married to Mike 32yrs and have a daughter Florence from my first marriage. We both work as Accountants. ( you wouldn't know it if you met us! Not typical Accountants ) We live just outside of Oxford in a lovely Cotswold village.

We have currently two chocolate Labs, Min who is 12yrs and Moose who is 1yrs old. We recently lost Mins mum, Mars who lived to a grand old age of 14yrs and 9 moths old.(Still greatly missed)

We love our girls to bits and they are a very important part of our family. We are hoping in the next few months to adopt another Lab as the house doesn't seem right with just two chocolate monsters !!

Hi my name is Lynne and I live with my partner Keith, we have 5 kids between us, only the 19 year old live with us thank God!!

We have 3 GSD's Shadow, Roxy and Abbey, a black cat called Marmite, 25 chickens, umpteen fish and several finches.

I am a temp and work in admin/secretarial work, work on and off as assignments come up.

I am 5ft 6" tall, dark long hair and I am 42.

Hope to use the dogs in agility when they are old enough.
Live in cheshire but hope to get a smallholding somewhere soon. God knows we need one with our clan!!

Lynne

Well my name is Julie (never guess that would you!) I'm 31,dyed red hair, about 5'5'' and a size 12(don't do the scales thing, bad for your health) married to Steve who is 30 ( tries to claim he's a toy boy) and we have 2 kids, Kieran who is 3 and Lauren who is 20mths. We also have 3 dogs, Lucy 8yr-ish rotty, Buddy, shiba inu who will be 1 in oct and Floyd another rotty who is 6 mths, oh and a canary called tweety! Currently living in Bristol but soon to be moving to Melksham in Wilts and I can't wait! :D
Had a very enjoyable mis spent youth studying horse management at a college in Somerset and then spent far too many years working for the pet shop formerly known as Pet city. Now i stay at home looking after kids and dogs and training to be a Stepford wife!! would give you all the jobs Steve has ever done but would take too long, his best so far though is Coroners Undertaker which involves picking up all the sudden death cases for the police and taking them to the morgue, which could mean anything from a murder to an old dear in a nursing home! Currently working as a store manager for a carpet shop, just in time for house moving!
My ambition is to be a kept woman and have lots of dogs!!!! :D

Hi,
My name is Lynn (no e)(41) married to Phil(one L)(45) with one daughter, Laura(15) who has Downs and was born with a severe heart condition. She's had two lots of major surgery, and is now as okay as she could be. She has severe learning difficulties, and severe language development problems, which makes her sound far, far worse than she actually is. She's my star. And can I change my old man for a toyboy too please?

I'm currently a stay-at-home mum, receiving Invalid Carer's Allowance, because I couldn't cope with work and all the doctor's appointments Laura had to go to, or rather work couldn't cope and I was under so much pressure from them, Phil had to take her! I used to work as an accounts clerk, with a short time in salaries.

I live in a small village near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, and now have time to look after Ben, my beautiful mongrel(collieX?)from Battersea(3 years) and Abby, my tearaway Border Collie (14 weeks). They're presently doing kung-fu impressions, with flashing teeth and paws, and making strange moaning noises!

When I was little, my parents got what they thought was a BC pup from the RSPCA kennels, but she never grew any bigger, and hated me and my older sister with a vengeance. I reckon she was mostly Jack Russell. My dad was RAF and we were posted to Aden so had to rehome her(to our then cleaning lady who adored her). On our return to England we found a young BC at the RSPCA kennels outside Birmngham, and she was with us till she was pts at 14. Once I'd married and moved to my current home I was a lady of leisure for a while and we got our first BC pup of our own. She died in her sleep at 15 weeks of age. We then got Candi, from working stock, who was with us till she had to go when she was nearly 14. Then followed Ben and Abby. You might say I like BC's.

I'm just under 5'8" (or was?), more lbs than I care to mention, and I have to pay VAT on my shoes at a size 6. My hair is in need of a colour so goodness knows what it'll be later today!:D

Lynn x
ps. I may show Abby at some stage. Depends how she grows and if I can win hubby round.
I don't post a huge amount because I don't feel I know enough to offer advice most of the time; maybe a little support occasionally. I don't like the aggressive threads. There are too many wind-up merchants and there are too many regulars who are only too willing to be unnecessarily sarcastic and aggressive in return. I can do without the stress.

Hi, My name is Mandy aged 49 hubby Steve 48, two sons : Danny 25 from my first marriage and David 9 going on 15 from my second! I was brought up in East Sussex ( Crowborough) and Hertfordshire ( Hitchin) and moved to Wales the day after marrying my first husband to a job on a stud farm in Pembrokeshire. We lived in a tied cottage there and after 4 years decided it was time to start a family. We bought a small cottage for - can you believe it now - £4000, this was in 1976. Duly had Danny the next year. At this time we had a springer spaniel called Gwinnie who was my first pedigree dog bred from working gun dogs who were FTW at a nearby farm, bought when we lived in Hitchin. Left my husband and was a single parent for a year or so until Steve and I got together.

Gwinnie was stolen when she was 4 years old and it broke my heart, I left the back door open and food down every night for months. We didn't have another dog for a while and it wasn't until danny was about 4 that I rescued a cocker spaniel Jessie, from a puppy farm and soon after bought my beloved choc lab Revel, who died 4 years ago aged 14. By this time Steve and I had started living together and I went back to work at the stud farm part time when Danny started school, and the dogs took it in turns to come with me for the day. Then I got my divorce settlement and we bought a small derilect cottage - cold tap outside and no electric and eventually did it up, but before we did while working at the stud I damaged my back mucking out one day, burst two discs, and was flat on my back for months looking up through the holes in the roof! I shall never moan about the price of electricity again, you wouldn't belive how much it cost in candles every week! 6 months later the doctor said I had to more or less forget about working as I would not be able to work with horses any more and could not sit or stand or drive all day. He may as well have told me to lay down and die, working eith horses was my whole life. I then discovered that my employers never paid my stamps so I had no sick pay.

We had planned to have a baby together but my bad back put me off, I was constantly "doing it in". Not long after Jessie the rescue cocker died and Revel was as bereft as I was , so I started thinking about what breed to have next. I would have liked another lab but thought them too boisterous for my back to handle so had to whittle down through the smaller breeds. I wanted one that was " a big dog in small clothing" and I chose well when I decided on a Westie. As luck would have it she was show quality and was encouraged to start showing her. So thats how me and Westies started off.

By the time I had 8 of them, the place was getting a bit small so we sold it and bought the house we are in now, which has about 1/4 of an acre for them to gallop about in and surrounded by fields and tracks. After a couple of years here my back was not giving me any jip so we decided to get married and have a baby. David was born 10 months later(!) much to the surprise of his family - who were all convinced I was already pregnant when we married!!

We have lived here for 12 years and have 6 westies now, Pippa (8), Poppy,
( just 5) Jo Jo,(3) Bonnie(3) , Jimmy (2)and Bella(nearly 2) . I am quite excited as Jimmy is hopefully going to be a daddy for the first time. Bella has come in season ( just as I am off on holiday!) and Steve is going to take them to an expeienced friend who will hopefully get them together - they are both maidens, so I will be ringing home on sat night to see if has worked. Fingers crossed please.

Hi

My name is Beth (aka "That BethN") and I live in ?????? (am I really expected to say that with the going's on at the moment on here) fairly happily with my 11 month Dobe Jake (aka The Mockodile), my insignificant although far too long standing other, Tony (aka "The short one") and my cats Bill & Ted (aka Fatso and Bear respectively). Oh and fish, inside and out.

I am 29 and of course, astonishing beautiful if not a slight bit chunky, with dyed hair of red, blonde and brown hues (to tone in with each of the seasons). I gave up work at Xmas to get my "wonderful" puppy and god, life have never been the same since, for a start I now have to get up pre midday (which is especially annoying on Sats Suns and bank holidays) for fear of otherwise finding my kitchen full of wees and poos. I also have to go FOR WALKS, which is a concept that I would only think about a year ago, I also now look about 85 with huge bags under my eyes and now smoke EVEN more than I used to and drink far more Shiraz than ever before. :D

For my 10th birthday, my parents finally gave in and got me a resue dog (although they weren't fooled into thinking I'd do anything for him) Nomad, who was a collie x lab and the most beautiful and expressive dog in the world - when he died when I was 23, I thought my heart would break.

I have always maintained (apparently even when 9 years old) that I would NOT be having children but dogs instead and finally after 6 years of whining to the insignificant other, finally got my wish !!! Of course, this makes everything Jake does my problem, including poo patrol, walking, paying attention to and generally attending to ...... A bit like the old man. So basically I am the b**ch of my man and my menagerie.

I spend hours straightening my hair (only to go on a dog walks for it to frizz), hours doing my nails (although not as long, I suspect as DOGS :D ) only for them to chip in 2 seconds and hours wondering which trainers, jeans and fleece to wear today for Jake to dirty in 2 secs flat, but hey, you can't just forget that you're a glamourpuss at heart even if you have a naughty stinky bity ratface of a puppy.

I spend my days smoking, sorting out tenants at my flats and houses and aspiring to write a bestseller (still in progress) and most of the time I try to spread peace and love, unless Jake is winding me up in which case I would rather spread a hail of bulletts.

I try to tolerate others that I find silly but am not very good at that and fortunately, now I no longer work, I don't really have to so.. I prefer to spend my days with people I actually like (which is a blessing) preferably shopping and eating but if necessary walking !!!!!!

That's it

Beth

HEE HEE
Beth you ARE my long lost twin ( give or take 11 yrs ) I was talking to a friend from usa a while ago and I was trying to expain about the dog !!!!
Although I have never been particularly trendy :D I was always clean - untill the arrival of murphs , now my lovely locks which in a certain light (pitch black ) look like those of Jennifer Anniston ( I wish ) now they are reduced to something resembling captain caveman !!!!!! no amount of Frizz Ease will help :D On the plus side I've always got something in my pocket to eat ---boney biscuit,markies ,bits of cheese and the odd hot dog!!!!!!!I am getting quite accustomed to the taste of doggy chocolate,
I now count myself as well turned out if my fleece has less than 3pawmarks and the mud on my pants doesn't come all the way up to my knees OOh remember the days of clinique and L'oreal etc now it's flea spray and worming tablets I,ve got no nails at all ( I had some for 2weeks in august ) and I,m as happy as a pig in sh*t (probably look like one too ;) ) oh and I drink copious amounts of wine but I can't blame the dog for that ( would if I could though ) I was only joking about the twin thing I'm sure you're far more glamerous (sp) there couldn't be two of us walking the earth--it wouldn't be allowed
see you soon
LIZ

Just wanted to say I love this thread:D

Hi

I am Theresa, aged 29, live in the Irish midlands with my seven dogs, three cats, and the other half

the dogs are jake (gsd 3), nanouki (gsd 3 legs, age 1.5), megan (whippet x gsd, 3 legs, age 9 months), loppie (rottiex, 9 1/2), lakota (wolf x husky, 4), Heidi (collie x whippet, 6), Reggie (irish setter, 4 going on 90)

I work in IT for the moment, hoping to have a change of lifestyle in the next year or two.

Like BethN I have a passion for frizz ease products (shampoo, conditioner, serum, styling mousse and finishing spray is the normal dose) as I am afflicted with reddish brown curly (very curly) hair which I am growing to please my husband who feels women with short hair are unfeminine (ROFLOL) I am also very pale so much so that in the height of summer when Fintan my hubby has a tan I look like Mortica Adams

I am 5 foot 8, average size (12-14) and outside of work am fond of the drink, the fags and the dogs (in reverse order) I do plan to give up smoking some day .....

that's it

Theresa

;) :) :D

Rofl @ THAT astonishingly beautiful BethN :D :D :D

Just thought I would put in my two penneth worth.

Name: Sarah
Age: 36 (not 3 as previously put in error, thats my shoe size and IQ):D :D :D
Married: to Martin 37
Kids: No thanks.............oh all right 2...Zoe (7) and Sophie (4)
Dogs: Yes please, miniature schnauzer Zak (1) age not quantity
5'6" 10.5 stones. Always thinking about dieting, never quite making it.
Looks: Ab fab!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well no-one will ever see me so lets make it all up, this seems to be the fashion at the moment:D
Location: I'm brave, Hampshire/surrey borders, so come and get me if you think you're hard enough.
Brains: Plenty..................well I can spell and punctuate correctly..............it's the content of my postings that is suspect.
Like: Having a laugh
Dislike: Idiots

Previous history.....have owned boxers, several of, all of which seemed to dribble or drool, depending on which end you were at.........decided to go for schnauzers while on holiday last year, saw millions, decided they were the dog for me, tried to get one............Ah slight problem, the shop that sells chickens lips and rocking horse poo was also out of stock of mini schnauzers!!!!!!!!!still I didn't give up and managed to get pup after a while, had choice of whole litter and managed to pick the loveliest dog imaginable................unfortunately while he dosen't moult or chew or soil the house, he does dribble.

Love to hear from anyone sensible and even from the silly people....................bit of a billy no mates you see.

Really enjoying the gossip and banter at the moment, at least I can join in :D

Sarah

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Hi Nicky,
I know exactly what you mean about presents! Because Laura doesn't really outgrow her things, we just try to gauge what should be appropriate for her age and steer her towards it. We've had some total disasters but some she loves! Now, if it's a cd or video, we're okay:D
I have always thought we should be aiming towards independent living for her as we're not going to be here forever, but it's so hard when she's so vulnerable. I can't stand the thought of her being on her own. I trust Hayley is happy and well-looked after where she is.:)
Lynn x