rcpeabody1

A week ago I was at the dog park, and there was a pretty female Husky mix with long hair on her shoulders. I asked what she was mixed with and she said timber wolf. The animal had no behavior problems that I observed. The next day I went to the hairdresser and I asked her about bruises on her arms. She said she'd been roughhousing with her dog. I told her about the hybrid I'd seen at the dog park and she said her dog was a dog/timber wolf hybrid too. It was strange to run into two people in two days that had wolf hybrids as I haven't known of seeing any for awhile, especially in my are where wolves don't even live.

I took my nearly 13 year old cat to the vet because we were concerned about his weight and muscle wasting. The vet did labs and called back to say that the labs were okay but we should try to get him to eat more. We had started giving him canned food in addition to the dry we've always free fed him. He does eat it but obviously not enough. He loves fish, but I've always been leery about giving him too much because we had cats that got -- uric acid crystals? or something when I was a kid, and my understanding was that one should avoid fish. So do I figure now that he needs the food more than he needs to avoid fish? Are there fish that are better than others? Any other advice related to getting him to eat well is welcome but there doesn't seem to be an underlying condition. Thanks in advance.

So I've got this cold, and I just started meditating. I get these really severe coughing spells and it just totally disrupts any attempt to follow my breath. Is there a traditional answer to this problem, or have you found anything that helps yourself?

I usually tip 15% if the waiter comes to the table and takes my order and 10% if I order at the counter. I heard something on the radio recently, though, that most people tip 20%. I did my minimum wage work in a field where we weren't allowed to take tips, so I don't so much buy the hardship argument. What do you do, and does it make a difference in your tipping if you get table service or not?

My son took AP Language last year and got a 5on the AP test. He didn't like the AP lit teacher at the high school, so didn't take that class. He's taking a Running Start English class at the community college now. It's a 100 level literature class, and I feel that between his excellent writing skills and his lit class, he could get a good grade on the SO lit class, especially if he talked to his teacher and used the book I bought used that's on the College Board list of approved textbooks. He's probably going to a school that doesn't count Running Start classes as college credit. Should I encourage him to take the

I've seen this happen three or four times, and it probably happens when I'm not looking too. People walk their dogs on th

e sidewalk past our house, and our 10 pound cat comes out to greet them by swiping their faces. These are mid-size dogs, four times bigger than he is. The dog owners laugh, but I"m annoyed. Any suggestions about how to discourage this behavior?

I used to have a much easier to read format for questions and answers. Now it has too many options, too many links, less highlighted information. Ugh. I'm having a hard time really describing it. Anyway is there a way to format Answers so the categories are in larger print, and a list of questions with the asker's avatar pops up instead of all these links?

I was at the fenced off-leash dog park, and it was getting late, but my beagle wouldn't come to me. I knew he was nearby but he was on a scent and it was getting dark enough that I didn't even know where he was. The only other dog at the park was a 9 month old German Shepherd/Border collie cross. I said to him, "Milo, where's Prince? Find Prince!" He went off and came back a few minutes later with my beagle. Was this a coincidence, or would a puppy who barely knew me or my dog be able to figure out what I wanted and do it? If he did, I'd decided I like dogs for their companionship, not their intelligence, but I may change my mind. Thanks.

Also -- I'd really be happy if people answered the question who actually understand what I'm talking about and have experience with herding dogs. Thanks

We have a beagle and my daughter and I just adore him and I'd like a second beagle. My husband doesn't like the hound traits, though -- basically the distractibility and inability to ever, ever let him off a leash unless he's in a fenced area under any circumstances whatsoever. He wants a dog who pays more attention to him when they go walking. I don't want a border collie or some other hyper, neurotic breed, and our fence is only 4 feet high, so it can't be too big. Any suggestions for a dog that my husband and my beagle will both like? I'm kind of thinking about a miniature labradoodle, but I want a dog around 25 pounds as that's the size of the beagle.

My daughter is in third grade and just started doing Read 180. I looked at the website and they didn't really say much. If your child does it, does s/he like it? There were, of course, rave reviews on the website.

I posted a question in education yesterday and got no answers. I'm thinking Monday might be a better day to get answers. Can I repost it? Do I get my 5 points back? Thanks..

I was watching my beagle sleep and he was twitching his nose. That led me to wonder if he smelled in his dreams -- and I thought he probably does because I think scent is his primary way of "seeing" the world. Then I started wondering about REM sleep and how humans' eyes move when we dream. I guess I think dogs' eyes move when they dream too, but I'm curious about dog dreams because their sensory experience is so much different than ours.

Our beagle is fairly small -- not tiny but I've seen younger dogs than he that look several inches taller than he is. I tried to measure him, though, and got 16 inches. I really don't think he's that big as that's like the biggest a dog can be and still meet the breed standard. So. How DO you measure a dog's height? I measured at the shoulder straight up from the ground

We just got a beagle puppy a month and a half ago, and I realized that I love, love, love hounds. At the dog park today a Rhodesian Ridgeback (turns out they're hounds too) came up and greeted my (comparatively little) pup very politely. I like that they've had a number of roles, including protector, but they're not such "guard dogs." And I've always wanted a big dog. So does anyone have any advice about how challenging this fascinating breed is, how much space they need, etc? Thanks in advance.

We might get a miniature beagle puppy. I never imagined getting a beagle, but this dog seems very good-natured and the father of the owner even claims he's obedient. I've heard they're stubborn and noisy. Anything good about beagles?

I heard a woman talking on NPR yesterday and she referred to the Sami as being "aboriginal" or some such term that implied to me that they were the native people in Scandinavia and the Scandinavian people were what? interlopers or something. I know their language is different and their lifestyle is different, but in the first place, haven't the Scandinavians been in Norway for a long time too? In America we usually have to have visual cues to be prejudiced against anyone, and to me the Sami look identical to any other northern European. Please explain the cultural and class issues and why they are considered more "native" than the Scandinavians.

This sounds a little strange to me, but the lady that helps me with cleaning said you could wash your keyboard in the dishwasher. Yikes. Really? Should I fire her or chuck my keyboard in the dishwasher? Thanks to all you techies in advance.

I've been experiencing mild numbness around my mouth (both sides). No other concerns. Is this area ennervated by a cranial or cervical nerve? Sorry to ask but trying to research this stuff just gets so tangled sometimes. TIA.

Today I was driving by a deer and I noticed it was covered with large (about 4" diameter) black blisters. It was prancing along with its tail up, but it was very unsightly. I don't know what was wrong with it but I hope it isn't contagious to humans. Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with it? Thanks in advance.

Please limit your answers to serious discussion of scientific questions.

Someone awhile back asked about whether ID was falsifiable -- how would you know if it wasn't true? I guess I don't think you could ever prove that there wasn't a Creator, but the idea of irreducible complexity may be falsifiable. The proof that the earth isn't the center of the universe, I believe, is that the equations to show the rotation of the heavenly bodies around the earth is so inelegant compared to putting the earth rotating around the sun.

So I was eavesdropping on two men discussing the way the flagellum's tail moves with some little motor we don't understand, and I thought what if we did understand it and had a sensible explanation of how it evolved? I think it would be easier to falsify irreducible complexity than ID per se, although it seems we've penetrated a level of complexity, only to come up with another layer.

Thanks for reading. I hope I'm comprehensible.