How to choose the right dog for your family

TDr. Susan Wright. Dog Fence DIY will help you choose the right system for your pets needs. Dog Fence DIY carries a ton of different brands. Be sure to check out the famous IUC 5100 contain and train system for the best available prices. For more dog fence information see here.

When you’re ready to add a dog to your family, it’s important that you do your homework before you choose your four legged family member. Don’t ever buy a dog on impulse or it may lead to heartache for both you and the dog.

There are many factors to consider before you choose a dog.

1. How is your budget? Big dogs eat more food, and if they become ill, they need more medication as it is usually calculated on body weight. If you’re a bit tight for cash, don’t choose a large dog that will cost more to keep than you can afford.

2. How much space do you have? If you live in an apartment, a Great Dane or a St Bernard can be disastrous for your home décor. Dogs love to be inside with us. Be realistic, and choose a dog that won’t take up too much space inside your home.

3. Different breeds and mixes need different amounts of exercise. If you’re a couch potato, don’t choose a working breed. The dog will be miserable, and his boredom will lead to holes in the backyard and laundry pulled off the line. These dogs are also very intelligent, and you do need to spend time training them to keep them mentally stimulated. If you have a busy lifestyle, you’ll be much better off with a dog that enjoys sharing the couch with you. It may even be worth getting two dogs to keep each other company if you’re out a lot.

4. Do you have children in the house? Young children can accidentally injure small dogs, so avoid choosing any of the toy breeds or any tiny mixed breeds, for their own safety. Similarly, large dogs can inadvertently knock a child over and hurt them.

5. Should you choose a puppy or an adult dog? Again, this depends on how much time you have, and your budget. A puppy needs more frequent vaccinations and neutering, so they can be a bit more expensive. They also need more of a time investment to train them, and teach them where they can go to the toilet. On the other hand, an adult dog may have already been house-trained, and may also have been neutered and vaccinated. Rescue dogs from an animal shelter can be a real bargain, and these dogs have lots of love to give.

Ultimately, whatever dog you choose, you must make sure you can meet his physical, mental and emotional needs. If you get it wrong, it is the dog that suffers the most, and that’s not fair. Give some serious thought to what you want in a dog, speak to other dog owners, breeders, vets and trainers to gain some insight into what breeds might be suitable for you. Only then make the decision on what type of dog suits your family, because when you choose the right dog for you, you have a loving and loyal friend for life.

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale – Review and Giveaway

MBarbie in A Mermaid Tale. This movie is about a girl named Merliah. She goes on an adventure to save her mother and the people of Oceana and meets some new people on the way. One friend she meets is a dolphin named Zuma who helps Merliah defeat her mother’s evil sister, Eris. As queen, Eris controls the people of Oceana with whirlpools that are impossible to escape. Merliah has to get three tools to defeat Eris, so she goes on an adventure to get what she needs. To find out more, you’ll have to watch the movie.

I liked this movie because I think Barbie is amazing, and she gets to have all sorts of adventures. I also love mermaids and sometimes wish I could be one! I would love to be able to breath under water and have a tail of my own. I also like this movie because whoever Barbie is playing, she learns a lesson. In this movie, she learns that what makes you different can be your greatest strength.

You should get this movie because there’s lots of action and because of Barbie’s cool adventures in Malibu and Oceana. Also, at the end of the movie, there is a music video called “She’s the Queen of the Waves.”
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Convincing, no? 😉 If you have a Barbie fan in your house, then you’ll be happy to know that I have five copies of Barbie in A Mermaid Tale to giveaway. (1 movie per winner) Here is how you can enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post. (Required. Value: 1 entry.)

2) Tweet about this post. (and leave a comment here telling me you did). Click here to tweet it now. (Optional. Value: 1 entry.)

3) If you have a blog or website, link to this post. (and leave a comment here telling me you did) (Optional. Value: 2 entries.)

Contest ends March 22nd, 2010 at 10pm MST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winners. I’ll contact the winners via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, if I don’t receive a response, another winner will be chosen.

*Disclosure note: We received a free copy of the movie for the purpose of this review.

Book Review: The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind

I was given the opportunity to review a new book that will be coming out, and I thought I’d break from the standard here and ask a friend of mine to help me out and write the review for me:

The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind.  By Barbara Burke.  Northfield, MN: Front Wheel Learning, 2006; pp. 1+138.  $16.99 softcover.

Reviewed by Katherine Weinstein, Ph.D.

It’s no secret that customer service work poses its own special challenges on a very personal level.  Assisting disgruntled customers on a nearly daily basis can test and even dishearten the most positive and stalwart employee.  Barbara Burke’s The Napkin, the Melon and the Monkey provides both helpful advice to lift the emotional burdens of stressed employees and guidelines for better communication in the workplace.

Burke’s sage advice is packaged in the story of Olivia, a struggling customer service rep at a power company, and Isabel, the wise co-worker who takes her under her wing. Under Isabel’s guidance, Olivia learns to emotionally step back from stressful situations and have a SODA—Stop, Observe, Decide and Act. She begins by taking time every day to mentally “unplug,” and finds that the daily breaks help her to find calm in the middle of workplace turmoil.  Once Olivia is able to stop taking her customers’ angry outbursts personally and actually helps them, her life at work and at home takes a positive turn.

The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey is jam-packed with Olivia’s 22 “aha!” moments which are repeated over and over throughout the book.  These include nuggets of wisdom such as “A simple apology works wonders” and “Winners don’t just point out problems.  They fix them.”  According to the book’s cover, the author has a customer service training program that incorporates the lessons of the book.  You can almost see the Powerpoint presentation in your mind as you read along!

Burke’s book clearly has value as a tool to help employees communicate better with difficult customers and deal with the emotional stress of their jobs.  However, some of the books “aha!” revelations are of the pat variety you might find printed on an “inspirational” poster next to a picture of a waterfall—ie. “Real freedom comes from letting go of the outcome.”  The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey gives us a laundry list of such platitudes, but doesn’t always show how to apply these concepts in everyday life in a meaningful way.