Julia

We adopted a 1 year old corgi/chihuahua mix from the pound last week. So far, she only likes me and is timid/ terrified of everything. Shes so anxious she will almost never take treats or eats her meals. She will only eat if it is just me around (but not if I am watching) so she never eats her dinner when everyone is home. Makes it really hard when there is no incentives or rewards I can offer to earn trust. I am trying not to coddle her or hold her so she can gain some confidence that we aren't going to murder her. Hubby is getting very frustrated that she won't bond with him or go near him. How can I help her come out of her shell? Is this normal behavior for adoption dogs? (it's our first dog) We don't know anything about her except that she was a stray and has been in the shelter for about 90 days. My friend brought her dog over and she gave her a warning growl and didn't want to be near her. We just want her to be happy :(

Ok, sounds like a duh question...but this is what happened. I recently started seeing a new stylist who I love personality wise. She gives amazing hair cuts, but holy jesus she is expensive. I usually go to another stylist -- however he is far away and has a limited schedule. I started seeing her in the interim and was going to continue to go to the other for color. After weeks of not being able to get in, I decided to try her out as she bragged that color is her passion.

My appointment @ 10 AM. When I arrived I sat in the chair for 25 min waiting for her to start because she had an intern there and she was giving her directions. I am a natural blonde so she was doing blonde highlights and a 2nd slightly darker color. She started with my front, and stopped several times to provide direction to this other girl. I am a very patient person, but the top and front bleach/color sat on my hair for a very long time, and irregularly (the from between 10:25 AM until 12 PM when she finally rinsed me and the bottom from about 11:15 until 12 PM). When I saw how it turned out, it was way brighter than I am used to, but I did tell her to lighten it up -- and it doesn't look terrible? My beef is that this morning when I went to wash my hair its VERY dry and crunchy. I understand that all dyes damage the hair on some level but this feels like I super bleached it. It never felt like this with my other guy. Did she damage my hair excessively by leaving it on so long? I paid her $110!!

I am dog sitting my sister's 5 year old pug. Since day before yesterday I have noticed her nose is runny (clear, dripping, which is unlike her) and she sounds even more snorty/wheezy than she typically does (even for a pug). When she snores it sounds kind of watery/garbly. She also has been sneezing and blowing snot all over when she does...ugh lol. Other than that she is maybe sleeping a tiny bit more than usual but otherwise still active and eating/drinking/pooping/peeing. We have cats, so I wondered if she was maybe allergic? Or perhaps its a cold? Would it be serious enough to take her to the vet?

My husband and I have rented from a particular property management co. for a little over 2 years. Our lease is up and we really want to move on to a bigger place. We saw our company has a perfect place that came available and we figure its easier to stay with the same company. We have never paid our rent late, and always passed inspections....would our particular situation generally be looked on as more favorable for them? Would it give us more preference in getting the new place?

I am the first to admit I don't know the first thing about our heating system. Our house is about 5 years old, it has what I guess is a forced air (from the ceiling) and its a gas furnace. We've lived here about 2 years and it's never seemed to work right. The furnace is upstairs in our attic, and the house always heats disproportionately. Right now the thermostat is set at 66 degrees and downstairs is deathly cold. Upstairs, its a 75 degree sauna and the heater is continuing to blow hot air. What gives? Is that just the way it is, or is this not normal? We've ended up having to use the gas fireplace downstairs to stay warm (its like 20 degrees outside) and that gets to be insanely expensive.