Hi Linda - I remember you from other Forums but can't remember which ones. I think I even responded to one. K-J is right, sometimes we are a bit rowdy but all in good taste. But as I'me getting older, I realize that the past generations really knew how to make the best of it and to have fun, even just with each other. My Mom retired from Howard University after 30 yrs and then became a member of the retirees organization. When she passed, the other members kind of took me under their wing. I had never had so much fun!! Now as I'm getting closer to that age, I've found that the fun things that "old" people do, are just that - FUN! We laugh here, and we cry here, but we also share here so that after we cry, we can all start having fun again - LOL. But I really luv these guys a lot! Glad to see you here too! gng

I'll put my trust in Jewel's assessment, for what it's worth. She's known both parties and seen the fall out every year. She's seen the vindictive behavior of the XH and how her friend has had to pay thru the nose to deal with his childishness. And through her job, she's privy to insider information that she has wisely NOT passed along to her friend, even though it would give that friend some sense of relief and satisfaction and possibly even legal grounds for some other action. Her friend isn't the one under investigation by her office, the MAN is and he isn't cooperating, to the detriment of his child. That says a lot to me and apparently, to the people in her office, too, since they're going to be taking some kind of action. It's all fine and good to play devil's advocate, but it's kind of silly to argue that SHE doesn't know when obviously, she's immersed in it. I think it's safe to say that Jewel is a person capable of identifying a sleazeball (my word, not hers) without too much trouble. And I always have to laugh- no matter what the post is about, some people just have to be the nay-sayer, even when they have less information to go on than the OP, who made the original statement. It's getting to where no one will even dare to say "wow, the sky is blue here today!" because someone else will come in and argue it with them. Sheesh.

Thank you all for your kind words. I still haven't heard more about what specifically happened, I'm not sure they know yet. I know her beloved dogs and horses are being cared for while things are being figured out. My wife, who was out of town all weekend, reminded me that our friend had been having some "heart issues" over the last year, so maybe the flu wasn't a factor, or maybe she didn't have the flu at all, and it was misdiagnosed, or maybe it was a combination between the flu and the "heart issues"

Bestyears, I was keeping it vague because discussing dog training methods can be equal to politics! Try telling some of the militant rescue groups that you will be using a different training method than the one they strictly follow ... you will never get a dog from them! Here are two articles from two opposite theories that gives you an idea of how they think. 1) https://positively.com/victorias-blog/balanced-dog-training-theres-nothing-balanced-about-it/ 2) https://www.nitrocanine.com/blog/2015/06/12/in-defense-of-balanced-training/ With my rescue I started out with a purely positive trainer. It worked great in the house and yard as the dog is very food motivated ... BUT outside none of the training made a difference. Critters and the chase were a much higher reward than anything I could offer. I even tried carrying filet mignon! I was being dragged around town by a crazy dog ... even with the easy-walk harness the positive trainer told me to buy. The dog just walked sideways and pushed into the harness. The last straw was when on a walk the dog nearly knocked me, and my father, to the ground when trying to get a squirrel. I had to kick the dog to stop her lunging and get us untangled (my Dad also had our smaller dog on leash). I looked for a different approach and found "balanced" training. The trainer I found is slightly different from #2 above in that they do use food rewards. Happy to message you a link to the training program website and the actual trainer I used. We now go on off leash hikes and I get stopped regularly by people who comment on her behavior and level of training. I got so many questions that I started carrying business cards for the trainer!! One of those people actually contacted and used my trainer, even thought she isn't local. Do your research and choose the trainer and method that best works for you and your dog. The best method will most likely be a combination of several different ones.