and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

Golden retrievers were bred as "water dogs", for retrieving shot wildlife from ponds etc. and dropping it at their master's* feet un-chewed. Ours are terrified of water and would definitely chew what the were bringing, it'd probably be gone in seconds if they liked the taste.

Scooter, half-hour bite-a-thon, go!

[Welly]

Friends* of ours have got a big Retriever-shaped dog which has webbed feet for swimming; big Brown brute of a thing

Can't remember the breed but when I asked how often he goes swimming (as you would after being told such things) all I got was "err, well, err"........

[highlander]

Dogs with webbed feet?

A Newfoundland, possibly? Maybe a Chesapeake Bay Retriever?

[steve_earwig]

Are you sure it wasn't a duck? It's an easy mistake...

[Welly]

It was one of those old slightly whiffy dogs I remember I had to throw his slobber-coated tennis ball across the Garden and watch him sprint* for and return etc.....

I wasn't actually shown the webbed feet but his keeper is an intelligent man and I wasn't about to question him about it.

[steve_earwig]

Spiderman has webbed fingers, was it him?

[steve_earwig]

13. Newfoundlands have the longest toes of all breeds, and Labrador retrievers come in second. Both breeds also have webbed feet, which helps make them excellent swimmers. Other breeds with webbed feet include the Chesapeake Bay retriever, Portuguese water dog, field Spaniel and German wirehaired pointer.

From here http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/ ... t-dog-paws

Hold on... Googling about for pictures, golden retrievers don't have them (not proper, all the way to the claws style, anyway, and they're a sort of labrador/red setter mix) and neither do Scooters.

Nuther list here http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-22285.html
Akita
Brussels Griffon
Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Chinook
Field Spaniel
German Shorthaired Pointer
German Wirehaired Pointer
Irish Water Spaniel
Labrador Retriever
Leonberger
Mi-Ki
Miniature Poodle
Native American Indian Dog
Newfoundland
Norwegian Buhund
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Otterhound
Plott Hound
Portuguese Water Dog
Redbone Coonhound
Ringtail Sing-a-Ling
Spanish Water Dog
Toy Poodle
Weimaraner
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

[benczuk]

If that's only round the corner from you we should run a competition on here like "the best view within 10 mins of where you live" although I think you've won.

10 mins walk:

[Welly]

Beautiful!

[Welly]

It is sad for me to say that after a short battle with an inoperable Brain Tumor my Father in Law died this morning at the age of 73 he spent his working life as an Industrial Welder and has spent the last 15 years of retirement on the East Coast Seaside with his Wife and where he's met lots of good friends.

He died 8 weeks after being told what it was. I spent last Friday to Monday with him at his bedside with my Wife and it was extremely difficult to watch him struggle to breath, there was fluid on his chest which made a distressing gurgle as he breathed in and out and this later turned to an unearthly smell; something which I shall never forget.

3 weeks ago he became bed-bound and unable to walk and some 7 days ago he stopped being able to drink or eat 7 DAYS and he still battled on with little intervention what a tough man. On the Friday as I traveled up to be with my Wife I started to think of what I could say to him as a lasting tribute, I asked to be left alone with him and held his hand; unable to speak he looked me straight in the eye as I told him that I loved him, I told him I thought of him as my own Father and thanked him for all the chats about life, cars and silly stuff and advice he's given me over the years. I told him I'd make sure I looked after my Wife and two Kids and that he need not worry lastly I kissed him on his forehead. All this was the single most difficult thing I've had to do but at the same time I'm so glad I was able to tell him, he managed to muster a simple "yeh" and nod in recognition.

RIP Stuart.

[steve_earwig]

We're ever so sorry Welly, we really are. Please pass on our condolences to your family.

[DaiRees]

So sorry Welters.

Well done finding the courage to talk to him like that. I'd imagine many of us have regrets about missed opportunities to tell our loved ones how we really feel before they're taken from us, I know I have!

Thinking of you and yours mate.

[Doggy]

So sorry to hear of your loss Welly.
As Dai said, telling your FIL what he really meant to you was exactly the right thing to do and something I sincerely regret not having done myself.
Sincere condolences to you and yours.

[Welly]

Thank you all I appreciate your messages very much.

Because of what I did I actually feel good today and don't feel that I need to be sorrow which is very uplifting. The strangest thing has happened to me; I have had an excruciating headache since seeing him last Friday and, unlike me, have been loading up on Paracetamol (which failed to work), after hearing he'd passed this morning a while later I realised my head wasn't hurting, at all, and still isn't.

[Welly]

In lighter news my Daughter has just received her GCSE results:

1 x A
6 x B's
3 x C's
1 x BTEC in PE

Within that lot is a Language, Maths, ICT, English, Science and Business Studies.

She put a metric sh*t load of effort into studying so bloody well done I say, she's now able to go on to do A-Levels.