cuthound

Yes, that should give my ears a good work out too. 😁

Back in 1973 and 74 I had a 970cc Austin Cooper S, which I prepared for stage rallying. I had the shell seam welded to increase strength, fitted a roll.cage, had the holes in the front bulkhead plated to meet fire regs, overbored the block by 40 thou, bores honed, stage 2 head, fitted a "731 half race" cam, limited slip diff, hydraulic handbrake, sump guard etc. End result was a 999cc engine producing about 100bhp in a car weighing under half a ton. Soon realised I had neither the budget or the talent to be quick enough 😣 Was an enjoyable experience though that taught me a lot about car control and left foot braking!

Are Airedales naturally laid back and will only do things in their own time? My only experience of them are at the training classes where I take Zeus where there are two. Both will eventually, after several requests do what they are told, but never promptly. One barks every time it owner shouts an instruction, as if answering back. He is funny and has been attending classes for 13 years!

The company that sponsored my rallying Mini used to earn most of their profits transplanting Rover V8 lumps into Triumph Stags!

Reminds of an article in the car club magazine when I was rallying back in the 70's. One member had a "Broadspeed Bullet", a 3 litre Ford Capri with a turbocharger and other mods to improve performance. To reduce the compression ratio, the head gaskets were replaced with thicker ones. He decided to replace these with the originals... The car really flew but as he increased the revs there was a load bang, smoke and the engine stopped. In the club magazine he described the reason for his retirement as "total electrical failure - a conrod escaped from the engine and cut through the battery cable"! 😁😅😂

Indeed, Staffies are lovely natured dogs when brought up properly. When a dog is the correct weight you should be able to: 1. Feel its ribs but net see them 2. See a discernable narrowing of its waist when viewed from directly above, and, 3. See a discernable "tummy tuck" where the stomach rises to meet the back legs, just after the rib cage. If you cannot meet all three criteria then the dog is overweight. It is so easy to check but the majority of dogs you see fail on at least one point.

Nah, that's a smidgeon 😁😂

Well he was described as cat friendly! We had a 20 year old cat when we first got him, but the unfortunately the cat died before we could try to properly introduce them 😣, although he did seem interested in it and didn't bark. Since then he has added cats to the long list of animals to bark at!

He is by far the most challenging dog I have ever had, (I've had 5) and the only one who I have sought professional help for training with. That said he has been the most rewarding dog I have ever had, even though progress has been slow. I realised on the first day of ownership that I had bitten off more than I could chew when it took both wife and I with two leads and collars to walk him. Despite being 14 months old when we got him, he had not received any training or socialisation. Initially his previous owners kept him in the house with their Staffie, but because they didn't neuter either dog, the Staffie got pregnant and had his pups. Then the Staffie began attacking him, presumably to protect her pups, so they banished him to the garden. There he began to bark incessantly at the neighbours dogs, until the council imposed a noise abatement order, which is when we rescued him. Since then he has achieved the highest level of obedience award at his dog training school, but reserves his best non-reactive behaviour for when he is at school... 😣 That said he is very friendly with people (as the handful of fellow forum members who have met him will testify) and absolutely loves children (although he couldn't manage a while one). Only joking - he is great with the grandkids! It is such a pity that we have not been able to completely eradicate his reactiveness to other dogs. He would be close to the perfect dog if only I had succeeded.

My last 3 dogs have been rescues. First was very nervous, she thought the fishermen were going to hit her with their fishing rods so barked and growled at them as we boaters past. Second was the dog in my Avatar, best boating dog ever, would do whatever you asked. Third is my current GSD, he is the worst boat dog ever. Despite 5 years of continuous training he remains very reactive. Barks at every dog on the towpath, passing boats, fishermen, ducks, swans, pretty much anything that moves really. 😣.

Indeed, if you have to bend down to pat it, then it isn't a real dog.😁

Personally I prefer the snake and pygmy pie! 😁😂