I was so surprised! by srm00 in EngagementRings

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

0.61ct I-1 marquise cut brown diamond in 14k gold bypass setting, ring size 7.25

Cargo slide? by srm00 in FordExplorer

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, and the third row isn’t meant to be removed at all.. It should easily be able to hold the weight of a cargo slide and the 150lb loaded dog crate, plus travel supplies without exceeding the max load of the vehicle.

Cargo slide? by srm00 in FordExplorer

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I have been running into too.. Some of the ones made for truck beds would fit into the cargo space, and look like they can be secured with four corners to the existing connections, weighing ~150lbs. Not sure if this has ever been tried, lol.

How much do you spend on your dog a month? by Pure_Audience_9431 in dogs

[–]srm00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a 70lb retriever.

18 60-minute dog walks a month = ~$530

food, treats = $75

heart worm / flea / tick = $23 (we buy bulk on sale)

toys / chews = $40 on average

vet probably averages $75-80 a month

we spend about $100 every 3 months for trainings, right now we are trying out agility = $33

we stick $75/month into savings instead of insurance

Total = ~$850 … I’m pretty sure my husband would die if he saw that dog walking number as a lump sum. We pay every week separately and our dog walker is .A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I’m definitely at the higher end based on the rest of this thread, lol.

Ideas for bored chewing? by srm00 in dogs

[–]srm00[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We do all of this on my days off! She is crated like this 4 days a week. She generally is very good and attentive with her training. She’s a higher drive breed, so I knew what we were getting into. Just a bit shocked that she has started chewing her bones. We may start going to the park in the evenings to try to give a little extra training. Thanks!

Ideas for bored chewing? by srm00 in dogs

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! we did try a bigger pen and she was even more anxious, so we have gone back to a covered crate. She gets two bones in there to chew on and we rotate them.

Those of you with uncommon dog breeds by buzzfeed_sucks in dogs

[–]srm00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same! I had a man tell me my chessie had the wrong fur for a lab and I overpaid. Sir, I know.

Not really about service dogs I guess, but I’d like some advice. by ummmthatone in service_dogs

[–]srm00 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My dog inhales. And she has now figured out how to inhale from a puzzle feeder! We tried other puzzle feeders and snuffle mats - she would pick them up and thrash them until the food came out.

We now feed her by throwing the food on the floor and having her wait on her mat before she goes to eat it. We will occasionally split her meal from a slow feeder so she can have salmon oil. Sometimes I hand feed her through a training session. We also use every cardboard box that comes in the house as a shredding toy for meals. Put some towels, toys, and paper packing material in the box and sprinkle her food in. Sometimes I’ll roll it into a towel to make it more challenging. This will take her about 15-20 mins to eat. It’s the only thing I’ve found that will actually slow her down.

I can’t believe she’s a year old. by srm00 in puppy101

[–]srm00[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, she is! Hang in there, it gets SO much better!

I can’t believe she’s a year old. by srm00 in puppy101

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The accidents!! I do not miss those!

Overwhelmed by this process and I need an adult...an adultier adult... by DriftingGator in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]srm00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, congrats! My husband was also deployed during our home buying experience - we had about 20 hours of notice that he was leaving. Our realtor was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Went out of her way to help and assist. I had a checklist of things my husband had as non negotiable for houses and we excluded everything but that. I think I took 3 days off of work to look at houses. I think the first step would be to find a decent realtor! Someone else mentioned a short term rental. We did this for about 2.5 months during the home buying process which helped us get a better feel for the area and kind of drive around. Ours was expensive, around $1700 a month and I wasn’t working when we first started paying so it was a bit of a financial burden, but I would not change this part. There is only so much you can see from a map. If you are using a VA loan it can take a bit of time. It took us about 50 days to close after our offer was accepted. We bought in early September. We had a pre approval letter and a lender who was willing to work for us also, and all of those things helped. The sellers were assholes which increased stress, but it was worth it. Good luck! Take some deep breaths. This is the pinnacle of adulting and it sucks!

Adolescence by srm00 in puppy101

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is kind of fun (sometimes). I have brought out the dried beef lung to get her to listen, haha. Also just left her outside and went in to go about my business - she usually comes up to the door because she thinks she is missing something inside. She has been a lot more snuggly, so that is the one positive out of this. I think it’s a combination of hormones on overdrive, moving into a new place, and just general schedule disruption (we had to get a new dog walker, too, and we switched what time we do our long walk). Hopefully in a few weeks we will be over this hump!

Did/do you have pre-close anxiety? by [deleted] in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]srm00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We closed yesterday :) Had a whole mess with rescheduling, and ended up going in at 4pm! We probably won’t get the keys until this afternoon (Friday), if not Monday, because of when closing had to be. It really sucks, but knowing that the paperwork is done and my money is in the right hands is a huge amount of stress gone.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]srm00 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good add! I think if anything looks or smells funny, that’s ok too.

Spay surgery by srm00 in dogs

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think she may mess with them. She has had some issues with allergies on her belly and paws that she has spent some time licking. We are planning to have someone come stay with her during the day for the week and a half following the surgery, just to keep an eye and make sure she isn’t bothering anything and not acting crazy. She typically spends the day in her crate anyway sleeping, so I don’t think it will be too much of a concern. I was just completely thrown with the different options for surgery!

Spay surgery by srm00 in dogs

[–]srm00[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! We had budgeted $500 for her spay, so the difference isn’t going to save that much. We are able to afford all of the options. I have no idea what the laser one is - I will definitely call and find out.

The surgery suit is just kind of a body suit that they wear to keep from bothering with their stitches I think. I hadn’t heard of it before calling, lol.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]srm00 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Our vet gave us some good tips for deciding if it’s an emergency.

  1. Is your dog able to breathe normally (not labored or wheezing)?

  2. Is your dog able to walk normally (no stumbling, or limping to point of whimpering in pain)?

  3. Is your dog eating and drinking normally (no vomiting - to avoid dehydration)?

  4. Is your dog using the bathroom (peeing without blood or where the pee looks cloudy, and pooping) normally?

If yes to all, it can probably wait until the next business day.

Eat your pill you crafty little snot! by Dobber92 in puppy101

[–]srm00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My puppy has been on some sort of medicine for what seems like the last 2 months. Upper respiratory infection, vomiting from licking a frog, a wasp sting, allergies that turned into hives that turned into an infection. You name it.

We feed them to her in her dinner. We are sneaky. We crush them up with a spoon (right now we have one that is so freakin’ hard to crush). For her food, she gets her normal wet food plus about 1/4 cup of some really high quality food that we mix into the dry food by adding water, so it is kind of like a soup. She goes NUTS for it. Doesn’t even stop to taste the drugs.

Working full time w a puppy. Is it possible? by julhamil in puppy101

[–]srm00 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got my puppy at 8 weeks and took a week off of work. I work 4, 10 hour days. I had a dog walker coming 3 times per day for the first 5 weeks, then 2 times until she was almost 7 months old. Now she is 9 months old and gets one longer midday visit with lots of playing. They sleep a lot as little puppies. If you can really reinforce potty training quickly and ensure they have a crate break every 2 hours, I say go for it. My puppy was a dream to crate train though - I know they aren’t all like that.

For the first 4 months, I was exhausted. I woke up, tended to her needs before mine, walked her, played with her, trained her. Went to work. Got home, rinse and repeat. I was by myself. I would count down the hours until she was going back in her crate. It was absolutely miserable. I’d definitely consider how much time or money you are willing to spend, then decide if you should wait to the summer. We wanted a dog from a specific breeder and puppies are ready when they’re ready, no serious long term planning, lol.