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Neal

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Everything posted by Neal

  1. Neal
    Has he tried both? Anybody else have any advice about either the celestron or steiner?
  2. Neal
    Somebody once asked me if my 3/4 collie was an Airedale!
  3. Neal
    Thanks for the advice.
  4. Neal
    I was recently thinking of upgrading my binoculars. I currently have an old pair of summit 8 x 32 and a more recent pair of steiner safari 10 x 26. The steiners are lovely little lightweight things and the image is great in the middle of the day but (due to being 10 x 26) locating what I'm looking at can be a problem as can low light levels...but the low weight was what I bought them for. I recently found a pair of celestron granites 8 x 42 which I liked but they were c. £450. Does anybody have any experience with these or how would they compare to a steiner of similar spec? Thanks
  5. Neal
    Forgot to add in my first post (as I went off at a tangent) that I also had a 3/4 collie 1/4 greyhound while in Coniston. It was the fact that I got on so well with him compared to the previous bitch and a subsequent half cross that gave me the nudge of confidence to try a pure herding dog.
  6. Neal
    I agree with all the above who have said it depends on the ground you're working your dog on, though I'd add that your own temperament and how it gels with collies (or not as the case may be) is as important. When I bought my first lurcher it was a half bred and I was living in Coniston. When I moved back to Hampshire I continued with the half crosses for a few years until I bought a pure herding dog and now find that because of where I work them (very small fields with dense hedgerows and woodland with a lot of undergrowth) I catch more with them than I did with the half crosses. The fli
  7. Neal
    Surely the intention is the opposite to racism...it's showing that it doesn't matter who you are, their product works for all. Idiots!
  8. Neal
    Glad I'm not the only one I don't use mine for hunting but like most dogs if they see a small furry, there going after it. Bobs caught a couple bunnies in his years, and I'm still trying to retrieve them. Rusty couldn't help retrieving everything he caught...and everything the others caught too...as he was a natural retriever and Noggin's the same but Scout eats everything she catches unless I spot the catch. I've last count of the number of times she's gone missing for a few minutes (very unusual for her) and then returned with pigeon down stuck to her cheek, all sweetness and innocence.
  9. Neal
    I agree with you blackdog: some kelpies just find it hard to switch off as do some examples of other breeds. I guess I was just lucky with my first in that he had an off button, whereas my current bitch is more keen. That's why, when I booked his replacement, I found one which was linebred to the individual in his breeding who made him that way. Noggin's been even more easygoing than old Rust and my next pup (which should be born next March from a repeat mating of Noggin's cousin to an imported male) has a similar number of lines to the same dog. Only time will tell. Re your comment about
  10. Neal
    That's quite an old blog, unless he's added to it again since I last read it a few years back. Blackdog: don't sit on the fence...tell us what you really think. Personally I like a dog which is a bit of a twat...dog's should be like their owners.
  11. Neal
    I try to put a good few miles in to find work for my kelpies too but the difference is that I don't drive so, in my case, it's a hike of several hours in all directions and hope I can put something up for them. That's one benefit of working pure sheep/cattle dogs...they can keep up with me!
  12. Neal
    Almost the only rabbits I see around my way now are on roundabouts! I've probably seen less than half a dozen on my shrinking permission during the last few years and, as a result, I didn't even bother to replace my last two ferrets when they died about four years ago. Still walking/working the dogs though and I've got a pup booked for next summer...a walk's not the same without a dog to share it with. We still get the occasional squirrel or pigeon...and two holidays per year in Devon to remind them what a rabbit smells like.
  13. Neal
    It worked!
  14. Neal
    Thanks again.
  15. Neal
    That's a coincidence: I found a tree with decent sized chestnuts while walking the kelpies today and was going to have a look on bing after a quick look on here to see how best to cook them (as I wasn't sure whether to lay them on a shovel on the fire or wrap them in tin foil)...but now I know. Thanks FODR!
  16. Neal
    That's not Woolacombe is it? I took the kids to Woolacombe this summer and Oscar kept catching lizards on the cliffs above Barricane Beach. Great photo. Edited to add: Oscar's my son...not my kelpie!
  17. Neal
    After Rusty my next two kelpies were from slightly different breeding but they just didn't have his character so my current dog, and the pup I've ordered for next year, go back to the same lines as Rust.
  18. Neal
    The kelpie in my avatar. He had a wonky hip and, as a result, no top gear(s) but he had the knack of being in the right place at the right time...and even if the other dogs did make the catch he still insisted it was his and they all agreed.
  19. Neal
    I saw my first one near Lee-On-The-Solent during the late 90s but then didn't see any for several years. Last year and the year before my son and I found several in a field near me but none in the same field this year but then he spotted a single one a few days ago while we were returning from a local walk.
  20. Neal
    as the other singer left smith the one who done the dancing ?That shows how far back I was...I didn't notice one was missing! Not surprising with a mad five year old wearing flowers in her hair and dancing on my shoulders. The only negative of the night for me was when she announced, "I need a poo!" just before they were due to come on so I missed Embarrassment and The Prince. wow two songs that's a big pooh for a 5 year old You've obviously never taken a five year old to use a porta-loo on a packed festival site...then again neither had I!
  21. Neal
    as the other singer left smith the one who done the dancing ? That shows how far back I was...I didn't notice one was missing! Not surprising with a mad five year old wearing flowers in her hair and dancing on my shoulders. The only negative of the night for me was when she announced, "I need a poo!" just before they were due to come on so I missed Embarrassment and The Prince.
  22. Neal
    My lovely wife and I took our nine year old son and five year old daughter to their first gig last night. Only problem is, I'm now wondering if every other gig will pale into insignificance for them. The Nutty Boys definitely delivered again: as the t-shirt says "The Greatest Show on Earth." Thanks Suggs, Chas, Woody, Bedders, Chrissy Boy, Monsieur Barso and last but not least Lee "Kix" Thompson for a great evening's entertainment!
  23. Neal
    Thanks Sandymere. I did consider it might be environmental at one stage as the first times it flared up were in late winter so I was considering it could be from road salt or similar but her most recent bout started in June/July...or was it just a continuation of the January/February flare up? Knowing her as well as I have for the last ten years my money's on it being painful feet. I think I'll get a painkiller of some type, keep spraying the feet with gentian to help it heal in the meantime and put the comfycone on if I notice her starting to lick and see how it is in a month. Edi
  24. Neal
    Thanks for the extremely detailed reply Skycat. Sorry, I must've misled you with my hormones comment as she was spayed about eight years ago...ironically I remember reading a thread by you on here on the morning of her op and nearly cancelled it at the last moment! Combining what you've written with the advice from Noggin's breeder I think the problem is most likely to be related to some kind of pain in her feet. She had some metacam earlier this year but stopped it fairly quickly as it always makes my kelpies very loose. Can I get the painkiller you mentioned over the counter in somew
  25. Neal
    I'm hoping somebody can give me some advice. I've had an ongoing problem with the feet on my kelpie bitch. It started about eighteen months ago and basically takes the form of her licking her feet so enthusiastically between two individual toes on three particular feet that she's removed the hair between them and they're red raw. The first time it happened was during late winter 2016. I'd recently bought a bottle of Gentian Violet spray as I'd read such good things about it on here so decided to try that which started to clear it up. Both kelpies were getting more on-road walking than
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