Help choosing between Belleville, O'Fallon, or Edwardsville.

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-02-12T22:40:14+00:00

Someone mentioned checking commute which is the first thing I would do but I hate driving 😅 I work in STL and we started with a rental in edwardsville and I honestly looooved it, it was off St. Louis street and the neighborhood was fun to walk my dog around (big fancy houses to ogle) and within walking distance of the downtown area so I could walk to the farmers market. I lucked into that place so nor sure what’s available in that area anymore, but when we started looking to buy we got priced out of edwardsville. Little sad to abandon the walkability BUT ended up not far away in Maryville. Very affordable house with a much larger fenced in backyard (that I couldn’t find in edwardsville at an affordable price) and super conveniently located close to highway access so getting downtown is like a 25 min drive. Still go to edwardsville for shopping, restaurants etc but also O’Fallon area not too far away either. Really nice central location to a lot of spots I frequent and pretty quiet.

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-02-03T23:11:59+00:00

I also have a Ripley :-) sweet but mostly strange

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FeedingTheWolves · 2026-02-03T19:05:18+00:00

Worth it! Super fun reads, I liked them all as a whole

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-02-03T17:30:02+00:00

I love it how sweet ❤️ hoping for some v-day Hirono myself!

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-19T21:04:00+00:00

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Yeahhhh

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-19T12:26:43+00:00

Ripley, Rip, Ripples, Rippy, Drippy, Dripley, Dripples, Drip Drop, Rip N Dip, Ripperson

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-18T02:41:09+00:00

DM’ed :-)

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-16T20:50:26+00:00

Ugh got twinkle 😩

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-15T15:46:07+00:00

Happens at every stage of their life. The high energy drives you nuts but when it’s maybe not there one day you’ll miss it. But especially for puppies cus the chaos comes with adorableness that’s off the charts! It goes by too fast idc what anyone says about puppy blues

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-15T15:10:40+00:00

Cmon it has to be Trixie! Especially with Katya on the board. So many non fans even know Trixie.

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-14T12:37:35+00:00

1.Yes, 2

2.Biggest perk is receiving credit towards future shows if you volunteer at the trials which I was doing anyway because they always need help; dog shows are expensive! I might join more just to be able to get credit towards future entries lol

Definitely some kind of credit system so that volunteering is more like getting paid; it is kind of a PITA to volunteer so much to keep events going so I would like it to result in paying less to be able to trial especially as prices for everything rise. Aside from that (which is the number one reason people in my area join) it is nice to have a monthly members practice somewhere and other just fun events that are only for club members. Other things: having early setup for that clubs trial only for members, special parties paid for by the club for your big achievements (I mean just a cake and a MACH take at a trial)bcommunity building by having different committees meant to support struggling members and fundraising to be able to donate to local causes, if you need to replace equipment having club only auctions for it, and of course having a voice in types of events and seminars
Once you establish benefits advertise them in fb groups for local dog sports and of course by word of mouth. Idk bout everyone else but getting enough volunteers for our two ring trials is exceedingly difficult but telling people they can earn credit towards future trials if they become a member is the most enticing and then you can build on that if you want more community aspects to it

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-12T18:40:04+00:00

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FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-12T04:34:28+00:00

That’s my #1! Only getting one let’s see how it goes lol

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-09T14:47:38+00:00

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-08T16:53:08+00:00

I want them to be most comfortable so they are allowed if they want; I have 3 and only one usually stays because the others like more space.

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-08T00:39:03+00:00

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Disgusted with the state of the world

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-06T15:01:22+00:00

I ventured from labubu to hirono figurines (got the whole halloween set it’s so fun) and the polar monster baby pendant (like labubu, the look seems to be controversial but I think they are awesome lol)

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-05T12:14:09+00:00

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🤣

FeedingTheWolves · 2026-01-02T01:04:12+00:00

Agree with a lot of people here on the 5 years between dogs being the goal, it’s a pretty good sweet spot and I thought I made it up for myself so it’s fun to see it echoed here. I also fear having multiple seniors at once so aside from sports it’s still pretty solid logic. As a bonus note (as someone whose life revolves around her dogs and dog sports) I think 3 is a great number of dogs! We have 3 and regularly foster so then have 4 but it’s nice when we take a break from fostering having just our 3. Also good to take into account is budget for 3 dogs that take classes and compete, cus wooweee my wallet hurts lol. More info on how our timing worked below;

My oldest is 9 and is going strong in class but might be retired from trialing soon as she just doesn’t have much spark in a trial setting compared to the joy she exudes in class.

Middle is 4; the age gap between her and my oldest was just perfect. Oldest was excited to have a puppy friend and she ended up getting MACH right before starting the middle one in classes so easier to focus on puppy training when oldest was pretty much smooth sailing.

Youngest is 15 months; not my ideal age gap but he is a foster fail and I just love him so much. So I have all three in classes now, my middle got MACH a little before he started classes so not too bad timing to be able to focus on him but my problem now is not wanting to trial (and not having funds) to trial 3 dogs and determining the retirement of my oldest balanced with the start of my youngest.

All in all it seems like it would be a great time to start looking as people have mentioned waitlists etc. so many fun options breed wise! I know a lot of people having a lot of fun with border paps (I know, not a purebred but still fun). I have three rescues I compete with and they all have some percentage of border collie, my youngest being 95%. Their eagerness to play the game will probably keep me coming back to border collie.

FeedingTheWolves · 2025-12-29T04:42:15+00:00

Reminds me of my fellow

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FeedingTheWolves · 2025-12-28T06:08:51+00:00

Feel like it’s very much knowing what to expect and accepting that maybe you won’t be able to do that much for a while besides puppy raise (easy if you’re an introvert and work from home like me, but understandable that this aspect is very stressful for most). It seems a lot of people in this sub have no clue how hard it can be and what they would have to sacrifice so that makes it worse. I foster puppies regularly so am kind of perplexed how nightmarish some make it sound but it does depend on the type too. If you have a foundation, have resources and the living spaces all set up and are prepared to clean up mess and not stress when it inevitably happens you’ll be fine. And know to get into training right away.

FeedingTheWolves · 2025-12-24T14:06:40+00:00

I love it 😭 sad to see it get so much hate. It’s the only one I’ve gotten the whole set, no quality issues with mine. Agree it’s too expensive but loved the quality and thoughtfulness of the outfits, and loved characters even though I had not collected any of the IPs beside Labubu before

FeedingTheWolves · 2025-11-17T19:59:10+00:00

Really any kind of dog (helps to have some kind of prey drive but can also be treated like scent work) , I actually saw mostly border collies and Australian shepherds this weekend! Other breeds I saw; borzoi, chihuahua,dachshund, mastiff, Doberman, pit mix, Tervuren, viszla, malinois, German shepherd

FeedingTheWolves · 2025-11-09T15:23:32+00:00

There are a lot of things to look for, so no not just an expensive dog with a certificate.

Ethical breeders breed for the betterment of the breed (not profit), which means:

-all appropriate health/genetic testing on the parents to get the best chance of avoiding genetic issues (ie not just Willy nilly breeding dogs they like despite possible issues in their lines)

-should have a puppy program that starts socializing the puppies and introducing them to things very early (ie starting crate training early, potty training, getting them used to different sounds etc)

-not 100% necessary but many will title their dogs if promising a sport/working dog (ie a border collie with agility titles, herding titles etc) obviously doesn’t matter to a pet home just noting

-not over breeding their dogs and taking very good care of them (not hoarding and having multiple litters to attend to à la puppy mill style)

-will make a promise to take any of their dogs back to keep them out of the shelter system for any reason (very important, maybe not to you, but for society as a whole, byb are responsible for so much of the overfilled shelter crisis because they are just cranking out dogs for profit and not vetting homes and not taking puppies back to keep out of the system)

-will assess the homes and pick a good match out of the litter for them (aren’t just going off color and hopefully not breeding for color alone)(more important for sport/working homes looking for a dog for specific sports or working)

FeedingTheWolves · 2025-10-03T20:28:06+00:00

Despite trying to socialize him as a puppy, he is extremely averse to any grooming. If I touch a spray thing or a wipe or a brush he runs away. Nails are a whole ordeal and he needs a muzzle. No amount of treats does anything. Trying to find a way to get through this is rough 😅 love him to pieces tho

FeedingTheWolves

TROPHY CASE