Cj

What make of food are you feeding her? Some foods consist mostly of undigestible filler that goes in one end and out the other. Such as most Supermarket brands. Therefore they are having to eat 3 times the amount to get the some amount of nutrients as a quality dog food. And the rest has to come out. YOu should feed a high quality food such as royal canine, burns or james well beloved. This are easily digesible and therefore leaves less mess to clean up. CJ

Dogs can do these things for a number of reasons. Perhaps something scared her in the night or she is suffering a bit of Separation anxiety. She could have perhaps did it a couple of times from one of the above reasons and now has developed a habit. Also how do you deal with it when you find her in the mornings? What do you clean it up with? She could be bored. Perhaps she needs a bone to chew on. I really think you should be feeding her atleast twice a day. Dogs lives are so boring as it is that atleast feeding them twice gives them something to look forward to. It is also better for digestion. I feed all the dogs in my kennels at 8am and 6:30pm and they never mess. So feeding at 16:00 will have no effect on wether she goes in the night or not. YOu could try crating her overnight. This way she should hold on til morning as she will not want to dirty her area. Then once she has been clean for a number of weeks you can remove the crate or you can continue to use it as a safe secure place to sleep. Please email me directly if you want to know more about crating. CJ http://www.chateaudesanimaux.com

It seems every experience is different and I never had to worry about booking scans as my gynae gives me one at every visit and from the 12th of prenancy onwards she gave me appointments for once a month. It is probably therefore better to see a gynae than a doctor as gynaes are more clued up. They are more costly though. But I don't find it too expensive. It varies between 30 and 50 Euros per visit. The standard blood tests are not too costly but there are certain ones that are more expensive like the Trisomie 21 (Downs syndrome test) I run my own business and I am not affliated with the CPAM as I had to go to a private company that does it. And yes apart from telling you what not to eat and doing some blood tests, nothing else gets done until you pass the 12 week mark. Then you will be given the correct forms to fill in by your doctor. A great website for parents in france is www.babycentre.co.uk and go to the community section and look under parents in France. It is very friendly and will help with all you questions. CJ (34+3 weeks pregnant)

Later, I just had a look at your South African website. It made me so homesick. You can see why I am not overly keen on France when I come from such a beautiful country. And yes I will go back there one day. CJ

I for one agree with Teamedup and am ready to leave. Infact I was ready to leave the day I arrived. I have never like France. I have given it a good 6 years but I am ready to go. Before you all jump on board and say why did you stay, it is just because that is the way things turned out. I lived in Paris and I did have a great time there (mostly thanks to English pubs, people and cinemas) but I just cannot do the French culture thing. Paris is far too grey for me. I then moved to Normandy which is the other extreme. It is beautiful and green and I love my house, but I am about 30 years younger than the average person. No decent shops ( I buy all my clothes on websites in the UK) and nothing to do. The nearest decent bars and restaurants are 1 hour away. As for travelling someone mentioned how easy it is to travel from France, well in my experience it is cheaper and easier to get anywhere from the UK depsite the water. It has been a great experience living here and perhaps I will return when I hit 50 and can handle the deathly slow pace of life and the fact that France is very backward when it comes to virtually everything.(Apart from medical care but then you do pay through your ears for the service and the social secuirty is bankrupt so things will change) Most of the young people I know that live here say they moved for a better quality of life, yet the commute to the UK to earn money or to have a decent weekend out. I would rather just live in the English countryside. Perhaps not everyone can afford that luxury though. CJ

You should see the medication for Chicken Pox including Zovirax (which is for cold sores) Give me Calamine lotion and paracetamol anyday. CJ

I run my own business and am now 7 months pregnant. I was told by the CAF that I am not entitled to benefits from them as I am above the pay threshold. Too my surprise today I found a rather large deposit into my bank account from my Social Security. Does anyone know what this payment is for. I am too scared to spend it incase they have made a mistake. CJ

I dont have a B&B but my accountant also said to me it works out about the same if I do TVA or not. Just the accountancy bills will be more. HA. (he will say that as it is more money for him) Well I am regretting his advice as his bills are astronomical and I have to charge 19.6% more for my product. It is a scary thing when my TVA bill arrives every time. I also do not have much to reclaim. If I had done it the micro way I would be able to charge the same amount for my product but the 19.6% would be able to go to me which can then pay for my cotisation and also I would not be paying thousands of Euros extra for an accoutant. CJ

Be prepared for french advice on feeding. They do expect babies to sleep through quite early on. So love to add things to the bottle. It is all a matter of preference I suppose. One doctor suggested boiling the veggies for 40minutes to make a puree for weaning. Well I can't see how many vitamins a baby will get out of that. With regards to milk, go to your pharmacie. They can advise you as to which milk is best for the age. Probably the deuxieme age from 5 months is what you are looking for. It is in powdered format. CJ

You can only begin the process once the pup has had its Rabies vaccination and they cannot get that until they are 3 months old. (Or is is 6) From then on it takes 7 months. So work on the fact that you pup cannot travel until a year old. Ask your vet at watch age the rabies vacc can be given. Remember to get it microchipped first. CJ

You have to enquire at your local Dept. of veterinary services how to get your Certificate de Capacite.(Look in the phone book for the address or ask your local Marie or Vet. They will tell you where to sit it. YOu can send them a letter with everything you intend doing and then you will get a long list of requirements. CJ

I dont suppose Redon is in Normandy. Otherwise I would love some fish. I am anti buying them from pet shops. Candice

Why don't you put your details in your profile so people can see what you do and then contact you. Also you can advertise for free on totalfrance.com. Have you tried putting ads up in your local vets? Personally most people find me through my website search engines. So it helps if you have a website. Hope this helps Candice http://www.chateaudesanimaux.com

YOu dont need anything for the doctor, you just pay him and then he gives you a Feuille de soins which you send off to the Securite Social and they will reimburce you. A carte vitale you use in Phamacies etc although some doctors are beginning to use them. But you dont need anything normally. CJ

Now that I am pregnant I am wondering if I am going to survive out here in the countryside. Therefore I would like to try and get a group of mothers and mothers to be to get together and chat, have a break and let the children play. I was a member of a very good group in Paris and would like to see if I can see if I can start something like that in the region. Whereby we meet in different peoples houses once a week. My problem is I seem to have very few people in my area when I say 61 I mean the north east corner on the border of Calvados near Lisieux. But driving 30 minutes once a week wouldnt be bad for a change of seen. If anyone is interested please contact me. Perhaps we can get a big group going for all regions of Normandy. I shall get an email, address and telephone list going. I hope I can remain this organised. I hope to chat soon, Mum to be (Mom to be actually as I am South African) CJ

I was informed that when you are pregnant you will receive a lump sum payment in the 7th month from the CAF. Can any one verify this and how much money would I get? Or what is it based on? There are so many lovely things I want to buy but don't want to get my hopes up about any large payments. Thanks in advance CJ

I have left a message in your inbox. CJ

LAST EDITED ON 04-May-04 AT 06:45 PM (BST) A dogs crucial time in life is puppyhood, during this time they need to be well socialised and integrated into your family. You need to find out the conditions the dog would be staying in, as you have children it is crucial that the dog is introduced to children during the social period so that it does not develop fears. Will it be living in a cage, will it have enough human contact? If it is kept outdoors in a cage it will lack the sufficient human socialisation and may not make an ideal pet. in. Not all breeders are up to scratch in France and there may be a reason that you are paying less. So do some research. Or you could try contacting the Lab rescue in the UK and see if they have any pups that need a new home. CJ http://www.chateaudesanimaux.com

Just as a matter of interest why were you advised to get heartworm treatment? It does not occur in cold climates. Certainly not in Normandy. Rabies vaccinations have to be done once a year in France, if you want to go back to England with your dog, you should keep it up. CJ

LAST EDITED ON 18-Apr-04 AT 10:15 AM (GMT) If you look on http://ukgrapevine.monsite.wanadoo.fr They have a list of English companies recommended by others. They have an architect listed. I have spoken to him and he sounds nice. He is Irish. CJ

Where are you moving too? As I know of a good Golden breeder in Calvados. All her dogs are house dogs so you know you are getting well socialised well loved dogs. If you are interested let me know and I will give you the details. CJ http://www.chateaudesanimaux.com

Can anyone recommend a reliable cleaner in the Vimoutiers region. Initially once a week but building up from there. The person must like dogs and cats and preferably be willing to help out where ever possible. CJ

You can also do it online in France and you can download the forms off the british embassy website.

You can also do it online in France and you can download the forms off the british embassy website.

Try Groupama They have an animal accident insurance for 65 per year. http://www.groupama-animalia.com CJ http://www.chateaudesanimaux.com