JonnyF

Bring a child to a building site, and then throw it over the 6 foot chainlink fence into the dog's exercise yard without introducing it first? Not the wisest move, although in my case after the surprise of seeing a child thrown over the fence I strongly suspect my dog would inspect the injured child rather than attack it, although I have to admit I haven't tested him with flying children ????. That's a bit like throwing your child into the road and then calling for a ban on cars.????

It's a pet that naturally guards it's territory and owners. Same as millions of people around the world have dogs that protect their property and loved ones, and have done for hundreds of years. Labeling it a 'defensive weapon' is just silly. My girlfriend and I would also protect the property and each other from intruders, does that make us 'defensive weapons'? It's a dramatic play on words to try and make your point. It's a well trained, medium sized dog. End of. There are also 6 Thai dogs outside the PitBull's fenced area, are they all defensive weapons as well? Or just the Pitbull? Of course it doesn't 'attack anyone entering the property', for a start he has an enclosed exercise yard attached to the side of the house where he hangs out when he's not in the house so you'd have to be dumb enough to climb into there first. We recently had builders round to build a new garage and as soon as the dog knows you are 'with us' he is absolutely fine. The builders were scared of him at the start of the job and were sharing their lunch with him and playing with him by the end. It's amazing what reality and experience can do to unfounded ignorance/prejudice. Dogs have good instincts and if someone is breaking into the house in the middle of the night and he senses that we are not happy about it (tense, shouting at the intruder etc.) then he will absolutely protect us and the property. There's a simple solution to that, don't break into our house. If you do and you get bitten, that's what's known as instant Karma. I agree that they need to be trained, same as any dog and especially powerful ones. My sister has a Doberman on her UK farm and he is also trained and friendly, but I wouldn't advise roaming around their property unannounced. Same goes for Mastiffs, Rottweilers, German Shephards, Akitas, Ridgebacks etc. In the wrong hands they can cause problems. Which brings us back to the original point, bad owners.

Wonderfully dramatic ????. It's a pet that doubles up as a guard dog.

It doesn't matter what they do. If they pullout half way through the job they'll do more harm than good. The US has a habit of sticking it's nose into international affairs and then pulling out when policy changes or things get too difficult/drag on too long. Vietnam and Afghanistan are 2 examples. Biden needs to make sure they are in it for the long haul before making promises like these.

A few reasons... 1. The gf lives at our farm alone while I am away working in BKK during the week and locals know that. Let's just say some of the males in the village are less than desirable. The knowledge that there is a PitBull sleeping in the house is a great deterrent for some drunk, horny scumbag at 2am. 2. Should these males drink too much Lao Khao and decide to actually try and break in, the PitBull is an extremely loyal, strong and brave dog and would protect her with everything he has. 3. I grew up around Bull breeds. English Bull Terriers, Staffys etc. I know them well and love their playful nature, loyalty and personality. I have far more knowledge of them than other breeds. I've also owned Labs and Spaniels but find them quite dull in comparison. 4. They are great ratters, with a high prey drive. He takes care of rats, mice, lizards, Geckos, pigeons and snakes (although I do my best to keep him away from snakes). 5. They are hardy and suffer few health problems. 6. They are low maintenance. Short haired. A good, but manageable size. Equally happy snoozing on the sofa with the owner, lying in the garden or going on nice long walks. 7. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but to me they are a beautiful dog. 8. I have no interest in the armchair psychology, fear or hysteria of forum members that have never interacted with, yet alone owned the breed (other than that which provides me temporary amusement ????).

Absolutely right. Our PitBull has to sit and wait for at least 10 seconds after the food goes down before he can start eating it. We also made sure from a young age that we could move the bowl or touch the food while he is eating. He can also be petted while eating. He doesn't bat an eyelid, because he has been trained from a young age and understands that we are the master and he is the dog. He also knows that he gets fed twice a day no matter what - so he has no anxiety about going hungry. I suspect this dog had become extremely food aggressive by being fed irregularly. He probably had also never been disciplined properly, leaving him to think that he was the alpha in the household, hence the aggression towards the owner when he thought his food was going elsewhere. I actually agree that it would be a good idea for some kind of licence or training for owning large or powerful dogs, but this is Thailand where they can't even stop people riding motorbikes the wrong way down the street while smoking a cigarette with no helmet or driving licence. That's not the motorbike's fault.

Once again, clueless owners. I knew a Thai guy in Phuket who had a Pitbull called Tyson that he kept in a small cage, barely big enough to turn around in. Often whacked it with a stick. If it was lucky it got let it out for about 15 minutes a day. Then complained when it bit his gardener that was shooing it with a broom. Wonderful dogs when trained properly and cared for. Very intelligent with huge personalities. Ours is great company.

CRF300 Rally would be a good fit for an Issan town. Or if you really want a cruiser, a Rebel 300. I've just put dual sport tyres and a radiator guard on my MT09 in preparation for taking it to our farm near Korat. Probably overkill for Issan, but it's sitting around in BKK not getting much use and I think the motard style riding position will be quite well suited to the roads around there.

We have around 10 lemon trees on our farm in Korat. 2 of them I bought. The others I grew from seed. They are pretty hardy, easy to grow and give lots of fruit.

For how long? How long before an abrupt policy shift and a swift pullout as attention is diverted elsewhere, leaving loads of military equipment in the hands of the 'bad guys' ala Afghanistan? I wouldn't be getting too excited if I were Taiwanese.

I see how you are trying to divert the thread into a whinge about losing the Brexit referendum over 6 years ago, yes.

This thread is about Sweden voting in a right wing government to replace the failed policies of the Left. Why are you babbling on about Brexit and Hungary?

I don't claim to speak for you. The majority who cared enough to vote, voted to leave the failing federalist project. Attempts to overturn the democratic vote failed. That's Democracy in action. UK style.

The UK has a completely different, democratic system, thankfully.

Actually, she was approved by a very slim majority of MEP's. She scraped though after a secret ballot (how transparent!!) after being nominated by the European council. No citizens of the EU directly voted for the failed politician, Von Der Leyen to be President. Thank goodness we've left the failing, undemocratic federalist project.

The electorate know who they are voting for. Nobody voted for Von De Leyen. She was "selected" by technocrats about 3 layers above the votes of the people.

The Conservatives were elected by the British people. The electorate voted to leave the EU. Democracy. I know it's annoying for the vocal, extreme minority but that's how it works.

But they are elected into parliament by their constituents.

The EU criticising Hungary for a lack of democracy? ???? Pot meet kettle. More headaches for the failing federalist project after the Swedish election results.

Maybe you could have a "people's vote" to try to reverse the Democratic will of the Swedish people?

Come budget time, funds will no doubt be diverted to countries with a more “appropriate” government.

Severe shortages of sparkling wine ????.

Indeed, sniping at the UK while too ashamed to admit what country she is from. Andrew, a man convicted of no crime was heckled at his own mother's funeral. A shameful act. Yet the 'be kind' people are lauding the heckler because they have decided that Andrew is guilty. As I said before, they'd fit in better in 1692 than 2022. They don't care about due process, they've already made up their minds and support any action against him.

Meanhwhile, popping sounds are being reported in the industrial zones of Vietnam.

Incredible scenes. So fitting for a fantastic Monarch.