What would I do? What have I done? All of it. Not only have I walked onto the neighbors dogs on a rampage trying to get at my llamas (thank god for strong fences) they then turned on me and I had to make a weapon out of anything I could grab. I have found tom cats killing my cat's kittens inside my house after they tore off the screen in the window to get in. I have beaten raccoons in the head with an extra large flashlight with all of my 200+ lbs while they were trying desperately to get into a bird cage where I had a breeding pair of cockatiels - only to have them hiss and walk away, and I mean I hit them hard over and over. You won't win. The only thing to do is build a super strong fortress around your place and only let your animals out when you can defend them. At one time I had many large coops for show poultry as well as the llamas and some sheep. I could only afford to build super strong pens for some of them. It took a lot of management, I had to spend a lot of time shuttling animals from secure pens to pasture. It was a big pain - but after building the fortress I never lost another animal, I never had to poison or trap anything, I never had to shoot anything, I never had to confront another neighbor over what their dogs were doing on my property. My animals adapted to the routine and it made living in the country much more peaceful and not a war zone. At the time I didn't have a dog and I was amazed at my neighbors behavior. We would have neighborhood meetings to discuss problems and I would loudly announce that the best thing about the fourth of July was that hot dog weiners and antifreeze were both on sale and that I wasn't going to waste my bullets teaching their dogs manners. I never poisoned anything but you would think these people would realize the problems they were causing. Nothing worked. I eventually moved away and now years later I have once again moved out in the country. Everybody that visits asks when I am going to get livestock again - they miss the llamas and the sheep and the chickens. I don't plan on getting anything until I build a fortress around the whole place, strong enough to keep my stuff in and their stuff out. You need strong fences if you want to run guardian dogs - sometimes they mistake a jogger or someone walking the road as a threat and they slip through the fence to bite the intruder. You'll have another problem if your dog kills someone on a public street.

/tricia, beautiful pieces, beautifully displayed. I love copper! I collect cookbooks. Haven't counted in several years, But I'm guessing I have at least 300 to 400. I really prefer those put out by organizations, as fund raisers. But I do have a lot of commercial books, too. And many of the small 'booklet' type, Such as those put out by Pillsbury, etc, Covering specific types of recipes. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets, Not particularly as a collection, But just because I like them. You could call me a 'gadgetaholic' I guess. In fact, I like tools of all kinds. And then there are dishes. Again, not intended to be a 'collection'. I just like them. And enjoy having several different sets. None would be of any particular value, to anyone but me. (Such as the set that was my Mother's "Sunday" set, And a few pieces that were brought from Germany.) Some of the Depression Glass I have Might have some value to some collectors. Rusty

"First i suggest you take a couple of courses in human psychology." Your inability to hold this conversation reflects not on my education. "Half of humans will love to a fault almost and the other half will hate to a fault." Dogs have done the same. If you doubt that nurture has an effect on dog behavior, then you're not observing close enough. "If this is instinct it is the antithesis of any known explanation of instinct." I've not said that humans or dogs act purely from instinct. I've called into question the analysis that calls human emotion valid and also dismisses the possibility of animal emotion out of hand. "Do you really beleive you stumble through life without ... " I've not said that either. Read more carefully. I've said that it cannot be proven. How an animal (including humans) reacts to a stimulus is definitely driven in part by instinct. Some other part is based on life experiences (tell me about your childhood...). Nonetheless- 2 children raised in the same exact environment may have 2 different "personalities" and react differently. The same can be said of animals. The abused dog may be agressive or meek (same as the child). The culture (or household) that a person is raised in shapes their reactions and personality (as well as how they feel about any given situation)- same can be said of an animal.

I have my own story about food stamps going back to the early 70's. I don't know when the program started, but it sure was handled differently back then. I was newly divorced with two small kids and had just started a job at the minimum wage of $2 an hr. I'd been a SAHM mom during my marriage and sure wasn't prepared for this dramatic change. I was so scared and worried about feeding us and I did qualify for food stamps which were in paper form. At the scheduled time, I had to go to our Main Post Office and pay cash for the stamps I could afford. Only once did I have enough cash to buy my full amount; the rest was kept and no longer available to me. Gosh, I didn't like shopping with those darn things. I was only able to buy these stamps 2 or 3 times before I realized I could shop better on my own with my own little budget. FYI: Sadly, at that time, I only received $100 a month in child support for my 10 yr. old DD and my infant son. It took that amount to pay for child care for the baby so I could work. I wouldn't wish that kind of life for anyone. :( I just can't imagine people would prefer living that way, but I know it happens.