Sat down for a few & saw this. Wow! Anyone watch the video from 2009? Have to say that something needs to be done. I bet he is also on gov't assistance because he's not left with enough to survive. I wish the story said how many each woman has with him. We don't know if the women are married & where they get help from. My guess would be there are 4 women that he's regularly had in his life & he keeps going back to them. He claims to know their names & birthdays. The one said he's good about giving her milk money even though she doesn't get support. My guess; he's getting some sort of help; probably gets food vouchers. Reminds me of Cody Brown. It's in the video; "they know what they're getting into" or what ever he said about them knowing that if they get knocked up; they can get in line with the rest. Something needs to be done. The government is broke; yet I know more people that are on public assistance then when I applied in the 80's. How I did not qualify is beyond me; yet I see all these people being reckless & somehow getting it. They trade food vouchers for cigs. They have more kids. There should be some kind of law that people go on long term birth control once they enter the system so they do not pop out more kids while on it- IUD or the Essure & in his case; they should offer vasectomy. They will cry it's against their rights to deny them having more children while on public assistance. I've seen this with my own eyes. Actually know of one that has been popping out 1 a year; is now on #4; husband is laid off; last kid has some sort of disability & won't be 1 until the summer. Apparently she's applying for social security to have gov't assistance for him. They don't have health insurance through his work so she gets medicaid. Some how they got a nice sized tax return & spent it recklessly. I don't talk about our situation; cancer killed us financially. When my hub went back to work 4/2010 after being out 7 months; he was on light duty until he was physically able to haul cars again. He worked slow & was just getting back into the swing when his company lost our bread & butter; about 6 months after he went back- 10 months after treatment ended. He was dealing with a bad immune system still; had MRSA; his Lupus was flaring & he kept getting thrush. He was exhausted; my private hell was that his cancer would return in his lungs. He went back to the light duty work & in March 2011 his company lost every other account they had except 1. With 28 years in; he was forced to jump ship to a job making 50% less. People that did not have his years in; somehow cut a deal when their company went under & they slid into my hubs board; keeping their original hire date with the old company which pushed them ahead of my hub. Friends of our have lost trucks; filed bankruptcy. We've tried to get my hub out of the new job since August 2011 & it finally happened in March; then he was out of work 3 weeks. I don't know what the future will hold. His old company was forced into bankruptcy the other day; so a few of his friends that were lucky to keep their job will be laid off tomorrow. It really ticks me off that hard working people like us can't easily get help; yet people like this keep getting hand outs. Something is seriously wrong. 2009 video Father, 29, in child support court says he has 21 kids KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- On paper, he has 20 possibly 21 children. With a minimum wage job, he can't afford to support them all. What is the state to do? Desmond Hatchett, 29, told WVLT he wasn't out to set a record, though he certainly holds it in Knox County Juvenile Child Support Court. Hatchett's children range in age from newborn 11. There are at least 11 mothers; probably several more. Constitutionally, there is nothing the state can do to limit him from having more. "I had four kids in the same year. Twice." Desmond Hatchett told Volunteer TV. On Friday, his name appeared on the docket 11 times; Representing about 15 of his 21 children. "Can you keep up with it all?" WVLT asked Hatchett. "Yeah," he said. "You know all their names, and ages and birthdays?" "Yeah." Hatchett's name is pretty controversial at the old courthouse. "The children can't be supported all by Desmond, so the state of Tennessee has had to step in," Hatchett's attorney Keith Pope said. It's your tax dollars at work. WVLT spoke with one mom who has two children with Hatchett. She is supposed to get $67.50 a month. But many times, she gets a lot less than what she's owed. They all do. "It'll make it through half the month," the unidentified mom said. She told Volunteer TV, Hatchett is the father of her two sons. And she says her 4-year-old is expensive enough on his own. "He's a heavy milk drinker. And milk is not cheap," she said. "It's frustrating, but usually, when I ask he give it to me," she continued. It's due process-- the state is only allowed to take 50% of Hatchett's paycheck. That's 50% split multiple times. "You look at when they filed, how many children they have-- he has several mothers that he has two children with. And, it's tough" Pope explained. Still, Hatchett says the women knew what they were getting into. They were all aware of his large family. One said, she doesn't like it but she deals with it. "It's about the kids. Not the parents," she said. Hatchett agrees he should do what's best for the kids. "Do you intend to keep having children?" WVLT asked. "No." Hatchett replied. "You're done?" "I'm done. I'll say I'm done." "What made you say that?" "I didn't intend to have this many. It just happened," Hatchett said. Desmond Hatchett spent part of Friday afternoon jailed while a child support referee decided how to split up the $400 he brought to court. If he doesn't pay what he owes, he will go back to jail because he is on an automatic jail order. The mothers of Hatchett's children are supposed to get anywhere from $25 to $309 a month, but when his paycheck is garnished amongst them all, some women only get a $1.98 a month. Here is a link that might be useful: Father, 29, in child support court says he has 21 kids

I will offer advice based on my own experience. First of all, I don't really believe that there is a one-size-fits-all solution for all dogs and all situations. I do believe that your dog needs to know that you are the boss. I do not, however, like to hear people talk of "domination" or "pack leader." You must, first and foremost, protect your child. I would think that a terrible bite on a child could happen in a matter of seconds, and you would not be able to sufficiently intervene in time. Just because it has "never" happened before, doesn't mean it can't. You have to exercise reasonable caution. I would guess that he is stressed from the change of having a baby in the house. This can be a major adjustment for some dogs and dealing with a dog undergoing this stress has been well documented. One of my favorite dog behaviorists is Dr. Dodman. I'm attaching a link below to his books. If you google his name, you'll see that he offers advice as a guest on many websites and programs, too. He is not a fan of Cesar Milan's methods. Taking him on bike rides and walks is great! We used to babysit a Dalmatian and they are definitely hyper dogs. Giving him that exercise can only be good. I also think that making a dog perform SOME subservient type things like allowing you out the door first reinforces that you are the boss, but being super dominant to the point of scaring a dog or breaking its spirit isn't very constructive, IMHO. My dog was an Irish Wolfhound, adopted at 5 months. He would growl at the kids if they walked near him when he was chewing on a chewy or eating. I think this is innate behavior. Not at my husband or me, just the kids. Perhaps he felt that they were competition bc of their size. Perhaps he just respected us more as the bosses. When he would exhibit this behavior, we would immediately scold him and take away his treat. We then worked on the "leave it" command with the treats (not the food), where he would only be allowed to have the treat when we said it was ok, even if it was laying right next to him. We wanted him to lose the proprietary feeling toward the treat. Within a safe distance, and with both of us supervising, we would have the oldest child (12) walk near the dog and immediately scold him and take away the treat if he showed any signs of aggression. We then did this with the younger child (7). Eventually, we were able to shorten the distance and ultimately taught him to allow the kids to actually take the treat away. He eventually learned that aggressive behavior was unacceptable and where he landed in the hierarchy. Now - he was a puppy at the time first of all, AND the kids were older. This was my experience with my dog. I had a neighbor who bought a St. Bernard as a puppy and the minute it showed any aggression toward her daughter, she had it put to sleep, saying that a dog is either docile or not. So there are differing opinions on what can be taught, at what age, and to what breed. That's why I encourage you to read material by some respected behaviorists and try some initial related training to see how successful you are. Training a dog is highly dependent on timing and clarity so that they can understand exactly what you want them to do. And it requires a lot of consistent repetition. CamG, you sound very intelligent and sensitive to me. If, after reasonable efforts, your dog cannot be trained appropriately, you may have to find him a new home. Having to make that decision is the last resort, of course, but may be necessary in YOUR situation. Rather than CL, it might be better to turn your dog over to a no-kill shelter that will have adoption safeguards in place. I do hope you can keep him as a member of your family, tho. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Nicholas Dodman

Just catching up on reading everyone's posts. So glad you are okay Christine, that was scary! Congrats on the new job as well. Jawiva, isn't it exciting when seeds what you plant sprout? My husband and I have been trying out grafting. We wanted to graft our favorite mango (Kent) onto less favorite trees. We tried different methods suggested to us, but what finally worked was when he wrapped the splice in electrical tape. Ha! It is now sprouting leaves. We are so excited! TG, I want that rotating shoe rack. I have just the perfect thing to make it too. I have a SS super Susan insert stored under my bed. Dh and I both have a hard time saying no to freebies. In his line of work, we constantly "inherit" stuff. I had planned to use it somewhere, but of course it's been under the bed for 3 years now. Now I know it's purpose! Maybe someday I will be as organized as you Beachum. It will feel so good to have my home back in order and not a construction zone. One of these days, or years, or decades....I know Christine can relate to the years/decade part. :-} So check out the latest that we just scored for free. Yes Frrrreeee! Our friends manage this gazillion dollar home and due to a bathroom pipe leak, it made some slight water damage to the outside finish of this tub. Oh no the horror! Yes, the insurance paid for them to buy a brand new one from South Africa for $10,000. The shipping alone was probably another 10 grand. Our friend called and asked if we wanted it. Um, yah. It's too big for my master bathroom project. Instead I'm going to use it as an outdoor soaking tub on the cabin's lanai. It looks like this now.... But picture this!!! Mgmum, I think that is a great idea to open up that wall for extra light. I can totally see a pool table or foosball table for the teenagers in that part of the L. Heatheron, that is so nice of you to do all that for your MIL. Wow, 97! It all looks lovely. Jml, that jetted tub will be amazing. I love the soapstone surround. Keep us posted. You too, swedepie. CP, That is awesome news about buying the half lot and expanding the home a little. Now the isle between the corner of the island and your wall with the built-in will be plenty. I would love you to come to Hawaii someday. And that goes for all of you!

Thank you ALL for the great suggestions--so many good ones and I hear a lot of voices of experience in your recommendations. I saw a few things that his older sibs were annoyed or perplexed at having to do for themselves as teens (make appointments, address envelopes, buy stamps--you'd have thought I was asking them to carve the Rosetta Stone). I am making a list to bring to the table when we pow-wow. (I asked him to come up with his own list of what he feels he needs to learn/improve, so we can collaborate.) Neetsie--funny that you mention cursive. When I saw the beginning of his list yesterday, cursive was on it! bpat home, don't kick yourself too hard about the OT. My boy had 4.5 years of it and still can't tie shoes well, write very neatly or enjoy activities like making things out of Legos. That was a lot of weekly appointments and $ that accomplished very little. For those who expressed concerns about how he spends his time, fear not. He isn't laying on the sofa eating bonbons all day. Between school and sports we are lucky to have two hours a day for dinner and homework, plus the daily chores he has always had. He does his laundry (sloppy folding, no ironing), takes turns cleaning the bathroom (not well---so that's on my list), empties or loads the dishes, rakes leaves and cuts grass (badly, but regularly). Whereas older siblings often had to "be mom for a day" for the younger kids while I was at work, now there is nobody younger left. Nobody is counting on him for dinner when I'm not home, so if he'd rather just eat cereal, he does. I'm excited about this project, for him and for me. I'm thinking we will focus on time and money management, cooking, and making appointments at first. Mrs. Pete, I was thinking about the monthly allowance already, I think that is a great idea and one I should have implemented a few kids ago. Two of my older kids needed more practice at planned spending before they left home, and I feel that I did them a disservice. Lesson learned!