Wise ol' poodle groomer

Miss B is a 15 month old homebred *****.She has been well socialised and attended ringcraft classes designed for show dogs. She has been shown in the breed ring several times and been confident and well behaved. She lives with our 9 other dogs in the house with the family. Our dogs vary in age and are all well trained show dogs or ex show dogs. Some have gone on to compete at agility with considerable success.

Miss B is exhibiting some strange behaviours which I have not seen before. She is very attached to me and is always to be found next to me. She has an excellent recall. She can be a little bossy towards the other dogs, barking and lunging at them on occasions for which she receives a sharp 'no' but no other punishment as this usually stops her.

If I remove her from the pack for an individual walk or outing she is fine. However, if I remove her for individual training she begins enthusiastically but soon stiffens and takes herself off into a corner or away from me. These are basic sessions, 1 a day, which last approx 5 mins. Lots of positive renforcement is used with no negativity. She learns well but seems to be put off by the fact that she is learning whereas most dogs would be excited. She doesn't shake or lick her lips and still gives me eye contact without cowering. If I let another dog into the room for dual work she comes and goes as if half of her wants to join in and half of her refuses to. I have never seen this behaviour before. Any help with it would be much appreciated. Thank you

I am new to caravanning and have been thrown into the deep end so to speak. I visit large but basic camping sites with my competition dogs and stay for a few days at a time. Usually there are toilet and wash facilities but precious little else. I have managed to work out most things I need to know, including the emptying of the cassette toilet in the correct place. However, I haven't managed to work out where to empty the grey waste water container. Would someone please be kind enough to enlighten me?

Thank you.

I'm a well known, respected member of our community. I had a row with my husband because he hacked into my laptop and accessed my bank account and emails. He found that my mother has given me several thousands of pounds which she asked at the time that he wasn't told about. He also found that I'd met an ex childhood sweetheart for a farewell drink last November (he is moving to another country with his wife). My husband was cross, he pursued me, I tried to lock myself away, he persisted in hounding me and called me a liar etc etc. I eventually ended up thumping him. He called the Police. I was arrested, carted off to the not so local nick, spent the night in a police cell with the friday night drunks and druggies. I was finger printed, DNA tested, interviewed and cautioned and I am now a registered criminal with a record. Would you stay with this man who now says he didn't mean for this to happen or would you leave him?

I am in the final stages of a thesis on the subject of the docking of a dog's tail. As you are probably aware, the law covering this tender subject changed here in the UK around 20 months ago, depending on where you are in the UK.

Would any of you be kind enough to express your opinions and/or reactions to the changes in the law and tell of any changes you have noticed in your dogs/puppies and the opinion of the general public/puppy buyers.

Any answers will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance to those who reply.

I have an eight month old standard poodle pup. Entire. Show dog. Short coupled. Doing very well on the show circuit. Bred him myself. Very likely due to his conformation his urine is soaking the backs of his forelegs each time he urinates. He is not yet cocking his leg. Has anyone else had this problem? If so any tips/suggestions?

I would have thought the contents would be fairly safe??

I met a 6 month old miniature poodle pup today which I last saw at the age of about 10 or 11 weeks of age. When I last saw it its toes were normal. In fact I remember remarking on its nice little feet.

Now it has a stunted toe on the inside of one of its front feet. The other feet are all fine. The other toes on the stunted foot are ok although, if anything, I would say that the toe next to the stunted toe looks a little large.The stunted toe is noticeably smaller and the nail is elevated.

The foot doesn't give the pup any trouble in moving. In fact it moves quite nicely.

Its owner insists that it hasn't been stood on or had any accidents.

Has anyone seen this in any breed before?

The only thing I can think of is that it may be polygenetically inherited. Unfortunately the owner doesn't know much about the dogs in the pedigree of her poodle.

Thanks in advance for any info you may have

drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he returns to the bar & orders 3 more.

The bartender tells him, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought 1 at a time." The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have 2 brothers. When we left our home in Texas, we promised we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking 1 beer for each of my brothers & 1 for myself.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. One day, he comes in and only orders 2 mugs. When he comes back to the bar for the 2nd round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes & he laughs. "Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "it's just that my wife & I joined the Baptist Church & I had to quit drinking."

"Hasn't affected my brothers though."