I had a friend that did that with a picnic table and it permanently scarred part of her nether regions... this is a painful thread.

On the show they cook side by side and can watch the other contestants, I would just turn them both loose in the kitchen at the same time! Sounds fun, we watch Chopped all the time! You'll have to take some suggestions on the ingredients!

it is possible to be critical of PW without hating her. That was a good article that was posted earlier in this thread, I think the last couple pages especially covered the aspects of PW that have changed and how it affected her image.

I like PW ok, I think she got a little full of herself but probably who wouldn't with all the positive feedback she was getting from her blog. I don't like her cookbooks, book, or tv show but I liked the old PW that just had funny interesting fun outlook posts on her life. She has a fun positive attitude and I like that a lot. She does give the impression that she runs the house and schoolwork on her own and that is false. She also doesn't do a BIT of ranch work and is right up front about that too. I think the people that really love her don't have a clue how far from being a genuine ranch wife she really is. The closest she comes to it is when she's cooking some of those old farm recipes that every farmer/rancher's wife has been cooking for generations. I like her but I'm not under any illusions of what or who she is.

Maybe they're being responsible and smart and making a careful decision? It's a major purchase for them, why wouldn't it take more than five minutes?

You're right to do research, I have seen in two interviews about the movie that it is not intended to be a kids/Disney movie. Just b/c there are kids and animals in it does not mean it's automatically a kid movie. Not that I would be bothered by any of that but if your standards are that high you should research first.

My parent's Boston terrier doesn't shed at all-short haired and slick! A schnauzer is a real nice dog! I would just clip them yourself, get an pair of aldi's and just trim, no special look.

If you feed your horses a little bit of sunflower seeds or oats every day the chickens will REALLY tear up the piles! :D

I free range mine and don't lose all that many, though I do lose some. I have two unaccounted for the last year. I put them out randomly, not on a schedule or even certain days, just so it doesn't turn into a "breakfast is on" type schedule for the hawks. I leave the dogs out-none of my dogs chase chickens but they do protect the place. I try to be outside when the chickens are. I never let them out then leave home. Don't get attached to them, just get some and plan on losses and buying more chicks every year or so. I've had some free rangers for years and some for just one. Get chickens that are good at free ranging, dark/brown colors, light weight fast smart birds, not the bucolic fat types: Aracaunas are very wily birds (I had one that lived to 12 and free ranged that whole time) so their crosses are good, bantie crosses are very smart. My australorps always do well, they hardly ever get caught. birds in checkered or blended patterns. I think it's worth being able to let them free range around. The eggs are better, it cuts down on feed costs, and they do a great job of tearing up the horse/cow piles.

Maybe people in your family should stop "feeling" and start talking! Maybe SIL is just stepping up b/c everyone is putting on a passive front and she thinks it will be appreciated? I assume she's not going to make you follow her plan at gunpoint, what's wrong with "hey you're awesome for stepping forward to organize this, let's tweak this blueprint and make it perfect for everyone!"

Posting at the same time-I'm out on this one. Going to go hug my dogs. :D

It's a dog-the OP's dog could have broken the skin, gone for the face, held on, continued the attack. It was self defense, or sounds to be. It's not like the dog turned Cujo and had the kid cornered and was chewing on him. Please don't think that when your strong-jawed sharp-toothed GSD is minding his own business taking a nap and your 2 year old lands in the middle of his abdomen that he has anything but a pain response. He can't help it, your child was out of line, knowingly or not. If you would really kill or banish your dog b/c of that then no you should not have a dog b/c you are treating them like a machine, not a living creature.

My old dog has bad hips-if me or anyone else leaned on her hips she would bite from the pain and I wouldn't blame her a bit, I don't think she could even stop herself from the pain reaction. When the puppy falls on her hips she growls and bites b/c she can't get up fast enough to get out of the way. I would never ever ever leave a small child with a tendency to want to "love on her" anywhere near her unattended. That would be MY BAD if anyone got hurt and punishing the dog would be the most horrible case of injustice I can imagine. Sometimes kids get hurt and just b/c there is an animal involved doesn't mean that the animal carries the blame-this would be one of those cases.

With that reasoning you should not have dogs.

No, you're wrong. A small child's version of loving on is completely different than loving on to an elderly dog.

Actually in some circles of dog behavior experts the whole "pack" mentality is a myth and doesn't exist at all. No hierarchy, no leader of the pack. Asking any animal to sit and be injured is just plain nuts. Dogs (wolves and coyotes too if you want to play that game) will rough house and wrestle and fight but rarely do they actually injure another, and if they do the injured party will fight back to protect itself. The dog/canine tries to express himself as best he can, slinking off, a growl, a lifted lip-and the kid ignores all the signs b/c he doesn't know, then the dog gets hurt. And he nipped him on the ARM, it's not like he went for the throat. It's the exact same as a child hitting an adult, or biting when nursing, or pulling hair, the adult is supposed to just sit and take it no matter what? no, they don't-they have social cues they can use to stop the child. what is that dog supposed to do when nobody is there to help him? OP I'm so glad you handled it the way you did! You did great and you have a good dog there. And a child who now knows a lot better than he did this morning-he's learned a lesson that some kids will never learn and it will make him a more understanding person.

It's not like the dog was attacking the child! The child was attacking the dog. And according to some of you, then the dog gets destroyed b/c of the actions of the child. wow. :001_huh:

Anyone that would blame the dog in that situation shouldn't have dogs in the first place. I'm stunned to see that though I guess I know there are people that do. I would briefly verbally scold the dog but just to maintain order-your dog knew it was wrong and was sorry. I would have dealt with the child the same way you did. Absolutely not is a kid allowed to treat a dog like a piece of playground equipment and the dog can't defend himself. I always have told our kids that the dog is allowed to bite if s/he needs to defend her/himself. Go figure, my kids are excellent and sensible with animals, all animals. If you raise your kids any other way you're doing them a disservice. Of course with a kid that age an adult needs to run interference but no way is it the dog's fault in this situation. Nope nope nope.

He's almost in the clear-make sure you do a series of at least three, maybe four on the vax. I never take my dogs anywhere that a lot of dogs go, like dog parks, petsmart, ect-it's like taking a kid to daycare, you just don't know what they can pick up! But lots of people do and have no problems, it's just a thing with me. With a pup that hasn't been through his full first series though I never would, ever. I wouldn't worry about him TOO much, keep him in your yard and don't let him run around on the floor at petsmart, keep him in a clean environment as much as you can, don't let a lot of other people, like the checkers at petsmart, touch him or handle him. It's nervewracking, just keep him in a little germ bubble until he's done with the vax series and then you relax a bit. Honestly I wouldn't take him anywhere until the vax were done. He doesn't need to go to the groomer or Petsmart that bad!

My first was like that, never a moment of peace, day or night. Exhausting in every way. He's 14 now and I still vividly remember how helpless and frustrated I felt, it was so freaking hard! I dropped him off at a baby sitter one afternoon a week just for the peace and quiet! He was the same for her too. He could be happy and involved and then need to move on and be held, be here, be there, sleep for 20 minutes, be awake again, exersaucer for half an hour then out again, screamed at the slightest frustration. gads. I always say the bravest thing I ever did was having another kid! He has been an intense kid all the way through but once he could start moving on his own he was a lot better-teach that baby to crawl! LOL My son is also freakishly smart and focused-I like to tell myself that's why he was such a monster of a baby! I wish I had something more helpful to say!

I prefered my painted subfloor to carpet. I despise carpet and would prefer any other form of flooring.

Dang, it's not fun to have a busted bubble! LOL Think about how you could make something similar with some tubs and milk crates and see if you use and enjoy it so much this next summer that you know you want the full monty. :) Look at their camping tables, then you can make a kitchen area and not have to do the whole cutting board on my knees in a folding chair chopping experience-I don't really enjoy that either! I'm always trying to figure out how to do it without dishes, at all, so we have extreme camping differences. :)

I've known outfitters that used similar setups for their camps-even in bear country. They just clean them up and hang the food/pans/ect so they're ok to leave for a few days. for me bringing the dutch oven is more work than it's worth most of the time so this would be way over the top for me, no matter how many people I'm cooking for. And we haul all our gear in on horses and this would be a pain to pack.

It's the exact same medication that they give to baby puppies in the vet clinic-it's pyrantel pamoate either way. The dosage is .1 ml per lb. It's a very mild wormer as is fenbendazole, also available over the counter. Much less expensive in the horse paste than the dog/puppy tablets. I waited (still am waiting) to neuter my male pup-he's just over a year old right now. He's a GP so I wanted his bones/body to be as strong as they could be.

You do realize a lab or poodle cross (which is what any labradoodle mutt really is) will kill those rabbits too? It can either turn out like a pure lab (one of the most unhealthy dog breeds going these days, ESPECIALLY the ones at the mall) or a poodle, a very smart busy breed. It can shed and have allergies and bad hips, doodle or not. And probably be a spaz and smart on top of it. And the ones in the mall pet shop are probably extremely badly bred and a bad idea all the way around. I think you need to look at some of the more mild mannered smaller dogs, nothing in a terrier. Nothing in a hound, like a dachshund. Corgis are herding dogs. Honestly the chances of your rabbits coming out of this alive are not looking good if you're tempted by labradoodles in the mall! Go to dogbreedinfo.com-tons of good info there.