Please call your dog

I fear Luckygirl some dogs are preferable to some humans. Just as some dogs are definitely preferable to some children. Or some cyclists. In a crowded urban environment politeness and consideration for others is necessary and something which seems to have gone out of the window for many these days. Dogs do have a valuable part to play in society, whether as guides or companions, and do deserve a chance to run free and chase balls and just be dogs. Keeping them restricted on leads full time is verging on cruelty. That’s why I advocate dog play grounds (as are provided in other countries) in urban areas in the same way as we have children’s playgrounds where they get to let of steam.

Honestly stansgran fancy saying my house smells!

In fact I can report the opposite. Lots of people comment on my house always smelling lovely

So now people with dogs are

Not only bad uncaring owners, but also have smelly unclean houses

Beginning to get a bit really.

My evil smelly spawn of Satan is lying next to me as I post this looking at me with one eye.

Oh, and back to talking of rabbits. We were once given a beautiful English White rabbit for our DS when he was around five. Named Jane, she lived happily with our DD2’s guinea pig named .... Peter. However, no one could touch her without her drawing blood and I needed a pig board to corner her to clean out their run. In the end I gave her away to a friend who wanted to breed from her. She escaped. Five men from the farm cornered her - but none could touch her. She attacked them. And their dog. She turned wild but no one would go to the copse where she took up residence. They daren’t. I suspect her ghost still haunts the copse.

Yes, N&G A chance to run around for dogs, as is natural to them, and for it to be somewhere they are not in conflict with humans who feel uncomfortable with them being exuberant around them. That is consideration for all. With a bit of planning and give and take it doesn't have to be confrontational. Same with a lot of the things that cause trouble!

I must say here that I am NOT a "dog-hater" - I have a niece-dog I am very fond of - and I have never been attacked or bitten, so I am not afraid of dogs.

However I strongly dislike being licked, particularly my face. I also strongly dislike the smell of doggy halitosis, which even my lovely clean Kara often has. It actually makes me retch, that is an automatic physical reaction not a mental one. If a dog is close to me even a clean and well-cared-for dog which presumably has frequent baths and good oral hygeine I can detect a whiff of dogginess, usually not enough to be offensive, but there, nevertheless, and sometimes overwhelming. Making a dog smell of anything else but dog is in fact an unkindness, other dogs recognise them by their unique smel,l and Chanel number five is not on the dog list.

I don't think the owner of a dog is the person to judge whether their smell is detectable. They don't register it.

Ok - is it now being suggested that those of us who claim to have houses and dogs that don't smell unpleasant are either so besotted we don't notice these things, or dare we say it - are we being accused of being dishonest?!

My dogs don't smell, neither does my house. I did a long and wet muddy walk with my three this morning. All were showered and dried down on return. They stayed in the Utility on those absorbent towels until they dried. The windows in the Utility are open and their towels in the washer. I'm not obsessive about house or domestic stuff but I spent many a working day in malodorous homes, so have never had the desire to live in one.

Most dog owners make sure their houses don’t smell of dog and yes, we can tell. Ask any dog owners what wet dog or doggy breath smells like. Not only that but most of us are extra fussy about paw wiping, floor washing and so on, just to be sure.

BUT having said that it’s my house and if I want it to smell doggy then that’s entirely my business. So there!

X posts Iam ?

Glad to hear you are so meticulous, Iam and Friday.

Hello Friday . The other thing about dogs is that the evidence is those who share their lives with them live longer, happier lives.
My three are almost dry (they are long curly haired dogs) so will come into the kitchen, windows open whilst I thoroughly clean out their sleeping space. That will include washing three dog beds, several rugs, sweeping and mopping the floors and wiping down every surface. Then, the by now dry dogs will each need brushing through.

So I'll have walked about 5 miles and done two or three hours domestic work by 7pm. And none of my dogs have caused anyone any stress at all (apart from me on the cleaning front but I can listen to the radio as I go)
I don't mean to be flippant about people who are frightened of dogs, or have had bad experiences.

No need to plead your case Iam it’s common practice among the majority of responsible dog owners that we follow rules like this. If Elgran is being sarcastic (?) then that’s her problem.

However, I’d like to raise the question of swans. Where I walk there is a family with six huge cygnets. Now these do attack and quite viciously. They are unringed and apparently belong to her majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11 so are protected by law.

I’ve heard of ‘swan upping’ and I’m seriously considering ‘upping’ them with my walking stick next time they come at me with wings flapping, necks extended and beaks open and sharp.

No, I wasn't being sarcastic. Why should anyone think I was? All my comments have meant exactly what they said. They put my point of view and my take on things.

It’s the wings you have to be careful of, Friday - an angler friend of mine had his arm broken by a run in with an angry swan’s wing! They are nasty to each other too!

Apparently if you push one arm out slopping downwards holding your hand palm down and pointy like a gooses head and hiss they’ll back off. It works with geese but I’ve not dared to try it with a swan!

And no well brought up dog with good manners will ever lick your face. It’s horrible.

First of all, Elegran is never sarcastic .

Nfk, may I suggest you do not try that arm movement with swans ?, if they have you in their sights tell yourself you are Mo farah and run

In their defence - they mate for life, so romantic ?

Our little boat is hire boat shaped and swans love her. They try to eat the rubber bumper strip around the sides to persuade us they're starving. I wouldn't dare feed them, they're like enormous black backed gulls.

(We've got one or two black swans on the Broads, they're much more polite)

They are so beautiful, how can they be so graceful and so nasty

After all the reports on here about dangerous dog-walking situations in the UK i was beginning to dread our return soon. Our border ccollie is elderly but still enjoys her walks.
So I looked up the dog walking facilities in Priory Park Southend (where we'll probably go) and was pleased to see that they are well regulated.
Southend Council has published their Dog Control Orders on a pdf.

Sorry to break this to many of you, but yes, many (most?) dog-owning households do smell to non dog owners, although some breeds are definitely worse than others. I presume that my own home was the same when we had a dog, even though we and regular visitors were totally immune to it. When our neighbours' front door is open, we have to close our own doors and windows, the smell is so strong. They have been known to bathe their dogs - at least I hope that is what the splashing sounds and enthusiastic exclamations of "you are loving this so much, aren't you?" that could be heard through the wall indicated. If not, the mind boggles! Despite that, the smell remains as strong as ever.

I have an ad for a company called 'arty lobster' who will make a sculpture of my dog. Shame I don't have one.

Tonight's episode of The Apprentice should be interesting.

Doggy Day Care with that bunch of numpties?

Is all this sniping helping Eglantine21 with her problem?

Perhaps you have a solution Pink ?