Kechara

Unfortunately no Poor pup. The rescue had to take him off the adoptable list for a while for lots of medical treatments. When they got him in his head was almost upside down in a tilt (hence his name lol) and they found it to be a really bad ear infection. Add that to heartworms and other worms, mange, and skin infection; poor guy was a mess He's so beautiful though! If he's still on that list when I get a bigger house, definitely going to look at him... And also, Tamara: She's beautiful! <3

I'm an amateur, but in obedience classes we've had to work on this a bit. Jake took to it pretty quickly. Goes something like this: have a treat in your hand. Make him sit/stay (I have to hold Jake's collar to keep him in a stay) and kneel down next to them. With your hand somewhat close to the side of his face, toss the treat out in front of him while keeping your hand in a pointing position kind of parallel to his face/snout; I keep all 4 fingers extended out, sort of guiding his face to be looking at that treat. You can add a word to it such as "Look", but I haven't done so yet, mainly because I'm just focused on keeping his attention on the treat with encouraging words/phrases- do you want that? see it? you want to get it?! When you're ready to release him, tell him "get it!" or whatever words you'd like to mark that, fetch etc, and lots of praise after Edit: once he gets it, you can probably just keep increasing the distance you toss the treat out to work on getting him looking farther away

Happy Mother's day!

I know there are plenty of good candidates out there who strive to put their feelings aside and do what's right! We just need to vote more of them in! lol http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-11/texas-planned-parenthood/53483484/1 this is the article on the Texas issue at the moment. It lists a few other states that have or are trying to do similar things. I've heard lots of mixed things about England, even just here on the forums. Of course, I don't really know how it is to live there, but it probably would not be on the top of my list for places to move to

Yeah, that's one thing i would worry about lol. As I said in Quebec, some french people just plain don't like people who speak english. I imagine there's plenty more places that aren't so welcoming of outsiders, or maybe even just Americans. I love learning languages however, and wouldn't mind needing to learn a new one!

I agree I don't think anything will happen, but it's very disheartening to know that so many people still support things like that... even women! Plus the fact that it does not seem to be about who pays for it anymore... it's turned into "any woman on contraceptive is a terrible person" . And if you live in a conservative state (such as Texas), you may not get the option of planned parenthood (or other services like it) soon I used to live in a smaller town in Louisiana and I did like the more country-ish setting. People were just so much nicer in general. While Alaska sounds awesome, I don't know if I could handle -that- much snow! lol I've still only seen it once in my life Some of my family lives in Ottowa and Montreal, Canada, and it always seems so nice up there. The only issue I have (with Quebec really) is the rude people who refuse to speak English and only speak French >< lol UK areas always look so pretty - my uncle usually goes to Ireland to play in golf tournys, and brings back awesome pictures :eek:. I also admire Sweden/Norway. I never hear bad news about them... lol

We have that problem in the states too! lol These all sound awesome! I don't want kids ever, but I do wish I had that kind of education when I was in school... Growing up in Louisiana, I feel a little dumber than the rest of the world lol

I thought about putting this in the steam room, but I figure it should be just a good discussion... try not to argue please, I'm interested in hearing everyone's opinions I'd hate to be the cause of fights D: lol I've been getting increasingly frustrated with America's politics. And now I'm getting more frustrated with this country as a whole. My long term goal was to move to Colorado for some colder weather and prettier scenery, as Houston is not my favorite place (hot, humid, too much city lol). But now I've found myself researching other countries. Unfortunately, no matter what state I go to in the US, you can't escape the federal government . So I decided to ask you all, do you like/love where you live? What do you dislike or disagree with? What country/state would you move to if you had the opportunity? Edit: To give a little more detail, one big reason I'm upset is one of the two main political parties is trying to put women's rights back into the 19th century . Infamous political people going so far as to publicly call women derogatory names and making them feel ashamed of themselves for various reasons. It's incredibly degrading and saddening... I'm by no means a feminist, but I'm for equality. This is not the only thing but it's one of the more recent ones.

Great info I'm not a huge gardening/plant person.. so after reading each one my reaction is "omg is that the plant in my yard?" I just assume everything's poisonous/bad lol

Continuing that thought, since people are so desensitized these days, sometimes it takes a really strong example to get a message across. I mean, people who smoke know it's bad, it's written on every side of the carton now. In Canada, I found my cousins carton and noticed they are putting graphic pictures of what smoker's lungs and etc looked like on them too. I don't know how effective any of it is.. Most of my co-workers smoke, many of them have children (young ones), and none of them seem to be bothered by any of it... We keep a radio on all day in the office, and occasionally a "stop smoking" commercial/message comes on- I've actually heard someone start yelling at the radio telling them they're liars lol. So if something like this, or maybe something even more provoking, is what it takes to make people think about it, then I'm for it. I thought the commercial itself was pretty well done, very simple and to the point. I'd feel bad if the kid thought it was real though.

Thank you everyone! OH is not keen on buying a house but I'll keep trying lol

You won't find any basements down here! Just attics to hide in when the flood waters hit lol Will definitely be looking for a one story though! Stairs are too much work

Happy birthday to Kech, from Kechara! lol

They're houses that they're former owners could no longer afford to keep, so their bank or mortgage company(?) kicks them out and takes possession of the house. It's actually pretty awful I almost feel bad for wanting one. Happens a lot to people who've lost their jobs and such, which has unfortunately happened a lot with our crap economy. Edit: :cookies:

My OH and I have been living together for almost a year now and, unsurprisingly, the plans we had to get a bigger apt/rental home didn't work out so well. It costs too much to rent a house, and we decided an apartment would be a downgrade from what we have now, especially with Jake . Our current place is a small garage apartment, and our landlord is a family friend of his, so we get a good deal. But it's too small.. it's a bachelor pad really... and it's been pretty frustrating for one big, main reason: I want another dog. Another husky at that. This was also in our fail-plan, because I knew Jake would be unhappy here alone as I needed to get full time work, and my OH understood that and agreed. Well, a year later and the dog is unhappy, and I'm unhappy that the dog is unhappy. Again, no surprises here. :| So I've been trying to think of alternatives for a while now... buying a home, moving out more towards the suburbs (cheaper)... kept looking online for anything reasonable for us to pop up. All the while I find out my work is moving buildings, making my commute longer, which will put even more stress on Jake But today!!! Today I found something awesome that I really should have researched a year ago. These crazy cheap houses for sale as foreclosures. Buying one would actually be ridiculously less than our current rent. And we would OWN it meaning no BS about landlords not liking my dog(s). I'm loving this idea. Been playing with it in my head all day at work (boring work is a dangerous thing lol ). I found a few online already that look amazing- newer homes with nice big yards that would be closer to both of our workplaces Now to convince my OH. And to figure out the whole buying house process. I haven't been this excited about something in a while:woohoo: I really hope this can work!! Also, /highfives and cookies for reading all that