Marie81

aquarius moon: I think it?s lovely that you feel you were put on this planet to speak for animals/birds/insects etc. Everyday there seems to be another animal cruelty story and it makes me so angry that people abuse animals in this way. What that man did to that his dog is sickening, what kind of person does that? Surely he is not quite right in the head, I hope he is sent away to prison/mental institution whichever is best suited! I often see dogs in the rescue I volunteer at who have been mistreated by their owners which has made them become aggressive and fearful of humans. Many of these dogs are not suitable to be rehomed which is terribly sad. It is definitely down to the parents to teach their children to love animals and treat them well, I once saw a child of about 8 yank her puppy of the ground by its lead so it was dangling in the air because it pulled on the lead. Her mother did the same thing a few mins before therefore setting a bad example. I have many friends who are vegetarian and I have no problem cooking for them a non meat meal just the way that when I go to theirs they have no problem cooking meat for me. I would like to convert to being a vegetarian, when I tried before I became terribly anaemic but I guess I wasn?t eating well and need to make sure I keep my iron levels topped up. Any tips where I can learn about starting out as a vegetarian? Good Luck to you in spreading your message, if there were more people like you in this world I would be very happy :)

As a child I was allergic to animal hair, cats, dogs & horses to be specific. My eyes would stream around cats and when I would ride horses I would come out in hives. Although I wasn?t allowed to have any pets growing up I loved animals. I would have to wash my hands immediately after stroking a dog/cat and I used to take a piriton before riding and have to wear gloves. I now own two dogs and have no problem at all with allergies and am fine with cats aswell. For me the more time I spent around them I seemed to build up a tolerance to them. I have a couple of friends where this was also the case that the allergy just went away but I couldn?t be sure the same would happen for your baby. Personally I would exhaust every avenue in trying to find a way to keep the cats and perhaps see if there is something homeopathic that would help your baby. Good Luck.

Great news :)

Beej, please read my posts above before commenting. I am not naive at all and know its people from all walks of life who deal and use drugs. My point is that pushing drugs is illegal so why be so blatant selling on a busy pavement in broad daylight? The blatant cheekiness of it pisses me off!

I'm just venting really and wanted to see if it was just me or anyone else had noticed. Everytime I have seen it has been by people on bikes or on foot.

jimmyraj: I am not shocked by it and know it goes on in all areas but you don't expect it to be passed infront of your face by boys on their bicycles in broad daylight on a busy high street do you? I would rather the scumbags do it somewhere a little less blatant out of my view.

Another vote for Ocado! They do Tesco price match on many items and because I cook a lot from scratch they have the ingredients that I require unlike Tesco or Sainsbury's. Also I like the fact that they group where the food should be stored into colour co-ordinated shopping bags! My only wish would be that you didn't have to spend a minimum of ?75 to be able to use their 15% voucher they offer every now and again.

Just home from browsing shops on Lordship Lane thinking how nice it is to be back in the area when I notice right in front on me a drug deal going on. They weren?t even subtle about it, just stood there blocking the pavement outside Somerfield passing it! That?s about the fourth one I have seen so blatantly in the last few weeks. You would think they would be more subtle!

DJKillaQueen: I know it's unfair to have to bribe them but the legal route didn't work for my boyfriend when he had squatters move into his new property. It was going to take to long and they were using it as a drug den thus wrecking the place and as soon as he suggested money they let him in to pay this little lady upstairs who seemed to be running the whole thing and they moved out and never came back. I wish Saila all the luck in getting rid of them, it's such an awful stressful situation to be in.

Have you spoken to the squatters and asked how much cash it would take to move them on? Probably a lot less than your legal fee's would cost you!

I have been to two different Chinese acupuncturist's (the type you find on any high street) where I tried acupuncture as well as Cupping Therapy. Both experiences were terrible, the first place burnt me with the cupping and the second place wanted to charge me ?90 for a bag of herbs which he said I would need to buy every week! The herbs are overpriced and cost them not even half of what they wanted to charge me. Also the acupuncture didn?t feel like it was benefiting me at all. I now go to a great guy in East Dulwich for acupuncture and the difference in the methods and how I feel is amazing. Look him up on http://www.nick-williamson.co.uk/ he may be able to help with your son?s cough.

Mick Mac you have me sussed I am 29.

Indeed Mick Mac and still speeding around London in my car picking up plenty of parking tickets, am yet to meet Parking Patawayo...can't wait!

I never watch the programme but happened to catch that sketch and thought it was hilarious!

Saila, my boyfriend had the same problem...he had the heavies sent round with no luck and in the end the quickest thing was to pay a agreed amount to the leader of them which he then he managed to claim back through property insurance. Good Luck!

I'm not a snob, have lived in the area for 29 years except for 1 year when I moved away but have come back to good old South East London and love it, I don't think Iceland is unsuitable for East Dulwich but I would never shop there. I haven't been into an Iceland since I was about 7yrs old and dragged there by my Mum and from what I remember it was all frozen junk food but I may be wrong now, perhaps I will pop in and see how it's changed! I do an Ocado shop because they do Tesco price match and I can't always be bothered to drive to the Beckenham branch of Waitrose. Generally the choice of food is much better in Waitrose and for someone who cooks a lot I can never get all the ingredients I need in Sainsburys also it's a less stressful shop in Waitrose for many reasons. My suggestion would be to leave Iceland where it is for the people who want and replace Foxtons with a Waitrose!

I don't agree with having only a fenced off area for dogs to use in parks but I do think that sin bins are a great idea in parks for aggressive dogs or dogs in training. In my old area there was a sin bin fenced all the way round with a lockable gate where owners with aggressive dogs/dogs in training could run their dogs off lead and feel totally safe that there would be no confrontation with another dog. Generally it would be used by one owner at a time, you could ask if you could bring your dog in if the dog wasn't aggressive with other dogs or you would wait or come back later, the concept worked really well. Of course in the main park well behaved/trained dogs were able to run off lead and the sin bin was very close to the main park entrance so you could walk your dog out of the park quickly and safely. If anyone knows any parks where there are sin bins please let me know, I did find one but the fence had too many holes in it and the gate not secure enough for mine not to escape!

Dulwich Park Fairy: My 10 month old dog wear a calming collar which has helped with his anxieties. He's not perfect but what dog is? He still barks at times (he's a good guard dog) and is boisterous but that's normal behaviour for a young dog but I have definitely believe the collar has helped so may be worth a try. It's called Beaphar Dog Calming Collar and is better than the DAP collar as contains a higher percentage of pheromones. It's totally safe and non threatening to your dog. Here is a bit of info on it (you can buy online): Beaphar Dog Calming Collar for excitable dogs of all ages, helps reduce excessive barking, destructive behaviour and inappropriate marking, reduces stress during thunderstorms, firework displays, visits to the vet etc. Over a period of 30 days, the collar releases a substance called a 'Pheromone' which helps to calm dogs in a natural way. This collar contains a synthetic form of a pheromone produced by mother dogs which has a calming effect on their puppies. However it continues to have a calming effect throughout a dog's life, helping them feel less apprehensive and so reducing boisterous behaviour. The white coating on the collar is a protecting coat that is designed to wear off quickly allowing the release of the pheromones.

VALFR59: My dog who was muzzled and walking nicely on a short lead yesterday was set upon by a Golden Retriever! It came charging over and started circling my dog barking and showing it?s teeth, at first my dog ignored it then he became really stressed and tried to pull his muzzle off whilst the owner of the Golden Retriever just stood there calling his dog who was ignoring him. It then went for mine but I managed to pull him away and keep walking which took all my strength as he?s a really strong dog but still a puppy. So please don?t stereotype!!

I always look out of the window before answering the front door, if it's somebody I don't recognise then I open the window and ask them what they want. It's ridiculous that we don't feel safe opening our own front door anymore but a neighbour of my Mum's recently opened her front door to a stranger and was punched in the face!!! I always get people I know coming over to ring me when they get to my door but that's because I don't want them to wake my guard dog. At least I have got rid off the Jehovah Witnesses, last time they rang the doorbell my dog ran to the door and started banging on the back of the door and I saw them run away as fast as lightening...I couldn't help but laugh!

Pearson: it was just four letters, I had no idea that word would be blocked by admin and changed into symbols but I'm sure he understood what I meant :)

Neil Howie you're a twat!

Saying all dogs over a certain size should be muzzled is ridiculous and as said in previous responses it will only be adhered to by good owners. Also some breeds are very difficult to muzzle, I purchased three different muzzles before finding the right size for mine to wear and in the end had to get one custom made from the US! I believe that well behaved dogs who have perfect recall should be allowed to run freely off lead in the park as long as their owners are close by and don't allow them to run up to other dogs on leads. Dulwichdogman - I have this problem all the time as I have an aggressive dog (fear based) who is muzzled and I walk on a double ended lead, however other dog owners allow their dogs to run up to mine all the time which gets him into a right state and although the owner calls their dog back 9 times out of 10 the dog ignores and carries on charging towards us whilst it's owner usually just stands there watching! I too believe if your dog does not have good recall everytime then don't let it off lead. Also my other dog who I also keep on the lead cos her recall is bad has been bitten several times by dogs charging over off lead whose owners tell me oh my dog is friendly and never bites! This really annoys me, what people see in their dogs behaviour may be different to what another dogs see's!