How to choose the right dog for your family
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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.
iPhone App Giveaway – iMoo
A few months ago, I reviewed a very cute iPhone app called iMoo. Just a quick recap – it’s an electronic version of one of those “moo boxes” – with the added bonus that you can make your own recordings. I have an extra promo code to give away (free). If you’d like the application, leave me a comment. (First one to comment gets it). This offer is only good for one week. (until 4/4/2010)
Hello Muddah, hello Faddah, Here I am at Camp Granada
June is fast approaching. Yes, it’s only March, and you may disagree with me – but to me – it seems like June will be here much sooner than I’m prepared for.
For the first time ever, I’ve signed Rachel up to go to a (Jewish) sleep-away camp for two weeks. She’s going to have an absolutely fantabulous time, I know. The activities they’re going to do there are just amazing: Horseback riding, Archery, various sports: hiking, volleyball, softball, climbing. There’s all sorts of artistic activities too: music, drama, arts and crafts, photography.
And of course, there is an exposure to Judaism that I can’t fully give her here. She’ll be with other Jewish kids (although kids of other faiths are welcome to go to the camp – but my guess is that is somewhat rare). I’m hoping she will walk away from the camp with a deeper understanding of what it means to be Jewish – even though we don’t always follow all the “rules” here at home.
There’s an enormously long list of items I have to send her with. Many things I’ll have to buy (like a frame backpack – the kids hike and camp out in the woods one night). I have no idea how I’m going to fit all these things in her suitcase…
… and this begins the explanation of why June feels like an unstoppable train headed this way. As much as I know she’s going to have an incredible time. As much as she’s looking forward to it – she’s barely been away from home for an overnight. Granted she’s very independent, but still. I know she’s not worried… but I sure am. They have a policy of not letting the kids contact the parents unless there’s a serious problem because they feel that it makes things worse and they’re trained and used to dealing with any seperation issues…. but still…. Two weeks. And!… AND!… She has to fly to this camp on her own. Is this an isnanity test or what?!?
Everyone has been saying this camp is amazing. She’ll be fine. And really, I think I’m not so much worried about her… I think it’s me who will be freaking out the two weeks she’s away. Meanwhile, she will be too busy having the time of her life. She’ll come home happy as a clam, and I’ll be a nervous wreck. LOL!
Have you ever heard this song?
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
Here I am at Camp Granada
Camp is very entertaining
And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining!
I went hiking with Joyce Fivey,
He developed poison ivy.
You remember Lennard Skynard,
He got tomain poisoning last night after dinner!
All the counselors hate the waiters,
And the lake has alligators!
And the head coach wants no sissies,
So he reads to us from something called ‘Ulysses’.
No, I don’t want (this should scare ya),
But my bunkmate has malaria!
You remember Geoffrey Hardy,
They’re about to organize a searching party!
Take me home, oh mother, father.
Take me home, I hate Grenada.
Don’t leave me out in the forest,
Where I might get eaten by a bear!
Take me home, I promise that I will not make noise,
Or mess the house with other boys.
Oh please don’t make me stay;
I’ve been here one whole day!
Dearest father, darling mother,
How’s my precious little brother?
Let me come home if you miss me;
I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me!
Wait a minute; it stopped hailing.
Guys are swimming, guys are sailing.
Playing baseball; gee that’s better.
Mother, father, kindly disregard this letter!
Brand new day
“
These are not the words you want to hear, half-asleep, 5am in the morning. (Not that those words are ok anytime of the day) And thus began my day of balancing taking care of Zach while lugging my laptop around with me and trying to keep up with emails and whatever little projects I could get done. Fact of the matter was that he ended up being fine. I kept him home for the day, because I didn’t know what that was all about and wanted to keep an eye on him to be sure he was ok. But mostly he just wanted to play all day. Chalk it up to another day I’m thankful for my “work-at-home” life – even if I didn’t get that much work done today. heh.
Silence
Sometimes I want to come on here and apologize for being absent – but I have been purposefully silent. When this blog went public again, it was important for me to step back and not be as open as I had been. There are times that I really miss the ability to pour my soul out somewhere. But pouring your soul out doesn’t always fix things, sometimes it makes things worse. And with a password protected blog, sometimes it felt like it didn’t matter. If I stood in the woods and poured my soul out to the silence, did it really count? No. Kind of like the tree that never fell there too.
I don’t know what the solution is. Maybe that’s because the solution keeps changing on me.
We’re dealing with some family issues that I can’t get into great detail about on this blog. It’s been hammering away at my strength and has made me go from the very worst deep depression, to having hope again. I know I have to talk about it to deal with it, so I’ve been confiding in a few friends. It’s pretty ironic that as much like an outsider that I feel here, I seem to have more friends here than I have had anywhere else that we’ve lived. Talking has lessened the weight of this. But I still have to deal with it. And we’re weeks and weeks away from anything remotely resemebling a solution or help. IF we’ll even get it. I can deal with the problem providing I’m not told again there isn’t a problem. There is. But unless the help you need is going to walk a mile or ten in your shoes, it’s hard to get them to see it, I think.
I’ll just have to wait and see and hold onto that hope my friends gave me.
My name is Jennifer and The Working Mom is my online journal. I'm very bad about updating it regularly. I like writing, but not as much as I 
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