BRASWI

[Pérou Flaquettes]

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[Pérou Flaquettes]

Ah fucking hell mate I really feel for you and hope your lab is going to be okay. Best wishes to you all.

So sorry to hear that PF.

Thanks to both of you. I wish the vet hadn't called us tonight TBH, I wonder if she was trying to tell us sthg, I wonder if she knows sthg, maybe she wanted to mentally prime us so we brace ourselves for some terrible news tomorrow or later this week, I don't know, my mind's all over the place. We (my wife and I) both absolutely love dogs, she's only 22 months but I go everywhere with her, the hills, pubs, Cragside, camping, even small art exhibitions in the countryside! People always talk to you and are so friendly when you're with a dog, it's uncanny. This is not the place of course so I'm going to leave it at that, but this is her below, God, I really hope she'll be pull through.


(at Gibside)


(when she was ~4 months old)

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

She looks lovely. Very sorry to hear what you're going through PF.

As for the match, Brazil were robbed by poor decisions on the big issues. I hate it when teams profit from illegal shoving like that. I really hope Switzerland come a cropper in their next games, ideally in some sort of karmic symmetry with tonight's aberration.

[Ray de Galles]

Good luck PF, hope it’s better news than you fear and I’ll be thinking of you all. I’ve spent most of the weekend right next to our 19 month old cocker spaniel Amber (who is my first dog since I was 12) and I know exactly what you mean about them opening up your world so much.

Sorry to ask but I can’t work out quite what your normal screen name is?!

[Ray de Galles]

I was out for my Father’s Day meal with the family this evening so did a Likely Lads and avoided the result until I could see the MOTD highlights (which is a fuck sight harder to achieve than it used to be - I do it a lot for televised speedway with no problem).

Anyway, it was alright.

[Satchmo Distel]

Oh, Fox have just given us a 14 second preview of England.

You have to be ruthless and switch on only 60 seconds before kick off and switch off when the HT and FT whistles blow.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's too early to say Brazil (or any other stuttering giant) cannot win it but this is looking like the side of 2010-14 rather than the world-beaters who stormed the qualifiers.

Of the teams we've seen so far, Portugal and Spain were the least flawed. At least they had pace and a cutting edge lacking from Bra-Fra-Ger-Arg.

[Sam]

I would put Iceland right up there among 'least flawed', although I realise of course that you're talking about the title contenders. As OTF Chess's Alex (who watched the Iceland game and Spain v Portugal with me) put it, Iceland basically have the same tactical setup as Portugal, they just don't have a forward who's capable of doing what Ronaldo did in that game. They got around the latter issue by keeping Argentina to one goal, even if it did take a saved penalty and a probably slightly lucky call to not award a second.

Anyway, since the game in this thread was the one that confirmed it, a stat I did the legwork for during the second half when it looked like it could be a realistic possibility: 2018 is the first time since 1934 (when holders Uruguay declined the chance to defend their title) that none of the top four from the previous tournament have managed to win their opening game. Argentina, Yugoslavia and the USA all lost their first round matches in Italy '34; Brazil and Argentina have been held, Germany defeated and the Netherlands absent this time round.

Good luck PF, hope it’s better news than you fear and I’ll be thinking of you all. I’ve spent most of the weekend right next to our 19 month old cocker spaniel Amber (who is my first dog since I was 12) and I know exactly what you mean about them opening up your world so much.

Sorry to ask but I can’t work out quite what your normal screen name is?!

I think it's Moonlight Shadow, but I could be wrong. And whoever you are, PF, I hope the dog pulls through. She looks absolutely adorable.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Not, not me. Good luck to that poor dog.

[Sam]

Ah no hang on, PF is one of our French contingent isn't he? And you're Swiss aren't you, Ms? I am confused.

[SouthdownRebel]

I don't know who half the board are any more. We had a cocker spaniel named Amber when I was in my teens, so I feel some camaraderie with Бога Нет, whoever you are. Best wishes to PF, hope today brings better news.

[ad hoc]

Бога Нет is Ray
PF is Kev7

Best wishes Kev/PF

[N est à?]

Boga Nyet means No God?

[Levin]

Yep, or more properly "there is no god". It's a great poster isn't it?



Edit: Oops. that was a bit big. Lets try this.

[Ray de Galles]

Yeah, I love it - particularly because I love Gagarin and the Soviet cosmonaut programme as well as the message of the poster. Also, it’s a beautiful piece of art.

I have a print of it framed in my office at home so when I was trying to think of a suitable tournament moniker (and avatar) it was the obvious choice.

[Jah Womble]

I was out for my Father’s Day meal with the family this evening so did a Likely Lads and avoided the result until I could see the MOTD highlights (which is a fuck sight harder to achieve than it used to be...

Unless, I stick the headphones in, wear a blindfold and lock myself in the bathroom all evening*, I now find that task next to impossible.

(*In which case, I might as well just watch the bloody match.)

[Ray de Galles]

It was probably only easily achievable being out in a restaurant and then watching 'Poldark', it also meant I had a healthy four/five hours off my phone/ipad.

[ursus arctos]

You should add a Gagarin Cup ice hockey match to your sport bucket list.

It’s the KHL equivalent of the Stanley Cup.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

Went to the animal hospital tonight, had talked to them at lunchtime but wanted to see how our little fighter was doing. She’s still very poorly but at least she wagged her tail a bit when she saw me, the vet there told me she was little brighter and slightly more responsive than on Saturday where she was inert by the time she was seen by a vet at the animal hospital at 6.30 pm.

They’re keeping her for at least another 2 nights, they’ve repeated blood tests and her inordinately low white blood cell counts worry them, like I said last night, the main vet (a lovely Australian lady) had never come across such a low figure, 0.09 in the second batch of blood tests whereas the normal range is 2.5 to 11 with 0.50 the absolute threshold before serious clinical involvement, it’s called neutropenia apparently. They don’t know why it’s so low, could be a number of causes: genetic predisposition, strong strain of infection, cancer etc. but the bottom line is that more testing is needed, but sometimes they never find out what’s wrong. They’re unhappy with the shape of the white cells as well, so they will carry out further investigations. Hope to fucking God it’s not the nasty big C.

I have a feeling it’s got to do with that dreadful parvovirus, she's fully vaccinated but strong strains of that shit can kill any dog. I know an Irish Wolfhound who got parvo and died within days of being hospitalised, and like our dog, he used to eat other dogs’ poos, coprophagia it’s called. So , we're going to buy one of those basket muzzles to stop her from eating faeces.

The hospital sent more poo & blood samples today to an external lab for further testing (spare a thought for these lab people, I hope their job is more varied than analysing poos all day). It’s a quick process so we should have the results by tomorrow afternoon. She’s still on an intravenous drip, so that they can inject antibiotics and various nutrients, vitamins etc. directly through her bloodstream as she’s not eating, as if medication went through her tummy of course it would be ineffective as she is still vomiting a lot and still has diarrhoea.

I quite liked our vet’s practice "interpretation fee" of £30 on the first bill we were given at our normal vets’ surgery on Saturday (we had to pay that £300 bill there an then – will get reimbursed minus the £90 excess – and the hospital will send their much larger bill directly to our pets’ insurance). That "interpretation fee" is a new one to me. She is an excellent vet so I naturally assumed that it meant that she spoke to our Labrador in doggese for, say, 30 minutes and was able to get ask her how she felt etc. Nope, it just means that she inspected her stools… (we brought with us some liquidy poo she had done in the morning). Oh well, we know that this particular practice charges like a wounded rhino but they are excellent, professional, pleasant, they keep in touch etc. so we stay with them. A good vet is like a good solicitor or a good garage, they’re worth their weight in gold even if they overcharge. The previous vets’ practice we were with charged even more (years ago with our previous dog, they charged us £75 for a superficial scab treatment and a few drops, the consultation lasted 10 mns) and were very average to say the least, and had a big turnover of vets which is never a good sign.

As an aside, I've seen and talked to 4 vets since Saturday, 2 of them foreign, Romanian and Australian. Good luck in Brexitania in the veterinary sector for training and recruiting enough people, the country is going to suddenly need thousands of new vets over the next years post Brexit as I take it the new people have stopped coming. Another area that will presumably beg for yet another "Brexit exemption". I just hope that these Tory vandals don’t take corners and fast-track/fast-train vets in the post-Brexit panic and the country ends up with substandard vets. I can just imagine the Tories using the post-Brexit period to deregulate and debase the profession like they’ve done with teaching and many others I’m sure. It will be quite interesting at any rate to see how the Tories manage to keep their "net migration in the tens of thousands" pledge, good luck with that.

https://www.bva.co.uk/news-campaigns...t-and-eu-vets/

The UK veterinary profession is made up of over 26,000 veterinary surgeons and over 11,000 veterinary nurses, working to improve the health and welfare of animals, to monitor and control the spread of diseases, and to assure the safety of the food we eat. Each year around 50% of veterinary surgeons registering to practise in the UK are from overseas, with the vast majority coming from the EU.

95% in the abattoirs and hygiene sector…

EU veterinary surgeons make a particularly strong contribution to public health critical roles such as working in the Government Veterinary Services. In the meat hygiene sector some estimates suggest 95% of veterinary surgeons graduated overseas. Consequently, Brexit and accompanying changes to the mutual recognition system or immigration restrictions could have a profound impact upon the veterinary workforce.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Good luck PF, hope it’s better news than you fear and I’ll be thinking of you all. I’ve spent most of the weekend right next to our 19 month old cocker spaniel Amber (who is my first dog since I was 12)

Sorry to ask but I can’t work out quite what your normal screen name is?!

Thanks, that's kind of you. I'm Kev7 in real OFT life... Hmm, sorry, I don't mean to be prying but who are you?!!! I love Spaniels, we're thinking of getting one in a few years' time, they're so energetic, they keep you on your toes, I love it, I love to be active with dogs, I need it and they need it.

and I know exactly what you mean about them opening up your world so much.

Quite so, that’s also why I love having a dog too. You do meet some lovely and knowledgeable people. I’m not very knowledgeable on dogs myself, I’ve had 3 dogs in my life but there's so much to know that I’ve barely scratched the surface, so it's great to listen to more experienced dog owners than ourselves and share experiences and tips. I know, you can do that on forums but I prefer to do that in dog-friendly pubs.

Talking to people, you also find out who the real dog breeders are vs "the puppy farmers", it’s a big money business so quite a few con artists about, you have to be careful, these people even fake Kennel Club paperwork and far worse. I know one such "breeder" in Tyneside who is passionate about dogs… on the phone, but then you find out that he constantly has 3 or 4 litters on the go sometimes in his average-sized house (you can just imagine how quickly viruses would spread, not sure his puppies are properly vaccinated either, it's not cheap so they take huge corners) and the bastard sells his bitches when they hit 6. How on earth can you say you’re a dog lover and sell your own dogs after putting them on the scrapheap, it’s so utterly vile. What pisses me off is that he is very successful. With puppy pugs fetching up to £1,500 and puppy Labs up to a grand, it's money for old rope for those puppy farmers. Met a woman the other day at the vets in the waiting room, about 2 months ago, who was bringing a tiny Shar-Pei puppy, bought from (I suspect) one of those puppy farms, when she told me where she bought him, I just knew he came from a puppy farm. The poor thing was dying basically, some virus or other. She'd paid £800 for him, which I believe is actually below the market price, so she probably thought it was a bargain and got taken in.

I love dog shows, the stalls, talking to dog specialists, breeders, people in the business etc., and also the agility course demos and competitions. Ours is so incredibly agile, she’s like a monkey really, superb in the air (extremely powerful and lean), if she jumps for a bouncy ball on the beach or in the garden she’s been known to do near somersaults but she totally lacks discipline! We entered her for fun in the pre-selections in a big dog show in the North East last year but she wasn’t picked, the handler and myself had trouble guiding her through the course, lots of energy and incredibly agility but a total livewire, all over the place, she lacks focus. Not sure she is that bright too. Very willing, biddable etc. but probably the not the sharpest crayon in the pencil-case. She does very daft things, like chasing butterflies, birds or ducks and ending up in disgusting gooey ponds.

One of my neighbours takes her Golden retriever to schools once a week (part of the Dogs Helping Kids charity scheme, or Dogs For Good, can’t remember which, this kind of thing), ordinary primary schools and special/non-mainstreamed schools (kids with severe learning difficulty or PRUs, Pupil Referral Units with EBD kids, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties). Once ours has calmed down a bit, I’ll try that too, we’re working on it but it could take years.

[Ray de Galles]

I identify with all of that. Both the positive stuff about the impact of dogs in general and the negative stuff about puppy farms. I’ve become so much more aware of and sensitive towards the mistreatment of dogs in the year and a half we’ve had Amber and find it heartbreaking.

Good to hear there is some improvement in your girl, I hope that continues and they work out and can treat whatever she has.

I’m Ray de Galles/Harry Truscott, btw.

[Satchmo Distel]

Best wishes, Kev. Pets are family and we love them unconditionally. It's one of our best human attributes that we bond with them.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Thanks you two. Phoned the animal hospital today and the veterinary nurse (we couldn't talk to the vets, too busy, it's so busy in there) was a little vague but she said that she was more responsive, still lethargic but, and that's a bit improvement, she's started to eat (still on a drip, for other reasons).

Thank God the 4th batch of blood results looking at the white blood cell count are much more positive, counts nearly within normal range and shape of cells apparently OK we were told, no mention of cancer or bone marrow cancer or any shit like that. They're still awaiting poo sample results from another lab but she should be back with us tomorrow PM or Thursday. Fuck, the little devil has given us such a fright... I'm over the moon she seems to be out of the woods, 22 months old is no age to die or , you accept it when your dog is 12+, it's awful but it's nature, but not when your boy or girl is hardly out of puppyhood.

[Pérou Flaquettes]

Thanks bix.

We’ve finally got her back ths evening, not her normal self yet but we’re absolutely delighted. Fuck, she gave us such a fright. White blood cell counts are back to normal, so that's great.

Hospital people and various analyses couldn’t ascertain the cause of the illness but they think it was either a particularly nasty strain of HGE as they call it (Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis) or giardiasis, which I’d never heard of but is apparently relatively common, both in humans and dogs.

https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions...lti_giardiasis

One of the most common causes of the parasitic infection is the ingestion of infected fecal material, as the cysts are shed in animal feces. The most common cause of transmission is actually waterborne.

Giardia would make sense as she both eats other dogs’ poos and loves all types of water. She truly is a fantastic and fast swimmer and I wish I could swim with her in the lakes she goes in, at Cragside and elsewhere, and race her! (but it’s a bit too cold for me, I'm a bit of a wuss for that)

[Ray de Galles]

Fantastic news, so pleased.