What diversity! >^..^50 yo female, married 27 years this August. 3 "kids".... 19 yo daughter (who works 1 1/2 jobs & is going back to college in fall & just got her own apt), 21 yo son in Guam (Navy) and 23 yo daughter married/living in Long Island-wants to go to flight school. 3 kitties. Love your pet pics! I'm a fulltime 1:1 Teaching Assistant in our school district, working in a regular classroom with students who have special needs. In summer I work with OCM BOCES doing the same (summer school). My students keep me running (often literally!) Gary (hubby) is so excited now that spring has FINALLY arrived, as he just tolerates his job, and detests winter...so he lives for the sounds of birds, and gardening and riding his motorcycle! Oh, and we are involved in our church-ushering, working with kids programs, taking care of the rose/perennial garden we planted there 5 years ago, and also do motorcycle day trips with about 25 friends there. :0) Phyl

I've had two stem cell transplants and out of every icky thing that could of happened to me I've only come away with ongoing shingle outbreaks. Now after being cancer free for 8 yrs I see my oncologist twice a year. He's the head of oncology at Scripps San Diego. I asked him about getting a shingle shot and he told me that there is some risk, not all of the studies are showing that it is not fool proof and encouraged me to continue to use Acyclovir in pill form during my outbreaks until more studies are done. I get symptoms a few times a year, and at first I couldn't figure out what the "itchy, burning" feeling was prior to blisters. Now I know within an hour and take my meds for a day or so. If you take the Acylcovir within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms it lessens the outbreak. Every outbreak doesn't have to be so painful and long lasting :) Good luck to your hubby!

aptosca, after close examination of the pictures, I would say Elvira is a miniature short-legged Black Labrador Retriever. OK, maybe not. She certainly is a sweetie! I would start the lower calorie/more exercise routine. Oh tosh, how boring! Don't you wish there was some magic kibble or supplement that would reduce weight? Alas, the same good rules apply to us humans and our pets. When we reduced the weight of our Wolfie, a big husky mix, we reduced the kibble and added cooked green beans. They do not add calories and gave the big guy a sense of fullness so he does not howl so piteously we are starving him.

Right Dominant type males can tend to mark in the house. I had it with one male. I put him on a short lead and tied him to the couch foot. I slowly lengthened it to where he could get around the entire LR. After awhile of that I took him off the leash and he was AOK after that. He had a large yard to run in so exercise was not the reason he marked. The other male who lived in a separate part of the house never marked. They were both stud dogs. Small dogs and hounds, with SOME exceptions are harder to housebreak. The pup you get will grow up to have the traits that pro breeders breed for if you bought from a pro person. If you bought from a pet shop, pet farm or backyard breeder than since they practice NO quality control you have NO idea what traits are latent in the genes. You get a pig in a poke. Most pro breeders choose for stable and outgoing personality. ONE growl or snap or bite at a judge and that dog can never be shown again. Still, some breeds can be trained to behave in the ring and still not be friendly to strangers elsewhere. Know thyself equals know thy dog. Temperament problems can come from even 4 generations behind your pup, especially in the more aggressive types. There are no small problems with big dogs. Friendly pups do not always grow up to be friendly adults. Adult personality can easily be very different from puppy personality. If you are adopting I think a grown dog is the better choice as then you are quite sure of what you are going to live with. Personally I always choose an adult if possible, unless it is a really rare breed with few puppies bred and available in the market sense. In the rarer breeds adults are seldom available as they are usually not impulse buys since there is usually a waiting time for a puppy. Impulse buyers usually don't wait. They just buy another breed. Seeing the parents and other family members is a good idea. I would often have 3 or 4 generations living when I was breeding regularly, so buyers could see the dam, granddam and sometimes great granddam. Sometimes grown ups from previous litters out of the pups dam and/or sire. Sometimes sisters of the dam. It all makes for a fuller understanding of the objectives of the breeder and the range of type, size and personality in the bloodline ( which of course most sellers of dogs do not have). A bloodline is the breeding of one person for 7 or more generations. That can lead to distinct qualities that are prominent throughout the line : ie good toplines, heavy muscles, strong movement, deep and wide chests, small ears, dark eyes, and so on. This happens because the breeder chooses what to keep or breed to that have those qualities. THAT makes a real breeder. People who only do random breedings with no intention of aiming for producing correct dogs ought to take up another hobby. They only flood the market with inferior puppies with no benefit to the long term advance of the breed. That is a MINUS for the dogs and the...