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I just received some really great comments from Willie and Frankie's breeder on this article: Is Spot Happy? Just Look At His Tail Thought I'd post her comments below. By the way, you know I can find anything on the web. so here's the link to the actual study paper. Ha! ===================== As someone who has worked with dog training, dog and pack behavior as well as spending a lot of time rehabilitating abused dogs the majority of my entire life, and professionally as a young adult up until now, (I'm 42, started at my grandfather's AKC CH Beagel Kennel when I was 8) that's 36 years of multiple breed training, redcue and rehabilitation, competition, and breeding Labrador Retrievers...always learning new thing along the way. In addition to certifications acheieved, etc...now in my older years, I am still a very small-time breeder, having cut down on my kennel size, and I am ANAL when it comes to morals, ethics, education, and plain old common s

Ok, yer asking, what am I looking at here? Lizards, big deal. Well, it is a big deal! These are two of my prehensile-tailed skinks . They are of the subspecies Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti (Cza). What's with the Latin? Well, this particular subspecies is one of two for the Corucia zebrata lizard (prehensile skinks). And they are very rare in captivity. So rare in fact that my female Cza is only one of 9 females known to be in captivity in the United States (owned by "U.S. Americans" ... if you get that, yer an internet addict). I recently acquired a male Cza for my female hoping to breed them someday. At first, introductions were sketchy. Lots of biting on the female's part, and lots of running away on the male's part. With a lot of patience, they are now the best of friends. In fact, the other night when I took most of these pictures, the female had actually pushed herself underneath the male... as if to say... "DO ME"! I'll post more. Hec

I have dreadlocks. This is not my goal.

Now this worries me. Could we be creating a future generation of mentally disabled adults? It's almost 2hrs long, so get something to drink, and a healthy snack, and take it all in. Especially if you have young children.

Helmsley's dog gets $12 million in will Helmsley Pooch Inherits $12 Million NEW YORK (AP) -- Leona Helmsley's dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley's grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire's estate. Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court. She also left millions for her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who was named to care for Trouble in her absence, as well as two of four grandchildren from her late son Jay Panzirer - so long as they visit their father's grave site once each calendar year. Otherwise, she wrote, neither will get a penny of the $5 million she left for each. Helmsley left nothing to two of Jay Panzirer's other children - Craig and Meegan Panzirer - for "reasons that are known to them," she wrote. But no one made ou

RAMAPO, N.Y. (AP) -- Every dog has its day, and for those in this suburban town it's Sept. 9: That's when the pooches will have a pool party. For the fourth year, Ramapo will mark the end of the dog days of summer with a canine swim at the town pools at the Spook Rock Park. The event raises money for animal care, educates people about dogs, and gives the dogs a chance to have some doggone fun, organizers said Monday. More than 250 dogs took a dip at last year's event, called the Dog Days of Summer K-9 Pool Party. Smaller dogs used the kiddie pool, while larger dogs used the main pool. The town stopped the pools' chlorine treatment before the event because it couldn't figure out a way to keep the dogs from drinking the water. Humans weren't allowed in while the dogs were swimming.

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) -- A friendly young antelope found cavorting with a dog along a walking path was probably picked up illegally in Wyoming and may be too tame to return to the wild, wildlife authorities say. A family believed to have brought the animal to Colorado could face charges that carry fines and jail time, said Larry Rogstad, a district officer for the state Division of Wildlife. The 3-month-old, 15-pound buck was spotted Wednesday morning, running and playing with a neighborhood dog named Skeeter along on the Poudre River trail, a path that runs through Greeley and the nearby town of Windsor. "It's just the craziest thing I've ever seen," said Ronda Underwood. "We were just riding along the trail and saw this antelope playing with a dog." She said the antelope came up to her, nuzzled its head and neck along her leg and seemed almost to beg to be petted. Rogstad was summoned for fear that the antelope would be attacked by the numerous coyotes in th

Secret Letter from Iraq A Marine’s Life from October 6, 2006 All: I haven’t written very much from Iraq. There’s really not much to write about.More exactly, there’s not much I can write about because practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military information or is depressing to the point that I’d rather just forget about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So it’s a bit of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that’s worth reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days, every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions. Every challenge demands a response. It’s like this every day. Before I know it, I can’t see straight, because it’s 0400 and I’ve been at work for 20 hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And once again I haven’t

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See, here's the deal... I burn x amount of calories a day, so I make sure I only eat x amount of calories per day. Simple, right? Not at first. Mainly because I'm so damn inactive and I burn very few calories in a day. So my caloric intake seems very low. But for my activity level, I actually eat just right, about 1400-1600 calories a day. Forget 3 meals a day with snacks. I eat two meals a day and that's it. Fruit for dessert. Trust me, you get use to it. I don't feel hungry and rarely have hunger pangs or cravings. Luckily, I had many years to figure this out, with my activity level going down slowly. But my weight certainly did creep up on me. At one point a few years ago, I was almost 200 lbs. Granted, I am 6 ft tall, but still, 200 lbs was ridiculous. And it didn't help when using the wheelchair. The muscles in the arms have a hard time doing the job of the large muscles of the legs. But I lost 30 lbs by finally figuring out that I couldn't eat

SAN ANTONIO -- Military dogs go to basic training, too. Instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio teach dogs to tolerate the crack of gunfire and sputter of helicopters. The animals are trained to sniff for explosives on command, plus freeze and stare at suspicious objects. About 2,000 of these working dogs confront danger beside American soldiers, largely in the Middle East. With noses that detect scents up to a third of a mile away, many sniff for explosives in Iraq. Their numbers have been growing about 20 percent a year since the terrorist attacks of 2001. In doing their jobs, dozens of these dogs have also become war wounded, and their services are so valued that injured dogs are treated much like hurt troops. Some dogs evacuated to military veterinary centers hundreds of miles away, even to Germany and the United States for rehabilitation. Many recover and return to duty. People interested in adopting a military dog at the end of its service career may contact Lacklan

Yeah yeah, I know I haven't written in a while. It's weird, I'd like to write more about my experiences as a crip in this world, but alas, I don't get out much. I think writing about my experiences in my boring house would be just that... boring as hell. Not that I'm bored. I've got plenty to keep my busy. I'm almost finished editing my first movie... howze that?! I'll post it here soon I've been editing stuff now for the past few years or so and it's something I can do it from the comfort of my recliner. When I first was symptomatic and was spending less and less time on my feet, I was very depressed. I spent way more time watching TV (the OJ Simpson trial was on at the time) than I did on my computer. A good friend of mine found out about this and was furious. She knew what a major computer geek I was. She had a long talk with me. I tried to explain to her that I my legs were just not cooperating when it came to sitting in an office chair