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Congratulations!

Good news! Winter is being moved from the ICU into a regular room today! Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts on her behalf.

Thank you all so much! Winter's cardiac defects are caused by Noonan Syndrome. The surgery she had will hopefully be the only one she needs.

My niece, Winter, is 2 years old. She had open heart surgery to fix a hole in her heart and to enlarge an artery's blood flow, on Friday. Today she went under general anesthesia again to have a bronchoscopy and to remove mucous from her right lung. She will likely have to undergo this procedure again, and will be in the hospital for another week. Your prayers and good thoughts would be much appreciated for Winter and for her mother, who is staying at the hospital with Winter 24/7. Thank you! RC

He is adorable! Congratulations! You can get belly bands at Petsmart, Petco, places like that. They are a belly wrap that functions like a diaper for male dogs who mark in the house. I have never needed one for our dogs, so I just want you to be aware that the product exists. If you Google dog belly bands you will get lots of info and pictures.

Most of you have kids, many shop at Target, and some of you may not have seen this: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/09/18/178000-childrens-water-bottles-recalled-due-to-choking-hazard/?intcmp=hphz02

I don't know of any way to keep a dog away from the road except via electric fence and for many dogs (especially a frightened dog or a dog with a high prey drive) that is not effective. Also, electric fences don't protect the dog at all from other animals coming inside the area (coyotes, other dogs, dog thieves, mischief makers). I live on a country road and I would love for my dog to be able to run free -- there are plenty of fields and woods for him to enjoy. BUT drivers tend to speed, and not just a little bit. I look at it this way: Is the risk of my dog being hit by a car and killed or injured (which is quite painful) worth letting him run free? Not to me! Instead I walk him on a long line (20', 100', 50') or put him in a harness attached to a long line when I am outside with him. That way he is free to roam and I have control over him. My dog's prey drive is so high that I have leash attachments which I use in case the harness or the long line fail. Plus, out in the country, we hear gunshots all the time. My dog is terrified when he hears them. If he were roaming around outside, he would bolt. There are plenty of dogs whose owners can "trust" them, and have for years, who suddenly dash out into the road and are hit by cars. So my view is that the trust is misplaced and the owners are taking a risk. Just like any dog can bite, any dog can run into the road and get hit by a car.

So do I. Don't get me started. I can talk forever about this subject and will expand the issue until you beg me to STOP! Well, I have to come back to add two three PSA's: Don't buy puppies from a pet store -- they are from puppy mills. Don't buy puppies from the Amish -- they run puppy mills, along with many other unscrupulous people. Be really careful to research any "breeder" you buy from -- some are brokers for puppy mills and they lie about their home-based reputable breeding operation. Puppy mills stay in business because they make lots of money. The only way to stop them is to not buy puppies from them or their brokers. https://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/puppy-mills/puppy-mill-faq

Thank you all so much for helping me understand Labradoodles. I can talk all day long about Wheaten Terriers, but I've only met that one Labradoodle. You all have been very helpful, and I really appreciate it.

From what I can tell, a regular commercial breeder is like a puppy mill, except on a smaller scale. "A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation that places profit over the well-being of its dogs—who are often severely neglected—and acts without regard to responsible breeding practices." http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/puppy-mills This is a photo of the dog that S'Wheat Rescues will find a home for -- we have until October 1st. He weighs 50 lbs., allegedly (he is still at the commercial breeder's house so we have not weighed him). You can't tell by the photo, but his ears are both the same length! My dog is a Wheaten Terrier, and they look so similar. It's no wonder that everywhere I take Aidan people think he is a Labradoodle! The first photo I saw was of his head, and I thought he was a Wheaten mix, looked at more photos and realized we just had to help. Tomorrow would have been his funeral, so we responded just in the nick of time.

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We get a lot of mill dogs into Rescue (millers say either take them or we'll kill them). They all have major fear issues, including the young puppies. These are Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers ... since we are a breed-specific rescue (with wiggle room). We find them homes with experienced and patient owners who have been fully educated about puppy mill dogs. The Rescue is always available for consultations, too. We don't let our dogs or our adopters down. Here is the page about mill dogs on our website: http://wheatenterrierrescue.org/PuppymillAdoptions.html That is not the only information we give potential adopters or fosters. They undergo a second interview with a coordinator who owns a mill dog and speaks from personal experience. There are also several articles online that give more information about how to rehabilitate a puppy mill dog that we recommend.I make them read the articles so they can pass my pop quiz. I am really good at talking people out of wanting to adopt a mill dog. I figure if I can talk someone out of it, they weren't the right person for a mill dog. This Labradoodle was born in a mill and then purchased by a "commercial breeder", who then bred him, beginning at 8 months old. For the life of me, I can't figure out what the difference is between a mill and a commercial breeder. IMO, there isn't one. Also, usually mill dogs live at the Rescue until they are adopted in person, after the complete adoption process has concluded.This is a special case (fostering a mill dog) since the dog is pretty far away from Missouri, and since he was scheduled to be euthanized tomorrow.

S'Wheat Rescues just took an 11 month old Labradoodle into Rescue. He's already fathered one litter! He is from a puppy mill, not housebroken, walks well on a leash, fearful in a submissive way, and about the size of a Standard Poodle. We took him in because a lady in Minnesota posted him on the Dog Forums FB page. He was going to be euthanized tomorrow if I didn't take him. I guess the mill has an abundance of Labradoodle stud dogs. :cursing: I convinced the Rescue to take him in and now I'm looking for a foster home for him. Can anyone tell me anything about Labradoodles from personal experience? I've met one, but she was not from a puppy mill, and she is the most laid back dog I have ever met. I don't think she is representative of the breed. I am an adoption coordinator for the Rescue, but I also help out on the foster side. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew! We are a breed-specific Rescue but we sometimes take in dogs that we think bear a passing resemblance to Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers, or heck, even dogs that don't, as long as they somehow find their way to us. Thank you!

Aidan loves Orijen Adult and anything from The Honest Kitchen.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I am so sorry, Quill.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Congratulations on Caden's birth! I bet he is a really cutie pie. I hope you heal quickly and that Caden's stay in the NICU is uneventful. FWIW, my triplets were born at 27 weeks, and they are now 21 years old and doing just fine.

If I were getting a dog from Craigslist, I would require that it be taken to a vet for a complete physical, including checking for heartworms, and be willing to pay for that myself if the owner could not. I would also make sure the vet checks thoroughly for a microchip. I would meet the owner at the vet's office. I would not take possession of the dog and go to the vet by myself ... too many people have tried to return dogs they got from Craigslist and the owner won't take the dog back or has disappeared. I would get a personal reference and a vet reference from the seller. I would tell the personal reference right off the bat that our conversation would be 100% confidential. Doing that sometimes loosens tongues if the person has something bad to say about the owner regarding the dog -- ie, if he beats the dog or keeps it in a crate in the garage most of the time, that is not good news for the dog or for you as that dog's next owner unless you are willing and able to rehabilitate the dog. I would make sure the seller's address and the address the vet has match. I would make sure the dog had been brought to the vet for regular wellness checks, when it was sick, that it was up-to-date on all required vaccines, that it had been checked for heartworms (many vets do that yearly even if the dog is on a preventative), and ask about illness, allergies, injuries, and whether it has been spayed or neutered. I'd ask for (and receive) a copy of the dog's vet records, too. Vets put all sorts of things into those records. A recent dog our rescue took in had this in her record: XX has not bitten anyone yet. Yet -- a big red flag, given the behavioral history of the dog. I would want to see proof that the seller actually owns the dog, too. I'd want a clear record of where the dog came from. There are a lot of puppy and dog flippers on Craigslist. There are a lot of dogs who originally came from puppy mills (purchased directly from the mill or at a pet store), or who have been carelessly backyard bred by people who are essentially small-time puppy millers. The risk with these dogs is poor breeding: genetic diseases, poor temperaments,etc. I would not be taken in by sad stories about why the dog is being "re-homed". Sometimes these stories are true, often they are riddled with lies, and sometimes they are a little bit true. A little bit true: yes, the dog killed one of the owner's chickens, but just coincidentally, it also requires surgery that costs $3,000 and up, and that has a long recovery period. A Rescue may be willing to handle that, but not everyone who gets a dog in a rehoming situation wants to or can. Craigslist rules prohibit: pet sales (re-homing with small adoption fee ok), animal parts, stud service http://www.craigslist.org/about/prohibited Reputable, nonprofit, all-volunteer rescues like the one I work for have adoption fees ranging from $150 to $600, based on the dog's age. This fee goes to help support the rescue work for all the dogs we take in, and doesn't come close to covering every expense. We pay for the major and minor surgery, vaccinations, spaying and neutering, feeding dogs that are in the rescue's facility (foster parents pay for dog food), facility upkeep, grooming dogs, dental work, heartworm treatment, allergy diagnosis and treatment, wellness checks at the vet, and more. Be careful, too, that the dog you are considering is the dog pictured in the Craigslist ad. There are lots of AKC champions whose photos have been lifted off the web and posted as that of the actual dog for sale on Craigslist. And the reason for all this advice is that you want to be sure that the dog you get is one that fits into your family and meets whatever your expectations are. You want to be sure that whatever this dog's problems are, they are ones you are willing and able to handle. I am sure there are plenty of success stories of dogs adopted via Craigslist. You want to do everything you can to make sure you are one of those, because there are plenty of unhappy endings, too. I'd also read this article carefully: http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/craigslist-dogs-adoption-red-flags

I used to do that, until the canning bug bit me. In the middle of the seemingly never-ending supply of tomatoes to can, I wonder many times why I didn't stick to freezing them. My biggest problem now is that I love looking at all those lovely filled jars, lined up on shelves ... so picturesque, and concrete evidence of my hard work gardening and canning. Then I have to use them up, and it's a little bit sad, using up what took so long to create. This year, I'm going to take a photo and hope that satisfies me, so I don't give in to the temptation of being a home-canned goods hoarder. :-)

Yeah, it is a lot of work. The only reason I'm going to go through it again this year (my second season) is that the difference between home-canned and store bought tomatoes is extreme. My home-canned ones have a very intense flavor and color in comparison. Plus, I am a glutton for punishment. And I bought all the equipment, can't let it go to waste.

It applies to homegrown tomatoes, too. I don't have a link, but I did research this thoroughly before I canned my homegrown tomatoes last year. I wondered about tomatoes grown with heirloom seeds, and found this: "Other misconceptions are that yellow tomatoes are lower in acid than red tomatoes and that heirloom tomatoes are high in acid. Both are still borderline. Yellow tomatoes taste less acid because they contain more natural sugars." http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2012/acidify-tomatoes-before-canning

Actually tomatoes are not high acid. I can mine in a pressure canner because of this, and add lemon juice in the required amounts. "Tomatoes and tomato products need to be acidified for home canning. A common misconception is that tomatoes are a high acid food. With a pH of 4.6 tomatoes are right on the border between being high or low acid. The tomato variety and growing conditions (blight and diseased plants) can easily tip the acidity level to the low acid side of the scale." http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2012/acidify-tomatoes-before-canning

Yes, I would have a problem with that. http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsDrowsyDriving/

Congratulations! What a beautiful baby... I love his name.

I use mine mostly for shredding cheese, making powdered laundry detergent, and slicing potatoes very thin for recipes I rarely make. I've had it for a zillion years. I'd probably use it more if I didn't dislike cleaning it so much (pure laziness). Maybe I'd use it more if I had the space to keep it on the counter. Hmmm.... OTOH, I'd probably just feel guilty about not using it and being lazy.