Hello

AHAHAHA I HAVE BEAT EMY AT SAYING HELLO

Hello And welcome to SA!

This is my standard mod welcome speech: If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me--or any of the other staff--a PM, and don't hesitate to ask in the cbox! Our members are super friendly and knowledgeable and there's usually someone online to help, although we are slower on the weekends!

I feel you with the dog, thing. I'm pretty much the same way, although I think a lot of that comes from being raised to respect animals and understand they do not exist for my own amusement. I used to volunteer at a shelter and it was hilarious to see people's reactions when I was taking dogs twice my weight out for walks that other people were afraid of.

Do you have dogs yourself?

Ahhh food. I love food. Food does not love me. BUT I LOVE TALKiNG ABOUT IT! If you lurk around the c-box I am sure you will hear many food conversations. :)

I hope you enjoy your time on SA!

Ahhh now I can officially welcome you to the forums!

(ReD it's not really beating me if I'm asleep >.>)

ReD pretty much stole my entire speech so I don't have much to say besides I really hope you enjoy your time here~~

I love dogs and reading and talking about them, so by all means, if you want to write a novel about your dog I will probably read it. :)

I have a medium sized dog--I have an Australian Shepherd. My first dog was a collie, like Lassie, but he died very unexpectedly and I went through the whole I will never get another dog ever again phase and then, one year later, I was taking Chase for hikes.

Do you have photos of your dog, or the breeds he is that you do not know in English? I am fairly good at knowing dog breed's names in English. :)

My dream dog would be an Ovcharka or an Akita. I love large breeds, but because I still live with my family, I am limited on the type of dog I can own.

I actually had a similar issue with my neighbors--they have a small bichon that they let out of the house to wander the street all the time. He has come into MY YARD and defecated and gone after my dog. He has bitten every member of my family (my sister multiple times, because she had to walk down past their house to go to the bus stop) yet they had the gall to complain when I walk my dog past their house because it upsets their dog.

Like hey, put your dog on a leash! There is no reason I should be getting bitten! It makes me especially mad because no one takes this seriously because the dog is so small that his bites are scratches. If my dog bit someone as many times, I would be required by law to put him down. :(

Chase is still in training to be a therapy dog. We failed the test by 1 item last year (you have to pass every single item) and it was "walk past another dog and ignore the other dog" and we did not do so well because Chase broke stride to greet and play. At least he was friendly, but it was quite frustrating!

I would like to be able to bring him to the library to engage children with reading difficulties. There are a few studies that show that petting an animal lowers your blood pressure and that children who feel uncomfortable reading to people have an easier time reading to animals because the animals do not correct them or get upset if they mess up a word.

I have Chase give me a fist bump and do some tricks before he gets fed, too, haha! I like to make him sit at the door before we go in and if he doesn't, I go "Excuse me, where are your manners?" and then he'll sit and let my guests enter. It makes for an amusing discussion. xD

As for food, I have several GI disorders that means, even though I love eating, it doesn't always agree with me. Random things can trigger an episode. :( It's sort of under control now, but it makes the question of what do you want for dinner? very difficult. I am trying new foods though and I plan on going to Philippine food this summer for the first time, thanks to our many members from the area.

Oh goodness now it was my turn to write a novel about dogs haha