My dog doesn't even make a noise. He just relaxes, 'smiles' happily, and lets rip with a silent-but-deadly that would make an onion scream. Clears rooms, he does. Yowsers.

I have a "fake" account on FB, only use it to take advantage of freebie offers. They haven't nuked it yet (maybe since I had it since 2009).

They really are. Even worth the daily vaccuum. ;) The gentlest, sweetest, happiest dogs. Plus no barking! Just yodelling. I love them.

My impression is that when mothers and their young children have tense relationships marked by speaking in "clipped, acid tones" that are apparent to all around them, there is a distinct lack of what we recognize as motherly love and nurturing. Perhaps her mother's hyper-criticism of her is only subtext, but it read…

I can relate, only my step mother was very clear about her opinions of my body. She even made my sister and I chant "I hate food," before meals. My sister and I desperately craved being included in our new family. When my sister finally did lose weight (or rather grew into it) she got her wish while I continued to be…

Damn, grandmothers. Mine had the same commentary. "Healthy" seems to be code for "fat" in a certain generation. Of course you could always go the route my dad went, who last Christmas described me putting on boots "like watching someone stuff a sausage into a casing." HA HA HA. Fuck you, dad, and my parents…

I'm so sorry you went through that growing up. It follows you forever. My mother was pretty good at toning down her comments and side-eyes at weight gain, but the worst was my grandmother. She would see you, squeeze your upper arm, and remark about how HEALTHY you look! And it was not said kindly.

Wow, I can't tell you how much I relate to this... and I am a man. My mother is still a fucking twig. And actually I am quite thin, too. She's a mean judgmental person when it comes to weight. And around my house, growing up, all "bad" things were brought back to weight: Didn't get good grades? "Maybe you should spend…

It's allowed to continue because the insurance industry is $$$$$$$, and an extremely powerful lobbying group.

The minute we got pregnant, everyone we know (except the dog owners) asked when we were getting rid of our dogs. I've now taken to telling them that the dogs (and cats) are staying so we don't have to pay daycare fees. Plus, one of our dogs looks like a dingo, so if he eats the baby, we'll have a funny anecdote for…

I got a lab for my first birthday. She knew when I left for school and would walk me to my bus stop. She knew when the bus came too and if my mom did not let her out to go wait for me at the bus stop she would throw a fit. She was one of us. She would spend the night walking from my room to my brothers room to my…

My pit bull is a rescue and scared of everything. She can never be close enough to me or the kids and she will NEVER have her fill of cuddling (I mean.. on your lap.. with her face in your face.. and her tongue licking you). All 70 pounds of her climbs in to the smallest places just so she can sit with you and cuddle.…

But did you ever have a dog babysitter Jcat? That's what we are talking about here.

here's my new stack.

My dog bit a child so now she's treated like the bad, drunk, inappropriate aunt who is no longer allowed at any family functions.

Until they get tired of the loud hitty thing and bite it because why wouldn't they bit a loud hitty thing?

Having forgotten to turn down the volume when I switched to earbuds, I may never recover from the "HOOPLAHA!" that now rings in my ears.

True. All I have is my anecdotal evidence. My pit bull dog adored my son from the day he was born, and was nothing but gentle with him. She would sit next to his high chair as he ate, and at 18 months he would hold out a Cheerio out to her between his tiny little thumb and finger, and she would take it without ever…

I had a golden retriever when I was a kid and he would always take care of me. He thought I was his own pup—not only did he protect me, he went so far as to give me doggie baths. He was a very intelligent dog. During Christmas, he would always know when a present was for him and he'd unwrap it and open the packaging…

The baby should not have been allowed to pull the dog's food dish away. The dog was making it very clear it didn't like being interrupted. Bite to follow.