Thanks to you cookiebaker and thanks to everyone else for your welcome.

I was trying to explain to my daughter about terrorism and got myself quite depressed about the state of the world but then it occurred to me that it's just the bad people who get in the news and that there's an overwhelming majority of good people out there. Finding this site confirmed that to me.

We have two German Shepherds who are both now old ladies.

Heidi is ten years old, handsome, brave, intelligent and totally devoted to me.

Penny is nine, pretty, not very brave, a bit dim and loves everybody.

Unfortunately, despite our going to "reputable" breeders they both developed hip problems quite early but we discovered a wonderful product called Metacam which has kept them both supple and pain free for years.

This was the first time I'd been to a breeder but I think I'll be going back to the rescue centre (probably for cross-breeds) when the time comes.

I'm afraid I haven't looked at my scanner's manual since I got it, I'm a bit low tech, but I'll put some pictures up soon.

Thankyou again for your warm welcome.