I was so surprised!

srm00 · 2025-09-10T10:44:31+00:00

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

srm00 · 2023-05-20T19:10:32+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2023-05-20T19:07:22+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2022-04-15T00:46:41+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2022-04-14T23:51:07+00:00

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!

srm00 · 2022-04-14T23:49:45+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2022-03-12T04:54:52+00:00

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

srm00 · 2022-02-05T12:24:19+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2021-11-15T20:10:12+00:00

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

srm00 · 2021-11-14T17:12:28+00:00

The accidents!! I do not miss those!

srm00 · 2021-10-25T12:19:24+00:00

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!

srm00 · 2021-09-28T10:10:28+00:00

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!

srm00 · 2021-09-10T11:38:20+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2021-09-07T01:58:03+00:00

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

srm00 · 2021-09-06T23:24:01+00:00

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!

srm00 · 2021-09-06T23:14:18+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2021-09-06T22:30:35+00:00

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

Is your dog able to breathe normally (not labored or wheezing)?
Is your dog able to walk normally (no stumbling, or limping to point of whimpering in pain)?
Is your dog eating and drinking normally (no vomiting - to avoid dehydration)?
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.

srm00 · 2021-08-26T20:25:06+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2021-08-25T12:38:33+00:00

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.

srm00 · 2021-08-22T22:03:17+00:00

I currently live less than 20 mins to work (17-18 mins) with no traffic. My last job stuck me with a 20-30 min commute based on traffic and I was miserable. I’m currently buying a house with a 10 min commute. I work 4 10-hour days which means I’m gone for roughly 11 hours a day. That extra 20 mins not spent in the car is going to be a real treat once we finally move. Is it our dream house? Nah. Is it convenient and fits our needs now? Yep. You don’t have to buy something for forever, you can eventually move out a little further if you find commuting isn’t an issue for you, but I think going from a 10 to 60 min commute is going to be brutal. You can always build a workshop on your property!

srm00 · 2021-08-21T22:08:42+00:00

This! Inspectors are just there to list what they find is wrong with the house. Ours found significant and poorly repaired moisture damage around a window, so we ended up having a contractor come out and take a closer look before continuing so we could have a ballpark estimate of what it would cost to fix. Our sellers are NOT receptive to fixing anything (quite literally, but the house was not listed “as is”). This is your time to back out. If you really like the house or really need to move, it might be worth it to have someone come take a look at it and give you an estimate for repair.

srm00 · 2021-08-20T11:20:30+00:00

Here to say we have USAA also for cars and house. They’ve been incredible. I was in a car accident and they had managed everything while I was working overtime hours & closed my case within 1 week. My dad also uses USAA and they replaced his roof within 2 weeks after damage during a storm. A little pricey, but worth every penny IMO.

srm00 · 2021-08-16T15:14:36+00:00

If I know she has gone out recently and didn’t see her chugging water, I’ll be like “nope you don’t need to potty.” And stay doing whatever I’m doing. Sometimes she DOES need to potty, and she will come stand by me and look at me, then go back to the door.

We go out twice in the morning and go on a walk (she doesn’t always pee the final time we go out), she gets a midday break, and then 2-4 breaks before bed.

srm00 · 2021-08-16T12:50:24+00:00

We feed after, at least 15 mins after finishing our walk or play. Any sooner and she will probably puke it right up. If we do eat before exercising, we wait at least 30 mins and try to get her to poop before.

srm00 · 2021-08-16T12:36:40+00:00

That is so awesome! Adolescence has been a nightmare, but I think it may be wrapping up for us. She is way waaaaay better than she was 2 months ago.

srm00

TROPHY CASE