BrookValley.
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Posts posted by BrookValley.
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How much fence? It's not an attractive option and not one you'd want to do for a lot of fence, but using PVC as "rollers" along the top can keep climbers in (if she's actually clearing it like a deer and not using the top of the fence to launch, it won't work).
Personally I'd DIY a system like SportDOG.
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People laundry (cold water + detergent. Sheets and towels might be separate loads. I don't separate colors.)
Animal laundry (warm or hot + detergent and bleach, depending on the grossness of the load.)
Ain't nobody got time around here for complicated laundry rituals. lol. I just want it clean.
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I've got a Bosch and I have no complaints.
When I've had problems it's been a detergent issue. For us, packets work better than liquid (I use the cheap Aldi ones), and rinse agent is a must.
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Oh man, I'm sorry. Farming can be so hard.
I got a coyote on the game cam a couple years ago. It took out half my free-ranging chickens in one afternoon. No one thought we had them in the area, but yep, they're here. Sneaky critters.
We raise dairy goats--we have the same trouble with getting genetics with good feet. It's one thing I'm a real stickler about when I'm bringing in new lines. I hate crappy feet!
I know this has been mentioned and I imagine you've already considered it, but: livestock guardian dogs? Are a couple of dogs (you'd need a team with that kind of coyote problem) a possibility? There's a large and informative group on FB, if you're on there, called "livestock guardian dogs" that I would suggest.
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I owned it and several other WAPF books a number of years ago. I was also a member of the WAPF and went to meetings. Meet some...interesting people. I even went to a conference.
I no longer own the books and I am no longer a member. I don't soak grains or nuts. I no longer consume raw dairy or ingest high doses of Vitamin A in the form of fermented cod liver oil, or feast on saturated fat and cholesterol. The only thing I still use is the seasonings from her turkey breakfast sausage recipe. With home-smoked tofu, it makes a great pizza topping!
IMO? Nourishing Traditions is full of scientifically questionable dietary advice and some stuff that is quite frankly dangerous from a public health perspective. Also, Mercola is kind of a kook.
The bolded.
Yes, there are some good pieces. Fermented foods can be great. Not all fat is bad. Bone broth sounds like pretty healthy stuff, but I wouldn't know because I'm a vegetarian and I ain't gonna eat it. :D But stuff like raw dairy? No. (I raise dairy animals and I don't know a single fellow farmer who doesn't think raw milk is a panacea and safer than pasteurized milk. Science would not agree, no matter what anecdote or random blog you want to send my way.)
And Mercola is fully into kook territory, for sure.
I've been in the natural foods industry for going on two decades and I have just about seen it all. I would take Nourishing Traditions with a big grain of salt. Pick out any usable, safe info that works for you (obviously your mileage may vary; what works for me might not work for you and vice versa) toss the rest.
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Spelling Workout or All About Spelling are good secular spelling choices. If your kids are advanced in spelling, they can move up a level in SW or use it on level. It's more of a get it done workbook style. All About Spelling is more of a hands on spelling that is very parent intensive if your children need it. Both are good and teach spelling rules, but both are very different.
<snip>
Agree with the above. If you do feel you need spelling, the Spelling Workout workbooks are solid, easy, open-and-go, and largely independent; they're also completely secular, so I assume your co-op would purchase them.
I also very much like All About Spelling, but like the previous poster pointed out, as intended it is very time-intensive. However, if, say, you had one child that needed that more intensive, one-on-one instruction, it could be good to have. We ended up tweaking it to work for us because we didn't need such intensive instruction. Basically, we did without the tiles and a lot of the extra-sensory stuff and just used the instruction on rules, etc., and the word lists. In that way, it still wasn't very independent, but it was a lot less time consuming for me and my child (who simply happened to not need or enjoy the other activities).
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OK, now imagine that your insurance payments and access are entirely in the hands of the government, and one of the people who thinks like this is in charge of deciding which items will be covered and which will not. Do you trust him to do that?
I don't.
This is why I can't imagine single payer working in our country. We simply don't have enough of a consensus to trust that the priority will be getting people cared for without question.
Well, right now several of the folks (51 of them) just told all of us that they really don't care if my children get healthcare at all. While the vote the other night may have been more symbolic than anything, it sent a message, loud and clear: they reject many important pieces of the ACA, pieces that are keeping people alive. So, I'd say a bigger decision is already being made at the hands of the government.
Here's the thing, and why I can't really craft a more rational and eloquent response right now: My kids are going to die. If they don't get run over randomly by the proverbial bus one day, as any one of us has a chance to be, one day they are going to suffer a fatal arrhythmia and their hearts will simply stop beating. This could happen when they are adults. This could happen tomorrow. This is the reality we live with every day. We know a lot but not enough to prevent this eventuality. However, the health care we currently have access to is increasing their chances of living longer. Their health care gives me some hope that I'll get more days with my babies.
So I'm not really in a place to be very diplomatic when so many so flippantly make comments like "nothing is free" or make suggestions such as saving for medical care (my entire salary wouldn't cover the cost of their medical care) or muse over how interesting it'll be to watch how this pans out or? I have a great job with generous benefits that I pay into every pay period. I work my ass off so my kids have access to what they need. Yet many, many are cheering the repeal of the ACA--they're cheering the rug being ripped out from under us. And we are only one story of so many.
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Those people are the minority, most Americans don't feel that way. There are plenty of crazy people in the world and I think it is important not to define any group by their crazies.
Many here know my nephew has Cystic Fibrosis. His dad is a retired Army vet. Sure they still get Tricare but he has a countdown clock to when he can't be on his parent's insurance, he cannot have any interruption in care. There are many, many other kids like him and unless something is done people will be killed. That is not ok.
Anecdotal, yes, but everyone I know who leans to a certain side of the political spectrum feels that way--including all of my own family (despite my children and I having pre-existing conditions which may very well become catastrophic if we become uninsurable/unable to access regular healthcare).
No, they do not care if my children die. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, you know? Nothing is free.
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I don't disagree that it's a debate being had. I just don't happen to have that opinion. Every time I watch people ahead of me in line with stacks of Twinkies and pop while overweight, clearly not making good choices, choices that WILL affect their long-term health, it confirms to me that I don't want universal health care as a right. If I have to pay for your healthcare, I can also dictate the choices you make that affect your health.
And I agree, that's a total debate our society can have about who pays for what and what freedoms people are willing to give up on the way to getting what they want.
That's...breathtakingly myopic and judgemental.
So, you know that person's health status? As in, why they are overweight? Are you a doctor that can diagnose folks in the grocery story line? Because not everyone who is overweight makes poor health choices, or at least makes poor choices on a regular basis. Also, you have a magic crystal ball that tells you why they are buying those pops and twinkies? Like, maybe it's for a party. Maybe it's grandma's favorite treat, and she's terminal, so you know what? We buy grandma stacks of twinkies and pop (like the McDonald's burgers and fries and beer we bought our friend dying of cancer when all she wanted was burger, fries, and a beer).
These things are almost never so black and white.
I don't really expect people to care about each other anymore, I really don't. But don't expect me not to be very, very angry about how people do treat each other. It's a disgrace.
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I don't have a magic answer for how we break the bad cycle we're in as a nation with regard to dogs. And I concede that it is necessary to deal humanely with dogs that are already here.
I don't agree, however, that there are no realistic alternatives to early neutering. A vasectomy on a male puppy is as simple as a complete castration and would eliminate the grave health consequences.
Just as effective.
But, to their shame IMO, most radical animal rights groups actively oppose the alternative of vasectomies.
I'm not sure about the complexity of tying off a female's tubes or leaving the ovaries, but removing both the uterus and the ovaries is very big surgery.
And there has been almost no effort put into non-surgical b/c. I'd like to see rescue groups clamoring for better solutions rather than opposing them in favor of mandatory spay/neuter laws.
Bill
Again I agree. The problem I have heard with vasectomy, etc. (I'm also not sure about the canine version of the tubal ligation), is that very few vets are willing to do it, or if they are, it is cost prohibitive. Hopefully the more folks ask for it, the more mainstream it will become.
I farm and belong to a couple of groups that discuss livestock guardian dogs. Early spay/neuter is a popular topic with these groups--many are opposed and many do not spay/neuter or, if they do, they wait until 2+ years of age. So this is where I have heard most of the chatter about different kinds of birth control. Very few folks have been able to find vets that will discuss alternatives to traditional spay/neuter.
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I'll grant you it is a moral conundrum.
But when people support ethical breeders who pay for health clearances and put time and effort into making well-considered pairings, one supports animal heath.
So-called Animal Rights groups are trying to eliminate the very best ethical breeders though burdensome laws and regulations that only benefit puppy mills.
When we fail to question, or add support, to the disastrous early spay/neuter policies we are complicit in the practice that's demonstrably injurious to the health of individual dogs.
We need sane alternatives to pediatric neutering that could take care of unwanted pregnancies without resort to the most radical and health-damaging removal of sex hormone producing organs in infancy. That practice is madness.
Bill
I agree with all of this.
I think we're just pointing out reality; there are so many homeless pets in the U.S., a problem created by irresponsible breeding. We can argue all we want about not supporting irresponsible breeders, but in the meantime, what about those dogs that end up in shelters? We don't have realistic alternatives to early spay/neuter right now. Rescues are already overburdened and short on funds. The reality is that early spay/neuter is the only way for shelter/rescue dogs. Double-edged sword and all that. I had a conversation about this with the rescue coordinator who took care of our last rescue pup. We both lamented that the dog had to be spayed early; we both know it's not the healthiest option. But the rescues have no choice but to institute the policy that dog is spayed/neutered before it is re-homed. And honestly, I'd rather deal with the health issues and shortened lifespan than have any more damn pit bulls being bred by idiots (and if I'm being honest, I think anyone breeding a pit bull is an idiot). We euthanize dozens of them every month at our local shelter. Those are the alternatives: euthanasia or early spay/neuter. I'm not opposed to either because reality. I'm not opposed to humane euthanasia for dogs that are unlikely to succeed in a home and unfortunately I can't be opposed to spaying/neutering rescue dogs because there are already too many accidents out there. I've pulled dogs that have been broken (literally physically broken and mentally) in ways you can't imagine. Dogs with prolapsed rectums and broken bones from being beaten? Check. Dogs used as bait dogs in fighting rings? Check. Dogs found as feral litters to starving mothers in the woods? Check. Dogs left abandoned, tied up outside a shopping center? Check. I could go on. And those are just my dogs' stories.
Anyway, yes, I agree with you, but not everyone is going to go to those ethical breeders. We can only encourage and educate folks to go to ethical breeders or go to rescues--and the reality of rescue right now is early spay/neuter. I don't think that should discourage folks who aren't going to drop $$ on a dog from a good breeder from going to a rescue as the alternative, because the other alternative is buying from crappy breeders.
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OMG, this!!!! My last puppy was brain damaged after a head injury at 6 weeks, so my last normal puppy was 12 years ago. Dear heavens, even with getting one that is excellent with kids and fairly laid back I'm still getting 10K plus steps a day just from constantly getting up to pull him out of some trouble or other, walking him, going to the park, etc.
We find that if he gets to the dog park at LEAST once a day, usually twice, he's livable. Otherwise, forget about it.
Ha! Yes, our last puppy was about 11 years ago. I thought I after I survived the kitten years with our Bengal cat, along with surviving the toddler years at almost 40 with my youngest human kid, that I was good to go. I am lamenting the death of our treadmill right now. With the crappy winter weather, wearing out the puppy is hard.
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An a**hole.
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Rescues/shelters. All our dogs (many of them over the years, all discarded pit bulls/bully breeds, mostly pulled from high-kill shelters) have come to us this way. If you are willing to wait--and to find a good fit, you really have to have some patience (and maybe a bit of luck that you're in the right place at the right time). I would try to find a rescue who will work with you to help you find the perfect fit as far as breed, size, temperament, etc. that is right for *your* family. It's a process, but a good rescue wants to make a good (permanent) match. Equally as important as finding the right dog is supervising your kids and teaching them which behaviors are not appropriate toward dogs.
Puppies are wonderful, but if you're not experienced raising puppies, you might be in for a surprise. They are (usually; exceptions happen) a LOT of work. I've got a rescue pit bull puppy now and, while I've done this a bunch and love this dog very much, I had forgotten how much work a dang puppy is. The potty training! The chewing! The ENERGY. Have y'all seen that youtube video that went viral a bit ago, the one with the pit bull literally flying from couch to couch all over the owner's living room? That's my life. All day, every day. Flying puppy. There is no such thing as an obstacle in this dog's mind. Just launching pads. :lol:
If a rescue turns out not to be a viable option, I'd do some serious homework and be prepared to spend some serious $$ and find a dog from a reputable breeder that, again, will work with you to find a good match. I would not buy a dog for a few hundred dollars from some random person off facebook, CL, etc.
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What Pawz said. Also, watch out for a lot of coddling/attention/treats when she's acting nervous and scared. Don't unintentionally reward the behavior, even though it's so hard not to cuddle and reassure them--you don't want to tell her that acting fearfully is the correct behavior. I've had most success staying positive and ignoring fearful behavior while building confidence slowly and steadily (setting them up for success by socializing slowly and in controlled situations, working on lots of basic commands as well as other fun stuff to build confidence like Pawz described, etc.).
Good luck. I've got a super-sissy pit bull rescue right now that just goes to mush in an instant. She thrives on work, and so having a job and learning new stuff is what has made a big difference for her confidence. You'll figure out what your new girl needs. :)
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I greatly preferred the WW points system to counting calories or SparkPeople in general. And while it wasn't free, the having-to-pay-for-it part of WW gave me additional accountability and kept me using the app when I probably would have just said the heck with it otherwise.
I had a lot of success with WW.
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I do it the same way your husband does, poppy, except when I take it out of the dryer, I dump the basket out on DH's side of the bed. Then he has to fold it before he gets in. :cool:
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I don't have one but I saw a YouTube of what happens when one runs over puppy poo in the middle of the night and the owner discovers it in the morning. Poo was pretty much everywhere.
I have friends who had several years ago for the reason you describe. They were happy with it. I guess don't use if your dog is not fully house trained.
I always thought I wanted a roomba, but this totally ruined it for me. This would happen here eventually. Puppy poo, toddler poo, cat puke, something. I'm terrified of a robot vacuum now. Ruined, I tell you.
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I just logged on to let Moxie know I put actual jeans on this morning before I went to the library and Dunkin Donuts. But now I'm gonna wear workout pants the rest of the week so I can at least pretend I'm working off that cronut I ate.
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Well, to answer your original question, yes. Yes it is "so hard to just throw on some pants." I don't have time to change clothes for the benefit of others. I've got homeschooled kids, a farm, and three jobs, one of which is full time. People are going to see me in the leggings (that I wear as pants) that I just milked the goats in, the workout capris that I just ran in, the breeches and tall boots I just rode or taught a lesson in, or whatever the hell comfy thing I felt like wearing because why? Because I am getting sh*t done and I'm dressed for it. End of story.
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I'm the only one who will be watching?
With wine. Or maybe sangria.
Yes. Yes, you're the only one. I really wish you wouldn't do that to yourself, but I'm here for you if you need to talk.
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I want to get drunk enough not to wake up until November 9.
This is solid strategy, one I wish I could employ.
I do intend to polish off my bottle of pinot noir tonight instead of watching the debate.
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I never put much thought into the patterns, but my husband bought me a pair (he has a couple pairs and loves them) and I HATED the way they felt. The fabric is horrid. I know a lot of people love it, so maybe it's just me, but I found them incredibly frustrating. He ended up giving my pair to a friend. I'll stick to my cheap Target leggings--much more comfortable and a third of the price!
I avoid all MLM, but I especially don't like how you can't just order what you want, and there's all these "rare" prints, etc. Seems to be marketing strategy to get people all fired up and feisty over "unicorns" (is that what they call them? My husband rambles on about it every now and then...I don't pay much attention, can you tell?). Seems kinda icky.
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My kids are 6 years apart. I can't imagine them being any closer in age (meaning, I think dealing with each baby/toddler stage has been easier than it would have been if eldest wasn't older/as self-sufficient as he is). I did worry that, because of the age gap, they wouldn't have much of a relationship, but they're pretty much inseparable. They play and do everything together. Even when eldest is done playing and retreats to the couch with a book, the toddler grabs a book and snuggles in with him. This sometimes results in eldest abandoning his book to read the picture book to the baby, which, as you can imagine, is really just the best and sweetest thing ever. :001_wub:
Oh, and I was about your age with my youngest, too.
Anyway, no. It's not all bad. :) Congrats!
Dog peeps - pup jumping out of fence - uh oh.
in The Chat Board
Posted
SportDOG makes in-ground invisible fences you can do yourself. It is pretty versatile--different levels of notification/correction with the collars (tone, vibrate, different levels of static correction, etc.) and from what I have heard, it's a pretty reliable system. Some people don't even bury the fence; they just lay it on the ground or run it along existing physical fence. So, inexpensive (relative to having a company come in and install it, anyway) and easy is the thing. The system I have looked at will cover over an acre for about $250.
I like Katie's idea to make a smaller fenced area with a taller fence for when you can't supervise her, and then possibly the invisible fence for when you're keeping an eye on her.