I want to dry my food (like fruit, meat and such) so I can store it and carry it with me when I travel for long periods of time. Anyone who traveled for any amount of time knows bringing your own food saves money and saving money is important to me. I however do not want to use alot of salt (or if possible no salt.) to dry my food for I am trying to cut down on my sodium intake. Plus too much salt is bad for one’s health any ways. Any suggestions?

Any other do it your self suggestions (like vaccum sealing) to keep food for a long time?
Any advice on where to find a good yet low priced vaccum sealer or food dehydrator or a good yet cheap brand? What the average price of these things and where is a good place to buy them?

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So my dog is a maltese/poodle/shih tzu, and I brush her everyday with this type of comb: http://www.dog-supplies-advisor.com/images/markiii.jpg.
I do it the opposite way her fur grows – obviously – to seperate the hairs and avoid matting. But she already has multiple mats around her neck, on her ears and back! I don’t know what to do. I brush her everday for a good 10 minutes or so, even though she HATES it.
We already had this problem before and the vet had to cut off alot of her hair.
She’s kept clean, bathed regularily, and combed daily! She has about an inch and a half of hair but she continues matting.
What can I do and what could be causing this?
Thanks.

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Please read all details before answering. Yeah I know its alot of details. Essential though. I will definitely be picking a best answer. I have asked this question before but now I am adding more details. Thank you!

I am known as being a big animal lover. I have had pets all while growing up. I had a special bond with each of my pets. They were members of my family. All of my pets were very tame and very sweet. People have said I have a gift with animals.

When I first got married I made some mistakes. I was a 20 year old bored out of my mind and home alone all day. I had no health insurance or money to see a counselor or a doctor. I was trying to lower my med dose and then tried to get off of my meds on my own. Could not get a job and was not in school.

I flushed some unwanted live fish a few times. I would get pets, rehome them and then get new pets an obsessive amount of times. I let some unwanted cats go in a neighborhood. I did not want to those cats to be euthanized at the local pound. I thought I was helping them out in a way even though I knew it was discouraged. I did not want the cats to starve or be run over by a car. I hoped the cats would find a new family. The neighborhood was a good one, there was not much traffic, a stream was close by and there were many outdoor cats there already. But still it was animal abandonment/neglect.

Figured the fish would die quickly and noone really knows how much pain fish feel. I hoped the cats would find a new home as I said earlier. I did try to go look for the cats- found one and took it to a shelter. I realized animal abandonment was very wrong and did the better thing- took it to a shelter. I could not find a home for it. The other one I never found after trying to look for it numerous times. I really hope it found a good home.

I did not really realize what I was doing at the time. Surely I was not thinking straight! Thinking back on it now I wonder what I was thinking!! Humans are cruel, irresponsible sometimes. I was. I became something I never thought I would be- an animal abuser. Now I have never beaten, shot, stabbed or lit animals on fire. I have never put pets in the microwave, participated in dog fights or any other awful, similar things. My abuse was passive but still very wrong.

I felt incredible guilt and remorse. Had urges to injure myself. I felt I was just a cruel, worthless scum of a person and all other curse words there are. Thought seriously about suicide- why did I deserve to live? Felt I did not deserve to enjoy the birds singing outside or watch animal planet anymore (one of my favorite channels). Growing up I have always been such a animal lover! From all growing up the animal abuse was so out of chartacter for me.

I wondererd why why aunts cat that hates everyone would cuddle and purr on my lap everytime I would go visit. Or why my parents dogs still loved me. Couldn’t they sense the awful things I have done? Aren’t animals supposed to be good judges of character? Why did they still love me- I did not deserve their love.

Yeah I was a messed up human being. But what were my options? Stay messed up or change! I finally realized I had to forgive myself. I needed to change, big time!! I stopped the bad behavior and started being responsible. I saw a doctor at a free clinic, started taking my meds responsibly, actually held a job, donated to an animal shelter, became a better wife and will be going back to college soon. I decided to start small as far as taking care of life went- I got two goldfish and developed an interest for plants and flowers.

I promised myself to never flush live fish, never abandon/neglect again, never to get pets only to rehome and get a new pet.

I am thinking about trying another pet sometime in the future. It will probably be a pet I have already had in the past. I have had so many I really know which ones I want and which ones I never want to own again. I would just need to really commit to it and ask my husband to help perhaps. Or perhaps I should simply stick to fish and plants- let other people have pets. I could volunteer at an animal shelter if I wanted to be around animals. But I believe I could take care of a pet responsibly and commit to it. It is my decision. Perhaps I can only know if and when I am ready to try a pet again or not. I am curious on opinions though. So what say you? Yes, maybe, no or never to another pet. You can say why you think so- that would be particularly helpful in helping me decide. Thank you very much.

Oh. I am also thinking about my future children. Should every child have the opportunity to have a pet? I would want to teach my children how to take care of pets- the right way. I do not want them to make the same mistakes I did regarding animal abuse!

I do believe people can change and in second chances.

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maybe I’m confused..I see so many people stating they have therapy dogs..what kind of training do these dogs need to have and who do they register them through?
When I think of a service dog, I think of a seeing eye dog and know they need to go through (and pass) alot of training…what about these others?
I was hoping some of these owners could help me out…
my point exactly landi…

interesting: http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/program.cfm?page=3

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My German shepherd puppy is getting more aggressive everyday. she is 2 month old. i have a baby and a 2 year old son in the house. her bites are starting to hurt and makes my kids cry all the time. i know shes teething and all that but whatever i do is not working. i say NO! in a sharp voice and i give her alot of chewing toys but nothing seems to work. can anyone solve my problam?

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I really love my dog and it seems like alot of other people do. I love giving back to the community and think that taking my dog to see children in schools or elderly in a nursing home would be amazing. I currently work for my local humane society and have picked up alot of information about dogs, cats, and animals in general.

My dog is over one year old and is a Whippet/Viszla mix. She is up to date on everything and is fixed and microchipped.
She also knows sit, stay, down and speak.

I am just wondering what is required to make her a therapy dog.

She is awesome with children, other dogs and cats.

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I have talked to 3 different vets, one said it was her food. So we switched and tried several different kinds, that didnt work. The 2nd said it was a blockage, which is not the case because she eats fine and goes to the bathroom fine. The 3rd said it was a sinus infection in which she took meds for and still does it. SHe will throw up in bed at night and alot of the time when she jumps up from laying down. Its just a tiny bit and she usually catches it before it comes out but sometimes its alot. I have made an appt. with another vet but I would just like some opinions. Im not asking for rude answers about how I dont know how to take care of my pet, because I do. Has this happened to anyone else?

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Im not certified as a nursing assistant yet, i take my state aug 11. However i was just watching dogs 101 and they were showing a chihuahua being a therapy dog, just curious could mine be a therapy or service dog for the elderly. She is a very affectionate little dog. I don’t know what breed she is but she, in my opinion, would make a great dog to visit the elderly in nursing homes hospitals etc. She very loving, and loves to be touched by people. Her name is mary shes 2.

pictures below.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/highgummies/Picture128.jpg

and how do i do it if i can?
First off, no one said i was going to. i was just curious if it was possibly second, there is alot of nursing home abuse and the reason i chose this was because of the compassion i have for people. I wouldnt EVER NEGLECT patient and i wouldnt ever bring my dog with me to work. Second pitbull asswipe, shes not ugly she original, and shes probably best dog ive ever had, ive never heard of a chihuahua mix attacking and killing ppl have you? THIRD, Ive never had so many hateful people reply to simple question. this is getting ridiculous, all i want is a answer not opinons.

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I feed my cats Purina Heathful Life dry food, and Fancy Feast Elegants wet food… They enjoy all of this and it’s the more expensive brand over Friskies and what not…. BUT I still don’t know if it is good for them. I want to give them the best care ever and have thought of going on a raw meat diet but that’s alot of work… They are aged 4 and 10. Any advice?

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i had my 6 month old puppy almost fully house trained, then i moved, theres alot of other dogs in the area and she refuses to go outside. any tips?

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