Chesnelay

I would endorse everything that has been said in the above posts - urging caution on the use of indoor crates unless they have been created as a place of comfort and introduced gradually - but if the reward of praise for peeing/pooing outside is given completely OTT to the extent that your neighbours think you have lost the plot - then you should soon be able to get your dog to pee on command. Very useful at times!

We had a tax habitation bill the first year we bought -2003 but then got an exemption the following year due to the renovation works, and havent had one since.  We completed the form when all the work was done and the builder signed it and sent it off - we even sent a second one 12 months later just in case he hadnt posted it. We do have the tax fornicere but when we queried the lack of the tax habitation at the maries office the lady said 'c'est vide n'est pas? and they know we only go there a few weeks a year and intend making it permanently shortly but heh, I could be living in cuckoo land and end up with 4 years of tax bills!! 

Cooperlola, the reason that the Defra site may sound vague with regard to the 'normal period' is that it depends on the type/batch of rabies vaccine used by individual vets.  Our vaccine only expires after 3 years from the original vaccine so no wonder people get confused. 

Too late to help you with this sailing - certainly our booking for Fri 17th was cancelled but at least Transmanche phoned us 24 hrs in advance as gale force winds were expected.  Coming back on the 23rd on the 1 am, we had a 11.5 hour ferry crossing from Dieppe which had to go to Portsmouth instead of Newhaven and the delay was extended as we had to wait for a berth vacancy.  We were still pleased to get home safely.  Other ferries over the weekend have had delays so it is worth checking before you leave home.

We placed a dead rat on a buzzards perch and it really struggled to fly off with it, so it just flew a short distance and didnt gain much height and then stopped to eat it in the adjacent field. As I understand it, the Buzzards are quite lightweight around 3 kg so would imagine they would struggle with a rabbit.  Lovely to watch though!

Dave - Try on a different website - www.equinonline.com - try the forum there.

Well done Harley - looks like you have set a ball rolling with your persistance - long may it continue.

I work 40 hours a week, night duties and my own time for an animal charity and would willingly do more.  First point,  however, what I find makes a difference to sponsors who do donate - is how their donation is received by the charity.  All too often we become complacent and don't give people enough genuine 'time' - it just needs someone to make the effort to say 'thank-you' and mean it, to encourage the person to donate again.  Cries of 'oh thanks, just stick the donation in the corner with all the others' is just going to put someone off taking the trouble. 2nd point - Friends of mine, however loving and kind will not donate to animal charities - their rationale is that there are so many starving children, they should be the priority.  Each to their own.  

I believe they are about 17 euros per sq metre at places like Leroy Merlin.  They do have a large selection so its worth a trip to see. However, we couldnt afford to do the whole patio so ordered 4 ton of driveway gravel from the local firm of hardware Lambert Materiaux and that cost  68 euros and delivery was 46 euro delivery. Sorted!

We had difficulty locating our fosse septic tank as the previous owner just showed on a sketch where the grease tank was situated outside the downstairs bathroom door.  He had put plant pots across the driveway to make sure vehicles didnt drive over the pipe system. As we wanted to put up a fence across the driveway, we went to the maires' office and they had lots of diagrams and paperwork relating to the installation some 6 yrs previous.  However when the SARL wanted a technician to inspect it, we made an appointment with them and they came on the right day and time and he explained that the actual filtration system was way down the field, about 40 metres away.  This was sort of shown on the diagrams from the maires' installation but we thought it was just an inspection hatch and didnt realise that the 5m x 6m filtration was so far away from the house.  When we asked if we could plough over the top of the filtration system he was a bit undecided so we shall play safe and just rotovate it (or put pigs over it)!  My advice is to ask at the maires office first

I started watching it last night but had to change channels as it was too embarrassing to watch. Esther did not seem to grasp the fact that the French hosts seemed affronted that she was not taking the programme seriously and I thought this reflected badly on her - I think the producers could have made the programme less difficult for the participants and more humourous for the viewers - still, what else was there to watch on the box!

I dont think you over-reacted at all because had one wasp managed to sting her tongue or throat it could have easily swollen and stopped her breathing.  You may be advised to do the 'distraction' modus operandi - like shaking a noisy tin or squirting dog with water but I always find I never have the object to hand just when I need it!  The only bit of comfort is that the wasp season is relatively short and it may be that next year she is that little bit older and wiser!  Can't think of a better way to spend money - as you say, vets just love us!

Has anyone had any problems with regard to their dogs suffering in the heat when they are incaserated below decks on the ferries recently?  We normally take our dogs on speedferries, but was very glad we didnt last weekend as the temperature in the car was 27C.  We kept the windows open but the air was very still and suffocating.  I know the crew went round the cars tapping on the windows of those with dogs just to make sure the dogs were conscious.!  Although it is advertised as a 50 mins crossing - it is more like 2 hrs but the time the cars are loaded and unloaded.

We had oak quarter turn staircase to our lst floor put in and that was 3,458 euros excl tax in Sarthe.  [blink]

Porthcawl may not do it for you but there are not many places that can match Rest Bay on a sunny evening - definately picture postcard stuff - and only a stroll away from the dreary reputation of Porthcawl,

Yes, watched the same as yourself - the fact that they were going to have to take out a mortgage on the holiday home seemed daft really - thats what I call an expensive holiday option - plus choosing a location where the only real option is to fly the whole family over and then have to rent a vehicle to get about. Takes all sorts[:D]

I have worked with rescue organisations where microchipping is the norm for 5 years and have not heard of a microchip failing - migrating, yes - and therefore not being easy to be picked up around the expected area.  Some chips can migrate in the first few weeks after they have been inserted before they get attached to the local tissue and this is often on low-fleshy specimens such as lurchers where they also have massive amounts of movement of the shoulders blades when they run.  When pets are microchipped we are advised to inform the owners not to bathe or let the dog go swimming for a few days as if the entry points hasnt healed over, then that chip could fail if it got wet but I have never understood the logic of that as the chip is being inserted into a 'wet' area- however we keep the 'blurb' going.  I think the most likely cause for a 'no chip' reading is the transponder equipment failing.

For future use, if I am using an English mobile, and I need the emergency services whilst in France, do I still need to diall 0033 then 15 or 18 as appropriate? Had a situation last weekend and after trying just 15, that didnt work and I was pathetically grateful when thankfully a French person ran to her house and telephoned from there.    

To put a different point of view across, all this advice about 'dominance' is now considered 'old hat' in training and behavioural circles in the UK.  It all stemmed from the seemingly logic approach that domestic dogs are descended from the wolves and therefore the pack family has to have alpha males etc.  There has been a great deal of research done more recently about Wolf behaviour and the conclusion is that domesticated dogs have changed sufficiently over the years because of their human companions feeding them etc.  Therefore, so these 'experts' say, trying to train a dog by pinning it to the floor, to prove whose boss is pointless and just leads to fear and confusion for the dog.  The new words are 'resource guarding' - so the dog has objects that are precious to it, bones, beds, sofas etc and will attempt to keep them etc.  So good luck with your trainer KCC, take everything with a pinch of salt as next year there will be another new fad - I personally would follow others advice and get him neutered.

Hi Shelagh - I work with dogs day in and day out and I still dont feel 'qualified' to offer advice. Was the fluid clear or pus-like - where on the leg was it? Was it near a joint? Just wanted you to know that someone had read your post. In my book a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  For my own dogs I would prefer to use clean water to wash down and whether I would 'dress' would depend on where on the leg the wound was.  I'm a bit neurotic with my own dogs and as long as I am prepared to pay the bill, I would call a vet out at any time if I was really concerned. Regards - hope she recovers quickly

However bizarre it may sound, I read a vets response to this same question and he advised 'ginger biscuits' before the trip.  The owner tried it out and it made a huge difference to the dogs reaction - I only wish the vet had explained why because he could have made it sound so complicated we would all be trying it.

We went out a fortnight ago and the traffic was definately going past Ecommoy and onto Chateau Du Loir, if that helps.

When we returned to UK last November, I had the temerity to question the Euro 78 the vet charged me for the droncit and fleat-reatment (I provided the frontline) for my labrador and lurcher as the same two dogs had only been charged Euro 66 three months previous.  The vet explained that my dogs had both put on 2 Kgms each so the droncit is really expensive stuff.  It was me that went out with my tail between my legs and both dogs were put on an immediate diet.

I too have tried chasing the tax d'habitation bill., whilst no-one particularly wants to pay it, the thought of baliffs knocking on the door is just too much to contemplate.  Previous year we didnt have to pay as the place was being renovated.  Have been to the hotel de ville, spoken to an official and sent off the revlevant paperwork signed by myself and completed by the main contractor and that was November.  Even tax fornciers hasnt arrived - they'll probably cart me off!!

If you are based in the UK and you are looking to get a pet passport for your pets, if people are quoted by their vets that a mirochip is in the region of £40 then it may be worthwhile contacting some of the local RSPCA animal homes or pet rescue centres as they will often do it for far less.  The cost of the chip is £4 so the charities are usually prepared to do it for just under £10 to cover costs etc.  That makes a big difference when you have more than one animal to do.