"I was kind of surprised that so many owners let their dogs come over and sniff and interact. Cricket was happy about this but I wasn't that pleased to have several dogs come over to her after her experience. She, in turn, wanted to go over and see any other animal that was brought in. Does that mean she is ok about other dogs? Should I be watching for some behavior that would indicate a problem?" Cricket is young yet but still she was attacked and it was a pretty aggressive attack from the wounds she suffered. I would watch her very carefully. If another dog shows any aggression or even alerts, perked ears and direct eye contact, I bet Cricket will react and how she will react is unknown and this can change with maturing too. She could react with aggression or maybe lay down or maybe go between your legs or try to run away. But you will have to be aware of her behavior around other dogs. Cricket's body language will tell you what she is going to do, but you will have to recognize her signals and either comfort her fear or correct her. You must always praise for good behavior, not okay behavior but correct behavior. If she is fearful, not aggessive but just a bit fearful, just pat her head and when she looks up to you for assurance say "Good girl"! And when you have to correct her, say a collar correction and a "NO" and she obeys by stopping whatever she is doing always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, reward with "Good Girl"! My dogs would rather have 1 "Good girl/boy" then an entire prime rib!! If you, the owner, are afraid of the situation, Cricket is going to pick up your fear and react to that. Again, this can be a touchy situation. It is hard to hide our own feelings as the dog will pick up everything in our body language. For instance, when we lived in the city I walked my dog 3 times a day. It was the weirdest thing but he would grumbled at illegally parked cars and it did not matter if they were in the alley or on the street. I always thought this was so funny that he recognized illegally parked cars until I figured out that he was picking up on my own disgust at the strange cars and the total disregard for our neighborhood! I can tell from the wounds that Cricket was submitting when she was attacked. She was on her back and had turned her hind end towards the other dogs. This is submissive behavior and usually the dominant dog will only sniff then and not attack. Something else was going on during the attack or maybe prior to it and I am just not experienced enough to see it. I have a friend that can tell by the wound what drive the biter was in, but this takes years and years of observation. Another interesting point is that the aggressor usually has head wounds only, as they are going into a fight head first and it is the submissive dog that suffers body wounds usually neck, hind area, feet and stomach. Drives are so interesting and a dog can go from 1 drive to another very fluidly. For instance if you throw a ball and the dog runs after it, this is Prey Drive. But when he returns it to you, as a fetch, this is Pack Drive. Herding is just a fetch, so usually done in Prey Drive, and again when the dog brings the sheep in to the owner, this is Pack Drive. Fight is not hard to understand and any dog no matter how submissive and loving does have Fight Drive, it might be very low, but it is always there. Flight is the one drive, I've seen only a few times, and mostly with a young dog or pup. But any animal fleeing for his life is scared and therefore the behavior is unpredictable and many bites occur during Flight Drive. For instance, I had a friend that I trained with for a time. She had her dog strapped into his seat belt next to her when she came to class. One time, a fire truck passed them and the dog was startled by the siren and lights and bit the owner right on the face. The dog could not flee and so bite out of fear. This was not the dog's fault as he was just scared and did not know what to do. The owner should have had the dog in the car more often so the dog was socialized to traffic situations. And the dog should not have been in the front seat. Each individual dog can vary in the level of pack, prey, fight or flight drive. Personally, I've never had a dog high in fight or flight drive and I don't think I would want a dog high in flight or fight. Cricket will be fine, but I do think you should be aware of her behavior when interacting with other dogs. Personally, because of what happened to my own pup and her dog aggression that I've never been able to work out of her, I am very careful with strange dogs approaching my puppies. Other puppies or young dogs are generally no problem, but mature dogs could cause another negative situation. Don't avoid other dogs, keep your dog on lead and watch carefully the dogs, all the dogs, body language. If you see anything you are hesitant about don't let Cricket make any decisions, put Cricket in a heel and walk away from the situation. The more you work with your dog, especially in obedience, the more confident the dog will be in you and in turn, in himself. Michelle

I always enjoy the athleticism of some people gained by jumping to conclusions! Branding him a "loser" without any more info than he's unemployed. I guess I'll have to remember every time someone says they're out of a job here, to remind them that they're a "loser". And to be married and unemployed, sounds like we've had a few "winners" around here! I agree with much of what Wildchild says, but obviously not all. And nycefarm and paula_pa really hit the nail on the head. There are lines across which people cannot cross and be my friend so yes, I will put conditions on a friendship! You will not embezzle from me and remain my friend is one thing. You will not lie about me, damage my reputation and get me into trouble unjustly and remain my friend. There are certain things that are beyond acceptability. At the same time I can accept differences where it's not something major. Each person has their own level at which choose how major something is. Why would the wife stay with him? Could be a lot of reasons. Could be she doesn't want a divorce. Could be that she believes in her wedding vows and takes them seriously. Not everyone finds divorce as fashionable as do some. Could be she's waiting for him to go back to work to try and get more in a settlement. Could be she knows nothing about it. Could be she's a nutcase. Could be a lot of reasons and without knowing more it's pretty arrogant to condemn either one of them. Do we even *know* there *is* a wife??? LOL We don't even know if the guy is in agreement with the friend! I know how that goes from experience! A co-worker and I would get together quite often. We were good friends and nothing more. We shared a crazy work schedule and it wasn't compatible with other friends for various reasons so she'd get together, talk, go to flea markets, go out to eat, but certainly not a "date" by any means. It was clear I didn't want more with her, especially after getting to know her better. It didn't take long to figure out why she was divorced three times! Massive trouble handling money and other issues. But we were friends, would help each other out occasionally as friends do. But then the sideways comments about when we're getting married coming in from other co-workers and other friends. Well, she was telling them that we were getting married. Uh, not quite. So, it might be a good idea for some of you folks to remember what happens when you assume. AFAIC, if the husband and wife are on the same page that it's over and is an issue of time, I have no problem with someone seeing someone else. If it's a platonic relationship anyway, which it could be - we do not know, I have no problem with that either. I do think, as a friend, I would say something about how I feel about it, but especially on this topic, I'd give it some deep thought and decide if I'm a little too demanding. I realize there's many who subscribe to the if you an't say anything "nice"... I'd advise you simply proceed with caution. Make your feelings known. But to cut off the relationship at this point could certainly hurt you a lot more than them. Especially if you don't know the facts. And maybe when you think about it, there's a way you can work this out in your own mind. OJ, you can just open up a second window and switch back and forth when you need to reference something. I find it easier than scrolling up and down the page. Ctrl+alt+shift+N will duplicate the page, including the page history in Opera. And you can refresh the page and see if anything new has been added while you're typing if it should happen to get lengthy.

I am having the same problem , i know my husband for 7 years but married a year and half my son was 7 when we met, he decided to call him daddy but he was okay and he started treating my son badly, i left in 2019 for him to get help, he did and we got married in 2020 he was good to my son in the entire 2020 till our marriage in dec 2020 my son got on very well with him then we moved into a house he bought and then the nonsense started he shows no love and reprimands my son all the time and we have to walk on egg shells with him, he treats my son badly and says i dont shout at my son or reprimands him which i always do and give him the rope to discipline him, but nothing my son does or say is right in his eyes, i left in may 2022 and he still is picking on my son ,but even he did go for counselling but nothing has changed i cannot expose my son to this, because i choose my son all the time, and i will always, my son is 12 now, and he does not want to ever see my husband again and he said he will never ever call him dad he has damaged my child and therefore i will never go back, he is toxic and a narcissist, he has uprooted my son and my life so many times and i have had enough and i am done, i love my child too much to allow him to treat him this way, i love my husband as well, but at the end what is the sense in having a house but not a home.My son is my life and i will not allow anyone to treat him that way, i dont deny my son does things and is naughty as well, but to be treated like you always wrong is not on, my son talked about suicide as well, so that we can be happy and that pushed me over the edge,i wont lose my child to a man, i also have cancer and he is the one that is aggravating my cancer because i stress so much what is he doing to my son, we are emotionally abused by this man, he walked away from 2 marriages because of the children and by the way it way his own so there is no way he will tolerate mine. any advise for me

Things change quickly with a baby. I wanted bright and colorful so all these subdued pastels have me ready for a nap. My nursery had nothing on the floor a toddler would want to climb on or pull over to be used to help climb. That shelving with the lamp on top--DANGER DANGER WILL ROGERS. What feeding accouterments? LOL I nursed all mine until they slept through the night. We had a dimmer switch on the overhead light--the only light in the room. At night feedings I could quietly in subdued light nurse and change baby with little or no noise or activity. Baby went right back to sleep.I had a soft sculpture (Noah's ark and several animals velcroed to the wall above baby's changing table. Language learning was important to me so baby and I did a lot of animal noises and descriptions of fur and size etc. They came on and off easily for baby as they grew and needed something to keep them busy. I too would have your chair kiddy corner. I hope it rocks. I second the no time/need for feet up but everyone is different. No cords, on drapes/shades/lamps. Safety first. Love the fun knobs idea for the dresser. I would find a shade and go with a valance. I know they aren't THE THING--but they are safest for baby. Before you blink drapes will be used to pull himself up. Drapery rods pull away fairly easily. Have fun, I so miss those years!!!