Jen

Is it illegal for a parent to take, hide, discard mail sent to their children when it comes from the other parent? Divorce situation and all content is appropriate.

My fiancee's ex-wife had his childrens names legally changed. She went to a lawyer who said all she had to do was put an ad in local paper and that if her ex-husband did not respond, she could legally change their names. She put the ad in a large metropolitan paper in a city in a State where he did not live and proceeded with the name change. Is there any legal action he can take against her for having done this and can he force her to change the childrens name back?

I am aware that all states are slightly different, but in what kind of situations would a mother be able to ban a father from contacting his children?

The father does not do drugs or even drink.

The father pays child support.

The father lives in another state.

The father does not have a history of violence.

The mother has blocked the father from having contract because she wants the kids to see her new husband as their father. She says she doesn't want the kids to be confused. Her new husband, by the way, was sleeping with her before she divorced the father of her children. The infedelity is the reason for the divorce. She's a cheater. And she went behind the real father back and had the kids last names legally changed. Yes, that can happen even without a fathers permission.)

I need to find out if there are any laws that would prevent a father from sending mail to his children. ie, the children live with their mother, she wants no contact with the childrens father and is keeping the kids away. He cannot afford to take her to court (she lives in other state, travel back and forth is too expensive) and she's told him not to write to the children. Can he get in trouble for writing anyway? Visitation, custody and all that has never been addressed in court.

I am looking for any studies done on children who have been lied to by ... well mothers or fathers ... who have lied and actively tried to deceive their children about their parentage. ie - when a parent tells a child that their other parent is dead when they really aren't or when a mother remarried when the children are young and convinces the child that the new spouse is their real parent. I want to know about the impact of those lies and deceptions on the child.

I don't care what your opinion of mini Aussies are I'm trying to understand the registries and name change. Is there anyone that actually understands them and isn't just guessing at it?

Between ASDR, ASCA, MASCA, CDHPR, AKC, UKC, the mini Aussie name vs North American Shepherd ... I am confused.

What is your opinion on designer breeds?

Now, before the breed purists get going on how they are "just mutt's" I'd like to point out that I'm asking because today I spent the day at Cynosports in Denver watching agility, flyball, dock diving, frisbee and police dog demonstration. While there, I saw a lot of purebred dogs but found that a few of the dogs I was MOST impressed with based on athletic ability and temperment were designer dogs.

So if you're against designer breeds, explain to me how it's any different to breed two dogs of different breeds, that both have desireable traits you want to pass onto puppies is any less of a crap shoot than breeding two dogs of the same breed together?

I know someone will assume that people just do this for profit or that they certainly couldn't be doing all the testing and proving by showing that pure breed breeders do, but this is not what I'm seeing. I'm seeing breeders taking two dogs that have known backgrounds, proving them in performance, getting hips, eyes and everything else tested and breeding for specific outcomes and achieving that.

So, do people think this is right, or is it wrong?

(I've got my armour on, take your shot lol!)

I've been thinking about getting either a Rat Terrier or a Toy Fox Terrier. I've done my research, both are very similar. I will probably do obedience, agility and/or flyball so keep that in mind. But, I can't decide which of these two breeds I like the best.

So which would you choose, and why?

I recently started dating a new guy. Pretty early on, he felt the need to tell me that he was uncircumcised and he seemed VERY shocked when I said I actually like them natural. But it got me to thinking, is this really a deal breaker for some girls? Are there actually girls out there that could be attracted to EVERYTHING else in a guy, but not want to be with him just because of some foreskin?

There is this guy I've been friends with for about 6 months. I met him playing darts (he was on a different team) and for summer season and now this season we play on the same dart team. We're friends, but people around us often think we're boyfriend/girlfriend because we flirt and hug and stuff.

However, I am open to anything with him. He's a nice enough guy and I like him enough that if he asked me out, I'd go. I'm not so attracted to him that I'm pushing that agenda, but I wouldn't mind it.

But here's the stink of it - he had a fling with my married best friend a few months ago. She was straight forward with him letting him know she was separated, but just wanted a fling. And then he got too clingy with her and she blew him off. Now she's back with her husband and is focused on trying to repair that relationship.

Wait, there's more, so my best friend, her hub and some other couple friends are all going to a festival thing tomorrow and invited me. I wanted to ask my friend to go to. My best friend is good with that, she actually thinks we'd make a cute couple, but ... am I setting myself up for drama?

Thoughts? Opinions?

I keep seeing people parrot off the "don't feed grapes to your dog, they'll die" line but I have to wonder, has any ever had personal experience with their dog dying or getting even a little sick from eating grapes?

I don't typically eat grapes myself, so my dogs don't get them, but my sister-in-law had a little 6lb poodle thing that my mother used to feed grapes too all the time, and a lot of them! (Grand-puppies get spoiled in my family.) The dog loved them and the dog lived to be 17 years old. So, ever since I started seeing grapes show up on the "doggy no-no" list, I've wondered ... are they really that toxic??

Any non-made up personal experiences with this?

Does anyone know where you can order a good 6' leather leash for a reasonable price? I know I can just pick one up at the Smart or Co, but I was hoping to find something a little less expensive.

I catch myself all the talking to my dogs and calling them by all kinds of "pet names." lol! It's so bad, that one of the guys at the dog park I take my dobie to thought my dogs name was "precious" because one of the nicknames I have for her is "precious girl." Does anyone else do this with their dogs? What are some of the nicknames you use?

My dob girl gets called:

Baby girl

Precious girl

Mouthy - cause she's always barking at squirrels.

Sneaky - cause she is.

And a few others lol.

I don't want guess and can tell if you do!!

My most recent dog is a "retired" Dobie girl that I got from a breeder. She's coming up on 7 years, has had two litters of pups and hasn't been spayed. I'm not a breeder, never wanted to be, and most all my dogs have been fixed when they were very young, so I have no experience with post operative periods in older dogs.

So I'd like to hear from people who have had older girls when they were spayed. How did you dog handle the spay at the older age? How long did it take them to recuperate? Positives? Negatives?

I talked extensively with my vet already and we both agree spaying is the best option. She's had her blood tested and all her levels are very good, she's very healthy. But when I asked the vet these questions, her answer was, it depends. So I really am looking for personal experiences with this.

Ok, I ran through a drive through for lunch today, got my lunch and parked in the parking lot between the fast food place and a couple of hotels to eat it. While I was there, this girl pushing stroller came walking down the street. She stopped, got the kid out (looked about a year to a year and a half old) leaned against a rail and just stood there.

A few mins later, a guy came down the walk from the direcion of one of the hotels. He was sorta yelling at her but he had his hands out to the side in sort of "what the hell" kind of position. I couldn't really hear what he said because it was kinda windy. Then they started yelling at each other. I couldn't understand most of it, but I did hear the girl say "you won't let me in the hotel room ..." But then she tried to kick him. It was an obvious groin shot, but he reacted and she missed. He then started to walk away, going away from the hotel.

She screamed at him "what am I supposed to do!!" He turned around and was trying to hand her something. Could have been money, could have been a hotel key, I don't know. She spat in his face. He jumped back and started walking away again away from the hotel.

Less than 30 second later, she went after him with the baby in her arms leaving the stroller there. A taco later, they both come walking back up the sidewalk together. She was carrying the baby and he sort of had a hand behind her and one on her arm, kinda how you'd lead someone that was really upset. It didn't look like he was forcing her to walk or anything. The entire time she was screaming at the top of her lungs F YOU, over and over and over. He led her back up to the hotel.

So, if you had been there, what would you have done?

Yes, I asked the other day, hoping to get more info.

I've been looking into "toy" breeds. I've narrowed it down to the Toy Fox Terrier, The Min Pin, or the Rat Terrier. My requirements are easy, I want a very small dog, but trainable, dog with a low maintenance coat. I'm hoping height dog for flyball so I'll probably persue a rescue that I know has ball drive, and not a puppy, but I'm having a hard time deciding which breed I like the best. They're all very similar. So which would you choose? And why?

I see people referring people to the "Monks of New Skete" book. Personally, it's NOT a book I would recommend to a new dog owner. What's you all's opinion of it?

I've been looking into "toy" breeds. I've narrowed it down to the Toy Fox Terrier, The Min Pin, or the Rat Terrier. My requirements are easy, I want a very small dog, but trainable, dog with a low maintenance coat. I'm hoping height dog for flyball so I'll probably persue a rescue that I know has ball drive, and not a puppy, but I'm having a hard time deciding which breed I like the best. They're all very similar. So which would you choose? And why?

I have two 5 gal planters sitting in the garage. I was thinking of putting something in them, but don't really know what. I have an back deck that gets A LOT of direct sunlight, but I live in Colorado so the temp can go from hot to cold pretty quickly. It's also fairly dry most of the time and ... kinda always breezy where I am.

So, what would be a good, low maintenance 5gal flowery plant that would do well in these conditions?

Thanks!!

Ok, a bit back the AKC announced that that they will be adding a program for mixed breed dogs. If you're unaware of what's happening please read here before answering - https://www.akc.org/mixedbreeds/index.cfm

I belong to several different dog clubs. One is a dog training club that's focused on obedience and agility but deals only with purebreds - ie, we do both AKC and UKC training, but you must own a purebred and AKC registered dog to be in the club. I also do flyball which is open to all breeds, and mixed breeds.

I've seen this interesting phenomenon where my dog training club is very upset over this addition and my flyball club, even the pure bred dog owners and breeders, are pretty happy about it.

So what do other think about this? Do you think it's a good idea? Or do you think the AKC is selling out?

And please, well thought out answers will be appreciated.