People are the problem.

Its all over the news about the poor girl thats been killed by a pack of dogs, not far from where I live. As usual when something like this happens, the media have a field day in naming these breeds of dogs and  branding them DANGEROUS. I'm a dog lover, and in my experience encountered a wide range of breeds from when  I've worked in vets/kennels/dog grooming and can safely say there is no such thing as a 'dangerous breed'. There is such thing, however as a dangerous human.

The dogs in question are the breeds that always get the blame and therefore encourage these horrible people to aquire one. The breeds that I find are discriminated against most are staffys, bull mastiffs, rotweilers, dog du bordeuxs, pitbulls, dobermans and german shepards. I have been bitten numerous times throughout my years working in the animal industry, and not once have I been bitten by one of these breeds. I have found that its been mostly smaller dogs that are more likely to snap, which I suppose is better as they are easier to handle. Large dogs with strength and willpower like the breeds above can be fatal if they decide to attack you, which is why is important they dont get into the wrong hands. Unfortuanlty, this seems to be what happened in this young girls case.

 

There is not enough education on dog breeds, and I think its too easy for a dog to end up in the wrong hands. As an example, I would never activly seek to own a dog du bordeux. This isnt because I dont like the breed, its simply due to the fact I know I would not be capable in training and looking after a dog so big and so strong willed. Dont get me wrong, I know alot about dogs and like a challenge when it comes to training and what not, but getting myself a dog that big would be unfair to the dog as he would require my undivided attention and I just wouldnt be strong enough to handle one. Whereas, there are people who see a large dog like this and immediatly jump at the chance to own one because it will make them look 'tough' and 'hard'. They will not research the breed or its requirements, nor divide a significant amount of time to training the dog to be wellbehaved- they just love the way it look swaggering down the road with a large dog thinking they are 'untouchable'. These kinds of people I despise. They also encourage aggressive behaviour, willing the dog to growl at visitors, and enjoying using them as a 'gaurd dog'. Its sad because these dogs will hardly ever end up having a happy ending. The owners will either bored looking after them and try to rehome, but the chances of a dog with issues getting a new home are slim to none. On the other hand, the dog may attack someone and this would probably result in the dog being put down. It annoys me because its so avoidable, I know its hard to check out everybody who wants to buy a dog but the guidelines need to be stricter to ensure these dogs dont get into the wrong hands. These 'status' breeds make absolutly great pets when brought up in the correct, loving home and trained by someone who has done their research and is ready to commit to the dog. I know this first hand as my aunty has a staffy cross and he is the most softest, gentle dog in the world. He loves people, great with other dogs and has never shown any sign of agression. This is because he has been brought up in the right enviroment and its just proof that people need to think carefully before they get a dog on a whim, as in the end it really is the dog that suffers.

 

Its such a shame what happened to that girl, though we dont know the facts, apprently the owner was notoriously known for owning unruly dogs. I really hope something will be done about this, and that the media go about it in the correct way. Instead of branding 'dangerous' dogs and calling for laws to be made to ban breeds, we should be banning dangerous people from owning any breed of dog as this really is where the problem starts.

Friends are the family we choose :)

Going to do something different with this post and start with a quote and that is;

Blood is thicker than water. It’s quite a common saying, meaning basically that the relationship between you and your family is stronger than any relationship you have with your friends. If your in a predicament and don’t know whether to side with what your family is saying or a friend, this saying encourages you to pick family over them every time because your ‘blood related’. I have to say I could not disagree more with it.

I don’t know what inspired me to write about this, it just popped into my head the other day and I got thinking about it. Before you go thinking I have an awful family or that I have issues with them, I don’t. Just need to clarify that one. But I suppose I’m not as close with my family as other people are, everybody is different though.

Literally blood is thicker than water, but if I’m being honest I have relatives that don’t know half as much about me as my friends do so therefore I’m just not one of them people who can put family first all the time. That may make me sound like a terrible person, if it does sorry but it’s the truth. Its not that I like my family any less, but my friends are also just as important to me.

 

First off let me just say that I have amazing friends, I really really do. Im not just being biast either, because I know the kind of friendships I have don’t come around often, and everyday I thank my lucky stars I have them. Wow, this might be a cheese fest- so sorry haha! A friend to me is someone who you can be completely 100 percent yourself infront of, someone who can make you smile on the shittiest of days, someone who can make you literally sore for laughing and well, you get the idea. The things I’ve got up to with friends have been some of my best memories, and it makes me sad to think of anyone who doesn’t have friends because I would literally not know what to do without mine.

In the past, Ive had some particularly difficult problems, some of which are still with me today and I never told any of my family about it. I think I knew they wouldn’t really understand and would look at me differently so to this day they don’t know what went on. However, my friends were there from day 1 and the amount of support I got from them still amazes me today. They knew the ins and outs and they didn’t run a mile when Im sure I must have been pretty difficult to be around. They were always there at the end of the phone, coming up to see me, making sure I wasn’t on my own and most importantly, helping me to forget. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them, Im positive of that.

I can count on 10 fingers the friends I have that I consider good friends, always have a laugh with, can talk about anything with and love to spend time with. I can count on 5 the friends that have been there when it really mattered, have such great friendships with and I love to bits. I can count on just one finger the friend that I completely trust with anything, who I would be just lost without and is the bestest and most rare friendship I have ever been in. I’d say we were like sisters, but I've never had a sister and I’d be tempted to say we were even closer than that!

So you may be able to see why I cannot rank friends below family, as they all make me smile on a daily basis, whether it be from a random, funny, inside joke text or almost getting run over whilst running to find a toilet with me haha (yes that has happened). Some have gone completly out of their way to do something things for me so I always try and do the same back. I can be incredibly defensive over them too because if you hurt them, you annoy me and I'll come after you and go all liamneesonintaken on your ass! haha! So, to conclude my little post about friendship I’ll leave you with another quote, one of which I prefer.

Blood is thicker than water, but without water you can’t survive.

 

 

Not a normal saturday night

So I havnt really mentioned something thats pretty big in my life yet in my blog, and its about time I did. That thing is my dog George, and well, dogs in general.

From as young as I can remember I've been obsessed with dogs, I got my first one at 16 and he was a springer called Bruce. The best dog I could have ever had, sadly he died last year, aged just 6. I will definalty do a seperate post about him though, as he was so special :)

Now, I have a 7 month old field spaniel called George, who in no way replaces Bruce, but makes me so happy its untrue. Like right now for instance, he has his paws on my knee looking up at me and wagging his tail away wanting cuddles. I know Im biast, but he is so cute I cant handle it sometimes! haha.

My best freind, Laura has been after a dog for a while now and she finally managed to persuade her parents to let her have one. He is one of the most cutest puppies I have ever seen! She brought him round for the first time on saturday night, hes a yellow lab and just looks like the andrex puppy, he's called Duke. I was abit pensive initially about how they would get on together, but I needent have worried. They got on great, George loved having a little playmate. I can see them being best of friends as they grow up. Duke is a little character not shy unlike George, who is scared of new things. They were back and forth playing for about an hour, tiring each other out and me and Laura!

It was strange because our usual saturday nights involve drinking and clubbing and this one was very different. Chasing round after two puppies then having a cup of tea watching crufts. But it was a nice change and I hope we can do it again soon :)