(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best crafts, hobbies & home books

> I've done several training classes with him, but they were all focused on treat training. What I have now is a dog that will only listen to me if I have a treat for him.

This is more so an issue with not fading the treat/being too reliant on treats rather than USING treats. You can learn about the training process from beginning to end and fading treat dependency here (in particular, check out the Rate of Reinforcement article and this article from Karen Pryor on Fading a Lure).

>She says treat training doesn't usually work for a Mastiff and she wants to do corrective training.


EEehhhuuuuurrrr....be careful with that. I am not going to say positive reinforcement is the absolute only way to train an animal, full stop - but really be aware of what your trainer is suggesting, WHY, and the cause/effect of your actions. It is important that you TEACH a dog what you WANT from them, not just correct them when they 'guess' wrong. That is when frustration sets in.

>She told me to tug harder when he did that, so I did. He started to bite at the leash, then he even started to bite at me.

Remember what I just said before about frustration? This is it. Your dog knows what has worked in the past, but now the rules have changed and he is being punished for doing what he has always done and doesn't know what you actually WANT him to do - just that being slower than you hurts and you jerk him around a lot. What type of 'training collar' are you using? Here is an exercise to teach heel without corrections.

>She told me she expected it and it's a normal response to what he sees as a challenge for dominance.

Dominance theory has been discounted.. You are not a dog and your dog knows that - he is not trying to be an 'alpha' or 'dominate' the situation. As I said before, your dog is frustrated and confused that he keeps getting 'corrected' and doesn't know what to do. Imagine trying to teach a child how to read by only 'correcting' them but never telling them when they are right (you just let them 'continue' when they are right) - if they already know a skill REALLY well, that may be fine! But if they don't they are likely to get very frustrated and want to give up. Any trainer that dismisses aggression like that is a huge red flag.

I wouldn't keep working with this trainer. She WAS right about one thing, however - if you are spoiling the dog (free treats, lots of treats, no varied training methods, very easy or light expectations, little or no structure or rules), that is going to make a lot of things much more difficult.

I would recommend reading through our wiki and also picking up Don't Shoot the Dog and Culture Clash to get a look into dog physiology and motivation so you can have a better understanding about your relationship with your dog and how to leverage certain needs and wants for training.

In terms of "what do you do now":

• Seek a different trainer - find one that uses positive reinforcement with a mix of different reinforcers.
  
  
• Introduce varied reinforcers - if your dog is highly treat motivated, that is GREAT, but try mixing it up with using toys or play (or life rewards like going outside or getting on the couch) as reinforcers, too! That way your dog will learn to work to get things in life, not JUST to work for treats. (see Nothing in Life is Free).
  
  
• It is also important to down play the use of treats - treats are a bonus. Focus on making training a game and building rewarding behaviors, not JUST on treats. Keep treats in a pouch or pocket and use empty hands and a calm tone to build direction for a behavior - do not just lure with treats! Look into clicker training to help break that reliance on treats and focus more on building behaviors.
  
  
• Treats should never be in a 'free for all' type of scenario where he is competing with other dogs. Treats are NEVER free! Where was he that this incident happened? Keep treats out of dog parks and if there are other people training around you, keep your distance. Teach a strong 'Leave it' command to help keep your dog focused and away from these types of situations.
  
  
• Your Mastiff is still very young so understand he is not going to be 'perfect' and will still likely be pretty excitable and energetic. Be patient and consistent with training. Keep sessions at home short (3-5 minutes) and frequent (3-5 times a day) and focus on one skill each session. If you are going to be working with a trainer, skip or postpone your prior meal to the session (so if you train at 6PM, skip dinner if you normally feed dinner at 5PM) and make sure he gets in a good amount of exercise to help keep him focused (a nice long walk, games in the yard, etc).
  
  
• Resource guarding is an issue with many dogs - if he only nipped to get a treat that is not AS concerning as biting/growling/attacking another dog - he was just being a jerk and a pig (but no damage was done). Nipping is how dogs communicate with each other - it is 'unacceptable' to us, but it how he tells other dogs to "back off". Unless you have other dogs in your house, keep him out of situations where he is 'competing' with other dogs for treats and work on reducing guarding tendencies in low key areas (feeding from your hands, working on 'take it'/'drop it', swapping out items instead of just taking things away, etc).
  
  
• In terms of children, I NEVER let our dog near 'stray' children I do not know. Many dogs get anxious around children and many children do not know how to properly interact with a dog. It is best to just avoid these scenarios at his age. If you have family members with trusted, younger children, you can try introducing them to him in low key areas at quiet times (arming them with treats and helping them toss them and teaching them to wait until he approaches - letting him eat treats out of open hands - showing them to pet on the chest or the back, not the face - etc).
  
  
• There are tons of exercises you can do in terms of desensitization to people on the street and capturing calmness. If you need more help with this feel free to search through our wiki, the dogtraining reddit or ask. It is a pretty indepth topic so I am going to skip the nitty gritty for now.
  
  If you feel like 'treat training' is not working out for you, focus more on the positive reinforcement aspects of it and less on "treat training". Work on teaching your dog WHAT you expect at gradually increasing levels of difficulty. When you are confident he knows his stuff THEN you can introduce more requirements/negative reinforcement. I am not talking choke chains or shock collars or pinching or anything along those lines - but more so that you expect your dog to do X before Y happens - no exceptions. If your dog KNOWS how to sit and KNOWS that he needs to sit at doors - give him 5 seconds to sit at the door to go on your walk or you dont go - go do something else for a few minutes and try again later. Raise your expectations as your dog's level of skill increases.
  
  As a further example, when working on leash skills, maybe you let your dog walk where ever as long as the leash is loose to really nail down a proper walk. Then, when he is great at responding to leash pressure, require him to be at your left side or the walk stops - etc. You can be 'corrective' without being 'punishing' and without using a single treat (but treats are always good to strongly reinforce a new or shakey behavior).
  
  Things like Martingales, head harnesses or front clip harnesses can be great tools for fine tuning or getting extra help (particularly with walking skills) but there is a time, place and method for using these things. Unlimited slip collars, shock collars or physically jerking, poking, pinching or otherwise antagonizing your dog are not the best ways to approach training - especially with shaky skill sets. You may find you need extra help from a training tool and that is FINE, but, again, be sure that you understand what you are subscribing to, the method/ideaology behind it, and how it can and does affect your dog.
  
  Instead of 'training' think 'teaching' - There are a million ways to teach a child and not any ONE way is right for every single one. You may need to be more delicate and dish out piles of rewards for one child, and another child you may need to be more strict. You need to find that balance for your dog. But remember, there are very VERY few instances out there where it pays to teach by only being aggressive or only giving out rewards for every little conceivable thing (e.g: always relying on that choke chain to let pain/intimidation teach your dog or always using a food lure and giving out 'jackpots' and rivers of treats for skills your dog has practiced many times).
  
  /r/dogtraining very strongly backs positive reinforcement. As someone who has used pretty much every method on the training spectrum I can say that for most dogs in most situations? A flavor of positive reinforcement is going to give you much better results then focusing on corrective or 'dominance' based training ideas. If you have questions about what positive reinforcement and how it is different from dominance based methods - check out the sidebar. There is a ton of great information on WHY we back the methods we do.

> eager to please


The Eager to Please Fallacy:

by Jean Donaldson in 'The Culture Crash'

http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Clash-Jean-Donaldson/dp/1617811122/

The anthropomorphic spin on dog behaviour is not limited to exaggerations of their intelligence. We also misinterpret their regard for us. When are we going to put to bed once and for all the concept that dogs have a "desire to please"? What a vacuous, dangerous idea. I'm still waiting to meet this dog who wants to please his owner. Indeed, where is this dog who is interested at all in the internal state of his owner except with regard to how manifestations of this state impact events of relevance to the dog? Actually, let's start by tracking down a dog who can form representations of another being's internal states at all. Although praise works as a reinforcer for some individuals in the total absence of any competing motivation, this effect is limited, and casts some pretty extreme doubt on a "desire to please" module.

Closer scrutiny makes the case even weaker. Rule out, for starters, that the praise functions as a safety cue--a predictor of extremely low likelihood of aversives. This is evident in traditional obedience classes. The primary motivation is said to be praise. The primary motivation is actually avoidance of aversives, called "leash corrections". If the trainer is any good, the dog learns that if a response is praised, a correction has been avoided, and so the praise acquires meaning and relevance. But does this mean the dog is employing this sound as evidence of some internal state of the maker of the sound? This is unlikely.

Praise can also acquire some "charge" as a secondary reinforce in the day-to-day life of a dog. People tend to praise dogs more before doling out cookies, attention, walkies and games. This all is more evidence of what we already knew and should be exploiting with a tad more sophistication: dogs learn by the immediate results of their actions, and by tip-offs to important events in their lives.

And yet the use of food in training meets moralistic resistance among a staggering number of owners. I Once spoke to a traditional trainer who poured scorn on the use of food as a motivator. The line he trotted out, and which still makes me retch even to this day, was: "If you use food to train, the dog is doing it for the food and not for you." This man's dog, trained by avoidance with a strangle collar, was supposedly doing it for him because the only positive reinforcer was praise. Trainers who make claims about dogs working "to please" or strictly for praise seem oblivious to the main motivator they employ: pain. The first task in training any animal is finding out what motivates it. No motivation, no training. All animals are motivated by food, water, sex, and avoiding aversives. If they are not motivated by these at all, they die. A lot of animals can be motivated by play, attention, and the opportunity to socialize with or investigate other dogs and interesting smells. All animals can be motivated by signals that represent one of these primary reinforcers, provided the relationship between the signal and the primary is kept adequately strong. This is mostly where praise comes in, as sort of a imprecise marker that tells the animal the probability of a primary has improved. If you opt not to use positive reinforcement, you end up, like they all do, using aversives and announcing that your dog is doing it for you. Pathetic.

None of this is to say praise isn't good or important. I personally praise my dogs an embarassing amount because I like them and I like doing it. They like it when I'm in a good mood because Good Things Happen for Dogs when She's in a Good Mood. I personally love it when someone like my Kung Fu instructor, who has power over me, is in a good mood, but not because I'm genetically wired with a desire to please him. My interest in my teacher's mood is pretty selfish, and I;m supposed to be a morally advanced human. Any interest you dog has in your mood is based on what he has learned it means for him. And that's okay.

Praise does work as a primary reinforcer for some dogs. They like it enough to work for it, especially when it's the only game in town, but this is weak grounds on which to marginalize those dogs for whom praise does not work as a primary reinforcer. It is also weak grounds to support the hypothesis of an underlying mechanism of desire to please. A lot of dogs seem to kind of life praise but won't reliably work for it. This is fine. There's a difference between expressing affection to the dog, for what it's definitely worth to the human and for whatever it may be worth to the dog, and relying on praise as a principal means of motivating an animal in training or behaviour modification. In other words, don't confuse bonding activities with training and behaviour mod. For the latter, heavier artillery is usually needed.

Some people feel disappointed to discover the necessity of using heavier artillery like food and access to fund and games and other primary reinforcers in order to condition their animal. They feel like their particular dog is a lemon because "he listens when he wants to," "only does it when I have a cookie" and has in short little or no desire to please. Generations of dogs have been labeled lemons for requiring actual motivation when all along they were normal. In fact, many people are actually put off by the intensity with which dogs will work for strong primary reinforcers such as food. It too directly assaults any cherished belief they might have in the desire-to-please myth, and makes them feel less important to the dog. ("Wow, is this what motivation looks like?") I'm still waiting to meet a real dog with desire to please. If he shows up, I'll send him for therapy.

The desire to please thing has been fed, largely, by the misreading of certain dog behaviours. Dogs get excited when we come home, solicit attention and patting from us, and lick us. They are very compulsive about their greeting rituals. They often shadow us around when we're available and become gloomier or even anxious when we leave. They are highly social and genetically unprepared for the degree of absence from family members they experience in a human environment. They also bounce back amazingly well, to a point, from the immense amount of punishment we mete out at them. They monitor our every movement. I can see how this could be interpreted as worship, but it's important not to get a big ego about it: they are monitoring our every movement for signs that something might happen for dogs.

My dogs' brains are continuously and expertly checking out the behaviour of humans, working out to eight decimal places the probability at any given second of cookies, walks, attention, Frisbee and endless hours of deliriously orgasmic games with the latex hedgehog. They appear devoted to me because I throw a mean frisbee and have opposable thumbs that open cans. Not to say we don't have a bond. We both are a bonding species. But they don't worship me. I'm not sure they have a concept of worship. Their love is also not grounds for doing whatever I say. It is, in fact, irrelevant to training. To control their behaviour, I must constantly manipulate the consequences of their actions and the order and intensity of important stimuli. Interestingly, some of the most sophisticated training jobs are done where no love and little bond is present. THis is not to say that training is not one of the best ways around to foster a bond. It is. But it's not a prerequisite of training.

Virtually any dog in the universe can fit the criteria of what you described, but all breeds have their little variations.

For example, my favorite breed is the German Shepherd. And there are German Shepherds that do really well in apartment life, and others that don't. If you go to a breeder for your dog, you're going to want to find a breeder that emphasizes pet quality, safe, sane dogs. The difference between a Labrador from hunting lines and lines bred for therapy and service dog work is night and day. If you go to a shelter to adopt a dog, I would recommend taking a qualified trainer with you that's well-read on selection testing dogs, and most of all, use the resources at your disposal. Talk to the people who run the shelter and/or the rescue. They have the most experience with the dog. They will be able to help you the best.

With the two breeds you mentioned (Golden Retrievers, specifically) keep in mind the shedding issue. Labs shed too, but Golden's are just about as bad as Shepherd's (which are both, very bad.) If you have carpet, be prepared to vacuum everyday. If you intend to let your dog sleep with you on the bed, or chill on the sofa, be ready to clean your furniture daily. Your clothes will be covered in hair if you do not. Your boss will not like you showing up to work wearing your dog.

Also, please, if you haven't already, look into your apartments restrictions for pets and dog breeds, and keep in mind that if you intend on moving, you will be taking your dog with you. I love all breeds of dogs, but apartments do not. Rottweilers, German Shepherd's, Doberman's, Pitbulls (and mixes) come under notorious scrutiny when moving. For your future dogs sake, pick a breed or mixed breed that your landlords are cool with.


Some of my favorite books include:
Dog Training for Dummies which is a very basic introduction to how dogs learn, and explains the different methods available to you in an unbiased manner.

Some of my personal favorite books include:
How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete.
The Art of Raising A Puppy by the Monks of New Skete
The Divine Canine by the Monks of New Skete

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a huge fan of the Monks of New Skete. The put huge emphasis on calm, structured leadership and positive method obedience that works in real life situations. Plus, they're German Shepherd people. Double points.

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin.

Dr. Temple Grandin is a high-functioning autistic that teaches at Colorado State University's veterinary science department. I've taken several classes with her, and her understanding of animals is absolutely impossible to challenge. This book is more about genetic theory and science-backed training methods. It's good reading material if you want to know more about animals (she discusses dogs and livestock in detail) but is not a training guide. She also has a lot of technical articles available on her website here.

Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Harowitz. This is a cursory introduction to canine ethology. It is not a guide, but if you want to know about how dogs think (how dogs can "smell time" for example) this is where you start.

How to Speak Dog by Stanley Coren emphasizes communication with dogs, backed in animal biology and evolution.

Canine Body Language: A photographic guide by Brenda Aloff describes in vivid detail what dogs are "saying." It's not a training guide, but will help you understand your dog much better.

Katz on Dogs by Jon Katz, a great common sense training guide to working with dogs in the home, and outdoors.
Soul of a Dog also by Jon Katz, which goes into greater detail on the personal side of working with dogs, with very helpful examples.

Imagine Life With a Well Behaved Dog by Julie Bjelland. Great book on structure and positive method dog training.

Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Dr. Pitcairn was one of my college textbooks and it's a great start for dog nutrition and chemical-free health care for dogs. This is not a training guide, but nutrition and health are just as important (if not more) than training, so I figured I'd share.


With the exception of the first book on the list, all of these books are fairly detailed. I would highly recommend the Monks of New Skete books before any of the others. But they're all very good.

Additionally, you can read many of the articles on the AKC.org website regarding dog training, and Leerburg has some great comprehensive advice on training the working dog, which can also be applied to training family pets. He also sells a variety of videos and ebooks on the same subject matter.

TL;DR How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend & The Art of Raising A Puppy explain everything you ever need to know about training a dog, ever.

Alright. Here's my 2 cents. Except it's probably gonna turn out to be 50 cents because I like to type, so bear with me.

1. Throw your preconceptions about crate training OUT the window. Especially with a velcro breed like a German shepherd, crate training will be your best friend and key tool. If you need the dog to not be up your ass for a little while (which it will, I guarantee you, that's shepherds for ya), you'll need a place to put it. Since it takes time to train a long down-stay, a crate is your best bet. Proper crate training teaches the dog that the crate is a safe, cozy place for the dog to relax and chew a bone or take a nap or just chill. So find some books or online articles and read up on how to do it because it's great. Seriously. I promise you, when done right, it is absolutely not cruel whatsoever. This article is a good place to start.
   
   
2. Again, read up on it. I haven't had many experiences introducing cats and dogs, so I can't give you my own anecdotal advice, but like with anything else take it slow and keep it positive. Reward the dog for calm behavior around the cats and if s/he tries to chase them, give a time-out or separate them for a while. The cats are the real wild cards here, because if they have not been socialized to dogs then they are of course liable to get angry at the dog. If the dog hasn't been socialized to cats then the dog will perceive the anger as excitement and may try to play or fight, depending on the dog. So try to keep the cats calm and give them plenty of spaces to escape to; if they like to climb, get them a tower or a shelf that's all theirs, for example.
   
   
3. Nah, not necessarily. Every dog has different toy preferences so if you get a bunch now you may find that your dog isn't even interested in half of them. I would say wait until you get the dog and then go to a pet store together and figure out what it likes then. However, one thing that is useful for almost every dog is a Kong or two (or three...). If you want to start stocking something now, I would strongly suggest putting a little money away per week/month/pay period in a savings account so you have some financial cushion if the dog suddenly needs expensive vet care. Or just for general expenses for the dog. Because they are expensive.
   
   
4. Bones are fine. Make sure they are raw, because cooked bones can splinter and cause damage. My person lrule is that if they are small enough to swallow or soft enough to break down into swallowable pieces, they don't get them while unsupervised. Also be careful with super hard things like antlers at first. I've never experienced this, but apparently some dogs have softer teeth than others and can break their teeth on antler chews. Antlers are great for puppies who are chewing maniacs but again, just supervise them at first. Rawhides are also hit or miss; many people give them to their dogs without issue but ingested rawhide can sometimes swell up from moisture and cause intestinal blockages. Apparently. Most people agree that it's unsafe to give rawhide to puppies.
   
   
5. Positive reinforcement trainer. Don't settle for anything else. Look for a trainer who is a certified behaviorist (will have a master's or PhD), has an animal behavior degree, has credentials through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers or the Karen Pryor Academy (there are a few others but those are the most common), and/or a combination of two or more of those things. You can search for one here or here. And here is a worst-case scenario story of what can happen when a dog that just has a few bad manners gets "trained" abusively and irresponsibly.
   
   
6. Hmm. I have no idea what a fourteener is, but I'll give this one a shot. Hiking, in my experience, is not too strenuous exercise for a dog. If you were running the dog really hard in a game of fetch or taking him/her on a jog without giving it breaks, that would be one thing. But leisurely hikes, where the dog can slow down or speed up or stop and sniff at its own pace, should be just fine. What I like to do with our dog is put her on a 20'+ leash and just let her drag that so we don't have to hold a leash and she can run ahead and then wait for us, which she likes to do. She sticks pretty close (she's a shepherd too), but a recent rescue may not do the same. I would recommend, if you do the long leash method, clipping it to your belt/loop with a carabiner. That way, dog gets to run ahead or lag behind, but can't run off. ...Aaand I got sidetracked. Watch for signs of tiredness: excessive panting, lagging behind, stopping and sitting/lying down, low head and slow movement, etc. Just make sure to at first give doggie lots of breaks (and offer water every break!) and work up to longer hikes.
   
   
7. Depends on what your dog is interested in. Some dogs just want to run and chase a ball, and only that will tire them. Other dogs will be entertained by a few training sessions or a game of Find the Treat/Toy. Others are more relaxed/lazy and will be content lying around the house with you. That's probably not the case for many German shepherds, but if the dog is older it may be. I like to feed our dog with a food ball or puzzle toy, because it takes her longer to eat and is more interactive and entertaining than her just guzzling her food out of a bowl. I will also give her a stuffed and frozen Kong (usually it has food and/or treats and some peanut butter) if she is especially bored and I don't have time to play with her or walk her. I suggest teaching your dog lots of fun tricks because s/he will pick them up quickly and then you can have them do the tricks if they're bored. :)
   
   Other tips, even though this is getting ridiculously long - Read! Educate yourself! Explore as many possible resources as you can to find what is right for you and your dog! Here are some good ones:
   
   

• Whole Dog Journal (website/periodical)
  
  
• The Other End of the Leash (book)
  
  
• The Culture Clash (book)
  
  
• Clickertraining.com
  
  
• Dogmantics.com, and her YouTube channel
  
  Damn. Sorry that is so long. If you somehow have any other questions after all that, I'd be glad to answer them. I have had many, many family dogs, currently share a beloved whiny baby German shepherd with my boyfriend, am pursuing a BS in animal behavior, and work at a positive reinforcement dog training facility. So I am a fountain of fun facts just waiting to be asked questions!

A mere 4 months ago I was in your very shoes, having never played DnD but wanting to DM. Now I'm running 3 weekly games [Protip: Don't do this]. Luckily for me I found a couple great resources to help me out:

The Dungeon Master Experience is a collection of articles written by one of the best: Christopher Perkins. He's not only a Senior Designer for DnD, but he's also the DM for a number of groups including Penny Arcade, Robot Chicken, and the other designers over at Wizards of the Coast. This will be your most valuable resource.

New DM Guide Reddit's #1 Resource for new DMs.

So You Want To Be a DM: A great collection of starter tips.

/r/loremasters: A subreddit dedicated to worldbuilding.

/r/dndnext: Like /r/dnd but solely for 5e.

The Angry DM: He can be a bit preachy at times, but Angry DM has a great amount of thought put into everything he writes.

/u/famoushippopotamus If you see him post on something, just read it. He's been DMing longer than most of us have been aware that DnD existed.

DnD Encounters is a weekly event at your friendly local game store. Check it out. It's also a great place to recruit players!

[Your head!](Link Not Found): The only thing you really need to get started is an idea, write it down. You'll learn a lot just putting your thoughts on paper and thinking of how to flesh it out.



I would recommend that you go and pick up the Starter Set (HOLY SHIT GUYS ITS $12 RIGHT NOW. BUY BUY BUY!). It comes with the basic rules, a set of dice, a prewritten adventure, and some characters for the adventure. Get a couple players together and this is all you need to get started. After that you can move onto other prewritten adventures, like Horde of the Dragon Queen, or you can write your own.

It shouldn't be that difficult to find people to play with, some people might care that you've never been a PC, but you don't need to play with them. If you have friends who enjoy gaming see if they're interested. And check out your FLGS (friendly local game store). If none of those work, there are plenty of online options as well.

One last note: In my short time DMing I have to say I did not expect the sheer amount of prepwork that goes into a single session. Players have to inhabit a single character and their mechanics. You need to understand not only the characters at the table, but every NPC, trap, and monster you put in front of them. It can be time consuming. It can be hard. But it is also one of the greatest feelings in the world when you hit that flow state where you and your players are building your world together.

Good luck! And welcome to DnD, where the rules are made up, and the rules don't matter either, as long as what you're doing is awesome.

> if I'm not particularly doing this 'exercise' but going for regular walks, how should I react to the triggers?

Any walk can turn into a training exercise for us if triggers appear. Not ideal, but that's the dog I have. Runners are trickier because they're moving faster and by the time you see them, the dog's likely over threshold already. Ideally, you'd avoid runners while you work on controlled training exercises, but a dog's gotta walk, and a few people can devote all their time to training. Do the best you can, and understand setbacks happen. When in doubt, I think creating distance is best. Sometimes for me that means doing a 180 and literally running in the other direction with my dog to move as fast as I can away from the trigger.

Learn to be clear with kids about not approaching your dog. I've found they often listen better than most adults :/

> she started barking I tried to divert her attention to a treat and moving a bit away from the trigger, but to no avail

Thresholds are an important concepts for reactivity. I think one of the biggest issues with people first starting out in training is that they often attempt to work when their dog is already over threshold. Working under threshold is key to progress. This is some good reading.

> I know I should avoid giving the treat AFTER she barks at all costs, because then I'm basically telling her I love it when she barks at the triggers

Not necessarily, I don't think. You could also be rewarding for stopping barking and focusing back on you. For example, if my dog starts barking at another dog, I might first create distance between us and the other dog, then when I get her attention back on me, reward. Take a few steps closer to other dog with her attention still on me, reward, and continue to work with her under threshold.

Keep in mind that you'd also (and preferably) want to be rewarding when there's a trigger when your dog is calm and before she actually reacts. Ideally, you'd never put your dog in a position where she'd react and never need to reward for attention back on you, but that's impossible to achieve with a reactive dog in the real world.

> I'm very interested in dog psychology to be honest.

I highly recommend Patricia McConnell's books and blog for people just getting into it. She has a book for reactivity training, but The Other End of the Leash is great for a more general read.

Also check out r/reactivedogs and the resources on their wiki as well as those on the reactive dog support group here.

> I moved out a few years ago and I couldn't figure out how everyone else kept their homes so tidy. I'd clear up, mop, throw away rubbish, bleach everything and within a week it was back to tiptoe-ing over bags of things and empty food packets and cat litter.

One of the things I realized when I first moved out on my own was that my parents had taught me how to clean, but not when to clean.

Actually, that's not quite accurate. I was taught that when it all became too much (usually about once every two to three months), to devote an whole weekend (or as much as a week during summer vacation) to an all-out, full court press approach to cleaning. Starting on Friday night there would be hours and hours of non-stop sorting, organizing, throwing away, dusting, sweeping, mopping, etc.. It meant giving up an entire weekend, was utterly exhausting, and was extremely demotivating. When I moved out on my own, I never wanted to clean when things got bad because I learned this was how you clean house.

What I eventually figured out is that the best housekeepers--once they have their house where they want it--spend somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes a day maintaining the state of the house. So rather than spending two to three days on one huge deep-cleaning rampage, good housekeepers break cleaning down into small, manageable tasks that only take a few minutes every day. Essentially, they do a handful of daily cleaning tasks, and one slightly larger cleaning task, per day.

It was like a light bulb turning on in my head. I would much rather spend 15 or 30 minutes a day tidying up than three or more days deep-cleaning every two or three months.

If you ever read the classic children's book Little House on the Prairie, you might recall Ma Ingall's housekeeping schedule:

> "Wash on Monday,
>
> Iron on Tuesday,
>
> Mend on Wednesday,
>
> Churn on Thursday,
>
> Clean on Friday,
>
> Bake on Saturday,
>
> Rest on Sunday."

If you've ever read any books on the history of housekeeping (Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson is a nice introduction to it), you'll know that the above was the traditional housekeeping schedule for much of American history. Some folks have come up with modernized versions (example), and of course I just posted one here yesterday.

The point of schedules like this is three-fold:

1. Houses don't just magically stay clean. The best housekeeper you know works a little bit every single day to keep their house in shape.
   
2. The reason that they only have to clean a little bit every day is because they have a routine to keep ahead of the cleaning and clutter.
   
3. Once you develop a routine that works for you, staying ahead of cleaning and clutter is trivial. Seriously, you'll kick yourself for not having gotten a routine sooner.
   
   And here's a secret that I learned when I adopted a housekeeping schedule: If something happens and you can't do your routine for a day or two, your house doesn't immediately descend into utter chaos. Trust me when I tell you, it's a LOT easier to recover from missing a couple of days of small tasks that from a giant hoard.
   
   "Wash on Monday" is, at it's essence, the same thing as the "Starting Small" approach mentioned in the Hoarding Resource List in the sidebar. It's breaking down housekeeping into manageable tasks, saying "Today I will work on X, and only X."
   
   What ultimately worked for me was this:
   
   
4. Using a housekeeping schedule very similar to the one I posted. (I don't recall where I found the one I use, but there's only very minor differences between it and the one I posted).
   
5. I bought the book Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell. You can by the book used for pennies, or order the PDF version from his website.
   
   Campbell has owned/run a professional housekeeping service in California for decades, and their service is known for being able to clean a standard-size 1-story home in 15 minutes or less. This book breaks down their cleaning method for the homeowner--Campbell tells you what cleaning tools and chemicals to use (and why), tells you what rooms to start in (and why), tells you where in that room to start (and why), and literally walks you through how to clean an individual room. It is NOT a book of housekeeping "tips", but actual instructions on how to clean in a certain way, and why that way is both effective and efficient.
   
   Campbell's method is now how I clean my house, and I absolutely recommend this book to any recovering hoarder who's gotten past the retaining-items stage and is now trying to develop housekeeping skills. I will state that the very first time you try his cleaning method, it won't take 15 minutes per room because obviously you're starting out learning it. But as you continue to use it and get used to it, you will speed up considerably.
   
   It sounds like right now you have a lot of clutter to get rid of, but it also sounds like you know how to get rid of it and are able to let go, and that puts you WAY ahead of a lot of hoarders. Once you get your apartment back where you want it, I suggest that you:
   
   

• get a copy of Speed Cleaning,
  
• learn Campbell's cleaning method for each room,
  
• and then use the housekeeping schedule above (maybe combined with this one from Molly Maids) to develop a housekeeping routine that works for you.
  
  Finally, if you get to a point in your recovery where you want to start exploring different housekeeping systems, please visit /r/messyhomes. The mod, /u/Bellainara has hoarding tendencies herself, and welcomes people with similar struggles. You can contact her with any questions. The intro post for /r/messyhomes is here.
  

Come on over and join us at r/reactivedogs.

First off, it’s important to set some realistic expectations. You almost certainly can get this dog to a point where you can walk her around the neighborhood without her reacting to everyone and everything, but she’s probably never going to be the type of dog that is friendly and outgoing to other people or dogs she doesn’t know, or one that you can take to the dog park, crowded public places, etc. Many dogs are just not like that, and that’s okay. That would be like expecting your introverted shy anxious friend to morph into being a social butterfly and life of the party after getting her anxiety under control.

Medication can really help a lot of anxious dogs, but it is important to realize that it is not a cure- just a tool to help bring your dog to a level where training can be productive. It sounds like you are pretty committed to working with this dog, so I would certainly encourage you to talk to your vet about trying something like Prozac (which is a great one to start out with because many dogs respond well to it, and it’s very inexpensive.)

Here’s a list of resources that I’ve been compiling (pardon the copy and paste) that I’ve found very helpful with my own dog (a GSD/pit/husky mix). We’ve also been working with trainers well versed in reactivity, so I’ve included some of the skills we’ve been working on.

————

About Leash Reactivity and how to deal with it:

Dealing with Leash Reactivity: Best Friends Animal Society

The Reactive Dog: Your Dogs Friend Workshop (Video) It’s long, but seriously, watch it. Lots of good info.

Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash Reactive Dog - A short booklet by well-renowned behaviorist Patricia McConnell who has lots of experience dealing with reactivity.

From Crazy to Calm: A Training Plan for Leash Reactivity

——————-

The Goal: Changing Perceptions with Counterconditioning and Desensitization

Introduction to Desensitization and Counterconditioning

Helping Your Shy Dog Gain Confidence

—————

Foundation Skills

When dealing with reactivity, being able to get your dog’s attention or employ a distraction at the right moment is really critical. These are foundation skills for dealing with reactivity.

Name game (a clicker is not essential- you can use your praise word instead.) Goal: focus.

Look at Me. Goal: Focus

It’s Your Choice. Goal: Impulse control

Leave It (Make sure you are giving a different treat, not the one they’re supposed to leave.) Goal: Impulse control

Emergency U-turn. Goal: Management- being able to get out of a situation that will cause the dog to go over threshold.

Find It Goal: Distraction/diffusion

Engage/Disengage. Goal: counterconditioning and desensitization.

Start by working on these skills in a quiet area indoors, gradually increasing distractions. Then start practicing outdoors in an area with few distractions, again gradually increasing distractions. This is the key to getting a distracted dog to pay attention to you outside. If your dog can’t focus, you need to take a step back (quite literally, in some cases). Set your dog up to succeed- try not to put them in situations where they will fail.

Okay, I'm replying in a second comment, because I wanna make sure you get to see it. I'll add an edit to the main comment too, in case anyone wants to look up information.

Books:

• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, Paul Stamets
  
• The Mushroom Cultivator, Paul Stamets
  
  Those are the standard grow manuals, but if anyone has a suggestion for a more comprehensive or up-to-date manual, it'd be welcome. Mycelium Running is a great book if you're just looking for a fun read about mushrooms.
  
  Websites:
  
  
• /r/mycology - The subreddit devoted to mushroom growing and identification. Probably more relevant info here if you're interested in growing mostly edibles.
  
  
• Fungi Perfecti is good for equipment (I bought all my HEPA filters there, at the time they were the cheapest around). I think they have a YouTube channel too, and that's got some interesting stuff on it.
  
  
• Shroomery.org is a moderately famous mushroom growing forum, with a bit of a bent more toward psychedelics. However, I found tons of great people and information in the edible mushroom forum, and I received a few commerical grade cultures from a very generous member. There can be a bit of a circlejerk surrounding some "celebrities" that post there, but take what they say with a grain of salt, and always fact check against your grow manual. If you see something that looks stupid, it probably is, unless it works. Edit: I don't think Reddit likes linking to the Shroomery, removed the formatting.
  
  Videos:
  
  
• TED Talks: Paul Stamets - Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World - This is basically his "standard" speech he gives when he does talks. There have probably been additions and improvements to it, but the message hasn't really changed. This is "Mycelium Running" in about 5 minutes. Watch this to decide whether you want to read that book.
  
  
• Let's Grow Mushrooms! by Roger Rabbit - One of the aforementioned Shroomery celebrities. His videos are helpful, but make sure to fact check why you're doing stuff, because he tends to leave a lot of that out. This is very nuts and bolts demonstrations of how to prepare substrate, how to provide humidity at a low cost, and several different methods of growing for different species of mushrooms.
  
  I hope that helps, friend! Good luck, and if you get something going, please send me pictures! I miss the old days!

Awesome! Glad to see another person interested, smithing is fun! Getting started is actually pretty easy as long as long as you aren't planning on crafting gorgeous blades right off the get-go. You really only need a few things:

• A forge (these can be built surprisingly cheap if you are inclined)
  
• Coal or charcoal to fire the forge (not bricket charcoal)
  
• A smithing hammer
  
• An anvil (can be as simple as a piece of railroad)
  
• Steel (I recommend starting with 1095, railroad spikes, or rebar).
  
• A bucket of oil or water (depending on the steel) to quench the blade in.
  
• A magnet. Those ones on the long extending stick are the best. (This is for checking the heat of the steel when tempering it)
  
  An anvil can be pricey, even used, if you get a real one but a piece of railroad can be obtained pretty cheaply though not always easily. Don't pay more than $2-4 a pound for an anvil if you buy a used one. The heavier, the better but starting out it should at least weigh 60+ lbs, preferably 150+. Don't try to use a jeweler's anvil or a cast iron anvil. There's some good videos covering types of anvils and where to find them. Everything else will be easy and cheap to obtain.
  
  You can find all the info you need to get started by searching YouTube for knife making or knife smithing. Walter Sorrells in particular has a good channel with some high quality videos. He focuses more on making knives from steel blanks than on forging, but he does have a couple of good forge videos and happens to have spent some time studying under Japanese smiths so he has some decent info on forging Japanese swords and knives if you are interested. Honestly, for a normal knife/sword the forging isn't that hard, it's the finishing part that takes all the time, effort, and skill. (Not to downplay the skills of most medieval smiths, they had to be much more precise in their smithing than we do today because we have power sanders and grinders to quickly fix mistakes). Most YouTube channels will focus on smithing knives instead of swords and I recommend you start with the same even though swords are awesome. It's the same techniques and process, but knives are cheaper to practice on and swords are more difficult to get right.
  
  If you want or prefer a book, there are a few good ones for sale on Amazon. The Backyard Blacksmith, The Complete Modern Blacksmith, The $50 Knife Shop, How to Make Knives, and The Wonder of Knife Making are all great beginner books (only the last two deal with actually making knives). When you get some practice under your belt, Jim Hrisoulas has a couple of books on bladesmithing that are designed for experienced smiths who want to build better blades and deals with swords specifically.

I play 5th edition and all advice is for that edition. 5E is pretty wallet friendly if you don't get it all at once. Here's a bunch of stuff you can look at to help your decision, though not all of it is mandatory.

• Number one, the cheapest, is to simply review the (somewhat limited, I'll admit) materials available on Wizards of the coast and start from there.
  
  
• Second is available in the form of the 5th edition starter set. I own one of these and it comes with everything you need for a game with a group of friends. A criticism I have of it though, is that experienced players will probably destroy the module included with it. I'd just forego this option entirely if you plan to buy any other materials, but it's a very low risk purchase.
  
  
• Third is just a player's handbook, which you really should own regardless of anything . The 5th Edition PHB has enough material to easily homebrew your own campaign with, but it will definitely leave you wishing you had more to work off of.
  
  
• Fourth is any of the several available modules for the game out right now. Having only played Hoard of the Dragon queen (And it's direct follow up, Rise of Tiamat), I can say that with the exception of a long, slightly boring segment in the middle, it's a solid adventure all the way through for the players.
  
  
• Fifth is the supplemental Dungeon master's Guide and Monster Manual, additional resources to help you craft better campaigns, but unnecessary until later. The monster manual should definitely be the first of the two purchases, in my opinion. I wouldn't even recommend the sword coast adventurer's guide unless you plan to specifically adventure in Faerun.
  
  So now that books are out of the way, let's talk figurines. You really don't need them, because ANYTHING can represent things on a board. But they're a fun thing to collect and use. BUT they are a great and fun thing to have. What we do at my table is have everyone acquire their own. I like to buy from Reaper Miniatures, but local comic book and hobby shops might have them as well. Make sure you have bases that are less than an inch wide (A square inch works best), because if you're using miniatures, then you're using a battle grid.
  
  Speaking of battle grids, they're also not entirely necessary, but they definitely help. This is a very reliable one if you take care of it and don't crease it too much. But the fun thing is, if you have a printer, you can print your own Battle Maps! Just set it to print a grid set to 1-inch increments and have as big or as small as a battle mat as you need. 5E technically uses a hex grid for outdoor maps, but we've always ignored that at our games.
  
  As for dice, I think it's the players responsibility to acquire their own dice, but on the off chance you just want to buy the things for everyone, I find a lot of enjoyment in picking through a Chessex Pound-o-Dice, or a Wiz Dice 100+ pack just so everyone has some. Plus, you never know when you'll suddenly need 20d6 for maximum fall damage!
  
  Other than that, just have pencils, paper, and a good way to keep notes handy and you're set.
  
  This is far from a comprehensive guide, and probably the worst thing you could do is buy everything or nothing right at the start. Consider asking friends or checking libraries for these books (And secondhand bookshops near you!) to save a penny or two.
  
  So, in summary, if I were starting out DMing and buying anything, it would be a player's handbook, a set of dice, and if I weren't confident in my ability to homebrew, I'd buy a module or a dungeon master's guide. But you can go further or less far if you like.

I am currently working with a fear-aggressive dog. The absolute best thing to do is find a positive trainer who is experienced with this. Do not punish the barking, any negative reinforcement will increase the anxiety your dog feels. You want to move her to a distance where she feels safe and have someone come in, give her treats if (and only if she stays calm.) You need to try to find a distance where she is not too aroused. Have a friend come and stand by the door if thats what you need, then once she is calm have them jiggle the door knob, etc. If that is too much you can start by rewarding her for staying calm for noises outside. You can also practice giving her a cue to lie down on her mat before ever having anyone over.

Another helpful trick is "go home" once you get cricket to the point where she is comfortable when people enter if she is far from the door you can train her to go to her mat on cue, so that you can tell her to go to her safe spot when people come over. A relaxed down (stretched or on her side) is even better than sphinx style. She will learn that when people are over and she is on her mat she gets treats, otherwise she gets nothing.

To do this teach her 'down' and then have her lie on her mat. Every time she does this say "good go home!" once she has gotten the cue that "go home" is the same as down when she is on her mat, move two feet away and try again. This will take some patience, she may not understand immediately that "go home" means she needs to go to her mat. Just wait, if you get too frustrated you can move closer. Slowly increase the distance you are from the mat when you tell her "go home." It will help to give her the "go home" cue and then feed her on her mat. My dog gets super excited about it now. It can also help to have the manners minder so you can reward from a distance.

I would also suggest Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. Particularly the "look at that!" game - where you teach your pup that whenever she looks at what she is afraid of she gets a treat.

Another excellent book is On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Ragaas it's a really easy read and a really good introduction to doggy behavior. When dogs get nervous they have a whole range of signals they show to calm themselves down and to tell other dogs (or educated people) that they are nervous. You may see her flick her tongue, yawn, shake, sniff the ground, etc. You should reward these behaviors, since encouraging them will help Cricket stay calm.

Obviously I could go on and on. The main thing is try to make people coming over as good an experience as possible for her so that she becomes less and less afraid. You will also need a reward marker - for instance "Yes!" or preferably a clicker. The idea is you click exactly when she does something good. She lays down click. She yawns click. Yes! is somewhat less precise and it's undesirable to have inflections that she will try to interpret. Obviously teach her what these markers mean before using them in the stressful situation. (click then treat, click treat, Cricket! click when she looks then treat, etc.)

EDIT:

One more thing - be sure to completely ignore her barking. Do not try to comfort her, or give her treats. In fact the best thing to do is have your friend stand there and let her tire herself out. As soon as she stops and takes a breath reward her (a clicker is really useful here.) You can even have the friend move farther away when she stops. The idea is "barking gets you nothing, calm gets you everything." Obviously do your best to limit the times when she triggers, but they will inevitably happen

Good luck!

Oh, and there is a very low traffic dogtraining subreddit where dog nerds like me will be happy to go on long training rants for you any time :-)

This book is a great resource for better understanding canine body language:
http://www.amazon.com/Canine-Body-Language-Photographic-Interpreting/dp/1929242352/ref=pd_sim_b_5/189-4595631-1886760?ie=UTF8&refRID=04AEDTWQFB8NV00GW42G

What you were describing with the one dog humping yours, that's an incredibly dominant behavior- it's not about them mating. When a dog does that to your dog, it's the equivalent of someone coming up to you and puffing up their chest and shoving you. The fact that she only told him off with a sharp bark is very tolerant and a good sign that she's doing well on keeping her attitude adjustments on other dogs reasonable.

When you say she 'attacked' your sister's other dog- was there blood and was the other dog damaged in any way? If not and it was just a scuffle with a lot of noise, that's not an 'attack'. Judging by nothing more than the terrible behavior of the other dog, that may well have been a warranted telling off.

Most cattle dogs in particular are dogs that do NOT tolerate fools well. Someone tries to dominate them and they do not have any of it, no matter the size of the other dog. If a dog stares at your dog, puts it's chin on your dog's back, humps your dog, etc- these are all dominant behaviors and often cause another dog to seem 'aggressive' for not tolerating them to people who don't know better.

Some dogs also have a bigger 'bubble' than other dogs. Herding breeds tend to be in that category. They want more space from other dogs they don't know. Managing initial greetings and meetings is important. If another dog is being dominant to you dog- stop that dog's behavior. Do not punish your dog for correcting that dog (assuming your dog isn't injuring the other dog). It's your job to let your dog know that you will handle it if other dogs are being jerks. Then your dog won't take matters into her own 'hands'.

The interaction with the Pug- well, they sound really weird to non-short nosed dogs. My dog thinks that their weird breathing is growling so he's been known to growl at them, too, and he's incredible well-mannered and social. I'd skip greeting Pugs or French bulldogs for now until you guys are better understanding each other.

This is a long, but good article from a pro dog trainer on body language and dominant behaviors:

http://suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/he-just-wants-say-hi

Other good articles on her site:
http://suzanneclothier.com/articles

I have an Australian Cattle Dog (heeler) and a Cattle dog/Catahoula mix. They are both city/suburb dogs. The make like a tree trick works with my CattleHoula, but my heeler I just say, 'no, with me' and pat the side of my leg until he comes back (though I do stop moving). When he is there, we walk on. When he gets too far ahead, he has to come back. It's like the tree method- they don't like backtracking that much. You can start it out with treats though- get her to stay close that way and praise her when she gets what 'with me' or 'heel' or whatever command you want to use, means.

Some dogs don't greet others well on leash. They feel the leash as a weakness that the other dogs can (and have) use to attack them. You are holding them back- they are not free to defend themselves or get away. So, I tend not to do leash greetings myself. If we are meeting dogs who have good body language or I know, I drop the leash (leaving it attached in case I need to grab it) and my dogs' behavior changes drastically. I know that's not an all the time solution, especially on roads, but then, you don't need to greet every dog you meet for your dog to learn social skills. That's better done off leash, in a controlled environment with dogs you know to be well-mannered (your sister's dogs do not sounds like they have good doggy manners). Once you know she can be trusted and she knows to come to you if there's an issue and YOU will sort it, then things get easier.

I used to take mine on walks to a nearby ball diamond and then play fetch with them there. Then walk them home. If other dogs came, we left. My dogs are stellar with nearly all other dogs, but you have no idea what a strangers' dog is going to be like. I don't like taking chances with my dogs' safety. We used to go to dog parks a lot, but so many dogs have no manners and their owners are clueless, hence the ball diamonds.

If you aren't sure of her recall, work on having a word that means she comes to you right now, no matter what and only use it when you need it. There are training classes (short ones) that teach it, or you can check out this booklet:

http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dtb813

It helps with the times you are out and need her to get away from a situation (before it develops) so that she stays safe and you don't have to worry about her.

Good luck! She sounds like a great dog (and frankly, sounds like a typical heeler despite the Golden half- heh!).

Well, I'd caution first time dog owners against adopting a stray off the street rather than through a rescue that has evaluated it. If its a puppy its one thing, but older dogs who have been strays or ferals for a while can come with some challenges. If nothing else, do try to rescue the pup and contact local rescues (especially if you can guess the breed and find a breed rescue) as puppies get adopted pretty fast. If you do choose to keep the pup yourself, search for a local trainer using the terms "Positive only," "positive reinforcement" and "clicker training" to local a positive-based trainer. Avoid trainers who advertise "balanced," "traditional," or talk about "dominance", "pack leader", or "alpha."

There are a ton of wonderful resources out there, and here are some very worthwhile books to look into

Before And After Getting Your Puppy

Puppy Primer

Power of Positive Dog Training

Family Friendly Dog Training

And specifically addressing house training -
Way to Go!

Anything by the following authors (who also have online articles) is pure gold:

Patricia McConnell

Pat Miller

Ian Dunbar

Suzanne Clothier

Grisha Stewart

Pia Silvani

Jean Donaldson

Sophia Yin

Also check our Dr. Yin's amazing series of youtube videos

And for general training (as in obedience and tricks) Kikopup is phenomenal.

I've worked in rescue for years and I foster harder dogs. If you every need any advice or questions answered you are welcome to contact me individually as well :-)

I'm sorry you're dealing with such a tough situation. It's possible to turn this dog's behavior around, but it's not easy and will need a lot of patience and consistency. Cesar Millan is the exact opposite of what any dog needs; Millan is the living embodiment of the joke, "Beatings will continue until morale improves." His methods of flooding overstimulated dogs, forcing them into a frightened, shutdown mode, and often just kicking them in the stomach are just inhumane. Kikopup is a step in a better direction, and she's actually on my list.

Here's my go-to list of training resources; many of them get recommended around here a lot. I like these folks because their methods are humane and ethical as well as effective. Pretty much every issue that can pop up is covered by them in some way, easy to find with Google.

• Victoria Stilwell
  
• Jane Killion (Great book: When Pigs Fly: Training Success with Impossible Dogs)
  
• Karen Pryor (Great books: Don't Shoot the Dog & Reaching the Animal Mind)
  
• Sophia Yin (Great book: How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves)
  
• Jean Donaldson (Great books: Fight! & The Culture Clash)
  
• Pat Miller (Great book: The Power of Positive Dog Training)
  
• Patricia McConnell (Great book: The Other End of the Leash)
  
• Ian Dunbar. He's done a lot of work with puppies and has a blog and tons of articles as well as a TED Talk.
  
• Zak George
  
• Kikopup
  
• Kristin Crestejo
  
• A great article on canine body language/calming signals: Calming Signals: The Art of Survival by Turid Rugaas.
  
  For you, check out Jean Donaldson's Fight! Jane Killion's When Pigs Fly is always the book I recommend most for training in general, even if your dog isn't a typically stubborn breed, as it's all about how to find what motivates your dog and use it to get the behavior you want.
  
  I highly suggest Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0 (BAT) as well.
  
  Good luck!
  
  

Honestly... there's a lot going on here. As you know, a trainer who can evaluate all of this in person would help a lot. Can you ask the shelter to see if they have any trainers on staff or partner trainers that can help you at a low cost?

Based on what you've said, your dog has separation anxiety, is reactive or outright dog aggressive, has prey drive issues, and is generally independent and stubborn.

Separation Anxiety: This guide covers the topic in a lot of depth. The Crate Games mentioned would help the crate training a lot, too. Here's the ASPCA's Weekend Crate Training guide. I'd start completely over with her crate training. Keep in mind that your dog probably has a negative association with the crate so it'll take longer than weekend.

Reactivity: /r/Dogtraining has a weekly Reactive Dog thread with a lot of resources to understand the problem and start working on it. If your dog is dog aggressive, the techniques are the same too. It's just of utmost importance to keep your dog from interacting with another dog. I own a reactive dog - a lot of my walks feel like a stealth game where I hide from other dogs.

Cats/Prey Drive: Honestly... this is the sort of thing you just manage for now. Keep them separated. Give the cats plenty of escapes like cat trees, pet gates, high shelves, etc.

Walking: I use an Easy Walk with my hard puller and it's like night and day. It helped a lot. The front clip harness turns the dog when they pull, so it reduces pulling. You can also try a Halti, but a lot of dogs really hate that without time to condition a positive response.

No Treats: This book is great for learning how to train a stubborn dog. But I'd say, start from the beginning and work on making treats fun and exciting for her. When I first got my dog, he barely ate food from a bowl, much less train for it. I did a few things to make interacting with me/food more fun. First, Finn only got his meals through training/interacting with me in some form. I kept training BASIC and treated him a lot. He walked near me? Kibble. He looked at me? YAY more kibble. He seemed to want to interact with me in any way? GREAT! Kibble party! Say his name and he looks at me? Wooo, shower of kibble. Keep your criteria for success low and build up to it. Getting a dog to drop something they value in exchange for a treat is a pretty high level concept. Make it so the dog feels like playing with you is always rewarding. I also didn't just hand him kibble to his mouth. I throw it in weird directions (helpful for prey/chase drive). I'd hide it and then release him to find it. I'd put it inside a box or something that he got to destroy. There are a lot of food games you can play to make food and yourself more interesting.

The most common way, at least in my experience (please chime in with other ways/paths that you've taken) is exposure and mentoring.

Exposure is just work with as many dogs as you possible can. For me, I worked at a dog daycare/boarding/training/grooming place as a dog handler (officially Animal Care Technician but whatever.) I thought I knew a lot about dogs before going in. My close family had had several growing up, I'd helped raise for service puppy organizations, etc. I did not. I did not know nearly enough about dogs in general. There's nothing like being in a playroom with 30 dogs every day to rapidly teach you about dog body language, communication, habits, warning signs, the works. I worked there for a couple years and I was constantly learning. The biggest hurdle in getting to be a dog trainer is just exposure to lots and lots of different dogs, different breeds, different temperaments, different learning styles, different stimulus, different everything.

Next usually comes mentoring with an experienced trainer. I lucked out in that the trainer who started working at the daycare facility about year after I did was awesome. Totally positive and we clicked. We became really good friends fast. I officially mentored with her for just over a year. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and I can't really speak on more arduous methods of finding a mentor.

Read. Find groups like this one and find their recommended literature. Training is important both in theory and practice. My first books were Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out, Ahimsa, and When Pigs Fly and they were the beginning of my positive-only approach as well as my drive to become a trainer. But there are tons and tons of books to really dive into.

Check out the sidebar for info on APDT, and look into getting your CPDT-KA. The training industry isn't really regulated, but this is kind of The Certification.

As far as career, both myself and my training mentor left that facility. We started our own training business together. She works that full time, though her SO has a nice cushy job to fall back on in times of famine, so the two of them do alright. While I might do alright working it fulltime, I am crazy stupid anxious about being totally on commission. I have another full time job (night shift manufacturing. Cog-in-a-machine type work, but it isn't mentally taxing leaving me mostly focused mentally on training. Also benefits are awesome.)

While starting your own business isn't common or uncommon, there's other routes too. You can work in a big box store (think petsmart, petco, etc) as a trainer. Though you'll see on this sub we kind of have a hesitant view on them. It's either hit or miss. You end up with an awesome trainer who is working there on the path to bigger and better things, or.... you don't. You could work at a facility like the dog daycare place I worked. From my experience pay is meh but not terrible. The biggest problem was ideology differences and goal differences (what's best for the dog vs what's best for the business.) Though I tend to have a negative bias about it so take that with a grain of salt. You could work at a training facility that brings together a bunch of trainers. You could work at a humane society. There's a lot of options, some commission, some hourly, some a mix. It all kind of depends on your experience, your connections, and honestly, your luck.

This... kind of rambles on a bit, but feel free to ask away! A lot of my career came just from being in the right place at the right time so I realize that's not much help, but I can try.

Good luck to you!

If your parents allow you to keep the cat I would highly encourage you to check out some resources on cat behavior and cat care, as many people new to cats don’t really know as much as they think they know.

Basic important information you need to know off the bat:

• Remember that your cat is not a dog. Oftentimes people not familiar with cats try to treat the cat like it’s a small dog that meows, which leads to lots of stress and frustration on the cat and the owner’s parts. Cats are cats- their behaviors, body language, thought process, and needs are different than canines and it’s not fair to the cat to expect it to act like what it’s not. Appreciate your cat for the awesome animal that it is.
  
• DON’T DECLAW!! It is a barbaric procedure that involves amputating the tips of the cat’s toes, and leads to painful joints and behavioral issues later on. Scratching furniture and people can be prevented through training, and being aware of how to properly interact with the cat. Items like Sticky Paws furniture tape and Soft Paws claw caps are useful tools to prevent furniture scratching.
  
• Provide the cat with a good sturdy scratching post and some way to get up high, either using cat furniture or shelves. That way they have territory they can “claim” and feel confident in your home.
  
• Don’t free feed (where you keep their bowl filled with food 24/7). This is how you end up with a fat cat, as cats will continue to eat all day even when they’re not really hungry. Figure out what is the proper daily portion of food for your cat and divide that up into 2-3 meals throughout the day.
  
• Play with your cat EVERY DAY! This is one of the most important things you can do for your kitty! Sooooo many cat behavioral problems can be totally avoided or gotten rid of by simply playing with your cat and allowing them to get rid of all their built up energy.
  
• Clean the litter box yourself EVERY DAY!! Do not get lazy with this chore and make sure you do it without having to be asked first!!!! This will help prevent “going outside the litter box” issues (as cats don’t want to use a filthy, stinky bathroom anymore than you do) and will make your parents more likely to allow you to keep the cat. Something like a Litter Genie makes cleaning the litter box easier, as then you only have to take the waste to the trash once a week-ish instead of every day.
  
  My recommendations for more info on cats:
  
  
• Jackson Galaxy. Amazing cat behaviorist who’s videos are super helpful in explaining cat behaviors and addressing issues! Definitely watch his videos on playtime, petting your cat, and feeding.
  
• Cat Behavior Associates. Great website with detailed information on cat behavior and training.
  
• Think Like A Cat. This book is a handy guide on everything related to cat ownership- health, behavior, communication, food, cat furniture, etc.

So for 5e there are a couple of things you can look at getting:

• Basic Rules: Look at the section for "Free Basic Rules". These PDFs are basically what you need to start playing D&D. The D&D 5e Player's Basic Rules has information about the basics of the game for players. It's got 4 races (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Human) and 4 classes (Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard) and one "subclass" for each class (Life Domain Cleric, Champion Fighter, Thief Rogue, and School of Evocation Wizard). Items, customization, character building, and the general "here's how you play!" are included in this document. Great resource for a simple lookup if you want to introduce someone to the game, since the characters you can build out of it are generally solid characters. The D&D 5e Dungeon Master's Basic Rules is the starting point for your DM. For the most part is bunch of creature/enemy stat blocks with explanations on how to balance encounters to the players' levels, as well as a quick off-hand on how to generate magic items. DMs are the creative source of the campaign, so there isn't much required to actually build a simple campaign.
  
• Dungeons & Dragons 5e Starter Set: This is the most basic form of the game you can get with most things included. Looks like it's $13 on Amazon right now, which is pretty good. The box set comes with a 32-page player guide (mini Player's Handbook), a 64-page Dungeon Master's guide (mini Dungeon Master's Guide/Monster Manual), a couple of pre-generated characters, and a few dice. It's good for getting into 5e if you've never played before since the rules are greatly reduced down to levels 1-6 and there are only 8 classes. Most of the content is the same stuff you can find in the Basic Rules, minus the story that comes with the Starter Set. If someone gets this, everyone else can download/print the Basic Rules and should be good. Most of the content is all about how to play the characters that are in the starter set, not about character generation and the like, so make sure to look at the Basic Rules if you want to play a Halfling Fighter for example. See this comment for more explanation.
  
• Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons 5e): This is the core of most of your games of 5e at this point. This has all of the basic necessities, like character classes, character races, items, spells, feats, etc. This is exactly what you need if you are a player, since this and some imagination allows you to build some pretty fun characters. If you end up playing 5e a lot, I'd recommend that everyone have somewhat regular access to a PHB, considering that 90% of the characters you make will come in most part from this books.
  
• Monster Manual: This is where you'll find the largest collection of all of the "basic" monsters that you can meet in a game of D&D. Enemies in general are in this book, and there is a lot of good explanation into the monsters, their stats, their decision routes, etc. This is super helpful since you can basically do whatever you want with this book and make some awesome fights. Find an enemy you like, but it's too high level? Nerf it somehow, and have your players fight it. I'm actually planning on setting a dragon with her wings clipped and her firebreathing removed, give them a fight, and see how they react.
  
• Dungeon Master's Guide: This is basically world building, combat building, enemy building, item building... basically, if it's not covered in the PHB or MM, the creation of object X or something similar will be in the DMG. It's there for the DMs to be able to balance items or enemies against certain requirements, since there is a lot to take into account. Helpful for the DM who doesn't have as much experience.
  
  So the Basic Rules help out a lot, the Starter Set is basically a physical copy of the basic rules (plus some), and then the core 3 books in order of (my personal opinion of) usefulness are PHB > MM > DMG. I'd say you probably want at least everyone to have a PHB, or access if you guys continue to play.
  
  Aside from that, most of the other 5e stuff you can pick up from wizards are modules. Modules are pre-created campaigns that have quests, items, locations, enemies (number, size, etc.) already pre-designed for you. Each of the following books has some sort of extra character information (like more subclasses, new races, etc.), but nothing is absolutely required. Generally if one person wants to play something (say, an Half-Elf Bladesinger Wizard) they should pick up the book to help build their character and to provide the GM with references to how the character works, but it's not necessary.
  
  
• Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat are two halves to the same campaign aimed at stopping the biggest baddest dragon of them all, the five-headed chromatic dragon Tiamat.
  
• Princes of the Apocalypse is a cool campaign all about cults related to the 4 elements (Air, Water, Earth, Fire) trying to be bad. Pretty well designed, I'm currently running this with my group. They seem to be liking it a lot, but then again, I'm throwing a lot of other things in with it.
  
• Out of the Abyss is a campaign set in the Underdark. it sounds really cool, but I haven't looked into it much.
  
• Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide isn't a campaign but rather a campaign setting book. It's useful for reading up on how the Sword Coast in Forgotten Realms (the "main" D&D world) works. It's interesting.
  
  If you need any other help, please feel free to ask!

Positive reinforcement works for "stubborn" breeds too. In fact, I'd argue that it's even more important for those breeds. If you get a biddable dog like a retriever or a shepherd, you have a lot of leeway to make mistakes. Those dogs will often put up with pushy people or strange customs and keep on wagging.

Shibas and other independent, stubborn types, on the other hand, really need motivational training. Training a shiba (or a sighthound, or a terrier, or any of the 'soft' independent thinkers) is kind of like training a cat. You have to provide them incentive to work--make training fun and let them use their brains to solve puzzles and you'll do great. Make training boring or unpleasant and they'll simply stonewall you, fight you every step of the way, and you won't make any progress.

When Pigs Fly! is a great book specifically about training 'difficult' dogs through positive means. There are other book recommendations and online resources linked in our wiki.

I'd recommend reading up and watching videos from some of the wiki sources before you bring your shiba home. I'd also recommend enrolling in positive reinforcement obedience classes soon after bringing him/her home, so you have a fun, safe place to practice with an instructor's help.

For more "in-depth" training, try clicker training with free shaping. Teaching new behaviors through free shaping works really well for the independent thinkers, because it's all about solving puzzles. It makes performing the correct behavior the dog's idea, which is good for opinionated dogs. Also try tricks training and sports like agility. The more you keep him/her working with you on an ongoing basis in ways he/she enjoys, solving puzzles and having fun, the better he/she will respond to you.

Fair enough, but most dogs in rescue haven't been abused - it's much rarer than people tend to think. As I said before, neglect is much more common. There are issue that go along with that, undersocialized dogs can definitely have issues to work through.

For this particular dog, and future rescues, I always say to err on the side of caution. I know FAR more happy stories about foster pups that fit right in with no issues at all than I do ones that don't work out, but when there's kids in the mix it's always better to start off more careful and relax as you go.

Something that might help both your and your wife feel safer would be to learn extensively about dog body language - that will do far more than anything else to help you know when you can move forward with your foster pups and daughter safely.

I'd start with these; On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas and Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide Interpreting the Native Language of the Domestic Dog by Brenda Aloff As well as Kids and Dogs: A Professional's Guide to Helping Families by Colleen Pelar.

Congratulations on your new puppy, she's a cutie. You are gonna have a ball! It's practically impossible to totally screw up a puppy unless you are abusive. They all seem to survive our bumbling and inability to speak their language.

If you are new to dogs you don't yet understand that they have a language that you can learn. Please do yourself and your dog a favor and learn a bit of it with this inexpensive invaluable book. it will help you understand what your dog is trying to tell you.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Talking-Terms-With-Dogs/dp/1929242360

Here is her web site with some quick info:
http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1

Please please throw the Purina food away. If you google the ingredients you will see that it is worse than McDonalds. It contains animal byproducts which is from dead and dying animals as well as any bit of crap they can't put in human food. It also contains corn which dogs can't readily digest and many are allergic to.

Buy a good food made without wheat or corn and with meat as its top ingredient. Here is a link to food ratings. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dry/

You want to choose a 5 star food if you can afford it, or a 4 star. Look at the ingredients and remember that this is the ONLY food she will get, she can't go out and buy anything else. You have to feed her the best you can. Follow the directions on the bag for amounts for the dry food.

To give her the best nutrition mix in some good quality canned food or make up a nice chicken stew, with lots of chicken and vegetables like green beans, broccoli and cauliflower to put on top. She's a baby and good nutrition is important. Besides if you love her it makes you feel good to provide good healthy food and watch her bloom.

The bath for the fleas was good. She needs to see the vet right away and he or she can advise you on what to use for her. Vet care is important. Have her microchipped if you can because rural dogs can get lost.

The crate should be big enough so that she has a place to sleep at one end and a place to go potty. If you have a secure room you could put her in there as well. Be sure to give her toys that are soft and squeak and toys that she can chew on. Gently discourage her chewing on anything but her toys. Sometimes a dab of peanut butter on a toy can make it more interesting. Don't give her rawhide chews (avoid giving Greenies at all) when you aren't home though, as they can choke on them.

There are lots of resources on the net for housebreaking. Dogs don't like to potty in their own home so after a few fits and starts she will get the idea. It will be some time before she can hold it for 8-9 hours though. Keep an eye on her after meals and take her out. Watch her and when she goes be an absolute fool about praising her and talking baby talk and anything else she finds exciting. You want her to associate it with good things. :)

Have fun reading and learning. Keep reinforcement positive. If you fuss at her make it short and forgive her immediately. Dogs don't hold grudges, they scold one another and move on. Humans could learn a lot from them.

This is a fun challenge! And I can't stay away from this thread, apparently. I went back and looked for some more matches. I hope you make some of these and post pics! :)

Simplicity (also McCall's and Butterick) have great sales but I love the aesthetic and design of Colette patterns--you should check out her book if you haven't already; includes a bunch of dress patterns along with sewing guidance. A great deal. Colette Macaron might be a good starting point for Fury and Coulson (maybe better not to do strapless dresses for a work wardrobe but the contrast/sheer top could be acceptable?) Hazel would be perfect for Captain America--the seaming may not be obvious from the main pic, but click on the one with stripes and you'll see what I mean.

I think for Loki you could probably make a dress with a green top (maybe start from Colette Pastille from the Sewing Handbook, which has the little cap sleeves) and then sort of a belt/corset overlay out of strips of black fabric--sew three strips with finished edges (fold in half, sew along long end, turn inside out, press) then fold them into a V-shape, overlap them, and topstitch everything with matching thread to hold them in place in the desired shape. Trim the edges straight and finish with bias tape. After fitting the regular bodice, attach the corset dealy to the regular dress top with hand stitching or stitching in the ditch of the existing overlay seams.

I'm working on a dress using McCall's 5800 that would be perfect for Hulk--just sew some decorative buttons up the front. You could start with the same basic pattern for Hawkeye and draw in a square neckline instead of a V-neck, and just sew ribbon or something over the seams to make the contrast stripes.

We have very similar dogs (mine's a chihmutt too, possibly chihminipin). We've had her for 7 months, and she's basically plateauing after the initial training we were able to give her for the reactivity. She also does really well at doggie daycare and adores/trusts all the attendants there. They say she's blossomed and come out of her shell and is more sociable with the other dogs too. She was found on the street, probably dumped with her leash and harness still on. She's also on clomicalm and previously dog prozac. Both of which have worked a little but nothing dramatically different.

Not sure what specific training you got, but here are the big things that made the most impact for us.

• on walks, lots of counter conditioning along with 'look at me' (basically lots of high value treat dropping when seeing dogs and strangers). Her threshold used to be ~50 yards before going nuts but now she's a good 8-10 feet. It's so hard to see the progress you've made because the impact of their negative behavior can be so stressful. I feel you!
  
• managed introductions: so not just letting new people come in the house without meeting them outside first (with high value treat dropping as soon as we meet strangers). She normally barks a little but as soon as doggy meatballs or people food drop she starts eating them. People are always instructed to ignore, ignore and ignore. We walk for a few minutes around the block and then when we get in the house she's much more calm. Still NO petting or staring/attention from friends in the house. Basically, she's treated like a cat, with attention only on her terms. While they're in the house, lots and lots of treats dropping every 30 seconds (nobody hand feeds either, just dropping snacks to the ground). She hates it when people put hands out for sniffing for whatever reason, so people don't do it either. It's really the most helpful for people to completely ignore her until she decides she wants to sniff or ask for attention. After ~20-30 min, she's usually begging for attention (they can't pick her up, but she finally asks for some scratches). This method has been absolutely, positively fantastic. We've had several couples over and a dinner party of 6 people. I'm guessing your dog never got to meet strangers either :(
  
  ​
  
  Books/podcasts/websites that I recommend:
  
  
• On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals. I felt like this book opened my eyes to how dogs talk to each other. Now I can look at her, identify her body language and intent AND see what other dogs are thinking/feeling based on their body language. It's a simple, yet super helpful book.
  
• Feisty Fido. Not sure why your trainer suggested a stroller, but that seems really strange. This book was excellent for managing our walks a bit better as well.
  
• Youtube Channel: Kaelin Munkelwitz Trainer. She films her client visits so you can see what she's doing with the dog in real time.
  
• Youtube Channel: Sophia Yin. (rip). She's well known in the training world and is so amazing with the dogs she trains on her channel.
  
  We struggle with her every day, just like you and I know exactly how you feel. There's no going back with her.
  
  At least your dog can be crated while you're gone. Ours has separation/isolation anxiety and is overly attached to my husband as well. So even when I'm here, she doesn't care so much because he's not. We've barely left our house because we haven't been able to find evening sitters :( We're almost $500/ month on doggie daycare so we can go do things during the day when I'm off of work. It's been a slow, uphill climb.
  
  Hang in there, you're an amazing dog parent and he's so lucky to have both of you!

> Any books or guides you recommend?

• A well balanced trainer so you can properly socialize the dog.
  
• Ian Dunbar's Before and After.
  
• The Puppy Primer and Perfect Puppy.
  
• kikopup
  
• zak george
  
• Pam's Dog Academy
  
• Donna Hill
  
• Training Positive
  
• Kristin Crestejo
  
  > Crate recommendations (we will be doing crate training)
  
  Crate Games and the weekend crate training plan -- adjust as necessary for your dog. Remember, never reward the dog for crying if you know they don't need anything (aka, they've been pottied, fed, etc).
  
  > What should we be prepared for? What will a rough schedule be like for having a puppy around? When do we start leaving the crate open and letting him roam all day?
  
  It can be a bit rough the first two weeks, but get onto a schedule you like ASAP. Feed at x AM, potty after, feed again at x AM/PM, etc. It'll make your life substantially easier. I take water away just before our last potty for the evening. You can start leaving the crate open and letting him roam after the teenage-angst-kill-everything phase. That'll vary by dog.
  
  > There are always debates on the best dog food for puppies and adults, so any input on that would be awesome as well
  
  For the first month, keep the puppy on whatever s/he's on. It makes it substantially easier. Too much change can really upset their digestive system. :) Honestly, I'm a firm believer in keeping your dog on what they do well on.
  
  > When we get him, should we take him right to a vet for a check up, to get established there or no? Are there routine/annual checkups we should be doing?
  
  I personally would. Shelters aren't always the most thorough in their examinations. It isn't really their fault. But, it also allows you to start the socialization process for the vet. Take lots of treats, and reward heavily during the exam - reward whilst the mouth is looked at, paws, etc. It's never too early to start that. Just keep him/her crated or off the floor until s/he's had all the vaccinations!

It really depends on what kind of mushrooms you'd like to grow; I wouldn't suggest the white mushrooms you see at stores to grow first; they have some pretty specific requirements to grow that makes it difficult for the home cultivator. Shiitake are really simple to grow; get some oak logs with holes drilled in them, shove some spore plugs in it, and bam, in about a year's worth of time you'll have shiitake mushrooms and they will keep coming back for many years. (With more and more every year)

Also some mushroom tips:

• Keep everything spotless and disinfected while working. Whether you go with store bought or spores cross-contamination is a serious problem with mushrooms. As in, if you don't sterilize you will not have mushrooms. You'll have random mold and... stuff.
  
  
• Bleach and bleach wipes are your friends
  
  
• Sterilize EVERYTHING (Especially soil and growing mediums)
  
  
• keep your hands washed and ultra clean
  
  
• Keep hair tied back, latex gloves, and even a face mask to prevent your nasty mouth germs from getting on your shrooms
  
  Generally it's a good idea to watch videos and search for the kind of mushroom you want to grow; Paul Stamet's Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms is an awesome resource as well. You can also find a (not sure about the legality) free PDF version if you just search for it + pdf. It contains general growing information as well as specific cultivation tips of almost every mushroom you could want to grow.
  
  
  But anyway, here's some things to consider:
  
  Mushroom spores:
  
  
• Wider variety of different kinds of fungi to choose from
  
  
• Tends to be pretty expensive, but it's usually a one time investment if you're good at the mushroom growing
  
  
• Some companies are super nice and will send you cultivation instructions/hints which you might not find
  
  Mushrooms from Stores:
  
  
• Small selection, usually limited to portobello, shiitake, oyster, and chantarelles (white mushrooms are reeeaaallly difficult to grow from what I've read; I've never tried to grow them)
  
  
• I find you have a higher chance of cross-contamination with store-bought mushrooms.
  
  
• Much much cheaper than spores.
  
  
• It can be pretty difficult to get spore-prints and keep them sanitary.
  
  
• Best variety for growing from store-bought mushrooms is oysters. You can find lots of youtube tutorials on choosing which ones to get to start your mushrooms to the best growing medium, etc. etc.
  
  Hope this helps!
  

It's great that you're planning ahead and trying to do everything right.

> I intend to train my puppy since day one,

For information on puppy training, you'll want to check out /r/Puppy101. They've got stuff in the sidebar that you'll want to read.

>cesar millan philosophie on nose

You can skip the Cesar Millan stuff. He is a television star, not a dog expert. See our wiki page about Cesar for more info. You would rather get great information from well-qualified dog trainers. Our sidebar will lead you to some great stuff.

>What should I do? I don't want the perfect dog (submissive yeah, but not a lab), but I want to well train him, but keep him happy and me happy.

Start by reading everything in our sidebar - we put some great links there for you! Our wiki has lots more information on dog training. You might want to read a few of the books in our book list. Or follow the link to kikopup's videos (see sidebar) and watch her techniques.

>He will have at least 2 times a day intense exercise, 1 morning: he will walk with me (I fatten a little, stop running, now I'm picking the pace) 3.5 km (mountain type of track) and in the future run with me, in the same track, the 2 time on a large space where he can run free of leash, the rest is only pee on the tree, nothing fancy and play in the house. 1 or 2 times a week beach or some rustic mountain or new park for him to explore (and me).

Be careful not to do too much while your puppy is young. His joints can't take a lot of exercise while he is a baby.

>I think this will be enough to keep him soften, but the house training (housebreaking) is the thing that I am more afraid of

The Manners and Everyday Life section of our wiki includes a house training page. Start there.

> P.S. What's the name of that book that talks about training bull terriers? Well famous and I think that I saw it recommended here a lot of times.

You might be thinking of When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs by Jane Killon.

Hope this helps!

Weird, your friend and I have a lot in common (I too am a dog trainer who has a few dogs and my biggest interest in the world is dog training with a love for agility). I want to be friends with your friend! Anyway some idea are

"multiuse or convertible" leash like 1 or 2

A fun tug toy like a rope w/ball on it or nice handled tug toy

A good Kong or two (original either red or black in the appropriate size for her dogs)

Good dog training books like The Dog Trainer's Resource or When Pigs Fly

A fun collar or two (am I the only one here who has 4+ collars for each dog and still wants more?)

If she likes hot drinks and you want to focus more on her funny/cute dog mugs are always good

Bumper stickers/magnets with her favorite breed or dog mom or a cute dog saying

there is a book called 50$ knife shop that would be a good start. ABANA also has a level one beginning blacksmithing project guide. I would recomend trying that. its helpful.

as for the cheapest and dirtiest way to forge a knife, take a leaf spring or coil spring heat it up to orange color smash it flat on a flat hard surface (an anvil), forge a point on one end and a tang (handle) on the other. you can attempt to forge bevels too, but that part is hard to do correctly. it is absolutly necesary to beale to forge flat and straight. this is also hard to do. you can grind/ file a bevel from a flat, but you cant grind/ file something from crooked to straight.

once you have a straight flat forged to shape blade you take it to the grinder to remove scale. this can be done with a hand grinder or a belt grinder, but scale will eat belts fast!!! so a hand grinder is more cost efective. with the scale removed you are ready to grind/ file your primary bevel. No grinder? then clamp your blade to a 2x4 and get at it with some files. first establish a bevel then draw file it flat. (remember when draw filing right hand pushes and left hand pulls) once you have the blade filed its time to sand all those ugly marks out. i sand to 220 or so then heat treat...

heat treat... use simple steel like OTS (old truck spring/ 5160) heat to nonmagnetic then quench in warm canola oil. take it out and check with a file. it should slide across it like glass. if the file dosent bite you have a hard blade. now go temper it at around 400 deg for 2 hours twice. (4 hr total)

now you have a heat treated and tempered blade. you can sharpen it and test it now. file or grind your final bevel then sharpen on a stone. go chop some 2x4s and then try to cut some paper. if you got a good edge you should be able to chop multiple 2x4s and still have a sharp blade. if the edge chips or rolls something went wrong. go rebevel the edge and re sharpen. test again. Chips mean the edge is too thin or HT didnt go right. fix your problems hear not later. make a good preforming blade before you make it pretty.

now make it pretty, back to hand sanding. start at 120 and work your way to 400 or so. make sure to completely remove the marks form the previous grit sand paper. before moving to a finer grit. careful not to cut yourself when hand sanding. your blade should be razor sharp by now.

in all honesty id start with stock removal and if you still want to forge knives build up to it. for me forging is easy and fun. its the stock removal part thats the hard work. if you dont mind the stock removal part you will be a lot less frustrated...

Welcome!

I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms you are interested in, but I would say the simplest way of starting to grow gourmet mushrooms would be purchasing a pre-colonized mushroom kit. These are usually only a week or two from producing fruits and will minimize the chances that you will get contamination.

I haven't purchased from them, but something like Fungi Perfecti's indoor mushroom growing kits (link) would likely be a good starting point. This will give you an idea if you like the most straightforward parts of the hobby.

If you find that you enjoy that and find which mushrooms you want to grow more seriously, you can move on from there.

If you want to get more information, a lot of books by Paul Stamets are considered required reading, such as Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. There is a ton of information in these, but if you've already gotten an idea of what kind of mushrooms you like, you can find a ton of information about each mushroom in this. A lot of excerpts from this are also available on the shroomery.org pages for different mushroom growing parameters.

I hope that this is useful. Feel free to ask any questions! I'm definitely new around here, but it's definitely been a welcoming community.

This probably isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I did want to give you my three favorites that relate to self-sufficiency and off grid living.

• The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing.
  I really like this book as a sort of "what to expect" instead of "what to do." It chronicles Helen and Scott's decision and life to live a self-sufficient life.
  
  
• The Encyclopedia of Country Living. This is a great resource. It covers EVERYTHING from gardening to raising chickens. It also covers cooking and canning with what you raise. It is primarily a consolidation of 40 years worth of a homesteading magazine.
  
  
• The Foxfire series. This series is quite long and comprehensive. However, it is an attempt to chronicle the oral knowledge of rural Appalachia. Everything is essentially about self-sufficiency (including moonshining), homesteading, and living life "the old way." It is truly a fascinating series and a wealth of knowledge.
  
  I am not familiar with the books you listed, but I do love the three I mentioned above.

>Clearly he doesn’t see me as a “pack leader” and I need some help to teach him that I’m the boss.

The first thing to do is to completely put this mentality out of your head. Dogs do not see humans as "pack leaders" - you do not need to teach him "respect". That model for dog/human interactions stems from old school dominance theory hooey that has long been debunked.

The second thing to do is reframe how you're characterizing your interactions with your dog. Your dog is not "fighting" with you or in a spat with you. Remember that dogs are not actually cheeky, or spiteful, nor do they "hate" in the sense that we do - we can joke about anthropomorphizing them, but when it gets down to training, we have to remember that dogs don't think like humans. Projecting human emotions and intentions onto your puppy is a recipe for frustration.

When it comes down to it, dogs think in terms of what is rewarding and what is not rewarding. What I see in your post is a typical puppy - he gets excited at times, he gets frustrated at times, and he enacts behaviours that get him attention (i.e., a reward!) - even if, in your mind, it's negative attention.

Remember that every interaction is an equation to your puppy - when you ask him to do something, he weighs how rewarding that behaviour is against all his other options. He will pick the most rewarding behaviour, every time. Thus, the way to get him to do what you want is simple enough - reward, reward, reward. If he is especially reluctant about something, even if you're offering a very high value reward, make a note in your mind. Something about the behaviour you're requesting has a significant downside for him. For example, when my guy was a puppy, I could offer him all the steak in the world and he would not come near me if he thought I was about to clean his ears. He feared ear cleaning more than he loved steak. It's simple math.

In terms of managing behaviours you don't like - make sure the foundations for a happy dog are there. A safe, puppy-proof environment, adequate mental/physical exercise, and lots of positive reinforcement of desired behaviours. Then, with all that covered, you can tackle undesired behaviours.

Negative punishment (removing the ability to receive rewards) is the only type of "punishment" we endorse in the sub. This usually means removing your dog's access to you/your attention for a brief period of time (30-60 seconds). This is one way to address undesired behaviours like barking, nipping, etc.

Another way is redirection - if your dog is doing something you don't like, help him build new habits by redirecting him to a desired behaviour and heavily/frequently rewarding that behaviour. For example, my guy loved to put his paws up on the counter while we were eating. Teaching him "off" was part of addressing that, but this was reactionary training. I was reacting to his behaviour rather than setting him up for success by giving him a more rewarding alternative from the get-go. So, whenever we sat down to eat, I asked him to go lie down on his mat and I regularly rewarded him as long as he stayed there during the meal. Now, his instinctive behaviour when we eat is to go lie down. I didn't need to get him to "respect" me or show him I was the boss - I just needed to give him an alternative.

>Does not like to be told no

I typically recommend that people never use "no" when training their dogs - this isn't because I think dogs shouldn't have boundaries. It's because the word "no" is essentially meaningless and not helpful feedback for your dog. It's doing training the hard way. People often use "no" in every single situation where they want their dog to change their behaviour, ignoring the fact that dogs struggle to generalize. So, when their dog gets confused or doesn't respond to the "no" in the way they expect, they assume the dog is simply being stubborn and they lean into it, by using intimidating body language, or raising their voice. This is not training. This is not teaching your dog what "no" means. It's much more effective to teach (and reward!!) specific commands like "off", "hush", "leave it", "drop it", etc.

You're using a lot of loaded language in your post - your puppy is a "fighter", you put him in his kennel when he's being "bad", etc. I think this is really souring your relationship with him. Remember, he's an animal. He has no sense of right/wrong. He will, however, pick up on your frustration, or anger, and respond to that. He will be more anxious, or on edge, or excitable around you. The behaviours you stack up to misbehaving or acting out sound like pretty typical signs of heightened stress. I would highly recommend checking out this book on canine body language - it might help you pick up on some signals from your dog that you're missing.

Edit: typo.

Okay so, I have tons of dog books to recommend. Obviously it isn't an apples to apples translation for horses, but they will help you get a solid understanding of clicker theory, and a lot of the exercises could be applied to horses, with some creative tweaking. You can usually find some inexpensive used options on Amazon that may make it more practical to buy these books, since with the exception of the Karen Pryor book they only cover dogs. If you have questions or want more recommendations let me know!

When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs https://www.amazon.com/dp/1929242441/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_41JXBbXWEPN78 This is a good basics of training books that will give you a solid introduction to actually applying clicker training.

Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743297776/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_J4JXBb9X374P5 This will get you really in the weeds on the theory and development of clicker training, plus a lot of examples of how Karen has used the methods. It is very readable, not dry and overly academic. I found it light on giving you step by step application instructions for a variety of situations though.

The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual: A Practical, Force-Free Guide to Problem Solving and Manners https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478176415/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_G6KXBb7XTZPB3 this one is another really good basics book. The author has another book called Behavior Adjustment Training that uses positive methods to deal with hyper-reactive and problem behavior. It might be a good one just so you can see some of the creative ways that they use positive training to overcome things like food aggression, fear of strangers, etc.

You can start training your puppy now, just keep in mind that small puppy=small attention span. Training sessions should be 2 minutes tops, keep them exciting and full of positive attention. Start out by getting him used to being handfed, then move to an easy-to-train command like "sit". Once he's got that down or seems to need more variety, gradually begin to introduce more commands.

As for treats, you can use kibble from his main diet as a minor training reward to start out with. You can also use soft treats like training treats or freeze-dried liver. Just don't go too overboard on rewarding!

Get as many friends and family of a variety of ages to come and visit/treat your puppy in the next couple of weeks as possible. Socialization is key and the 8-10 week window can, in a lot of ways, determine your dog's demeanor going forward. I'm sure you know, but you should avoid taking the puppy out to meet other dogs or into areas with high dog traffic until he is finished with the parvo series of vaccinations.

This is just the tip of a very large iceberg of puppy info. I'll put in a plug for /r/dogtraining and /r/puppy101 here! Both are great resources. We also relied heavily on the advice of Ian Dunbar while training our corgi. His website is here, he also has a great book Before and After Getting Your Puppy which was our bible. We basically did a less intense versions of his errorless house, chew toy, and crate trainings and our corgi was accident free by 3 months, is happy and bark free in his crate, and has yet to legitimately destroy anything.

Congratulations on your new pup and happy training to you!

Look into local chapters of the mycological society or mushroom hunting groups/clubs in your area. This site lists a few options. Looks like the one in Albion may be near-ish to you.

I've also found many of the links in the sidebar helpful, especially mushroom observer and the mushroom hunting and identification forum on The Shroomery. The Shroomery's ID forum is where I go to confirm my suspected ID's after keying out specimens on my own.

I use Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora, as a my post collection ID book. It's both huge and dated (i think it's latest edition is from the early or mid 80's) so it's functionality as a field guide or the final word in ID is lacking. Even so, it is good to learn to work through dichotomous keys like the ones that it employs and it usually gets you headed in the right direction. Other guides like Rogers Mushrooms, All the Rain Promises and More, and The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms are good resources, too (I'm sure other folks can add to this list, I'm just dropping the names that first come to mind).

As much as I clash with some of his professional/ethical decisions, Paul Stamets has contributed a ton to the accessibility of Mycology to the masses. Check out Mycelium Running and Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms as introductions to the Fifth Kingdom.

I'm also really enjoying Tradd Cotter's new book, Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Fungi for the People and The Radical Mycology Collective have also been hugely influential in my personal growth as an amateur mycologist. If you ever get a chance to attend any of their events, I would recommend doing it.

Best of luck and enjoy your journey!

>the nicest person I've been in touch with

Thanks :) You've been pretty reasonable and interesting to talk to also (sometimes thats really hard when you're passionate about something).

So, if anything I've said so far seemed to make sense to you, I'd recommend you get and read a few books that talk about how dogs (and animals in general) "work". They're all fairly cheap, interesting / easy to read, and are written by really qualified animal behaviorists / trainers:

• Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor
  
  
• The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs by
  Patricia B. McConnell
  
  
• The Culture Clash by Jean
  Donaldson
  
  (They're in /r/dogtraining's book list, but I think these 3 are a really good place to start)
  
  They aren't going to turn you into a behaviorist just from reading those 3 books, but they'll give you a good background / base of knowledge to build on. Your girlfriend will probably think they're interesting too, and think you're pretty cool for researching / being interested in what she thinks is the best way to train / change behavior.

Ok, I had some things to do, I wanted to reply to this earlier...I love this stuff :D

I dunno if you're looking for a specific training (general obedience, agility, protection, etc.), so I'll include a bit of everything that's helped me or that is well-regarded.

For general understanding of dog behavior, I really, really intensely love Jean Donaldson's "Culture Clash." It's not a workbook for obedience, it's more of a compilation of different techniques and why the author chose to move toward the training style she did. It's a little scathing at times. It's also relatively short (I think I finished it in a day or two), so as a general introduction, it works great.

If you have a puppy and are looking for puppy-specific knowledge, Ian Dunbar is the go-to name. There's lots and lots of Dunbar stuff out there, just plug his name in and go to town! Paul Owens' "The Puppy Whisperer" is also pretty good.

For general/pet obedience work, you really can't beat Pat Miller's "The Power of Positive Dog Training". Karen Pryor, a pioneer in clicker training (bridging the gap between marine/whale operant conditioning and dogs), also put out a great one, "Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training". Really, anything by Karen Pryor is worth picking up if you're interested in the subject.

There are certain facets of dog body language and behavior that are pretty essential to know, and which are often neglected or incorrectly labelled in dominance-heavy learning (for instance, appeasement behaviors and fear aggression). A great start here is "On Talking Terms with Dogs" by Turid Rugaas, a Norwegian dog trainer and behaviorist.

Let's say you have a specific problem. Here are some good starts to overcoming common doggie fear issues: Patricia McConnell's "Cautious Canine and Ali Brown's "Scaredy Dog! Understanding and Rehabilitating Your Reactive Dog.. Patricia McConnell's "I'll be Home Soon" is great for separation anxiety, Terry Ryan's "The Bark Stops Here" for barking. One of my faves is Emma Parsons' "Healing the Aggressive Dog".

Finally, a book that I cannot stress enough in its awesomeness is Jane Killion's "When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs". If you're stuck with a breed that was bred to work independently or you often feel that your dog is just plain ignoring you, this is a great thing to pull out.

If you're not so big on books and want videos, hop on youtube and look up kikopup! She's utterly brilliant and has a ton of videos to choose from. If you want to get more into that angle, look up the terms "shaping," "capturing," and "luring" - three different but related methods for encouraging dogs to do specific behaviors.

Finally, if you want to get down to the science of it and think more about wolves, L. David Mech is the name you want to watch for. And I have more sources on specific dogsports (gundog work, agility, etc.), but this post is already hideously long, so I'll leave it as is.

Hope that helps!

I have a very similar story with my American Bulldog. I got her at 9 months and she was very friendly with other dogs until I took her to another friends house with an aggressive boxer that kept trying to jump on her back and bite her neck. She hasn't really been the same since. She isn't aggressive towards other dogs, but rather fearful of other dogs which leads to nervousness when other dogs approach... which will eventually lead to lashing out at them if they get too close. I took her to a trainer who specialized in aggressive dogs... he didn't really tell me much except for the obvious(and charged me $150!).

So, I took it upon myself and read up a lot on the subject. I have been slowly getting her more comfortable being around other dogs. I would recommend reading Calming Signals first so you will at least know a little more about what your dog and other dogs' body language is saying.

I started by walking her a few times a week with another very calm and very polite dog (I think the right walking partner dog is very important). After a while she became very comfortable around the other dog and even became excited (the happy kind) when she would see him walking up. Eventually, they were able to be off leash in a backyard (I wouldn't recommend your own back yard initially as different territorial issues might arise). I also bring along her favorite treats on all our walks to 1) Reward her for good behavior and 2) to determine her level of nervousness (i.e. she refuses the treat = very nervous, she takes the treat but spits it out = somewhat nervous, takes the treat and eats it = calm).

Good luck.

I have a GSP, so similar but bred for slightly different things.

Recall will be important, but do not ever expect this dog to be reliable off leash. Like, ever. Even if the dog seems reliable, some day you will definitely have a lost dog. So keep everything on leash (invest in a long leash and harness) or in fenced in areas.

Exercise and mental stimulation will be insanely important. These dogs were bred to work in fields all day, and that doesn't translate well to being a house pet. But as you own an ACD, you should be familiar with smart high energy breeds :)

But, on that note, training will not be quite as easy as with your ACD. Where an ACD is biddable and was bred to work with its handlers, a coonhound was bred to do its own thing without much direction from its handler. So you're going to have to establish a strong bond with your dog, and understand what is possible, what's not possible, and what's just not worth it (compromise!). I strongly recommend this book.

Get on top of leash training now. I like Zak George's leash training method for dogs like this.

If you have any other questions, just let me know!

Shadow is probably very stressed out right now. Moving houses is a nightmare for cats because they depend on everything being the same from day to day. There are four things I would recommend looking into.

First is, if I'm understanding correctly, she has free access to the entire house, but only hisses in your bedroom? If that's the case, have there ever been any other cats or dogs kept in that bedroom? Could there be another cat's scent in there, maybe from a cat spraying or having litter box problems? A black light flashlight can help you find these spots on the carpet and walls if they're there, and then you can use an enzymatic cleaning product called Nature's Miracle to remove the scent. Remember, cats can smell things that we can't.

One of the pheremonal calming products people have been mentioning is Feliway. I think you could really benefit from a diffuser for your room. I know it says it's for scratching and urine marking, but it works for stress in general. It does also come in sprays which you can spray on certain things like cat carriers, furniture, etc. but supposedly it does need pretty frequent application, just so you know. Don't be discouraged if the diffuser doesn't seem to work right away. It can take a week or more but I've seen a definite improvement for my cats.

You might also want to pick up a book called Think Like a Cat, or something similar. There are so many things we as humans do that cats find threatening, startling, upsetting, etc. and we don't even know it. The truth is that she is hissing at you for a reason, whether it's the way you're approaching her, something she now associates with you, who knows. I bet you could figure it out with some insight from a good source.

One final thing that's pretty important. Cats who hiss, growl, or jump when touched sometimes are doing so because they're in pain. Pay attention to how exactly she's reacting to you. Especially since you say she has a heart problem, it's possible that she is physically uncomfortable. You may want to explain what's happening to your vet and see if they can find a physical cause.

And of course... a little sprinkling of fairy dust for luck ;)

Oh, how we feel your pain! This sub will be your lifesaver--it's been mine. Here's a great place to start: http://careforreactivedogs.com/

Also, check out YouTube videos by Dr. Sophia Yin and Patricia McConnell. McConnell has a great booklet on reactive dogs, and you can get it pretty cheap used. https://www.amazon.com/Feisty-Fido-Help-Leash-Reactive-Dog/dp/1891767070/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1527001182&sr=8-5&keywords=patricia+mcconnell

We've also had good success with Feisty Fido and Reactive Rover classes, which were pretty inexpensive through our Animal Welfare League and Humane Society. My girl is making slow but real progress. She still reacts but she calms down much faster, and my hope is that reaction/calming time will shorten and eventually the reactions will fade away.

The people on this sub are awesome and full of support and ideas. Good luck on your journey!

I'm by no means an expert - and I think that the behaviorist you are seeing is a great start. We did that with my pup, and while expensive, was worth every cent!

My Catahoula sounds similar to your dogs. She reacts to every dog we see on walks, sometimes people too. And there has been a few times she has been in fights with other dogs that were in her territory.

First, I would recommend getting a break stick to keep near by if you do get to the point of introducing to a new dog. Pit Bulls and other dogs tend to clamp down and not open their jaws for anything. The break stick helps you to "twist" their jaw open from the back. The ear injury is pretty common in these types of fights, especially if people are trying to pull dogs apart. I unfortunately have experience in that just like you.

Second look into Behavior Adjustment Training. It has really helped our dog. Positive reinforcement and redirection have worked wonders too. Learn how to best get your dog to redirect their attention to you- or know how to do a quick "u-turn" on a walk to avoid a potentially bad situation. Are your dogs treat motivated? Find the most delicious treat you can and always be sure to have it with you on walks! I use string cheese, personally.

We have semi-successfully introduced our dog to new dogs. We always start at a neutral place, like an empty dog park or empty tennis courts and keep the dogs on leash. Then we walk around our neighborhood together and finally into our back yard if all has gone well. But I usually always keep my dog's harness on and won't leave them unsupervised. There's always lots of treats, praise and monitoring my dog for her "warning signs" such as acting extra protective of me or stealing the toy from the other dog.

Finally, you're not alone in your anxiety. It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable and confident walking our dog and sometimes we'll have an encounter that brings all the anxiety back. Don't just train your dog but work on training yourself too. The more confident you feel the more success you will have.

Good luck and keep coming here for support!

It's definitely because you haven't figured out how to handle it yet. I'm an instructor with Doc Wong Northwest. It's a free riding clinic & covers the finer details of sport riding. We teach the concepts covered by Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist 2. I personally help run the clinics in Albany, but they originally started in PDX. You should check them out. They meet the first Saturday of every month at BMW Motorcycles of Western Oregon in Tigard. Not only is it a great way to learn more advanced riding, but it's a good reason to get out and ride & a great way to meet other riders in the area.

I'd also like to recommend a few books to get you started:

• Twist of the Wrist 2
  
• Sport Riding Techniques
  
• Total Control
  
  Seriously, when you know you'll be in Eugene with your Bandit...PM me. There are a lot of great roads around here.

It's a bummer shelters are that way, but I understand why. Some no kill shelters will send a reactive dog to another shelter to do the dirty work.

I live with a very reactive dog. A friend without kids could manage it safely. Honestly it's not that hard, you just can never forget that it's lurking in there. My boy feels safe at home and is the sweetest dog. The only time it's an issue is when company comes over. There is always the one friend who wants to see him react or the one who thinks they're the dog whisper. I let friends know that they can never meet him or see him.

A behaviorist can be life changing. For your dog and you. They will also help you figure out what type of home he needs. Too many people with a reactive dog try to use a trainer because they're cheaper. A good trainer will tell you that they train, they don't evaluate behavior. Each dog has different reasons and need different solutions. What works for my dog, might be wrong for yours. A good behaviorist will figure it out.

Good luck.

Edit: You might want to look at this book. It's not a training book, but it helps teach you how to read your dog's body language. Always helpful for a reactive dog.

https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Terms-Dogs-Calming-Signals/dp/1929242360

First of all, I sympathize with you on the housebreaking issue. My cairn terrier is 14 years old and lived in a puppy mill all his life until he was about 7. As a result, I never had much success potty training him as he would just go in his crate (a result of living in a cage all his life). What did give me the best success was to tether him to me while I was in the house. If he went to lift his leg (he's a terrible marker), I'd make the no-no noise, then rush him outside to have him do his business. In this way, I was catching him in the act and reinforcing the correct place to relieve himself. I have successfully potty trained my lab and a few foster dogs this way as well. Secondly, you may want to look into belly bands. It won't stop the dog from peeing, but it will stop him from peeing ON things (i.e., your carpet). For my 16 lb cairn, I cut size 3 diapers in half, fold the wings back, and place in his belly band to absorb the pee.

It sounds like the poor guy has a good deal of separation anxiety along with general anxiety. For the separation, you may want to look into systematic desensitization. Jean Donaldson has a great book with a section on this. The whole book would be beneficial for any dog owner, actually! If you can hook up with a good trainer, I think you'll be able to provide more structure for your dog and in turn, help him feel more comfortable and less anxious.

Best of luck!!

You can pick out an Adventure (like this one and have one of your friends read through it and run the adventure for the rest of you. Adventures like that take much of the creation work off of the DM and typically provide a sort of stepping stone into play.

If you're open to trying other games:
Fiasco is a pretty good role-playing game you and your friends can play. It's much easier to learn and gives you a shot to try out role-playing with. Fiasco also lends itself very well to playing one session of it, then moving on. Most RPGs, D&D, Dungeon World and Fate included, tend to reward multi-session play.
I'm more interested in playing/running Fate Core or Fate Accelerated myself. As a game, it's more focused on narrative and player-characters doing cool stuff than D&D.
Dungeon World plays and feels similar to D&D, only it's far simpler to pick up and play. There are also a number of other games very similar to Dungeon World customized to different settings/genres, like Apocalypse World (post-apocalypse), Sprawl (Cyberpunk), Blades in the Dark (If you've ever played the video-game Dishonored, you'll see parallels in Duskwall), and probably more that I don't feel like looking up at the moment.

I'd be happy to introduce you to Fiasco or Fate, schedules willing. I've played and run both.
I have, but have never played or run Sprawl, Blades in the Dark and Dungeon World; if any of those sound like more fun and you don't mind me learning along with you, they're also an option.
While I've played and run D&D before, I don't find it fun anymore and would rather play/run other role-playing games.

Ha! You triggered all three auto mod replies. That might be a record. :)

You are very very very much like I was. I spent nearly every free minute researching and reading and poring over forums and preparing and worrying I was missing something. The books and printouts I had were full of highlights and I had pages of notes.

Five months into puppy ownership, and I'm glad I did the research. We've had a few issues crop up here and there that I wasn't prepared for, but overall, I felt pretty confident and I think one of the reasons I didn't get puppy blues is because I expected all the difficulties (and knew how to manage the puppy's environment). I was prepared for no sleep and had a plan set up to sleep in the living room with the puppy so the lack of sleep wasn't too bad (if you can alternate with your fiance, you'll both be much happier).

If you want more reading check out Before and After Getting Your Puppy. I found it complimented "Perfect Puppy" really well (although note he has some overly dramatic warnings like 'if your puppy doesn't learn bite inhibition by 12 weeks it's all over' when in reality most puppies are working on that for much longer - don't stress about timelines too much, with the exception of the socialization timeline).

The best advice I can give you is KEEP UP WITH THE PROTOCOL. We read all the books and had the "dog is either crated, in the x-pen, or leashed to us" thing going, but stopped it way too early (got lazy, honestly) and we're having to backwards a little now. Remember, if a dog never learns to chew on furniture because he never has a chance, it's much more likely that he never will. If he never learns to bark at passing dogs, it's more likely he never will. If he's used to being crated or separated from you, it's more likely he'll never develop separation anxiety. Literally everything you do is teaching your puppy something - make sure it's what you want him to learn. And it's far easier to teach the right behavior than to UNLEARN the wrong behavior and THEN teach the right behavior.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas! :) Here are a couple things I liked in my planning:

1. Wedding Planning for the Busy Feminist - Practical and funny and very useful day-of timelines. Also a great appendix of vendors, designers, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Planning-Feminist-Amanda-Pendolino/dp/1980821887
   
   
2. The Knot's Planning Binder - Great for organizing contracts and business cards, I liked their color swatches for choosing coordinating colors. https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Wedding-Planner-Organizer-binder/dp/0770433367
   
   
3. Budget Savvy Bride Wedding Planner & Organizer https://www.amazon.com/Budget-Savvy-Wedding-Planner-Organizer-Checklists/dp/1623159857
   
   
4. K Company Smash Book - My sister in law gave me this - a great place to collect all sorts of mementos as you're planning your special day! https://www.amazon.com/K-Company-30-659391-CompanySMASH-Wedding/dp/B007HONAV8/
   
   ​

Spike knives are great to practice knifemaking on. They will be decorative however since, as you pointed out, they do not contain enough carbon to heat treat or keep an edge. But do work with them; it's free steel and you can practice how to go about profiling a knife on them.

As far as hammers go, I have known accomplished smiths who are happy with the hammer they picked up at a flea market. I've also known those who have made their own, or those that have bought from Centaur Forge or from other smiths.

It seems everyone has their own idea of what works for them. Quality of steel, balance, and ergonomics are obviously the main priorities, but the rest is up to you.
At this stage, just use what's economical until you start refining your smithing style.

Pick up The Backyard Blacksmith and The $50 Knife Shop. If you've got time, I would also invest in The Art of Blacksmithing, mainly for it's ideas on projects and moving metal.

As for your forge questions, I'm not sure what the best answer is as I primarily work with coal and only occasionally work with gas. The gas forges I use are pretty big, so I don't have experience in your model. Maybe try to stick a RR spike in there, close the doors, and see how it does? You can make small knives for now until you figure out the direction you want to take. Hope this all helped, good luck!

• Culture Clash
  
• The Other End of the leash
  
• Execl-Erated Learning
  
• Don't Shoot the Dog
  
• The Thinking Dog: Crossover clicker training
  
  All of the above in that order. The first two are on dogs in general and how to work with them with out being a dick. The other three are serious books on dog training theory. The last one especially is amazing and well worth a read once you get the other concepts down.
  
  One other book I would highly recommend to read
  
  
• Be the pack leader
  
  The reason I recommend it once you get in to dog training you are going to her a lot pro and against Caesar Milan. And it is far better to be informed so you can speak competently about it. Honestly I don't think he is the great satan he is made out to be. People need to exercise their dogs more and take an active role in training them. More people need to preach this message. Its mostly the flooding and dominance theory that I personally to find to be bunk.
  
  Read it and read it after you have read the above books so you can be prepared to talk with those that have him as their one and only dog training resource. Don't be a douche with them and put up your nose and shout them down but help try to steer them to other resources instead.
  
  So now you have read books and watched DVDs what now?
  
  Practice! How do you practice? Damn good question. If you have your own dog start there and then find yourself a local rescue or shelter in need and in most metro areas there are.
  
  Volunteer to work with shelter dogs this has many advantages.
  
  
• There is no shortage of dogs that need help
  
• You will be working with dogs at their worst and most stressed
  
• You will get a lot of experience with several kinds of dogs (small, big, hyper, calm, kennel stressed, flat out crazy, shy, confident)
  
• These dogs need the most help and you will be quietly literally for some of them saving their lives by making them more adoptable and staving off kennel stress
  
  NOTE: My own personal bias. Clicker training is godlike. I am getting faster and better results than I ever did with yank and crank or even with lure and reward! I also do all my dog work pro bono with local shelters and rescues.
  
  Example: Teaching a dog to walk at heel in under 45 minutes, with it being solid after only 4 training sessions, completely off lead by 6. Even with my best lure and reward this took months.
  
  TLDR: Read up, get some skills, practice on crazy dogs in shelters, come back to us and ask again after you get a few thousand hours under your belt.
  

Save your money for a bit and try something like this

http://www.japan-aquaponics.com/micro-aquaponics-plans.html


It will give both your wife and you a chance to learn how AP really works AND because of how small it is, you'll learn about a lot of problems faster ( balancing fish to plant density, fighting PH, etc ).

If you have a sunny spot, that micro system will cost MAXIMUM $150-180. If you don't have a sunny spot, lighting varies but I would recommend some variety of fluorescent ( or compact fluorescent ) fixture ( $100-120 ). If you google for aquaponic starter kits, they start sometimes @ $3000 and thats for a small one with a lot of things missing still ( media, chemicals, fish, plumbing, etc ).

edit:
Also, a very good overview of Aquaponics is this book by Sylvia Bernstein - http://smile.amazon.com/Aquaponic-Gardening-Step---Step-Vegetables/dp/086571701X/ref=asap_B005RENDS0_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413895720&sr=1-1

It's a good foundation that goes over major parts of AP ( fish, plants, water testing, media, etc ). Two things I disagree with:

• A lot of people recommend against using feeder goldfish. I love them because they're insanely cheap, extremely hardy, and they pack on weight fairly decently so you get some validation that they're developing well. Downside is that if they do survive, they can live for 10 years and they can get a little big
  
  
• A lot of people suggest starting with a 250 gallon system. That's a lot of money, even if you build almost everything yourself, to invest in something you don't really know anything about. Dr. Wilson Lennard somewhat sums things up in answering "What's the biggest threat to building an “Aquaponics Industry” as you see it?" - http://www.ecofilms.com.au/dr-wilson-lennard-on-the-future-of-aquaponics/
  
  
  Three things a home or small farm AP system can provide for you: 3 (maybe 4) seasons of plant growth ( coldweatheraquaponics.com has some great idea's for surviving Zone 4 winters ), fish dinners every few months ( if you stagger your population out ), and once you get to a certain size a system to produce fertilizer for conventional farming ( or for wicking beds ).
  

My kitten is 8 months old, and I move her constantly (partially out of necessity, partially to train her into it). I got her at 4 months, she spent a week at my apartment, and then I went to see my family for the holidays. My parents are divorced so I was shuffling between two houses the entire time. She was so young that this was not stressful at the time, and now she is used to it. I think she also sees her carrier as "home". This weekend I took her to my SO's new apartment, she spent maybe half an hour investigating everything and then settled in and started treating it like her home (still very curious though).

A couple of side notes:

• I picked her for her outgoing and curious nature specifically, I love all cats but find the super timid ones exhausting. My kitten was also found alone at 1 month old, so she was raised by people and is very comfortable with them. She's a weird cat, but perfect for me.
  
  
• I train using positive reinforcement. When I drive with her, I give her treats at regular intervals. Whenever she meets a new person, they give her a treat. When we go to a new place, I put out food for her immediately. I don't punish her for bad behavior, I just ignore it until she stops (it's worked so far) so she hasn't had a reason to be scared of me.
  
  I agree with others' advice about getting a kitten. Normally I'd say get an older cat as a student, they are less time-consuming and expensive, but if you have the resources get a kitten for sure. You will be able to train your cat so they are comfortable with your lifestyle. I also highly recommend Think Like a Cat, I read through it before picking up my kitten and it helped me with strategies for training her. I have owned cats before, but she is my first baby.

Hey friend! That's kind of a big question with a lot of detail. All the information is out there, but it can be tricky to find. I think we can all empathize with you there.

Generally speaking, all the concepts are the same, it's only the equipment that changes. Essentially, all you're doing is the following, without any of the details:

 

1. Get a small culture and expand it
   
   
2. Wait a few days/weeks.
   
   
3. Use the expanded culture to inoculate some spawn. Alternately you can just buy the spawn online and skip to step 5
   
   
4. Wait around a few days/weeks for the spawn to colonize (if you didn't buy it online).
   
   
5. Prepare some substrate (usually sawdust/wood chips that have been pasteurized, or sawdust/wood chips supplemented with a grain bran that has all been sterilized) and inoculate it with your spawn. You can usually source hardwood sawdust/wood chips for free on places like CraigsList. If not, you'll have to buy it in the form of mulch or pellets.
   
   
6. More waiting
   
   
7. Expose the colonized substrate to fruiting conditions
   
   
8. More waiting
   
   
9. Take pictures of your grow and pretend it was all easy
   
    
   
   I usually advocate for getting a pressure cooker and beginning with grains/jars; but you said you were on a tight budget, so I'll give you some beginner-tier options to get the above accomplished. The caveat here is that they're by no means the best or least-risky methods, but you asked for a cheap way forward that is still effective, so that's what I'll give you. It would be impossible for me to list out every detail, so just ask me questions and I'll fill in the rest one thing at a time:
   
    
   
   You could pasteurize prepared wood chip/sawdust mix (substrate) in a coffee can or plastic tub (with a lid) and buy pre-made spawn online. Spawn is ≈$10-25USD and comes as bags of grains or sawdust. You can find tubs all over the place for cheap. Then you just combine the two, wait for the substrate to colonize, and fruit from there (Steps 5-9).
   
   You could also buy a grocery store Hericium mushroom, chop it up into slices, spread that out over moist cardboard, and let that colonize. This is a little more risky with Hericium (v. Pleurotus, which is much more aggressive). After it finishes, you would add that cardboard spawn to some pasteurized wood chip/sawdust mix in layers, then wait for it to finish colonizing before fruiting it (Steps 3-9).
   
   Those are both cheap ways to start out, but don't skimp on the spawn.
   
   Depending on the tote you use, you might need to make a ShotGun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC), which is just a tote with holes in it on all 6 sides, with some perlite or grow stone at the bottom. It's as expensive as it is to buy a tote. You'll need to find a drill and bit to make the holes. I can run you through that, too.
   
    
   
   All of this is just a basic idea to point you in a direction given your low budget. It's slightly more risky, but cheap and easy. That's the tradeoff.
   
   If you're in college, you might have access to a biology lab and be able to use their equipment. Glass Petri dishes, bio-safety cabinet, autoclave, possible supply of agar, etc. Let me know if you do and I'll walk you though some more advanced techniques that also meet your budget. All you'd have to do is buy a few bags at ≈$1USD each and either some liquid culture (≈$10), or even a store-bought mushroom will do.
   
    
   
   That's a super rough, dirty version. People will probably yell at me, but that's ok. I can't type out a novel here, so just ask questions about what you don't understand and we'll go from there. If you need a source that takes you front to back, go to your college library and Inter-Library-Loan "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" or "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation".

I would not recommend the Audubon guide it is very out of date (this can range from outdated taxonomy all the way to toxicology that has changed over the years). It is useful because it lists species other guides lacks but you'll learn to hate it.

Buy a location specific guide. It depends on where you live. If you get really into field hunting buy some specific guides that give you a more in depth understanding and help you not to die. Joining a local mycological society is also an extremely valuable resource in understanding mycology.

Here's a bit of everything

Regional guides

Alaska

Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams

Western US

All The Rain Promises and More
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

Mushrooms Demystified This is an old book, while still useful it definitely needs updating.

The New Savory Wild Mushroom Also dated but made for the PNW

Midwestern US

Mushrooms of the Midwest

Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States

Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest

Southern US

Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide

Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States

Common Mushrooms of Florida

A Field Guide to Southern Mushrooms It's old so you'll need to learn new names.

Eastern US

Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians

Mushrooms of Northeast North America (This was out of print for awhile but it's they're supposed to be reprinting so the price will be normal again)

Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America(Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America)

Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore

More specific (Advanced) guides

Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World

North American Boletes

Tricholomas of North America

Milk Mushrooms of North America

Waxcap Mushrooms of North America

Ascomycete of North America

Ascomycete in colour

Fungi of Switzerland: Vol. 1 Ascomycetes A series of 6 books.

Fungi Europaei A collection of 14 books.

PDFs and online Guides

For Pholiota

For Chlorophyllum

American species of Crepidotus

Guide to Australian Fungi If this is useful consider donating to this excellent set of guides.

Websites that aren't in the sidebar

For Amanita

For coprinoids

For Ascos

MycoQuebec: they have a kickass app but it's In French

Messiah college this has a lot of weird species for polypores and other things

For Hypomyces

Cultivation

The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (If your home is a 50,000 sq ft warehouse)

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms

Mycology

The fifth kingdom beginner book, I would recommend this. It goes over fungal taxonomy Oomycota, Zygomycota and Eumycota. It also has ecology and fungi as food.

The kingdom fungi coffee table book it has general taxonomy of the kingdom but also very nice pictures.

Introduction to fungi Depends on your definition of beginner, this is bio and orgo heavy. Remember the fungi you see pop out of the ground (ascos and basidios) are only a tiny fraction of the kingdom.

NAMA affiliated clubs

While I agree with the others here that you should treat around children, I disagree regarding criteria: I don't think you should expect any particular reaction from her in order to treat.

Treating based on a behavioural criteria is operant conditioning. The purpose of operant conditioning is to teach your dog to undertake a certain behaviour based on a certain cue or context. For example, teaching your dog to sit nicely whenever she sees a kid would be great if she tended to be overly excitable and happy around kids and had a tendency to knock them over accidentally.

Treating in the context of a trigger, without expecting any particular behaviour from your dog, is counterconditioning. The purpose of counterconditioning is to change your dog's automatic emotional reaction to the trigger. You treat every time your dog sees a child, regardless of whether your dog is growling or ignoring, because you want your dog to associate "child=something good!". Over time, your dog should start to feel good about children because they predict good things.

Depending on what your goals with your dog are, you may be happy to stop at counterconditioning -- say, you don't particularly care whether your dog sits next to you, sniffs the floor, politely says hello to the child, as long as the dog isn't being aggressive to the child. Just improving the dog's emotional reaction to children would be sufficient for that. On the other hand, if you want to see a specific behaviour from your dog around children, then after you have successfully counterconditioned your dog, you can work on operant conditioning.

You will not have much success with operant conditioning your dog when she is experiencing fear around children. Fear inhibits learning, and your dog is unlikely to even bother listening to you if it feels threatened. "Pleasing mum" takes a backseat to "defending my life!" any day for a dog, so it will ignore cues from you until it feels like the trigger has retreated.

Another tool for working with fearful reactive dogs is Behavioural Adjustment Training (BAT). It is similar to operant conditioning in that you reward your dog for appropriate "de-escalation" behaviour (e.g., turning away from the trigger, sniffing the ground, etc.) but instead of giving a treat or a toy, you reward the dog by allowing it to put more space between it and the trigger. Grisha Stewart developed the technique, and has written a couple books on how to do it, the most recent being [Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0] (https://www.amazon.ca/Behavior-Adjustment-Training-2-0-Frustration/dp/1617811742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474135094&sr=8-1&keywords=grisha+stewart). It requires that you have willing children to volunteer to stand around in a field or something while you do the training set-ups -- maybe find a helpful parent and offer to buy the kid an ice cream cone?

I think there are probably a few dogs who can't recover, but there is a lot you can do for leash reactivity. I had a leash-reactive foster dog with me for a few months earlier in the year, and he made amazing progress in just a few weeks.

This is a good starting point. And this is a book that offers more detail.

I'll try to summarize how I thought about this with the dog I was training; a lot of it involves getting the timing right. You first have to figure out the 'flight distance' for your dog in relation to other dogs--how close can she get to them without freaking out? Once you figure that out, make sure you redirect her each time you're approaching that distance from another dog--whether it's with a treat, a command to do a behavior, turning to walk in a different direction, whatever. A lot of people do clicker training in working with leash reactivity; I didn't need to do that with this particular dog, but it's worth considering so that you 'mark' the desired behavior of breaking her attention away from the other dog.

You want her to learn that 1) you're not going to make her get closer to another dog than she's comfortable with, and 2) when she sees another dog, her reaction should be to focus on you rather than the other dog.

Over time, as she learns to redirect her attention to you when she sees another dog, her flight distance should shorten more and more.

I try not to rub it into anyone’s face (even if I do send out comments with the hashtag #YourJobSucks), but it is so much fun. I’ve been at this job for three and a half years, before that eight months with another daycare, and I started the dog part of my career in 2012 as the large dog kennel manager at a private shelter.

The other day I was on Private Walks, where we go into the individual rooms to spend time with each dog who can’t go out to Group Play, and I had a puppy Pitt shove his lips into mine and his nose to mine, and then SNIFF super hard with every one of my breaths. I don’t what he was thinking, but he did that for about three minutes straight.

The lessons I try to take from being around the dogs are about living in the moment & letting things go. It’s fine to fully experience whatever emotion you’re feeling, and express it if it helps you process; but also prioritizing what matters now versus next year versus a century from now. I’ve been told it’s a little bit zen to think this way, but it helps with perspective.

If you want to read about how dogs experience life, I can’t recommend enough Alexandra Horowitz’s ‘Life Inside A Dog’. Each chapter describes a different sensory experience and how it affects them physiologically and behaviorally. I read it back when I was a zookeeper, well before I switched over to dogs, and it improved my zookeeping skills tremendously.

https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Dog-What-Dogs-Smell/dp/1416583432

You can do that with the Ninja 250. It's all practice. Like V_Glaz_Dam mentioned you should watch the Twist of Wrist 2 series.

Here's something I wrote for one of my friends.

For books, I personally like this one the most. I feel like Nick took a lot information from the Twist of the Wrist books and made it more modern.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893618072/ref=oh_o02_s01_i00_details



But I also learned a lot from Lee Park's book. Lee Park hosts a rider school where he runs over all the drills in his book and helps with rider technique. You have to google the class schedules but he comes around California at least once or twice a year.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760314039/ref=oh_o04_s00_i00_details



The there is the Twist of the Wrist series
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Motorcycle-Roadracers-Handbook/dp/0965045013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330372612&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Basics-High-Performance-Motorcycle/dp/0965045021/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330372612&sr=8-2

I haven't read those books but the Twist of Wrist II videos are on youtube so you can check them out.



The last book I would recommend is Proficient Motorcycling. I highly recommended reading that one because it focuses a lot on general riding. Techniques that everyone should learn just to stay alive riding on the road. The book can be found at some libraries so you can save some money by just loaning it.
http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1933958359/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330372534&sr=1-1-spell

The rest is all practice.
Also youtube "ninja 250 track" and you'll see a bunch of videos of guys racing their 250s on the track.

I wouldn't get on a track until you are at least familiar with your motorcycle. Get some miles under your belt before you decide to do it. After you are comfortable on your bike I would try to hook up with some local riders who are better than you. That way you can talk to them and learn from their experience. But remember to take most advice with a grain of salt. I personally use meetup.com to meet a lot of other guys to ride with.

Have you taken any psych classes? Intro to Psych is a very good and, IMO, very necessary foundation for being a trainer. It's not animal-specific, but a lot of the info is easily translatable to training animals.

Have you taken an animal behavior class? That's a good foundations class to take if it's offered in a community college or your university, if you attend one.

In regards to being able to read the dog's emotional state: Turid Rugaas' little booklet on Calming Signals is pretty helpful and well worth the $8. I learned a lot from Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff when I first got my dog. Correctly identifying the dog's emotional state is step #1 in successfully working with dogs.

I would definitely recommend getting some beginner sewing books to start too. It will set you up so much better, so you're making beautiful things from the beginning, and will help you build skills. A lot of times I think beginners get over ambitious, try to make a fancy dress with a difficult (or inappropriate - quilting cottons are for quilting not dressmaking) fabric, get frustrated with fit issues and complicated techniques, and then give up. I think the Colette Sewing Handbook is great, although I think a lot of people on this sub don't like it for whatever reason. Tilly & the Button is more popular and is also fine. Both have blogs and sell patterns which you can use in addition to what's in the books. There are also tons of how-to's online, fitting books, other blogs, and more advanced books once you get into it.

Edit to add: I'm sure you can find these books or similar at the library too, and estate and garage sales are an excellent place to find cheap sewing machines, patterns, fabric, and things like thread and zippers.

The best way to learn is to try :) I can highly recommend the Colette Sewing Handbook for lots of information and some great beginner patterns! And if there's anything you need a hand with, I'm happy to help out :)

The biggest thing you need to do for yourself right now is begin to lose the weight. Learn how to eat healthily and begin to workout. Fat head and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (which streams on Netflix) were excellent starting places learning about food for me. Then hopping on the internet to do my own research.

As for working out, Bodybuilding.com has a plethora of information. When you get on there, DO NOT LOOK AT THE WOMEN AND GET DEPRESSED. That won't get you anywhere and you will change nothing. Look at those women as pure potential in yourself. Start changing the way you think about things like this right now. Changing the way you think is going to be the biggest and best thing for your self and it's going to apply across the board.

Grow out your hair.

Find a girly style that you are comfortable with. Personally, I love Modcloth.

Learn to cook. Get it out of your head right now that it is at all difficult. It's not. The reason people find it difficult is because they think it's difficult. Here's and incredibly easy recipe that takes minutes. What do you want to learn to cook?

House cleaning. This is an excellent book on the matter.

Hobbies. Look for something that you like to do. Knitting, sewing, crocheting are all great. But do they interest you? If they don't, don't force yourself to do them because you think you should. It won't stick and a man will think you strange. What interests you? Don't search for traditionally feminine pursuits if there is nothing there that piques you. Find what you love and try to do it in a feminine way.

Stand up straight. Really. Small but huge.

Smile. Often. At everyone. Even heavy, people will notice a happy and pleasant woman. Your attitude means everything.

Be friendly.

Don't sleep around.

Start with these. As you begin with the big things, you'll begin to delve deeper into the nuances. But you have to work with the big before you can work further. DON"T BEAT YOURSELF UP. You. Will. Fail. It's just part of the process. Even the women doing this for years, we still fail. It's not the set back that makes it awful. Awful would be giving up because you made a mistake.

Read. Read. Read. Here and the sites on the side bar. Once you've done that, come back here and ask questions. We'd love to help.

For a bit of an oddball approach, learning a bit about sewing and how clothes are made can aid you in your quest for quality, especially if you're doing a lot of your shopping in person. Knowing what a taped zipper, pad stitching, French seams, Hong Kong bindings, or a properly pressed welt pocket looks like can give you hints about a garment's durability and quality, even when the brand is unfamiliar to you.

For example, an unnecessarily deep hem on a skirt might mean that the manufacturer acknowledged that the skirt needs the extra weight to hang prettily or that the buyer might want to lengthen it. Or if there's a grosgrain ribbon sewn on the inside of a skirt's waistband, that's to prevent the waist from stretching out and so the wooly fabric doesn't rub up against your skin or tights. It's these unnecessary little touches that (hopefully!) mean that the rest of the garment was made with such care and forethought. :)

Any sewing book from your library with a chapter on hems and seam finishes can teach you stuff like this-- you don't actually have to learn to sew! For some suggestions, The Colette Sewing Handbook is a very pretty, approachable book that you could browse and digest in an evening. On the other end of the spectrum, Claire Schaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques contains everything you could possibly want to know about what makes a high-end garment, and I think it's fascinating clothing-porn.

And from even further out of left field, if your style at all inclines towards retro, you'd be the perfect size for vintage skirts and dresses. Your unusually slender waist means there are a ton of lightly-worn or deadstock garments just waiting for you to snatch 'em up! Spending a day browsing a vintage shop or Etsy could be fun. Look for deep hems, metal zippers, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union tag for some quality pieces.

I'd definitely encourage them to take the dog off their property (and on-leash, long or short) for at least 60 minutes a day, sans ball.

As long as he doesn't do the couch-attack when there's no ball, I'd focus on the other stuff for now.

There are some pretty sturdy flirt poles out there... maybe look at sites catering to bully breeds? The bullies tend to be super tough chewers.

Many Bull Terriers are prone to serious obsessive behavior (it's called "Canine Compulsive Disorder," or CCD), like the tail chasing you see. The more exercise and stimulation he can get without a ball involved, the better. In many cases medications like Prozac and Paxil can help these dogs take a deep breath and keep their cool a little better. A behaviorist would be able to help figure out an appropriate medication and dose. You may be able to get a phone consult and have the behaviorist coordinate with your regular vet if you don't have a behaviorist nearby.

All that said, Bull Terriers are some of the most notoriously stubborn dogs out there. There's a book called When Pigs Fly that addresses how to work with hard-to-train dogs. They might find it a helpful read.

Lastly, prey drive intensity can vary across dogs. Your Airdale sounds like he had a moderate prey drive... ;) otherwise he would've known exactly what a predator does when it catches prey. It is absolutely expected that a very high prey drive dog (like your parents' new MBT) will kill a small animal if he catches it. Even when he progresses in other areas of training, I doubt he will ever be trustworthy around cats. Prey drive is innate and deeply ingrained.

Definitely keep us updated! I'm really curious how he changes without access to his ball.

Start as soon as possible! :) We started with his name. When we said his name if he looked at us, he got a treat. Then, sit was very easy to teach. Hold a piece of kibble in front of his face, then put it towards his head but above his head. If he backs up instead of sitting down, gently nudge his butt towards the ground with your other hand. We taught our pup to sit in less than a week with that method, and he was around the same age as yours. Just be diligent, and very consistent. Make him sit for everything, you will thank yourself later.

The book my husband and I read, which helped a LOT with training is called Before and After Getting Your Puppy. I HIGHLY recommend it!! Worth more than any other dog/puppy book I have ever read.

You can definitely hit the highway with your CBR300 as long as you allow yourself to gradually get more comfortable with riding at speed. Sure, a bigger bike will have more passing power and a little bit more weight which will make it feel slightly more stable, but that extra weight has its downsides too, and it's not like the upgrade will strip away the problems you're encountering now, it would just tone them down slightly.

I remember my first time riding on a highway and how I felt the wind was pushing me all over the place, but after years of riding the thought of wind doesn't even cross my mind. What changed? Truly the change that made the biggest difference was letting the bike find its own balance instead of trying to constantly use steering inputs to react and counter every new sensation I felt on the highway. In short: I developed more faith in the ability of the bike to keep itself upright.

Motorcycles are remarkably self-stable, even your CBR300. Also, motorcycles are actually way more stable at speed than when they are puttering around town believe it or not, and I fear you might be making the mistake of overbearing the motorcycle with unnecessary steering inputs. It might sound scary right now, but if you took your hands off the handlebars at 60MPH while going straight down the highway the bike will continue heading straight, and even if a gust of wind hits you with your hands off the bars the bike will actually self correct on its own and continue heading mostly straight... I'm not saying I recommend that, I'm just trying to illustrate a point: the bike will do the heavy lifting of keeping the bike upright without any help from you at all, your job is to guide the bike with subtle steering inputs.

How can we achieve this? The big secret is not letting your arms fight eachother. Lee Parks adresses this in his book Total Control (excellent read, highly recommended); he recommends only letting one hand/arm be in charge of any given steering input. Don't push with one arm and pull with the other, instead allow one arm to be in charge of the steering input and the other just supports the action by balancing the handlebars. The goal is to relax your arms and be entirely neutral in your grip when no steering is necessary.

Once you get the hang of this you will feel like a zen master every time you hop on your bike, and you'll feel a deeper connection with your machine too because you'll realize it's not just a one-sided effort of you singlehandedly keeping the bike upright, instead it's a mutual relationship between you and your machine and you both have to hold up to your end of the bargain for it all to work out.

I hope some of this helps!

Some dogs are easier to train than others but it is never a one size fits all type deal. I would recommend any type of positive reinforcement training. Any Animal Behaviorist will tell you that Pavlovian and Classical conditioning. More specifically clicker training is a great way to train your dog for anything. For more resources check out The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson and any book by Dr. Ian Dunbar. Also the folks over at /r/Dogtraining know their stuff pretty well.

Honestly my favorite memories are those of successful adoptions. It's really something special to see a both a dog and new owner so happy.

The worst memory would be that of losing a dog from a shelter I was working at when he was hit by a car. While one never becomes comfortable with euthanasia, a person learns to cope with it (barely), however a startling violent end is indeed much harder to deal with.

We do EVERYTHING to wear the dogs out. Often I end up more exhausted than them. Everything from fetch, tug of war, and even just running around with them in circles.

YES totally get a furminator. If your dog is shedding it will help so much. Be careful not to over-brush your dog as this can result in brush burn which is basically when the skin gets red and irritated from too much brushing. Another option would be to go to a grooming shop and ask for a de-shedding. Basically they will use a special shampoo, made by furminator no less, and it will remove most of the the undercoat.

Hope this helps.

Good choice for a first bike. But its important to understand that you need to respect the machine and what its capable of.

There are plenty of resources here that can help you. First thing first, take the MSF course. This will give you the best start on riding a motorcycle. They will teach you a lot of the very basic fundamental principles that you need to know to ride safely. Dont skimp on this detail. It will definitely help you in the long run.

Second, start reading. I recommend "Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Wello" by David Hough. This is a good book to start with.

After that, - and once you've read through the first book at least twice - look into "Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques". This is a good second book to pick up and commit to memory.


As for gear, I wouldnt trust a $50 helmet. It may work perfectly for you. It may even be comfortable. But in a crash, when you need it to perform at its absolute best, you get what you pay for. Im not saying you should go out and buy an $800 Shoei or something, but the helmet is not somewhere you should be skimping on protection.

The jacket and gloves look fine. As for the boots, I've been using cheap Chinese knock-offs of American combat boots. They are all leather, go up mid calf and with tall socks, I fold the top of the sock over the top of the boot to keep the laces tied. Definitely not something you want to get caught in the gears.

And read this forum (and all motorcycle forums) with a grain of salt. In other words. There are plenty of opinions out there. Some of them good, some of them bad.

And then, practice, practice practice!

As a first time cat owner I found this book to be very helpful and informative.

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Cat-Well-Adjusted-Cat-Not/dp/0143119796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541531647&sr=8-1&keywords=think+like+a+cat+how+to+raise+a+well-adjusted+cat--not+a+sour+puss

Get a large scratching post, I have this one and my kitty loves it, you can also get a attachment for the top to make it a perch, its my kitties favorite place to window watch.

https://www.amazon.com/SmartCat-3832-Ultimate-Scratching-Post/dp/B000634MH8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541531710&sr=8-3&keywords=large+scratching+post+for+cat

https://www.amazon.com/SmartCat-Perch-Ultimate-Scratching-Post/dp/B000XJ9PYA?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_2600746011

At the Dollar Tree by me you can get a roll of brown packing paper for a $1, I unroll it in my living room and it's one of Sophies favorite play things. I'll replace it ever couple weeks.

Getting a tunnel is also a great idea, its a place for them to hide and stalk toys from, Sophie loves to dive bomb into hers, its quite funny.

https://www.amazon.com/CO-Z-Collapsible-Tunnel-Kitten-Rabbit/dp/B074DRBMFB/ref=sr_1_4?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1541532092&sr=1-4&keywords=cat+tunnel

As a player and Dungeon Master, it makes me so happy to see /r/DnD making it to bestof more than once. :)

For those interested, the newest edition being released book by book right now is 5e (previously D&D Next when it was still in the playtesting phase). Player's Handbook (PHB) and Monster Manual (MM) are the only rule books out right now. The main storyline book out right now is Hoard of the Dragon Queen (HotDQ) and soon The Rise of Tiamat (RoT).

What you need to play D&D IRL:

• D&D Basic Rules for Players and DMs
  
• 3-4 players (PCs or player characters) is ideal
  
• 1 Dungeon Master (DM), who runs the game
  
• Dice (Wiz Dice is a good starting point if nobody has dice. Just buy the big bag.)
  
• Paper and pencils
  
• Optional: A battle mat (like this one from Chessex)
  
• Optional: Miniatures (minis) to represent your PCs, NPCs, and monsters. I use dice to represent monsters in my games, because minis are expensive.
  
  If you want to play a D&D online tabletop:
  
  
• Roll20.net
  
• Use /r/lfg, /r/roll20lfg, or their dedicated LFG function/forums to find other people
  
• Roll20 itself has all you need to play the game - character sheets, dice rollers, built in webcam/mic, special view for DMs versus players, music, handouts, macros, etc.
  
  
  Shameless plug: My group streams D&D 3.5e (older edition) on Twitch almost every Monday night at 8pm EST. I also play and DM 5e, so I'm happy to answer questions about either edition!
  

Yeah... scent hounds and border collies are kind of the exact opposite when it comes to training. Border collies are totally up for anything and everything because they love learning and are very biddable. Bred for generations to work with and listen closely to humans.

Hounds are...motivated by only what they enjoy. There's always going to be a "what's in it for me?" and that thing has to be better than the smell over there from 3 days ago.

That being said, the vast majority of hounds LOVE their food. So you should be able to find some kind of food they enjoy.

A book that may help you for learning how to deal with a less biddable dog is "When Pigs Fly, Training Success with Impossible Dogs" $8 for the e-book.

The author of that book mainly has bull terriers which are a notoriously stubborn and self centered breed.

Additionally, most police departments, AFAIK, don't use civilian dogs. If you're talking more about SAR, honestly it's already too late to really work with him to get to that point - not because 3 months is too old, but simply because you have very little experience. You really need to understand SAR in general before trying to bring in a dog, and having some sort of training experience with the sort of thing along with a training mentor is basically required.

However, if you just want to do that for fun, there is tracking and nosework competitions that would likely be a lot of fun for you to do with your pup!

https://www.amazon.com/Ashley-Book-Knots-Clifford-W/dp/0385040253/ref=pd_sbs_14_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0385040253&pd_rd_r=e0ab9849-0e7d-4ba9-a032-9a9d01f9ee48&pd_rd_w=DsijS&pd_rd_wg=En3yr&pf_rd_p=1c11b7ff-9ffb-4ba6-8036-be1b0afa79bb&pf_rd_r=PE3RHZF1NQ3W6QAF2VF8&psc=1&refRID=PE3RHZF1NQ3W6QAF2VF8

That one is the holy grail of ropeworking books. I have yet to get my hands on it so I have never seen it but everyone serious about the hobby loves it.

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Ropecraft-Stuart-Grainger/dp/1574092480/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=creative+ropecraft&qid=1566544712&s=books&sr=1-1

That is the creative ropecraft. The illustrations can be a bit difficult but its a great beginner book.

https://www.amazon.com/Pawsons-Knot-Craft-Rope-Mats/dp/1472922786/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/136-7070516-4175455?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1472922786&pd_rd_r=2e8898cd-24a4-48de-a09f-b99388849af1&pd_rd_w=rUDOx&pd_rd_wg=zQIMo&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=CTJM8EXWXXN8V6FQH32G&psc=1&refRID=CTJM8EXWXXN8V6FQH32G

This is one of Des Pawson's books. I borrowed it from a friend once, tons of info. I had to give it back though. ><

https://www.amazon.com/Marlinspike-Sailor-Hervey-Garrett-Smith/dp/0070592187/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3/136-7070516-4175455?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0070592187&pd_rd_r=2e8898cd-24a4-48de-a09f-b99388849af1&pd_rd_w=rUDOx&pd_rd_wg=zQIMo&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=CTJM8EXWXXN8V6FQH32G&psc=1&refRID=CTJM8EXWXXN8V6FQH32G

This is a nice cheap book too, I have never seen it myself but it is one that is recommended a lot on various youtube ropecraft channels.

The blog is mine. I'm not quite sure I understand your points, so please respond. :)

>Frequent cycling water isn't just for the plants, but to filter fish waste solids and chemicals to help keep the fish healthy.

>Why make a single filtering job with one electrical item into a two-filter job with multiple electrical points?

The filter will be running constantly to filter the waste, build biofiltration, and keep the fish healthy. I'm spending less on grow media, so the cost of the filter is almost covered by savings on excess grow media (net cost is $20 if I only buy 25 gallons of media instead of 50). The electricity consumption may be slightly higher, but I think the pro's of being able to move the plants, spend less on media, and have a more stable biofilter will negate the additional cost of electricity to run the filter. The hydroponic guy suggested that using a grow bed will not be as effective as using a filter for the bioload. He suggested that as the growbed fills with water and then drains, any part of the grow bed that dries will not have bacteria, only the moist parts.

The point of NOT using a completely filled grow bed is to allow me to move the plants around, facilitate cleaning the grow bed, and cut down on how much grow media I need. The timer won't use the same amount of electricity as a constantly running pump.

The filter is necessary because the water isn't running directly onto the grow media. Using the grow media as a filter still requires cleaning out the grow bed and the sediment at least once a year. This will be much easier with this design.

I'm new to aquaponics, so I'm learning. I've read Sylvia Bernstein's book on Aquaponic Gardening from front to back, so I know all the suggestions and rules of thumb. I'm suggesting a better way to do things based on advice from a hydroponics expert with a little aquaponics knowledge.

I can still return the filter if need be, but please do respond so I can figure out what design I want to go with. I'm not suggesting that I know more than you, but this is what I know. That's why the header of my blog says "sharing my learning experiences with aquaponics." I come to this community for knowledge, and to share my experiences.

"Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know" by Alexandra Horowitz. As a dog lover, I went into this thinking I already knew quite a lot about canine intelligence, but this book really taught me a lot. And, it has the bonus of being extremely readable.

"Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans" by John M. Marzluff. This book totally blew me away. I knew that crows are highly intelligent, but had no idea just how intelligent. Also highly readable, not too scientific or technical.

Someone already mentioned BAT training, look that up straightaway!

This book helped me a lot, it is designed for agility dogs with dog reactivity, but it has lots of specific exercises for you to do with your dog. For the ones that require other dogs I improvised- like I would work 100-300 ft away from a fenced dog park.

I also really love anything Patricia McConnell and this specific pamphlet is about leash reactivity. Short, to the point, honestly anything Patricia McConnell you can get your hands on would help you get an idea on the training methods you need to use.

Lastly, the Protocol for Relaxation by Dr. Karen Overall is just a basic exercise (you repeat it the same basic thing many many times), I feel like it greatly increased my dog's calmness and his ability to be calm/relaxed in various situations. This exercise doesn't directly relate to dog aggression, but it does teach your dog what you want him or her doing while a variety of crazy things are going on.

edit: For safety, I would keep your dog physically separated from other dogs at all times. Don't try to 'get over' the aggressiveness by forcing him to meet other dogs. If you are walking down the street and a person with a dog is walking towards you (or a loose dog!), immediately turn around and walk the other way. Or you could make a huuuuuuuuge arc around them. If you think your dog might bite another dog or a person I would use a basket muzzle.

You may be underestimating the ability of your dog to respond to positive reinforcement; you never had to purposefully, deliberately "teach" him, but showing approval through body language allows them to learn, through experience, that this behavior is wanted and rewarded. Dogs are amazingly attuned to human behavior and gestures.

There is surprisingly little research, though, on the cognitive behavior of dogs. A lot of things we just sort of take for granted. I do recommend this book, Inside Of A Dog, as a good overview of what we know about dogs and understanding how they view the world.

These are very basic suggestions:

Colette's Beginner Book
Very nice, focuses on sewing clothing, comes with patterns.

[Fabric Reference] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089689536X/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00)
Tons of information on fabrics.

Reader's Digest Guide
Lots of sewing techniques and information. You can get the new edition but the old ones are cheap!

Gertie's suggestions
Most, if not all, of these books came from Gertie. Just Google "building a sewing library" or something along those lines and you will get great information. Don't neglect blogs! The internet is a vast sewing resource. Good luck. :)

I purchased the Knot's binder. Though it's been supremely helpful at keeping me organized, make sure she takes some of the info it includes with a grain of salt. For example, it has wonderful budget guides. However, it accounts for expenses that don't gel with everyone's vision for their wedding day...she should feel free to edit the tools it provides, or not use the ones she doesn't need.

Also, A Practical Wedding has been a wonderful resource to keep me grounded and focused on what matters to my FH and I.

I think that u/jaspersnake has great suggestions on how to address your immediate issues. And here is a prior post on growling that includes good advice.

To develop a better relationship with the dog over the long term, I think that reading at a general level would help. Patricia McConnell’s For the Love of a Dog addresses how to interpret and respond to dog “emotions,” including fear in particular (I'd say BF's dog is fearful). That might be a good place to start. Jean Donaldson’s Culture Clash is another book that’s often recommended. It’s very good, but not as smooth a read. In my opinion there aren’t a whole lot of great websites on dog behavior and dog training. Patricia McConnell’s site has training resources and a blog, both of which include wonderful material but are a bit clunky to navigate. Dog Star Daily is also very sound, but again a bit clunky.

This isn't going to solve your problem immediately and maybe not at all but isn't going to hurt and is worth a try since it's pretty low effort. It sounds like since she's a nervous dog even with you there in some situations that she doesn't know how to calm herself down when she is feeling stressed. My dog has really high anxiety and my behaviorist recommended this and I started to see a difference in about 2 weeks (though he strangely didn't have separation anxiety). Anytime you are home, have a treat bag and clicker handy. Every time she sits or lays down, click and treat. Don't cue her, just every time she does it naturally. You're rewarding her for taking herself to a lower energy state from a higher one and she'll start to do it more naturally. You can do this for any calming behavior (this book is really short and goes over calming signals).

We just recently took in a new kitten (Turbo) who is a couple of weeks older than yours. We were initially having very similar problems with constant biting.

The good news? It seems to be totally normal. From what I’ve read, there’s a ton of developmental stuff that happens between 7 to 12 weeks of age—specifically regarding kittens learning a restrained bite from play-fighting with their litter mates. Unfortunately our little balls of teeth and fury didn’t get those experiences, and thus are working through that phase on our hands, arms, and legs.

The bad news? It’s going to take a lot of patience and consistency from you and your family over the next few weeks, but this behavior can (and absolutely must) be trained out of them. Here’s what we’ve been doing that seems to be working thus far:

• Get some toys on wands or sticks that you can use with Yonah to ensure that when you are playing with her (and you should be playing with her, multiple times a day) that your hands are far removed from the “area of attack.” Check out toys like Da Bird or the Bamboozler.
  
  
• Never, never, never use your hands to wrestle with Yonah. It’s important that she learn that hands are only for loving/caretaking activites (and not biting), so don’t undermine your efforts by either you or yourself rough-housing with her with your hands. Trust me—kitten bites are bad, but adult cat bites are much, much more painful!
  
  
• When Yonah bites you, you need to redirect her attention to something else. Some cats respond well to stuffed animals that they can grab and wrestle with, so go to PetSmart and get a large stuffed toy that you can give to Yonah whenever she starts biting. Hopefully she’ll prefer to bite that versus arms/hands/legs.
  
  
• When Yonah bites you, she needs to learn that it hurts you. In her litter, either her mom or the other kittens would make sure she knew by correcting the behavior if it had gone too far. You will probably read a ton of different suggestions on how to do this, so try a few and see what elicits a response. One thing you should try is to completely freeze when Yonah bites you. It’s no fun to wrestle and bite something that isn’t wriggling and moving, so hold your hand or arm very still and stiff when she starts biting. Some folks suggest accompanying this with a loud yelp of pain to make the cat aware that their actions are hurting, but this has seemed to have no effect on Turbo. What does work, though, is a very loud, very scary hiss that we have been making right in his face whenever the biting starts. I felt horrible doing this the first couple of times because it scared the living daylights out of him, but sure enough it has helped reduce the biting to almost nothing in the 2 weeks we’ve been doing it.
  
  If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book Think Like a Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett. When we got our first cat, it helped me understand so much about their behavior and how to communicate effectively. I highly recommend it!
  
  Good luck!
  

Some activities that make me feel better when I'm feeling "off" are: shower, wash your face, floss/brush your teeth, do a face mask, write in a journal, call a loved one, go for a walk, take a fitness class, have a drink, tidy your living space, read a peaceful book ("Home Comforts" is a personal fav), go on a little adventure (public gardens/greenhouses are great), take yourself on a date(woo the shit out of yourself), put on fancy headphones and listen to a melancholy/blue playlist, take a depression nap, rub one out, give yourself something fun to look forward to (sign up for a class or something), practice a new skill, make something for a loved one, DANCE

Here's a list, off the top of my head - I know all these are on my bookshelf, but I'm probably missing a few more:

Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club by Sonny Barger

Freedom: Credos from the Road by Sonny Barger

Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories by Ralph Sonny Barger

Dead in 5 Heartbeats by Sonny Barger

Under and Alone by William Queen

No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns

Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (Modern Library) by Hunter S. Thompson

Street Justice by Chuck Zito

The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club by Bill Hayes

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart

Against the Wind: A Rider's Account of the Incredible Iron Butt Rally by Ron Ayres

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford

Honda CB750: The Complete Story by Mark Haycoc

Shovelhead Red The Drifter's Way by Roy Yelverton

Shovelhead Red-Ridin' Out by Roy Yelverton

A Twist of the Wrist 2: The Basics of High-Performan​ce Motorcycle Riding by Keith Code

Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks


Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig - Still my favorite. A high school english teacher bought it for me when he found out I had just passed my motorcycle road test. I've read it at least 15 times, and get something new from it each time.


But the best recommendation - Buy the FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL for your bike and read it. Read it often, until you can almost turn to the exact page for each procedure.

I grew up in a household where the chores were always done by somebody else. When I started living on my own, I had plenty of motivation, but lacked knowledge. Home Comforts, by Cheryl Mendelson fixed that; the first few chapters talk inspiringly about why and how to clean and tidy. If your housemate / partner isn't evil, merely chaotic, and is open to new input and is capable of self-re-programming, then that book just might do the trick.

If you want to true and utter control you should get a Chia Pet. You can find them here; https://chia.com/ .

​

1. Puppies and adult dogs don't like to be alone, they want to be with you. They follow you around.
   
2. Puppies and dogs, like people, like to know what's going on in their surroundings. It's an inborn survival trait.
   
3. That's also why they try to lead when walking. Puppies and adult dogs see the world through their nose, it's how they get and process information about their surroundings.
   
4. Your puppy is not trying to control you, he/she already knows you are in charge. Puppies and adult dogs behave in ways designed to get the things they need from you. They need food, they need love, they need stimulation (walks/play/exercise). Stop trying to 'control' your pet and instead 'teach' them to use the behaviours that you like by rewarding those behaviours with good things, i.e.: treats, play with a favourite toy etc.. Ignore the behaviours you dislike, i.e.: bringing him back to his place without comment, turning away when he jumps up on you etc.. You and your pet will both be happier. Please don't buy into any dog whispering bullshit, you'd be better off buying a book like this; https://www.amazon.ca/Talking-Terms-Dogs-Calming-Signals/dp/1929242360/ref=asc_df_1929242360/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292939055252&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8123898998845343117&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000855&hvtargid=pla-426747736299&psc=1 and learning how to communicate with your pet.
   
   ​

Two years old is very commonly the age when insecurity starts to crystallize into aggressive behavior. Aggression has lots of little signals along the way before this phase, but you simply didn't have the tools to recognize it. So, I suggest studying dog body language. While consulting a behaviorist to tutor you in this endeavor will certainly speed up the learning process, you can start this on your own. Long term, learning to read your dog yourself is always the most effective solution because you're the one with him/her all the time. Consider, though, that you'll also need to learn to read other dogs' body language so you can spot the personality-types and body language that make are most compatible with your own dog.

Here are some recommendations:

• Turid Rugaas - "Calming Signals: What Your Dog Tells You"
  
  
• Brenda Akoff - Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide Interpreting the Native Language of the Domestic Dog
  
  
• And, a subscription to Tawzer Dog, or something like it. These streaming services provide access to a library of dog training educational seminars.
  
  Hope this helps!

Oh, cultivating mushrooms for food is another good skill. They'll grow (if you pick the right kind) on any kind of wood or paper scrap. They don't need soil or light, just a little water misting and ventilation. The spent growth medium also makes for fantastic compost and you may even get bonus mushrooms in your garden!

The main challenge in mushroom growing is sterile technique, since any environment that's good for mushrooms is also great for growing mold. Sterile technique takes practice, but the equipment needed is minimal. The main thing you need is a pressure cooker, which is also extremely useful for canning and cooking — essential prepper equipment, imo.

You can also use mushrooms to decontaminate soil — "mycoremediation". I can't speak to the effectiveness, nor the safety of eating the resulting mushrooms (I would throw them out; some organic molecules will be broken down, but not heavy metals). However in a survival situation, this could be a good way to get more usable land for plant cultivation.

Check out Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets. I recommend starting with oyster or shiitake. In fact you can buy prepackaged kits for growing these, which makes a good beginner project.

You should try only doing your steering input with the arm on the inside of the turn. Trying to steer with both arms means you're going to be needlessly flexing a lot of muscles as your arms try to fight each other. By steering with one arm the bars will feel a whole lighter and your outside arm will stay relaxed and free to work the controls with more dexterity. It also lets the wheel move slightly as is it responds to the road through the turn. Nothing on the road is going to try and rip the bars from your hands mid turn so just let them wiggle as they like (dirt is a different story).

The first time you try this, do it somewhere nice and open because you might find the bike turning in more quickly than you're used to. I was actually quite surprised at how much easier it made turning the bike. It feels like you shaved 100 pounds off your machine. It reduces fatigue substantially as well.

For attribution, I learned this technique from the book Total Control by Lee Parks. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Edit: the second review on that amazon link mentions this exact technique and reviewer's amazement with it's effectiveness.

First, read Ian Dunbar's Book.

• Socialize your dog. Have her see, smell and meet as many people as you possibly can. Walk her in many different environments. Have her see people in skates, bikes, skateboards. Learn how to introduce her to other dogs and then have her meet as many dogs as you can.
  
• As you have probably seen in this subreddit, pitbulls are very often affectionate and not aggressive. However, they are powerful. A playful nip from a chihuahua is very different than a playful nip from any 80+ pound dog. From the dog's perspective, it's the exact same ludic behavior. See the book on how to teach your dog to learn to have a soft mouth.
  
• It is an every-day commitment. She will need her walks, her training and discipline exercised every day. If you don't have the time or energy to do this, don't get a dog. Any dog, any breed. Watch some Dog Whisperer episodes and you'll see that even the cutest fluffiest breeds can get unstable and neurotic without this level of attention from their family.
  
• Have your kids learn how to train her, and have them train an exercise her as well. That creates very strong bonds and will also let her know that even though they may be small, they're still figures of authority.
  
• Learn to relax while your out and about with her. If you're about to have a tizzy with worry about what others think about you having a big dog, your dog has no choice but to be nervous. She will look at you for guidance and will follow your lead.
  
  Feel free to DM any other questions you have. If you decide to rehome her, please find a reputable rescue organization or a no-kill shelter.

Actually I'm going to tell you NOT to start by altering your own clothes. It is actually easier to make something new than to alter clothing. I suggest you learn to sew from the following books: The Colette Sewing Handbook by Sarai Mitnik, the SEW Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp and Stitch by Stitch. All three of these books come with patterns for all sorts of projects. Once you graduate to some harder things, and especially if you are interested in sewing 1950s-inspired retro clothing, try Gerties New Book for Better Sewing By Gretchen Hirsch. This book has beautiful patterns and also helps with more couture techniques. Happy sewing!

> Ignore bad behaviour.

(Just clarifying for the OP, because I imagine that /u/livmaj already knows what follows:) "Ignoring the bad" isn't referring to allowing the bad behaviour to happen and then just not doing anything to stop it when it happens. Actually, I much prefer how Kathy Sdao talks about this in her book Plenty In Life is Free: Reward the behaviours you want, prevent access to reinforcement for the behaviours you don't. A lot of "bad dog" behaviours are in themselves rewarding to the dog (think of all the yummy things that are in the trash!), so it's important to set up the environment in a way that prevents the dog from doing it in the first place. Put trash cans in cupboards or behind closed doors where he can't reach them, keep your shoes in a closed closet, etc.

And if the dog is in the middle of destroying your shoe, you don't just let him keep destroying it - but don't scold or punish for it either. Identify how he got the shoe, and work to rectify that gap in your management. I also found it helpful to play trading games and teach my puppy a "Can I see it cue?" so that rather than me taking things away from her, she happily carries them over them and gives them to me in exchange for a treat. Sometimes she has something that's totally fine for her to have, so I give it back to her and this is really important so that the dog learns that it won't always be taken away when they "share" with you. I also prefer this method because, once the trade behaviour is solid, it prevents the dog from either turning it into a game of keep-away or from dropping it at a distance and picking it up again unlike teaching a straight "drop it" (which was more difficult for me to train and proof than a trade anyway).

Ye ask and ye shall receive. Here are some good resources to learn more about leash/barrier reactivity:

Books

• Fiesty Fido - Patricia McConnell
  
  
• Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt
  
  
• Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
  
  Websites
  
  
• Mutt About Town - Leash Reactivity
  
  
• Dr. Jen's From Crazy To Calm Training Plan
  
  
• CARE for Reactive Dogs
  
  
• Dogs In Need of Space
  
  Videos (These are mostly to techniques to help with reactivity)
  
  
• Teaching "Let's Go"
  
  
• Giving in to leash pressure
  
  
• Stop barking on a walk
  
  
• How to get your reactive dog under control on a walk
  
  
• Teaching "Look at that" to build handler focus and eye contact
  
  Edit for formatting

Looks like you may have used a training acronym. For those unfamiliar, here's some of the common ones:

BAT is Behavior Adjustment Training - a method from Grisha Stewart that involves allowing the dog to investigate the trigger on their own terms. There's a book on it.

CC is Counter Conditioning - creating a positive association with something by rewarding when your dog sees something. Think Pavlov.

DS is Desensitization - similar to counter conditioning in that you expose your dog to the trigger (while your dog is under threshold) so they can get used to it.

LAD is Look and Dismiss - Marking and rewarding when your dog sees a trigger and dismisses it.

LAT is Look at That - Marking and rewarding when your dog sees a trigger and does not react.

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