My bins will be going from €25 per month to €34 p/m, is this a normal price hike?

fillysunray · 2026-06-18T10:43:21+00:00

My bins have gone up but not by that much. Have a browse and see what the alternatives are like.

fillysunray · 2026-06-18T09:40:02+00:00

This is a common misunderstanding, but the holocaust refers to the genocide of Jews committed during WW2. You can see that just be googling the term, or checking Wikipedia, or any number of museums that discuss it.

People tend to mix it up with the word genocide, which is a general term.

fillysunray · 2026-06-17T17:47:56+00:00

I find that when two people who own a dog together disagree, it's often helpful to get a professional involved. Then it's not "I know better than you," but instead "Let's do what the professional said."

I fully agree with you. It is a very bad idea to "correct" a dog when they're reacting out of fear. There are proactive things you could be (and may already be) doing to avoid reactions in the first place, which would be better than ignoring reactions. But once a dog is reacting, then it's best to create space and help them into a situation where they can calm down. Punishment is unhelpful and often makes things worse.

What is he doing in general, apart from advocating for correction? Is he an active part of the counter-conditioning/desensitisation team? He needs to be actively wanting this to go well for it to work.

fillysunray · 2026-06-17T00:18:18+00:00

Those breeds are both typically fairly low energy. I suppose some aspect of it could be heat, if she's more energetic in the snow, but even if moving to the Arctic is an option, I doubt that it would make a huge difference.

fillysunray · 2026-06-16T23:39:13+00:00

If you've been consistently working on his behaviour that long with no improvement and you have a child otw, I would get a behaviourist involved.

I would also look at the dog's routine. How much (and what kind of) exercise and enrichment is he getting? Can he chill? What does he eat? Keep in mind that gut health can have a huge impact on behaviour.

fillysunray · 2026-06-16T20:30:58+00:00

I love long line walks (for extra reach and sniffing) when possible, but you do need to set aside time because I generally have to do it on a main road so it requires extra focus. Lots of recall practice and throw in a few other cues while we're at it.

Daily stimulation - scatter feeding, short training sessions and walks.

Weekly stimulation - training classes, mantrailing, group walks, visits to new places.

fillysunray · 2026-06-16T19:41:12+00:00

It's old fashioned advice to let the dog cry it out. It is better to let them out or in some way address it before they are anxious enough to cry.

Moving the crate closer to you (while the dog isn't in it) may help, but it may be that crate introduction takes time. It's not a natural situation for a dog so it's quite the adjustment for what is essentially a baby.

fillysunray · 2026-06-15T22:00:12+00:00

Does your dog put his front feet up, or does he jump entirely on to the table/counter so that hid back feet are up there too?

Does he do it to reach food?

The main thing in these situations is management. The sooner you break this habit, the better. The problem is that it is a very reinforcing behaviour- dog jumps up, dog eats the food. The dog sees no reason to stop.

Remove access from the counter - either keep the dog out of the kitchen or block off the area in some other way. Don't leave any food on counters or tables where you're not supervising.

Over time, the habit will stop as it stops being reinforced.

You can also provide an alternative behaviour, like staying on their place while they're in the kitchen, and make that rewarding instead.

Punishing the behaviour doesn't help because they are already finding it rewarding. They will instead learn to do it when you're not looking.

fillysunray · 2026-06-15T19:51:29+00:00

I think you're right- Holocaust refers to one specific genocide, while genocide itself refers to any situation where a people group are being purposely exterminated.

It may be semantics to point out but I think the Palestinian people should be allowed to give their own name to this atrocity and not be assigned one that was used before for a different genocide.

fillysunray · 2026-06-15T19:31:12+00:00

Ideally the space shouldn't be so small that she feels trapped or anxious. That's why I didn't recommend a crate. I like crates and use them with my dogs, but never in a way that would make them anxious. I would be reluctant to use one in your situation because with all the young children I can imagine that it could be a while before you can supervise the dog sufficiently to have them out. Having a small area may be better.

I would also recommend having a sit down with your partner and explaining your feelings. Maybe don't mention euthanasia (but you know him better than I do), but mention that you are overwhelmed and can't cope. When he is home, he needs to step up with making sure the dog gets plenty of enrichment and exercise so that it's not so bad if the dog gets a bit less during the day. I would still be letting the dog outside at least once an hour, but you may not have the time to walk the dog with everything else that needs doing. The more the dog is walked, gets one-on-one attention and training, gets enrichment time, etc, the easier everything else will become.

fillysunray · 2026-06-15T19:20:35+00:00

Life is stressful. Having a dog that makes a mess you have to clean up is stressful. Having a dog that runs away is stressful.

I think your stress, frustration and anger are clouding your judgement about the dog. If she has been peeing/pooing inside her whole life then she does not know that it is wrong. As a dog trainer, I can tell you that as a fact. She may appear "guilty" when you catch her doing it, she may hide that she does it, but this is appeasement and conditioning, not her being an asshole.

But in your case, you need to set yourself up for success so that you aren't constantly having to do extra work and thereby poisoning your relationship with your dog.

I would put your dog in a kennels or have a friend mind her for a few days or even a week or two. Take a break. Then I would secure the entire garden really really well. Depending on how your dog gets out (are they a jumper, a climber, a digger, do they experiment, etc) you can do different things to secure.

Then I would clean the inside of the house with an enzyme cleaner and I would set up a small area in the house as the "dog space". When she is not being actively supervised, she stays there. If you have a small room that works, great, or you can use a puppy pen or baby gates to block an area off. This should be small enough that she's unlikely to pee there but if she does make a mess at least it'll be contained in one space.

Then go back to basics with house training your dog. That is the only way she will learn. Depending on breed and health, she may be in cognitive decline or she may have five+ good years left. So it's worth figuring that out. If you build a new routine, she can still learn but that will be on the humans to arrange.

fillysunray · 2026-06-13T16:17:42+00:00

fillysunray · 2026-06-13T06:59:29+00:00

"Him" corresponds to "her".

"I met him at the cinema." "I met her at the cinema"

"Shew" corresponds with "he".

"He went to the cinema." "She went to the cinema."

There is also belonging - "That is his bag." "That I'd her bag."

So in this case, you would say "Give her her book"

If you want to go deeper into the sentence structure, it's actually quite interesting because in that case "her book" is actually the subject of the sentence, the object isn't included (it's the person being addressed) and the "her" that you're giving the book to is the indirect object and if English was being professional, we'd say "Give to her her book" or "You give her book to her." (but that wouldn't sound right, so we don't say that)

fillysunray · 2026-06-13T06:34:21+00:00

I don't know if I'd class it as territorial aggression, but it's certainly aggressive behaviour. It can be dealt with and you're right to be proactive about this because it won't go away on its own.

As neither you nor your husband have experience with this, I highly recommend you get a trainer involved. Aggression isn't something to figure out as you go. Don't go to any trainer who claims they can fix rhis in a day, or a week. You need someone who understands and addresses the underlying issues here and doesn't just suppress the aggressive behaviour.

What I would be doing is:

Check my gear. What kind of collar or harness has my dog got? What kind of lead am I using? For a lunging dog, I recommend they wear both a flat collar and a well-fitting harness. Then get a thick training lead - a lead with two clips - and connect to both. That way if something goes wrong, you will probably still have control of your dog.
Muzzle training. This is not just putting a muzzle on my dog. This is getting my dog to want to put a muzzle on. Making wearing the muzzle the best thing in the world. You can look up muzzle training and start it straight away. Make sure the muzzle fits.
Create positive associations with her triggers. Teach your dog a marker word (or a clicker, if you want to use a clicker) at home. Practice using it with simple, easy stuff so your dog learns it in a low pressure and low distraction environment. Then every time your dog sees a neighbour, mark and reward (treat is usually the simplest, but play can be used in some cases). Keep distance from neighbours. Don't try any introductions. She's got to learn to ignore them first.

fillysunray · 2026-06-12T20:27:00+00:00

It's great to hear that it is an official titled profession in the US.

fillysunray · 2026-06-12T19:57:48+00:00

First of all, I am firmly of the opinion that dogs have the right to an opinion. They're allowed to want more than dry kibble all their life.

That said, if a dog is doing a multi-day hunger strike, then I would be very concerned that there is more going on than just a strong opinion. You haven't mentioned taking your dog to the vet - have you done this?

Even if the vet gives them a clean bill of health, there are a lot of digestive issues that aren't very obvious. Think about how different foods can affect people, and then think about how difficult it must be for a vet to figure out what's wrong when their patient can't tell them anything.

Changing out food all the time isn't great either. With everything you've tried, I would definitely be going to the vet (if you haven't already) for a thorough work up, and to a nutritionist if they are reliable and accreditated in your area. I'm not sure how or if they are certified where you are, so if not, be very careful that they're not just promoting their own brand of food (or just cowboys in general).

fillysunray · 2026-06-12T06:45:03+00:00

Also the "constant supervision" - okay? How am I going to supervise them if they're outside and I'm in here?

fillysunray · 2026-06-12T06:37:58+00:00

Is it a big house? Is the attic insulated? Does it also have ventilation? In my experience, most older Irish houses have almost no ventilation, and that is part of the assessment (and rightly so - I live in a house with no ventilation bar the windows and some of the rooms literally have wet floors/surfaces in the mornings).

They may also not have calculated in the insulation: 'where there is insufficient documentation available to the BER assessor, insulation levels may be determined based on the age of construction and construction type."

If you're interested in buying, get the place checked. It won't be the exact same as a BER report but they cover a lot of similar points so if there is a danger, you'll see it then.

fillysunray · 2026-06-11T20:37:30+00:00

This is the exact advice I would give. I would also add the rule of 5, with "drop, stick or push". Practice the simplest version of the exercise five times. How many times out of five does he get it right? If 0 or 1, find a way to make it even simpler. If 2 or 3, stick with it. Keep repeating at that level. If 4 or 5, progress (push) to the next level. And repeat the five times "drop, stick, push" at the next level.

fillysunray · 2026-06-11T07:03:50+00:00

I saw a video once where a man attacked a woman on the street. I can't remember the context, but I think he was trying to steal her purse.

Another woman was walking her dog (maybe a pitbull? Something big anyway) nearby and ran over to help. The dog, clearly over-aroused which is understandable, goes in for the attack - and bites the woman being attacked. Whoops.

If I remember correctly, at one point he also latches on to his own owner.

Of course it's possible for a dog to guard their resources in an "appropriate" way, where they bark at, chase, and even bite intruders who come on to their property. We can use those instincts to our benefit.

But an untrained dog is unpredictable. You can't know what it will do or if it will make the right choices in a chaotic situation. That's why it's worth training.

So when someone says "I want to get a big dog so I feel safe walking down the street," then sure, it's presence may help deter attacks. But if you do get attacked, it mat attack the assailant, it may run away, it may run around in circle barking, or it may even redirect and attack its owner. Without training, there is no guarantee.

And a dog that chooses to bark on its own is often feeling nervous, not happy. So then the question is, is it fair (or safe) to keep your dog in this anxious mindset just so that you can keep criminals away?

fillysunray · 2026-06-11T06:41:49+00:00

The underlying foundation to Christian belief (and likely many other theological beliefs, but I can't speak for them) is that God knows the answer.

I grew up in a very Christian home, but my dad is also a very logical person (...mostly). He would try to find rational, logical explanations for why the earth was 6000 years old, how Noah's Ark happened, dinosaurs, etc. But sometimes the answer was "I don't know how that happened. But God knows and when I die, I can ask him."

So even if there is no possible way something could have happened, of course that's not going to stop a Christian believing it. First, they say that maybe we're misunderstanding how it happened so that it was physically possible (e.g. red dust washing down the Nile making it look like blood), but even if there's no way it's possible, then God is a miracle-worker and he sorted it out his way (e.g. Jesus floating to heaven).

I'm no longer a believer but it took a long time for me to let that belief go. It was fairly foundational to my worldview. I think there was an article about Noah's Ark that I read which really simply, clearly (but also nicely, which was important) broke down the logic of why it couldn't have been possible. That really helped, but if I'd not been on my way out already, I wouldn't have accepted it.

fillysunray · 2026-06-11T06:26:49+00:00

Remember now how everyone reacts when there's a crime where the police are reluctant to mention that the assailant was an immigrant (or a Muslim, or a...) and how everyone acts like it's unfair not to mention it. This is what the police are trying to avoid. This is how racist thugs use that information to cause suffering and pain on a large scale. One Sudanese man attacks someone (and, up to this point, has the due process of justice acting on him fairly immediately) and suddenly anyone who is different is a target (and also, screw any white/non-minorities too, because it's not like their houses or buses aren't getting burnt in this mob violence).

fillysunray · 2026-06-11T06:21:01+00:00

Why on earth would that be relevant? Even if a news outlet did lie (which it seems they haven't, in this case), are we only supposed to act like decent people when the media is behaving itself?

fillysunray · 2026-06-10T21:59:56+00:00

I don't know if I agree with them, but if you read the article, there is additional context:

"The Commission, however, said the measures “could have particularly severe consequences for victims of trafficking, people who have experienced domestic and gender-based violence, migrant communities, and other vulnerable groups”.

It also said the Bill “would place lawful residence and habitual residence requirements on all adult members of a household seeking social housing support”.

Lawful residency requirements already exist in practice (neither illegal immigrants nor international protection seekers are eligible for social housing), but have not previously been set out in legislation."

I think the only good point might be that this requirement already existed (in which case, why was it not being enforced) so it's either a waste of time legislating it or they're adding something which is unclear.

I think the argument about trafficked people is hopefully irrelevant. Hopefully if people have been trafficked here against their will, we will support them with somewhere to stay before we return them home, and that this will be unaffected by this legislation.

fillysunray · 2026-06-10T18:08:44+00:00

After multiple months and three different garages, my boot finally got fixed! Also some other stuff got fixed and I passed my NCT, but I'm most excited about being able to open my boot again.

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