I am hoping to get up there in a week or so. There is the most beautiful walk through the Forest following a river down the Glen.
They have just discovered that when the Vikings travelled form Scandanavia they brought their dogs with them. They discovered this from discovering the remains of dogs buring with their owners at Viking Grave sites. I suspect these would have been very large water loving dogs like Newfoundlanders. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64431142 Horses and dogs sailed with Vikings to Britain, say scientists Vikings sailing from Scandinavia to England brought horses, dogs and perhaps even pigs with them, according to analysis of bone remains. Invading Vikings were previously thought to have largely stolen animals from villages in Britain. The findings also provide evidence Viking leaders had a close relationship with animals and travelled with them, the lead scientist says. The 9th Century bones were found in burial mounds in Heath Wood, Derbys. Cremated animal and human remains had been found buried together, suggesting the creatures had special meaning and been burned on the same funeral pyre as humans, doctoral researcher Tessi Löffelmann, from Durham University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels, told BBC News. "They were treated more like companion animals rather than just for economic purposes," she said. "I find it really touching and it suggests we underestimate just how important animals were to Vikings." The horses and dogs would have travelled on Viking longboats across the North Sea, a journey that could take several weeks. "Horses back then were smaller than horses are now, which could have made the journey a little bit more accommodating, but it was still probably wet and uncomfortable," Ms Löffelmann said. Prof Julian Richards, from the University of York, who co-directed the excavations, said: "The Bayeux Tapestry depicts Norman cavalry disembarking horses from their fleet but this is the first scientific demonstration that Viking warriors were transporting horses to England 200 years earlier."
That last paragraph makes sense...weren't the Normans descendants of Norsemen that settled in that region of France?
Yes, psychologically it is. Physically I was fine, I was wearing a coat and he bit my hip so the coat protected me. But the fright imprints itself, I guess it's a form of trauma that can be triggered again when you hear a dog barking. He was a rough collie, exactly like the famous Lassie, beautiful dog, but quite cross. I don't dislike dogs, I'm just afraid of them.
I don't blame you for that. I have a one year old Newf right now who is 170 pound terror. He has to be the center of everything and is extremely boisterous. He's also a juvenile delinquent and steals everything and runs. The good thing about Newfs is that they are super loving and not at all aggressive by nature. I also have a Golden Retriever that is the love of everyone who meets him. I would suggest you try to meet a Golden Retriever sometime, it may get you over your fear. They truly ARE angelic dogs! Now my Grandma used to have Pomeranians and Chihuahaus and they actually WERE aggressive and mean. Nothing terrifies me more than an ankle biter! LOL
Goldens are the best! I love Golden retrievers. Kind gentle affectionate loyal--and though they are not "fighters" per se they will gallantly defend you if necessary. Angelic dogs!
A friend of mine has a golden retriever who is really lovely and I'm not scared of him unless he barks. I think it's the barking that does it to me
That sounds awful and terrifying. I'm not sure you could say of a 5 year old that it was their own fault, what does a 5 year old know? You probably thought all dogs were friendly and had no reason to think otherwise. It was cruel of that family to blame you.
Those little dogs seem to think they must assert themselves to compensate for their small size. An example of an inferiority complex. Maybe it explains the behaviour of certain higher prelates too!
I think often with dogs one of the reasons they turn nuts is that they are taken away from their mothers too early. Pups should not leave the litter until they are ten weeks old so they are socialised. My last bitch Yuki, who died a few months back was certifiably insane and I could never leave her off the leash for a second. But I lived her all the more for being mad as I am a little nuts myself. The Adams family would have loved her. Years ago I stayed with a family who owned a bar in Rotterdam in the Netherlands who owned a very large Rotteweiller. Myself and the Rotty appeared to get on like a house on fire (my own family had owned a succession of different Rotts. However when its owners had departed the house the huge dog suddenly decided to itself I was an intruder (as it had been trained to do for strangers in the house). It pinned me against the wall its slavering jaws inched from me face for tow hours until its owner came home and released me. A long two hours. It had decided I was Charles Manson. But it was only doing its job so no hard feelings. Satanists have seven animal totems ; one of them curiously is a dog. Also a cat, a rat, a spider, a goat and so on. All that is good on this Earth can be turned to evil.
