WAMT....what annoyed me today!

JohnC6 said:
I read about this today. There are enough problems with rogue dog breeders in this country without the BBC,basically, promoting the practice. . So far, 60,000 people have signed a petition to have the series withdrawn.

www.bbc.co.uk

RSPCA 'concerned' over BBC's 'irresponsible' puppy-breeding show

It says Will My Puppies Make Me Rich? (working title) could lead to "serious dog welfare issues".
www.bbc.co.uk

RSPCA. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55243532
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Agreed about rogue dog breeders (and importers) but I think it’s a bit rich the RSPA complaining. However I do suspect the BBC may know what they are doing and would expect the “answer” to the question in the title will be “NO!” .
 
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They are changing the name of the program,

www.standard.co.uk

BBC defends new puppy show as controversial working title is scrapped

The BBC has denied that a programme which was given the working title of Will My Puppies Make Me Rich? is a "how to" guide on how to exploit animals for profit as a petition against the show reaches almost 170,000 signatures.
www.standard.co.uk www.standard.co.uk

It will be interesting to see how they handle this subject, I do know a few good breeders and they don't
make money from it, with loss of earning, food and vet's fees etc.
Mind you I can't believe how much puppy prices have increased during the pandemic, I have to wonder what will happen to these dogs once people are back working etc.
I already cringe when I see some of the awful examples of pure bred dogs, and as for the designer crosses which
seem to command even higher prices
 
JohnC6 said:
What kind of assistance dog do you have?
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Thanks John, believe it or not; the worst thing about it is the way that most people pretend you don't exist and ignore you once they see the wheelchair. :mad:

Dug is a Welsh Springer Spaniel and is absolutely amazing. He fetches the post, empties the washing machine, picks up anything I drop, pulls off my socks and jacket/jumper and fetches anything I ask him for; slippers, shoes, remote, glasses to name just a few.

Dug by Trevor James, on Flickr
 
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Sky said:
Thanks John, believe it or not; the worst thing about it is the way that most people pretend you don't exist and ignore you once they see the wheelchair. :mad:

Dug is a Welsh Springer Spaniel and is absolutely amazing. He fetches the post, empties the washing machine, picks up anything I drop, pulls off my socks and jacket/jumper and fetches anything I ask him for; slippers, shoes, remote, glasses to name just a few.

Dug by Trevor James, on Flickr
Click to expand...

What a gorgeous dog. Assistance dogs are truly amazing, I'm looking at going down this route in the near future.
 
Marc said:
What a gorgeous dog. Assistance dogs are truly amazing, I'm looking at going down this route in the near future.
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Thank Marc, I think so too.

It will change your life if you do, I would be completely lost without Dug; he is a truly wonderful 'best friend ever'. :love:

A charity trained dog will set you back around £20,000 by the time the dust settles. You can get one through several charities too, but I trained Dug myself.* Luckily, he's super intelligent and only needs to be shown a few times how to do something before he masters it.

As well as all the helpful things, he does all the usual 'dog type' tricks as well, including barking then falling down 'dead' when I pretend to shoot him. It's hilarious and always amazes people. :)

*Although there is no true legal definition of an Assistance Dog, if you wish to travel abroad by air most UK airlines will only accept charity trained animals. This is disgraceful and there are moves afoot to get things changed. However, I can't see this changing in my lifetime so if I were to travel I would go by car/train/ferry.
 
Sky said:
Thanks John, believe it or not; the worst thing about it is the way that most people pretend you don't exist and ignore you once they see the wheelchair. :mad:

Dug is a Welsh Springer Spaniel and is absolutely amazing. He fetches the post, empties the washing machine, picks up anything I drop, pulls off my socks and jacket/jumper and fetches anything I ask him for; slippers, shoes, remote, glasses to name just a few.

Dug by Trevor James, on Flickr
Click to expand...


What a beautiful image of your great Assistant dog Dug is. For me of what I have read about them and seen they are truely an amazing help to and for the owners, I wish all shops here would allow them in. As a while ago here in town a friend of a friend tried to go shopping and her dog had an Assistant harness on yet the guard on the door said NO Dogs, they went to the local paper and folk kicked up merry hell saying the attitude stunk while trying to shop. She got a we are sorry and please come back, she still won't as she felt so bad.
 
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Sky said:
Thank Marc, I think so too.

It will change your life if you do, I would be completely lost without Dug; he is a truly wonderful 'best friend ever'. :love:

A charity trained dog will set you back around £20,000 by the time the dust settles. You can get one through several charities too, but I trained Dug myself.* Luckily, he's super intelligent and only needs to be shown a few times how to do something before he masters it.

As well as all the helpful things, he does all the usual 'dog type' tricks as well, including barking then falling down 'dead' when I pretend to shoot him. It's hilarious and always amazes people. :)

*Although there is no true legal definition of an Assistance Dog, if you wish to travel abroad by air most UK airlines will only accept charity trained animals. This is disgraceful and there are moves afoot to get things changed. However, I can't see this changing in my lifetime so if I were to travel I would go by car/train/ferry.
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From what I've heard, you can train a dog yourself and can then get them affiliated. Don't know whether that would satisfy the airlines though as they can be a law unto themselves. I've heard several horror stories of them damaging wheelchairs but having a policy of paying out no more than £1k in compensation. As my chair cost £3k, I'me very reluctant to take that risk.
 
I've not seen the BBC episodes but as an aside I was amazed recently in conversation with the painter and decorator who recently worked in the house, that he had just paid £3,000 for a puppy! (His painting price was competitive)
 
Marc said:
From what I've heard, you can train a dog yourself and can then get them affiliated. Don't know whether that would satisfy the airlines though as they can be a law unto themselves. I've heard several horror stories of them damaging wheelchairs but having a policy of paying out no more than £1k in compensation. As my chair cost £3k, I'me very reluctant to take that risk.
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You can if you go through these people; https://dogaid.org.uk/ although when I looked into it six years ago they were not accepting new 'clients'.

The airlines are renowned for mis-treating us raspberries as I'm sure you're aware. I know of two people that have had their wheelchairs trashed by baggage handling staff and had their holiday ruined as a result of it. YouTube has a couple of videos showing just how 'carefully' they treat people's chairs.

It's about time they caught up with the rest of the world by having separate wheelchair points like they do on any other passenger carrying vehicle. It's a bloody disgrace.

I use an electric chair that cost £11,000 when new (I bought it used), so there is no way I'd ever fly with it. :eek:
 
Sky said:
You can if you go through these people; https://dogaid.org.uk/ although when I looked into it six years ago they were not accepting new 'clients'.

The airlines are renowned for mis-treating us raspberries as I'm sure you're aware. I know of two people that have had their wheelchairs trashed by baggage handling staff and had their holiday ruined as a result of it. YouTube has a couple of videos showing just how 'carefully' they treat people's chairs.

It's about time they caught up with the rest of the world by having separate wheelchair points like they do on any other passenger carrying vehicle. It's a bloody disgrace.

I use an electric chair that cost £11,000 when new (I bought it used), so there is no way I'd ever fly with it. :eek:
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TBH, I'm not a fan of flying so this and their attitude towards assistance dogs just give me more excuses to avoid it.
 
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Marc said:
Having recently forked out for a new car, oven and hob, the dishwasher has packed up! :rolleyes:
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Engineer came this morning and fitted a new heating element and switch assembly. No charge as we have cover although I worked out that we've paid £150 in monthly payments on a dishwasher that originally cost £300! No idea how much today's repair would've cost if we didn't have the cover but suspect we may have ending up buying a new machine instead which would've been galling given that the current one is only 3 years old.
 
JohnC6 said:
I read about this today. There are enough problems with rogue dog breeders in this country without the BBC,basically, promoting the practice. . So far, 60,000 people have signed a petition to have the series withdrawn.

www.bbc.co.uk

RSPCA 'concerned' over BBC's 'irresponsible' puppy-breeding show

It says Will My Puppies Make Me Rich? (working title) could lead to "serious dog welfare issues".
www.bbc.co.uk

RSPCA. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55243532
Click to expand...

At least they have changed the title now but I am amazed there wasn't anyone at the BBC who thought the original gave the wrong impression.

There are good breeders (though given the number of dogs in rescue cemtres, I wonder if the breeding of dogs be very heavily reduced by law) but given the increase in market for designer dogs, I think many are jumping on the band wagon of making a quick buck.

Unfortunately as said elsewhere the trade in very expensive pups is huge and seems to have expanded during the various restrictions of COVID19. I tried to persuade a friend not to spend shed loads and drive half way across the country to get a cockapoo pup, and look at a rescue centre instead, but without success.

Dave
 
Marc said:
Engineer came this morning and fitted a new heating element and switch assembly. No charge as we have cover although I worked out that we've paid £150 in monthly payments on a dishwasher that originally cost £300! No idea how much today's repair would've cost if we didn't have the cover but suspect we may have ending up buying a new machine instead which would've been galling given that the current one is only 3 years old.
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Our last purchase was a fridge freezer from AoL, I took out the extended warranty which is through D&G, costs £5.95 a month and turns out it covers all our "white goods".
Our washing machine broke down earlier this year, ended up with a new drum, a motherboard and a new door seal. I am sure it would have been cheaper just to replace the whole machine, would certainly have been quicker, plus the repairman was a right miserable git.
 
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Tringa said:
At least they have changed the title now but I am amazed there wasn't anyone at the BBC who thought the original gave the wrong impression.
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It was only the working title which often bears no relation to the final title and really is ‘private’ information :(. Suspect storm in teacup!
 
Sky said:
Dug is a Welsh Springer Spaniel and is absolutely amazing. He fetches the post, empties the washing machine, picks up anything I drop, pulls off my socks and jacket/jumper and fetches anything I ask him for; slippers, shoes, remote, glasses to name just a few.
Click to expand...
Amazing indeed! a cracking looking dog also (y)

Peter123 said:
recently in conversation with the painter and decorator who recently worked in the house, that he had just paid £3,000 for a puppy!
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I don't doubt it, a guy at work, breeds working Labs, as a "hobby" the last litter went for 3K a pop pup
and another litter is well on its way.
Crazy prices :(
 
Sky said:
Thanks John, believe it or not; the worst thing about it is the way that most people pretend you don't exist and ignore you once they see the wheelchair. :mad:

Dug is a Welsh Springer Spaniel and is absolutely amazing. He fetches the post, empties the washing machine, picks up anything I drop, pulls off my socks and jacket/jumper and fetches anything I ask him for; slippers, shoes, remote, glasses to name just a few.


Dug by Trevor James, on Flickr
Click to expand...


What a lovely dog. My wife has fallen in love with him..lol. Looks like a few other have too re the ‘likes’
 
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JohnC6 said:
What a lovely dog. My wife has fallen in love with him..lol. Looks like a few other have too re the ‘likes’
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Thanks, I think so too, but then I'm biased.

I've always said he's too pretty for a boy and people always seem to agree with me. :)
 
Sky said:
Thanks, I think so too, but then I'm biased.

I've always said he's too pretty for a boy and people always seem to agree with me. :)
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Well I will say he's a handsome looking dog. :)
Don't let him hear you say he is pretty, your socks could be coming off when you least expect it or want it. :)
 
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I've had the privilege of meeting Dug. He really is as lovely as he looks. Totally focused on Trevor and a real credit to him. A friend of mine has a fully qualified search dog (and has just started training the next generation) and I know how much training goes into a good working dog, and how much the dogs enjoy it. It's just a great game to them.
 
Fuji Dave said:
As a while ago here in town a friend of a friend tried to go shopping and her dog had an Assistant harness on yet the guard on the door said NO Dogs, they went to the local paper and folk kicked up merry hell saying the attitude stunk while trying to shop. She got a we are sorry and please come back, she still won't as she felt so bad.
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I'm not surprised she won't go back - I probably wouldn't either. However, in those circumstances I would have told the guard to politely to go forth and multiply. If he didn't like, I would suggest he call the police - they would have put him in his place and possibly pressed charges. An Assistance or Guide Dog can go 'almost' anywhere and the law is quite clear on this - https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/law/

I've only ever allowed someone to turn me away once and that was at a local Indian restaurant. Their argument was that they were Muslims and it was against their religion to have dogs on the premises. I chose to leave because I didn't want to cause a 'racism' incident. :mad:
 
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Sky said:
I've only ever allowed someone to turn me away once and that was at a local Indian restaurant. Their argument was that they were Muslims and it was against their religion to have dogs on the premises. I chose to leave because I didn't want to cause a 'racism' incident. :mad:
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This happened to friend some years ago, the restaurants owners were pretty rude about, we got our own back since they were to be part of a party already in the premises, 10 of us got up and left in solidarity and they were told none would ever return, they lost several regular customers that night and some unwanted publicity in the local paper.
 
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WRFMOT?

F*****g Photobox.

Ordered some A4 and A3 calendars on Nov 27th which were made and delivered surprisingly efficiently on 3rd Dec, and even more amazingly they were perfectly printed unlike the last 3 years where the quality meant they had to be reprinted. (y)

Today I went to order another 9 A4s as they had an extra 10% off only to find that they have changed the studio to something totally different and I can't access any of my creations. :banghead:

F***wits!!!!! :runaway:
 
Royal Mail !!

I've been waiting for a wee package from a friend in Moscow. It was sitting in Langley for some considerable time [ like 2 weeks] At last yesterday it had got to my local delivery office - hooray !

Today I checked the box below my letter box in the house - still nothng

The RM tracking Site says they attempted 2 deliveries today at 07.15 !! States there was no-one in !!

No attempt to ring the door bell and no card left !! [ was actually up and drinking my breakfast coffee at 7am ]

Beside my door bell is a large notice stating that all deliveries should be made to my back door [ I'm a corner house ]

So I've now added another to my vary large letterbox asking RM to deliver to my back door.

To say I'm not a happy bunny is putting it mildly as without a nondelivery card with a ref. number I can't go and chase it up at the Delivery Office .
 
camerassassin said:
Royal Mail !!

I've been waiting for a wee package from a friend in Moscow. It was sitting in Langley for some considerable time [ like 2 weeks] At last yesterday it had got to my local delivery office - hooray !

Today I checked the box below my letter box in the house - still nothng

The RM tracking Site says they attempted 2 deliveries today at 07.15 !! States there was no-one in !!

No attempt to ring the door bell and no card left !! [ was actually up and drinking my breakfast coffee at 7am ]

Beside my door bell is a large notice stating that all deliveries should be made to my back door [ I'm a corner house ]

So I've now added another to my vary large letterbox asking RM to deliver to my back door.

To say I'm not a happy bunny is putting it mildly as without a nondelivery card with a ref. number I can't go and chase it up at the Delivery Office .
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The Delivery Office obviously must know which round you were on and who did it on a particular day. Obvious possible explanation is they tried to deliver to the wrong house :(
 
sphexx said:
Obvious possible explanation is they tried to deliver to the wrong house :(
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There's always the chance that RM 'Posties' have cottoned on to what Hermes and Yodel courier drivers do; say they attempted delivery, but came nowhere near the house as they were too busy skiving off somewhere. :banghead:
 
My son lives in a house in the suburbs of a medium sized town (80,000 residents) at the entrance to a large cul-de-sac (28 houses) & his home office has a clear view of traffic entering & leaving his street. He says there are days when RM do not make any deliveries at all in their street, sometimes up to 3 days between deliveries & then he gets a 'batch' of stuff together.

We live a few miles away and have noticed a similar pattern. Items posted 1st class never arrive the day after they were posted.
 
We have a great postie - he has even come back later that afternoon as he saw us return home to make a delivery.
 
Update

just before 1pm a Royal Mail van drew up on my street - near the corner [ my house is on the corner]

Shortly after there was a ring on my back door bell - there stood a postie with a bulging bag and a large handful in his hand. He handed me a package that would have gone through my letterbox and a couple of other letters as well - then he said he'd sign for the package - the one I'd been expecting :)

I can now send out some Christmas cards - these were in the package and had been made by my Moscow friend - she's an accomplished artist :)
 
cambsno said:
We have a great postie - he has even come back later that afternoon as he saw us return home to make a delivery.
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Sometimes they may have a new person, particularly this time of year, ans some rounds just have tricky addresses. I get pretty good service from RM when you consider the numbering on either side of me runs like this:
3, 5*, 5a*, 5b*, 7*, 7a*, 1**, 7b, 7c, 1***, 2***, 9, 9a, 9b
*No entrance on on my road.
**A different road.
***From the original entrance of 9 but but visible from road.

Some of the houses have more than one “address” in RM & other databases. Mine appears, sometimes in the same database, in 4 different versions and sometimes because the address has been taken over the phone somewhere the letters get written on the mail as words, eg Aye, Bee, Sea and so on. Two have “Cottage” in their house name and one has a nearby road name in its name!

It’s not surprising if a new person gets it wrong :(.
 
We get a delivery on alternate days, sort of, but nothing at the weekends, yet parcels come out with more regularity, speaking to my regular postie he cites, shortage of staff despite trying to recruit seasonal staff, no doubling up in vans so delivery times increased meaning less gets done a working day, and of course, increased mail in the festive season. No point blaming the Indians, it’s the chiefs that need to get their act together.
 
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Two recent faulty items one ebay and one from the net.
both are ignoring my emails for a refund or a replacement.
The ebay one is in the hands of ebay.
The second one ( and the first) I paid paypal, and the business no longer accepts Pay Pal ..
As that's tied to my CC I guess either them or a CC Judgement.
Combined they are about 50 quid, so not a huge amount but still bloody annoying!
 
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cambsno said:
We have a great postie - he has even come back later that afternoon as he saw us return home to make a delivery.
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Our postwoman is as good as gold, she doesn't appear to miss any deliveries in our road. Yet neighbouring roads are always complaining about not getting post for 2 or 3 days, then get a load in one hit.
 
Sky said:
Thank Marc, I think so too.

It will change your life if you do, I would be completely lost without Dug; he is a truly wonderful 'best friend ever'. :love:

A charity trained dog will set you back around £20,000 by the time the dust settles. You can get one through several charities too, but I trained Dug myself.* Luckily, he's super intelligent and only needs to be shown a few times how to do something before he masters it.

As well as all the helpful things, he does all the usual 'dog type' tricks as well, including barking then falling down 'dead' when I pretend to shoot him. It's hilarious and always amazes people. :)

*Although there is no true legal definition of an Assistance Dog, if you wish to travel abroad by air most UK airlines will only accept charity trained animals. This is disgraceful and there are moves afoot to get things changed. However, I can't see this changing in my lifetime so if I were to travel I would go by car/train/ferry.
Click to expand...

Trevor..I didn’t realise that those who have assistance dogs paid anything for them let alone £20,000. I’ve just asked my wife if she knew that and she also thought they were free to users. I think most people do .
 
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Sky said:
I'm not surprised she won't go back - I probably wouldn't either. However, in those circumstances I would have told the guard to politely to go forth and multiply. If he didn't like, I would suggest he call the police - they would have put him in his place and possibly pressed charges. An Assistance or Guide Dog can go 'almost' anywhere and the law is quite clear on this - https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/law/

I've only ever allowed someone to turn me away once and that was at a local Indian restaurant. Their argument was that they were Muslims and it was against their religion to have dogs on the premises. I chose to leave because I didn't want to cause a 'racism' incident. :mad:
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First off,Trevor, it’s an issue of religion not race on the basis that it’s Islam that prohibits contact with dogs and when that happens they need to have the history of their religion pointed out to them.

qz.com

The moment in history when Muslims began to see dogs as dirty, impure, and evil

The first Muslims had so many dogs.
qz.com qz.com

An edict from the MCB.. (Muslim Council of Britain). Having assistance dogs in premises run by Muslims is not haram.

Haram is anything that contravenes Islamic law. The law that applies to anyone is the law of the country he or she resides in or visits not that of their religion. The only places where Islamic law should prevail is in Islamic countries.

Article dated as far back as 2007. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/guide-dogs-not-haram-rules-1137171

However this article is dated February last year and relates to Muslim drivers of public bus services refusing to allow assistance dogs on board. . It’s illegal to do this. Discrimination laws. Equality Act 2010.

As the article states the MCB suggests that common sense should prevail. NO..not common sense but law. Anyway, an oxymoron in these circumstances. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/187711/Muslim-bus-drivers-ban-on-guide-dogs

If I was in a position to do so on a Council I’d do what Trading Standards do re the illegal sale of cigarettes, alcohol and fireworks to under 18 year olds and carry out test purchases. I’d set up tests involving assistance dogs and their users with taxis and restaurants.
 
sphexx said:
The Delivery Office obviously must know which round you were on and who did it on a particular day. Obvious possible explanation is they tried to deliver to the wrong house :(
Click to expand...

A mystery...yesterday my wife and I were out for a long walk which took us to a small village. We walked along a narrow pathway which at the village end went alongside a low church wall. On the wall was a Christmas card..RM franked, a Salvation Army charity leaflet and a ‘You were not at home’ delivery card. We put the address into my wife’s iPhone and got a street map. The house was at the other end of the village. We pushed them through the letterbox. Maybe they fell out of the postie’s bag.
 
Sky said:
I've only ever allowed someone to turn me away once and that was at a local Indian restaurant. Their argument was that they were Muslims and it was against their religion to have dogs on the premises. I chose to leave because I didn't want to cause a 'racism' incident. :mad:
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2017 report of a 2016 incident.

Abandi Kassim turned away Charles Bloch, 22, and his dog in Leicester in July 2016. He had booked the minicab for himself and his assistance dog, Carlo, and his girlfriend filmed Kassim saying he would not take them with the dog because of his religion. Mr Bloch, who is registered blind, explained the law but Kassim drove away.

Kassim, 44, of Fountains Avenue, Leicester, pleaded guilty to refusing to convey a guide dog, an offence under the Equality Act 2010, and was fined £340 plus £200 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

There have been several other cases like this and in every case the taxi drivers were fined, some more heavily than in the one above.
 
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If I was on a bus and the driver* refused to convey a person and their assistance dog I reckon I would I would be causing a rammy and the bus might well be delayed.
*Any creed, colour or religion driver.
 
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