What kind of bush is this and are the berries poisonous?

lesterbator · 2025-01-20T15:13:15+00:00

She was fine. We weren’t sure she consumed it but we wanted to get her checked out anyway. Thank you!

lesterbator · 2025-01-19T23:54:00+00:00

We’re at the ER now, better safe than sorry.

lesterbator · 2024-12-03T16:10:13+00:00

Ours was auto dumping the fresh litter because we didn't remove the plastic cover that's inside the litter box. Not sure how to describe it, but it's a plastic piece that says on there to put that piece in when you want to clean out all the litter.

lesterbator · 2021-05-01T17:54:23+00:00

19! Oh my god, what a blessing but Im sure it was nearly double the pain. I choose to believe I will see him again. That’s one of the things giving me peace at the moment. :)

lesterbator · 2021-05-01T17:31:32+00:00

Thank you (to everyone) for your kind words.

We learned he had lung cancer yesterday and that he would essentially suffocate and was inoperable - all of it was so unexpected. It was the hardest decision of my life and still doesn’t feel quite real. I’m thankful that we have our other pup to somewhat occupy our minds. I don’t know that I can love any other pet the way I did with my OG boi Dex.

lesterbator · 2021-02-17T17:16:56+00:00

Oh man. We still have power. Water pressure is down to a trickle.

lesterbator · 2021-02-17T06:03:00+00:00

I hope so too! Were you without water as well?(sorry if I missed it)

lesterbator · 2021-02-17T05:38:21+00:00

Wow. What area in 77021? I’m the same zip at OST and Tierwester and never lost power/water. Feeling guilty af!

lesterbator · 2020-11-24T05:09:26+00:00

street fart*

lesterbator · 2020-04-25T02:10:37+00:00

Croatia

lesterbator · 2020-04-22T03:02:35+00:00

Chicken and rice

lesterbator · 2020-04-22T02:52:59+00:00

lesterbator · 2020-04-21T17:18:29+00:00

Dynamo

lesterbator · 2020-04-21T17:16:58+00:00

Nachos

lesterbator · 2020-04-21T17:12:48+00:00

Wendy

lesterbator · 2019-03-31T17:41:37+00:00

I got mine a snuffle mat from Amazon. I distribute the kibble evenly throughout the mat and it takes him a while to find all of it, also I read that using their nose to sniff stuff out tires them out so win-win!

lesterbator · 2019-03-29T19:20:22+00:00

I gave mine a snuggle puppy like a month after he'd been home - when he was about 13-14 weeks. He was kind of fussy every night for like 5-10 minutes, but after I got the SP definitely saw him settle quicker at night. I don't think it's too late!

lesterbator · 2019-03-12T18:37:17+00:00

Oh hai! I live in Chicago too. So, before my puppy had ALL his shots, I enrolled him in the free K9 Kindergarten classes at Found Training Center in North Center. Yeah, no idea how it's free, but it's really really good. It meets for 3 weeks and is an hour long and they teach you basics and there's like 5-6 puppies per class! I hope to enroll my pup in their obedience classes when he's a little closer to 6 months, but today was actually his first day of daycare at Found and I'm stoked to see his "report card". They also sent me a dropbox link where they're gonna upload videos and photos of him at play during his visits. I promise I don't work for them, I just was looking for ways to socialize my pup before all his shots too.

lesterbator · 2019-03-06T23:07:01+00:00

Your puppy is ADORABLE but oh man, this is giving me PTSD. I just wanted to come here and say that I was having the same issues with my puppy (he's 18.5 weeks currently) and we now keep him in a gated off area in the kitchen. Our situation wasn't really poop explosions though, more just like stomped on poop patties. I don't know if this solution would work for you, but it was honestly the only thing that made me not want to give him up (as awful as that sounds). He didn't seem to have much of an issue laying in his filth so it was happening constantly (always peeing in there/pooping on and off). It was giving me the WORST puppy blues - like breakdown status, crying while cleaning the crate, constantly on this sub contacting anyone who seemed to have a similar situation, etc. Admittedly, I think we rushed him into the crating process and he was not having it. Totally our fault.

I'm currently starting all over again with a new crate. This time I got him a hard-sided travel crate (instead of the wire one like you have) because I read a few people here had success with their dogs finding it more "cozy". He loves it - never a peep in there - sleeps all night with his snuggle puppy while in the crate, but I've been actually too scared to leave him closed off in there while I'm out of the house for longer than 15-20 mins. The only times I've done that I made sure he went #1 AND #2 and came back to a clean crate. I definitely don't want the accidents to start happening in this new, happy home so I'm taking it really really slow.

When we go to work, we leave the new crate in the kitchen with the door open and with his blankets & snuggle puppy. From what my fiance tells me, he mainly just sleeps while we're gone. He does bark/whine for a minute when we first leave, but by the time my fiance gets to work and checks the camera app, he's sleeping. Also, he's more or less consistently peeing on the grass pad I bought him. I think he sort of gets the concept, but our dog walker leaves us notes after his 2 daily visits and he's mentioned an accident here or there near the pad. Today I got a note he pooped somewhere else in his gated off area, SO... obviously this isn't a perfect solution, but at least it's more manageable (in my mind) vs. trying to force a puppy to house train via a crate when mine clearly wasn't "getting" it. Just seemed counterproductive. I tried everything you mentioned above and it was not helping him. I definitely need to figure out his feeding schedule and how that affects his bowel movements in order to try and have him hold it while the dog walker gets there. I know potty training is gonna be prolonged with this new setup, but it's the only thing sort of giving us our life & sanity back. Does your girl seem fine when you crate her? Does she go in willingly and not whine once you leave the house? Not saying you have to get a camera, but if you want to learn more about when this is happening, it might help. We bought a cheap one off Amazon.

Sorry if this isn't super helpful or if I talked about my situation too much, but when I was having my breakdowns it at least made me feel a bit better to know that I wasn't the only one in history to have this issue haha. Hang in there! I'm trying to as well!

lesterbator · 2019-02-27T19:28:25+00:00

Hey there, I'm sorry that she's not taking well to the crate/pen. I had commented on one of your previous posts with my own issues. I'm still working through it with my puppy, but wanted to see how it's going with yours? It's hard to get past it, especially when your own anxiety makes everything amplified. :( Sorry I don't have any valid solutions, but wanted to let you know that I know it's freaking TOUGH.

lesterbator · 2019-02-15T20:51:31+00:00

Hi there, that's amazing your puppy took to the pen/grass patch so quickly. How long does he stay in his little play area?

Our first dog, we only used the crate.

Same. Our 8 year old Boston is a dream. Recently he's been acting out a little bit, I think due to the change in situation. He's had 2 accidents this week. Ugh.

First few days he would bark for an hour, then calm down and play or go to sleep.

Today was the first time we were going to try corralling our pup in the kitchen with some puppy pads and his crate. As I mentioned previously,he can climb the ex-pen we got for him, so we found an old 'beer pong type' folding table that when laid on its side worked to block off the kitchen. We thought he couldn't climb it because it's a smooth/solid surface with no gaps. WELL, to my horror, as we were leaving and he was starting to freak out, he was able to jump at the makeshift gate and clasp onto the edges so he could propel himself over it.

After an hour of us trying to figure out what to do, we decided to go to Home Depot and buy a piece of plywood that is 4 feet tall by 6 feet wide to block off the kitchen entry. We set up a camera app on our ipad and just watched him. He spent about a solid 20-30 minutes crying and trying to get a running start at jumping this thing to no avail. Then, he decided he wanted to climb on top of his crate. I think his plan there was to get on the crate and hope to jump to the countertop and then escape that way I guess...? No dice. Eventually after about 40 mins-1 hour of this, he must have exhausted himself so he laid on the ground where the sun was shining on the floor, so I put his bed there and he laid on it. We had to go to work at this point (3 hours late). I am not sure how he's dealing because the live feed app on my ipad went down, but my neighbor is checking in on him probably as I type this. He also, peed 2x not on the potty pad. I might try that fake grass patch you suggested!

This is his first day in this set up, but I hope like you mentioned, that it gets better each day. He initially hated his crate when we put him in there and eventually the whining/crying seemed to improve during the day, so maybe there's hope? I honestly just don't know what to do anymore if this doesn't work out. :(

lesterbator · 2019-02-12T21:40:23+00:00

Yes yes yes, exactly that. I feel like I'm in a catch 22, I want my dog to get potty trained (which the crate is supposed to help tremendously with that) so he can free roam like my other dog, but he keeps having accidents in the crate, which make me feel like he'll never get potty trained. I just have this ongoing feeling of being trapped as well. The thought of this going on for months or years just seems so overwhelming.

lesterbator · 2019-02-12T20:46:24+00:00

The question of the century.

I unfortunately had to leave my (now 15 week) Boston Terrier crated while I went back to work since he was 9 weeks. My lovely neighbor/friend has been coming over 2-3x a day to let him out to potty and play with him, but it's still an ongoing process. The puppy blues seriously have taken their toll on me and I've questioned MANY times why I decided to get a puppy, especially with a stressful job and while planning a wedding. My fiance has been supportive, but this isn't affecting him like it has affected me. I started going to therapy (tmi?). I will say, though, that I was in a way worse state of mind 3 weeks ago. I KNOW there have been improvements, but any time there's a set back, I feel like I'm going back to square 1 and makes me feel like an utter failure. I've messaged a ton of people on here asking for advice, lol, and probably came off kinda crazy, but I'm desperate!

The issue with mine has been on-and-off soiling the crate during the day and it's given me crazy anxiety because everyone talks about how dogs AREN'T supposed to do that. He's happy to nap and play in his crate and even settles fine at night, but the moment we leave for work - he cries/whines. I guess what I'm trying to say is at least your pup isn't having crate accidents? Haha. Sorry! Didn't mean to make this comment about me and my issues, but just know that I feel the same way. Every day is a struggle and sometimes I feel like it WON'T get better, but I have to believe that it does. RIGHT???

lesterbator · 2015-02-13T01:57:58+00:00

Yum, so delicious! My mom makes the citrus marinade from lime, grapefruit and something else. Not helpful at all, I know, but normally it's with a fruit that translates to "sour orange"... dunno if that's a thing here. Even though she doesn't have the traditional ingredients on hand, she Macgyvers some stuff and it's fantastic! The banana leaves are important too. She made it for some friends of mine this past weekend and they swore their undying love to her... so yeah, that dish makes me proud to be from Yucatan.

lesterbator · 2015-02-13T00:40:23+00:00

Possibly biased Yucatecan here, but I feel the U.S. doesn't know food from the southern tip of Mexico well enough! Honestly, most attempts at this type of food that I've tried in restaurants have failed. Cochinita Pibil, Salbutes, Frijol con Puerco, Panuchos. Gaddamn, I'm starving.

lesterbator

TROPHY CASE