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The Guardian
27-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Which dog should I get? How to choose the best pet for families, city living or people with allergies
At the risk of pleasing a handful of the dog owning population and annoying the vast majority, we asked Graeme Hall, AKA The Dogfather, a dog trainer, presenter of TV's Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and author of Does My Dog Love Me? to suggest the best breeds for different contexts. 'It would be really funny if for every category I said labrador,' laughs Hall. However, his recommendations do come with a caveat: 'Dogs are individuals. All Yorkshiremen are smashing, but every now and again you might meet one who's not. Dogs are a bit like that.' FamiliesA labrador is a good bet for a first family dog. They are pretty calm around children. But also, and this might raise a few eyebrows, Staffordshire bull terriers have always been known as the 'nanny dog'. Normally they are very good with families. Urban livingSmaller dogs are best, so: companion breeds (a dog whose purpose is to provide companionship for humans, unlike a working dog). If you've got time to groom, pomeranians are quite cute. Or pugs, but you've got to be thinking about health issues, because some of the dogs with very short noses can struggle to breathe. Country livingWorking breeds, generally speaking – if you've got a lot of room to let them run and time to exercise them, go for spaniels and border collies. Older peopleSmaller dogs, typically, because you don't want a lot of weight on the lead, and not too energetic. So one of the terriers. We often think of a yorkshire terrier as an old person's dog. Or the right kind of jack russell can be a really sweet dog. People with allergiesThere is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, despite what some breeders have been saying for years. But some breeds shed less, such as curly coated breeds. As much as I love boxers and rottweilers, they are more slobbery, and some people are affected by the saliva. The officeIf you work in an office in the city and you are travelling by public transport, something smaller is better. I have seen big dogs on the London Underground, but they take up a lot of space. You also want a dog who is happy to sit around for long periods while you are sat in meetings, and is not too barky. A poodle cross or a cockapoo is a safe bet. Emotional supportYou want a really calm, steady dog, so that tends to be a bigger dog. Labradors are a good option in general and of course they've been used around the world as assistance dogs. Or try a St Bernard. SecurityThe obvious choice is a German shepherd, as used by police and the military. If you don't like the barking and hair shedding that comes with those, a rottweiler can be a much calmer companion. But I think there needs to be a bit of a caveat, which is if you want to train a dog to be a guard dog, have a word with yourself. A swimming companionPoodles, which were bred to retrieve game across water, or a Spanish or Portuguese water dog. A running buddyBorder collies – they will run for ever.
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Trips to Leeds 'daunting' but often 'memorable'
City were humbled by Luton Town on Easter Monday yet remain in fifth position in the Championship thanks to Coventry slipping up at Plymouth and Boro coming away from Hillsborough with nothing - due in no small part, I'm sure, to ex-City player Tommy Conway missing a first-half penalty and then crashing a shot against the underside of the bar in the last minute of added City still remain odds-on favourites to qualify for the play-offs, they face the daunting prospect of a trip to Elland Road on Monday to face champions-elect Leeds United. They can only hope that the Yorkshiremen gave their end-of-season champagne performance in the 6-0 drubbing of Stoke over Easter, as they come up against opponents against whom they have an appalling record in recent years. This will be the 20th encounter since 2010, with Leeds racking up 15 wins and City winning just of encounters between the sides over the years, if you go back to 1968, there was an FA Cup tie which (naturally) Leeds won, the game memorable for the fact that goalkeeper Gary Sprake was sent off for unceremoniously knocking out City's Chris Garland. Roll the clock forward six years, and after a 1-1 FA Cup fifth-round draw at Ashton Gate, City made the national news headlines - such was Leeds' grandeur in those days - when a Donnie Gillies goal gave them a famous 1-0 victory in a game played on a Tuesday afternoon due to the three-day week and associated power cuts!One final game against Leeds sticks in the mind, although perhaps one should say one and a December 1976 it was a very foggy day as I walked across Ashton Park to the ground. Taking my place in the enclosure, on the halfway line, you could not see either goal. Surprisingly, the game kicked off with 36,000 people in the occasionally caught glimpses of the orange match ball and heard the "oohs" and "aahs" of the crowd from either end when there was penalty area action. It was farcical and no surprise when the game was abandoned at half-time with no refunds. The replayed game in May saw a Chris Garland goal secure the points as City scrambled to avoid can hear more from David Pottier on the fans podcast Forever Bristol City, external.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Oscar... McCracken by day, 'De La Lawyer' by night
He was named after boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, his uncle Rob is a former British champion and dad Spencer was also a professional boxer. So it is no surprise that Oscar McCracken would one day end up in the ring himself. The only surprise is that, in addition to being well up on the rules of boxing originally laid down by the Marquis of Queensberry, he also operates under the laws of the land as a member of the legal fraternity. The former University of Worcester student, who only had his first fight last May, is set to qualify as a solicitor in 2026. When he steps onto the canvas, he goes by the nickname 'Oscar De La Lawyer'. So far, McCracken has a 100% record of two fights, two wins, both at Birmingham Airport's Holiday Inn, both four-round contests, both on points over two Yorkshiremen - first against Sam Kirk in May, then Paul Scaife in August. He had over 250 fight fans there - most of them fellow Birmingham City followers - to support him each time. The Birmingham-based boxer is due to fight again at the Holiday Inn on Friday - one of five scheduled bouts, although, at this stage of his fledgling career, it is not unusual that he does not yet know the name of his opponent. "I'm one of the only fighters in the country who won't know who they're fighting until they turn up on the night," he said. He also knows that carrying the name McCracken means that it can sometimes be a struggle to find potential opponents - given the family's local reputation in and out of the ring. "We're a big fighting family," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "It's in the blood. We've trained world champions, we've fought for world titles - I want to continue the McCracken legacy." His dad Spencer McCracken Sr became a trainer following his own boxing career, while former British super-welterweight champion Rob McCracken coached the British Olympic squad, as well as Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua. His dad and his brother Spencer Jnr now run McCracken's Gym, where he trains, close to Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. But Oscar, who lives in Shirley, and whose partner is a research nurse, has boxing as his back-up plan. He left the University of Worcester with a first-class honours degree in law before taking his Masters in law and business. And, having entered a two-year training contract with the top Birmingham legal firm who now also sponsor him, he will emerge a fully qualified solicitor. Then, if he gets that far, will come the big question. The ring? Or the courtroom? And, as things stand, it's a split decision. Boxing schedule and results 2025 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
