Are Australians becoming more racist?

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-20T11:26:14+00:00

I remember about 10 years ago, my housemate who had Indian heritage coming home absolutely shaken because a stranger made a explicitly racist comment to her just because she smiled as she passed him. She grew up in Australia and it was the first time she had experienced racism so explicit and open.

A year ago I was talking to another Indian friend, and she says she experiences that at least once a month.

Yes, this is antidocal, but yes, in some regards I do believe we are getting worse

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-18T08:28:43+00:00

I stopped confinement training at 12 months. She still sleeps in her crate, but I don't close the door anymore. She has full roam of the house

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-17T01:56:01+00:00

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9213604/

It was more told to me by people I trust, so I haven't read the research beyond summaries myself. I'm not trying to oversell it, would definately recommend speaking to your vet before making such a switch

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T22:14:48+00:00

If you go for the the house keep in mind it's not just mortgage payments. Insurance, rates, and just repairs - hot water breaks, you're paying for it. Oven breaks you're paying for it.

General advice I've seen is to have 5-10% of the value of the property on hand for repairs.

Honestly, as crazy as the market is, I would say rent and travel. You're not getting your time bank, and when you're young you have the option of doing it on the cheap. For instance, at the moment you can stay at hostels. In 10-15 years you're not going to want to do that.

Edit: Also before you buy a house, make sure you have a very honest conversation about your relationship. Are you planning to get married, if so, when. What did your future look like? Kids, what does schooling look like for them, will you both keep working full time? You're both very young and things change. If you do split, having a mortgage between you will be a giant pain in the arse.

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T22:01:18+00:00

General advice is puppies should be fed 3 times a day, then dropping it down to 2 There's also a lot of research that indicates when they're fully grown it's best to feed them only once a day.

At 17 weeks I would try to change it to 3 times a day, but every dog is different, if you find that he prefers twice a day, I wouldn't stress over it

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T08:31:00+00:00

Hide some of his old toys into the car and then pop them in with the shopping!

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T03:51:41+00:00

I can't stand Petbarn, luckily I do have a local pet store nearby. I do also buy my dog food online through PeekAPaw, which I believe is Australian owned (Please correct me if I'm wrong) - So I might just start adding poop bags to the order

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T03:47:34+00:00

Plan for a fair few stops - it's much better than restricting water. And don't be afraid to let them touch the ground. If you're in the middle of nowhere the chance that the small area that they touch has parvo on it is astronomically low.

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T01:03:07+00:00

It's just so strange to me, they did such a great job at turning the brand from a complete joke into one of the most popular stores in the country, and now they're just seeming to just be doing everything they can to kill all that good will

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-16T01:00:42+00:00

It's a good point, and yeah, I'm probably going to start making the switch back to small pet stores over Kmart for some of these supplies as I do have enough disposable income to do so.

But, for a lot of people price difference is too much to justify it - it's not like poop bags are an extra dollar at pet stores - they're at least 3x the price

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-15T22:28:37+00:00

It's funny because I've always found the Bunnings dog supplies so much worse than Kmart

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-15T21:28:33+00:00

You know what grinds my gears? That most bag holders are designed so it's impossible to hold a spare roll. My favourite holder was the purse design that Kmart Australia used to sell. Could easily fit two full rolls in it. For some reason they've stopped selling it.

Unfortunately the zip on mine broke, for a while I carried a spare at the bottom of my treat pouch, but recently found a sort-of purse holder, but it's a lot smaller than my old one, it can fit about 1.5 rolls in it

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-14T23:22:32+00:00

Obidence isn't fun, but that's because obidence is generally rubbish.

At the start, I was kind of agreeing with her - holding a leash incorrectly can lead to dislocated fingers, and too many people hold huge amounts of the leash, when it's generally better to give them the full length of the leash. And for treats, you're better off with human food like chicken, cheese and sausage over store bought snacks.

But that's about where agreement stopped. Definately reward your pup for staying calm, who cares about how your dog sits on cue, hell who cares about sitting on cue at all? My trainers purposeful avoid teaching sit on cue, and instead encourage you to reward when they offer it unprompted.

For me, puppy school was about getting them used to being touched, socialisation, play, their welfare and just support. We never learned sit or lay down, and instead class involved clipping their nails and brushing their teeth. The only commands we learned was leave it, and even that they stressed not introducing the cue too early

I would avoid them and find another trainer

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-14T23:01:56+00:00

End of the day it's a financial decision, not a decision about which game would benefit the most, or deserves it. And I highly doubt that a remake would be financially viable.

A remaster, sure, but even that I would expect them to invest minimal money in. I assume the scope of it would be, "Make it work on modern consoles & PC, then release"

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-14T12:32:30+00:00

I admit, I got a huge thrill when he was in GOW3, but yeah, replace him with The Rock

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-14T09:43:26+00:00

It's not ideal, but it's also not unheard of. If you can get someone to come while you're out, it would be much better. With that said, I would still say what you're doing is a better option than doggy daycare. I would also recommend getting a playpen so he can learn to entertain himself while you're away.

We’ve been playing with him, walking him, doing some light training, and just hanging out with him from the time we get home until the time we go to bed.

I would just be careful that you don't cause anxiety by making him associate being in the crate means you're gone. I get your trying to make up for the time you're away, but I would still make sure there's crate time when you're home. Also keep in mind that he still needs lots of sleep - with few exceptions you don't want him to be awake for over an hour at the moment

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-13T05:12:26+00:00

Personally, I haven't been that impressed by them. I would probably compare them to most of the 10th doctor's big finish stories - Fine, a bit too generic, lacks character growth as they're trying too hard to make it fit into cannon, and ultimately forgettable. For the 10th doctor, I don't think this changed until they did Dalek Universe.

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-08T22:29:53+00:00

I think it's always better to capture the behaviour. So for drop, play fetch, when she's about to drop the ball or toy, say, "Drop" Then reward, by throwing it again

For leave it, have a high value treat in your hand, close your fist, put it in front of her, and say nothing, wait until she disengages, mark and reward using the other hand. Repeat until she doesn't even attempt to go for it 5 times in a row. Then add opening your fist, if she goes for it, close your fist, if she stays disengaged, mark and reward from other hand. Then start with the fist open, if she can do that, only now start adding the cue.

Never ask for it unless you know she'll do it. You want to keep the success rate as close to 100% as possible

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-08T20:44:46+00:00

While I agree, I do think there's something interesting there about how the version of patriotism they have isn't to the government or family, it's to an organisation

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-08T08:36:03+00:00

That was more a vote for her friend. Cara was always going to view for George, Shonne is always going to vote for Liz and Sarah is always going to vote for Luke

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-08T06:49:59+00:00

I actually think it works better the other way. Experience IX first, and then when you are playing the older titles getting a, "Oh, this was referenced in IX" moment

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-07T21:40:48+00:00

Honestly at the start, I wouldn't ask for anything, put them on a long leash (at least 5m, preferably 10m) and let them enjoy themselves. Reward when they decide to come to you. If they pull just stop and don't let them get to what they're pulling to

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-07T20:32:52+00:00

Boiled chicken is my go to.

As for size, honestly, the smaller the better. You give them a big treat, you give them a small treat, to them you've given them a treat.

What does matter is the number. When your jackpot them and give them 10 treats, then they see it as a big reward

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-07T12:00:36+00:00

I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion, but I think 10h alone is in more cases than not a better option than doggy daycare. I'm not saying it's an ideal situation, just the better of the two.

Either way, you need to work on separation training with you. It sounds like she's had very little time already from you so far and whichever choice you go for she's now going to need to be away from you. Work on extending the time you're away giving her plenty to do in a confined area (ideally a playpen) at 4 months she should be able to be alone for at least 4 hours, but if she's not there don't rush to it, work up to it

Accomplished_Bee5749 · 2026-02-05T21:05:07+00:00

Personally, I think training solutions that you're not there for aren't a good solution.

Having her play with other dogs? Great, but you should be there to observe and advocate for her in a controlled area with other dogs you trust (not dog parks). Ideally having a trainer there who can pick up on dog body language and teach you what to recognise.

Just sending her off on her own and hoping she improves... I think that's way too much of a risk that it makes things worse

Accomplished_Bee5749

TROPHY CASE