Nicola O

Perhaps the alcohol version would be better for Freda, or perhaps I could just pour half a bottle of Brandy into her, then she won't care where she is let alone want to savage the vet .

I picked my first cucumber yesterday and is is SO yummy Never tried growing them before so just got the one plant to try and see how succesful it would be. Plant has got loads of baby cues forming so I should get a continuous crop throughout the summer. Just thought I would share this with you all. Nicola.

Yes - she does go on the table at home when she's had a bath and I come her out so she can look beautiful. She is OK then. And I have tried keeping her on the floow in the vets but she is not much better. Redfox - that is a very good point about herbal remedies, I hadn't really thought about that before so we'll be careful and only try something that someone else has used before on a dog. And yes, she was a very unpleasant and unhelpful vet, I didn't like her at all but fortunatley she's left now. Nicola

Thanks Emma Could be worth a try. My dad just suggest a big mallet but I'm sure he is only joking, he loves Freda really Nicola

Thanks for good ideas Annie and Mel (or was it Paul) Freda starts getting stressed in the waiting room, but there she is just noisy (getting me all embarassed with her constant barking) but I've found taking doggie choc drops with me takes her mind off it because she is focused on the chocolate. The real problem starts in the surgery as soon as she gets on the table and she is so wary of the vet that she won't keep still, and as they try to touch her she can be snarly, snappy and sometimes downright aggresive. I have tried the doggie choc drops whilst in the room with vet and they were more than happy to spend a couple of minutes feeding her so she would relax and after a few visits like this I felt we were getting somewhere. Then two visits ago a different vet simly said that she 'didn't have time to pander to her' and just stuck a muzzle on her. Now I know the vet doesn't want to get bitten so the reasoning behind the muzzle was fine, but it made Freda freak out totally and I couldn't even hold her on the table. It was a very distressing trip for all. Last visit the choc drops didn't work - I think she remembered the trauma of the trip before. I've tried the 'social visits' where we just pop in to say hello, have a biscuit and go home, but it has not made any difference. Perhaps as you say, leaving the room may help her as she can obviously pick up on my stress as well as her own. Sorry to waffle again Nicola

Many thanks Sarah and Emma Sorry about my first post waffling on a bit, but if I just said that I wanted something for snappiness and aggresion you might had thought it was for me Nicola

Hello, Popped into my vets this morning to seeif I can have a sedative for my little Terrier when she needs to go in for her booster next month. They said that they could not give her anything without giving her a check up first (check her heart etc. which I suppose is a good idea) The problem I have is - at home she is a lovely calm, sweet natured, affectionate little dog who is a joy to live with. At the vets she becomes noisy, frightened, snappy & aggresive. The vet can never give her a health check and I can barely hold her whilst she gets her jab. As she is like this the vet won't be able to look her over before giving me the sedative (I mean, give me the tablet to give to Freda for when we go back for jab - not for me to take the sedative ) Someone in the waiting room suggested giving her some Bach Flower Remedies, but though I've heard of them I don't know much about them. I suppose all of Freda's aggression comes from fear, she must of had a bad experience at a vets before I got her from the RSPCA. So, is there a remedy for fear?, or something to just calm her down or help the aggression? Anything anyone can suggest would be appreciated as I am fed up with 'fighting' her with when we get there just to keep her still and she is now getting a label of 'difficult and aggressive' at vets. Hope someone has an idea. Nicola

A lot of gardeners recommend removing the lower leaves on tomatoes even if they are not going yellow as it lets extra light in around the lower fruits and helps them to ripen. I've done it every year, can't swear it really makes a difference but it hasn't done any harm. Nicola

I grow loads of radishes every year as i LOVE them, though I've not tried that variety. It could well be that they have become too dry as radish will bolt and run to seed very easily. I've just had to pull out half a row of 'em and re-sow as I haven't been watering enough and they all bolted and the radishes turned very woody and tough. Don't be disheartend , radish crop very quickly so pop some seeds in now and you'll soon be enjoying a bumper crop - Just keep up with the watering Nicola

I discovered last night whilst pulling some of my radishes for todays lunch that the chooks love the leaves. It's not something i would have thought to give them as it's not the 'normal' part of the veg. A couple of leaves fell on the grass and Edna tasted them, and then grabbed them and legged it off down the garden with the other two in hot pursuit. After having histerics for a couple of minutes I broke off all the leaves for them and they calmed down and tucked in to them. If only I had a video camera ! You could make a fortune on 'You've Been Framed' and the 'Funniest Animals' video clip shows Nicola

I've been selling mine for 40p (10p per egg). I must be undercharging - lets have some selling tips Martin.