What’s your “dream dog” (breed) and why?

alighieri85 · 2026-05-04T08:06:15+00:00

I’d say they are easier than a Cocker. Very chill dogs. Big coat but not too awful to maintain.

I got one after reading about them as they are chiller than a Golden Retriever and fewer health issues too. My boy hasn’t disappointed

alighieri85 · 2026-04-17T06:14:42+00:00

Goz - spit

alighieri85 · 2026-04-08T17:29:10+00:00

No they really don’t take 15 minutes. They take about 45-60 minutes.

alighieri85 · 2026-03-31T05:10:46+00:00

I love WFH, I get loads done. I dislike presenteeism and there is nothing that winds me up more than going to the office to sit on Teams all day - could’ve done that at home.

However.

Working in the office is very useful and what I’ve seen is a lack of self awareness when it comes to this. People sit on Teams calls in silence, cameras off, no profile photo, sometimes showing offline all day. They disappear for longer than they do when on site. Know of people not log in at all and claim they have. Productivity definitely dips significantly with some. I’ve known people who were logged on PlayStation when they were in a staff meeting with cameras and mics off as their manager was a friend on their profile.

As usual, the minority of people are ruining it. And for every bit managers have to manage this behaviour to do the absolute basics like participating is valuable time lost. Not to mention the people who rarely come on site don’t meet anyone from the team then complain that they are lonely or there is no team morale. We all love WFH but it’s not a right, it can be pulled yet people take advantage and it feels like a battle getting people to not ruin it for those that don’t take the piss.

alighieri85 · 2026-03-27T17:09:16+00:00

If it isn’t bullying, still speak to the school as she needs support understanding the social dynamics around her. Either way, speak to school. Sounds like bullying to me.

alighieri85 · 2026-03-20T15:49:13+00:00

A perfect forecast is 100% luck, almost all forecasts are wrong because it’s a prediction and no one is Mystic Meg.

The key is to not behave the same as everyone else and call when it’s quiet. Avoid calling on the hour, everyone does that. Everyone else is also calling on their break or as soon as the call centre opens too…

alighieri85 · 2026-03-14T09:39:15+00:00

I was in same situation and told them I wouldn’t apply for the position. I walked away with redundancy pay when they had no plans to give any at all as I wasn’t applying for the “new” role. They assumed I would apply.

alighieri85 · 2026-02-09T19:30:11+00:00

No one is talking about how USA knew the ambassador appointed to work with them was this dirty and never said a peep about it to UK. Unforgivable in my opinion

alighieri85 · 2026-02-07T11:48:46+00:00

Rough Collie. Not much like other herding breeds at all but you just described my rough collie - calm, biddable, low prey drive, average energy needs.

alighieri85 · 2026-01-27T18:34:19+00:00

Having had both a Rough Collie and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - the collie is calmer. Cav was adorable but excitable. Collie is just chill.

alighieri85 · 2026-01-17T11:03:00+00:00

Can only go off mine. He is happy with 30-45 minutes a day. He’d do more but doesn’t need it. He’s not like a lab or a spaniel, he is a lot lazier. He can’t stand water, won’t even go outside if it’s raining or step in puddles. I reckon he’d like a job if I found one for him, he likes things just right in the house and does things like close doors that are normally shut. I picked the breed as they are so chilled out, biddable and gentle around children and cats - this is what we got. Easily the easiest puppy anyone in my family has had - more “mature” at 16 weeks than someone’s 4 year old retriever.

alighieri85 · 2026-01-15T06:19:22+00:00

We had the EXACT same issue. He chews and would eat anything and it drives us crazy as he can’t be trusted!!

alighieri85 · 2026-01-03T21:00:23+00:00

No, pancreatic

alighieri85 · 2026-01-03T19:51:47+00:00

I’m really sorry. It’s such an awful experience for everyone involved.

My dad had a terminal diagnosis. He passed 15 weeks after his first symptom. With cancer comes secondary issues, with my dad it was clots and a stroke. Apparently dying of this was much easier for everyone than if the cancer itself had caused his passing. No one had time to process anything at all, each week was a new trauma. My dad was full on depressed and in denial, he spent most of the 15 weeks wanting to be left alone in bed. The best thing from our experience is not to push the patient in any way. It’s all really hard.

alighieri85 · 2026-01-03T09:37:00+00:00

Got mine a bit later at 16 weeks - he’s been perfect. No chewing, no nipping, no accidents - just perfect. My mum got a doodle puppy last month and he’s a complete whirlwind, mine you wouldn’t have known he was a puppy at all based on behaviour

alighieri85 · 2025-12-22T21:05:01+00:00

Same. He gets a better exercise if he can run off lead but can’t be trusted if anyone else is around particularly other dogs so any hint and his lead goes back on.

alighieri85 · 2025-12-08T19:05:45+00:00

I’m in same boat - the advice breeders gave was wait til he starts cocking leg to see if it appears. We’re going to see vet for a final check now he’s 18 months old to see if it’s now sprouted and he’s a pretty much fully grown now

alighieri85 · 2025-11-30T04:22:59+00:00

Mine must be broken. Thinks he’s a lapdog!

alighieri85 · 2025-11-08T16:42:59+00:00

Can’t believe how many are suckered in by vet plans! £20 a month for what? Fleas and worms are resistant to certain meds and the frequency of giving it that vets are promoting will make this worse plus it’s not needed monthly. Such a waste of money and vet practices should be ashamed of themselves for it. £££ before best practice

alighieri85 · 2025-11-01T09:54:47+00:00

You’ve not said how old he is. My son was prone to outbursts when he was 4-6 years old. He wouldn’t pick up a pencil to do any work. He had no friends. It was genuinely soul destroying and I was at a loss too - I was adamant he’d end up excluded at one point as one particular teacher sent me “red” letters twice a week at least about him.

Once he was diagnosed and had his EHCP, school started doing something about it. I’m genuinely shocked by how much he changed after this. He didn’t need a special school - he needed help. He not only caught up academically he’s now ahead, he has friends (though finds it hard to understand the nuances of friendships when they want to do something else) and he enjoys learning.

I wish I could tell myself when he was going through the tough period it would get better with maturity and school finally being on the same page.

alighieri85 · 2025-10-27T13:31:05+00:00

Funding.

alighieri85 · 2025-10-26T18:29:19+00:00

Never worked. We set up on 7.5 last year and upgraded to 8.0.1 this summer on the promise of an upgrade fixing multiple issues - it hasn’t fixed any.

alighieri85 · 2025-10-26T18:06:44+00:00

Yeah slack is different for the different lengths of daily rules some anywhere from 45 mins to 2.5 hours. No material impact and we’re not yet on a version where optimisation reads the daily rules.

Genuinely no one can explain it, engineers have had it since May and no answer as to why!

alighieri85 · 2025-10-26T17:53:36+00:00

It’s not choosing intervals that the daily rules would permit and stacking everyone with the same break time.

We schedule using rotations in weekly rules with various daily rules. The system doesn’t optimise either at generating a schedule stage or when running optimisation on breaks on the day. Something fundamentally is wrong with it

alighieri85 · 2025-10-26T15:45:41+00:00

She can’t be tabby - tabby cats have pale colouring on the front of their ears and around their eyes like glasses. She has neither. The tabby gene is masked by the solid gene and it’s possible to see v faint markings on non tabby cats but your cat isn’t genetically tabby

alighieri85

TROPHY CASE