I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Bren-2007

My dogs love carrots and can't get enough of them.  They also will eat anything I let them.  I feed them Beniful dog food.  And they all seem very healthy and shiny.  I have lots of room on my own property to exercise my dogs and it wears them out!  Especially Tank, my one year old lab.

Kar .. good to see you back .. sounds like you've had lots of lovely pets in your life ... me too.

Hope everyone has a good day!

Bren

leggo

Just thought I'd mention this for all our animal lovers. There's a product called Oxy-fresh oral hygiene solution. It is the best thing EVER. You never have to brush your pet's teeth again. You just put a little in their water every day. Our adopted cat had horrible teeth when we found her, and six months later they were beautiful and tartar free. Our dog has been getting it since he was a puppy and we are always complimented on his teeth when he goes to the vet. You can get it on-line and through some vets offices. It's made for people as well so you have to make sure your buying the "pet" solution. No doggy breath, no tartar and no work. It's amazing stuff.

River_Rat

Re:  Assange and the rape charges.  I was reading that sex charges are different in Sweden than the U.S.  I will go research and try to confirm this but just wanted to plant the seed and maybe somebody else has some info too.  What I read previously was that this charge was based on consensual sex but not using protection.  That not using protection was what led to the charge.  Which I know sounds ridiculous and did to me at the time too.  Now I will go and try to find some info.

Edited: Article posted in my next post has the real story.  The above must have been someone's incorrect interpretation of the situation.  But if you read the article that I link to down a couple of posts I can understand some of the confusion. 

1Athena1

Welcome Jenn!! Nice to see you here.

Labs are terrible chewers. The advice I always heard from my parents, vets, neighbors, etc... was also to make sure they had something to chew on - not just the proverbial bone but some really intriguing toy.

My dogs at home were never allowed in the social areas downstairs and were only let into the family rooms upstairs when they grew older (many were allowed in MY bedroom from puppyhood). Of course, if you happen to have an open floor plan you are in trouble.

Bren-2007

Athena .. when I had my log cabin, my dogs weren't allowed upstairs in the master suite or the loft areas.  I needed a little pet-free zone of my own and an area with no dog hair!

Now they have free roam in my little one-story house.  But they get put up in the living room at night.  My pets no longer sleep with me ... thank heavens!

Bren

River_Rat

Ok, it doesn't seem like what I read before is correct.  But the rape case against Assange doesn't seem all that clear cut either.  For an explanation see the following link (2 pages, both very interesting  - I mean it you really should read this):

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/1208/Details-of-Sweden-s-case-against-WikiLeaks-Julian-Assange 

Bren-2007

River Rat .. I copied these para's from the article you posted. 

The reality is more prosaic.

As Ms. Lindfield tells it, the two women had withdrawn their consent to have sex with Assange either during or immediately before the act. As a result, he is charged with four violations of Sweden's criminal code on sex crimes. The first woman, "Miss A," whom Assange knew from Swedish activist circles, alleges that he coerced her to have sex. He's also charged with refusing to wear a condom, despite being asked to by "Miss A."

In the case of "Miss W," as she was described in court, he's also alleged to have "sexually exploited" the fact that she was asleep to have sex with her on Aug. 17. Article 3 of Sweden's criminal code on sex crimes indicates that she could not be reasonably expected to have given consent in that state. "A person who induces another person to engage in a sexual act by gross abuse of his or her dependent state shall be sentenced for sexual exploitation to imprisonment for at most two years," Article 3 says. "The same shall apply to a person who engages in a sexual act with another person by improperly taking advantage of the fact that the latter is helpless or in some other state of incapacitation."

leggo

Thanks for posting that BinVa.....Miss A did it anyway and Miss W must have been in a coma, not just sleeping!

River_Rat

Bren, page two is even more interesting.  I seriously don't know what to think about this case.  

leggo

Grasping at straws maybe? That's what I think.

River_Rat

It does seem that way doesn't it?

1Athena1

Bren, I used to love sleeping with dogs, but in the end I gave up the practice because you get no sleep and your bed is always dirty.

Sex scandals bore the living daylights out of me...I am still assuming that these are trumped up charges engineered or furthered by secret service agencies. It all sounds too perfectly timed and convenient.

River_Rat

Athena, I agree about most sex scandals.  I also think the charges are most likely trumped up.  I'm just having a problem thinking that if secret service agencies were going to trump up charges this is the best plan they could come up with?!  They are nowhere near as good as in the movies.  

1Athena1

Right you are - in real life, many are woefully incompetent.

Bren-2007

River Rat ... from the second page of the article you posted. 

"Withdrawal of consent should be grounds for a rape charge (and it is, in Sweden) - if you consent to having sex with someone and part of the way through you say to stop and the person you're having sex with continues to have sex with you against your wishes, that's rape."

She writes that in the US, successful prosecutions on these sorts of grounds are rare, though some states have "no means no" laws. "In most states, there's a requirement of force in order to prove rape, rather than just demonstrating lack of consent. Consent is more often used as a defense to a rape charge, and it's hard to convict someone of rape based solely on non-consent," she writes.

crazy4carrots

Gracie -- Thanks SO much for the tip about Oxyfresh Oral Hygiene Solution.  My Abyssinian has terrible teeth (just had 8 removed).  It's a genetic thing with Abys, which hasn't been bred out yet, unfortunately.  Anyhow, knowing that, I tried doing the brushing thing and she wasn't having any of that!  I bought dry food that is supposed to be good for getting rid of tartar, and she wouldn't touch it.  But this liquid solution seems like just the ticket!  I'll try ordering it on-line because, without doubt, it will be cheaper than at the vet's!

As for Assange -- JMO from what I've read from different sources, but I think it's highly likely that these are trumped-up charges, given the sensitive nature (!!) of Wikileaks.  Gotta find some way fof discrediting the guy now, don't we?

(Edited for typo)

YramAL

Thanks for not letting me kill the thread last night Alpal 

I'll be trying the Oxyfresh Oral Hygiene Solution for our Annie as well. She has pekingese teeth-severe underbite and bite doesn't mesh, so her teeth are always a problem. She hasn't lost any yet, but she can really get a tartar buildup in there. Just yesterday, my daughter asked me if we were feeding Annie raw sewage and tuna fish because that's what her breath smells like sometimes.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole Wikileaks thing, but I also feel that the sex charges are probably something that has been at least exaggerated.

Mary 

River_Rat

This case is causing all kinds of speculation.  Bren, these paragraphs caught my eye:

"The fact that the two women are acquaintances has raised eyebrows. Many Assange supporters say the women could have conspired together after they discovered he was carrying on a relationship with them simultaneously."

"Ms. Filopovic, while admitting that she's speculating, writes that based on news reports, it sounds as if in one of the cases, sex was consented to on the condition of the use of a condom, and that when the condom broke, the woman asked Assange to stop. If that's what happened and he didn't heed her, she says, that would clearly be illegal." 

crazy4carrots

My dh has this theory that pet animals crave animal/vegetable/mineral things that they aren't getting in their diet.  We had a Siamese cat, Jake, who always licked the concrete floor in the furnace room whenever he got the chance.  What was that all about?  His brother Punkee chewed on a wool blanket (this is apparently common in Siamese).  I have umpteen books about cat health and behaviour, and have yet to find the answers to some of their peculiarities!

BarbaraA

River Rat, thanks for the links. The article seems to raise more doubts than answers questions, Unusual to say the least.

Bren-2007

Linda .. sometimes my beagle/basset likes to eat dirt.  I guess he needs some minerals.

River Rat .. when I read that para, it made me wonder too if the two gals were in collusion.

Bren

Anonymous

My cat chews plastic, never swallows it.  He chews plastic bags and wrap of any kind.  He was one of 5 foster kittens I had here.  At that time the Humane Soc. let me adopt the kittens right out of my house which was nice.  So I would give people my phone number.  I have heard from 2 of them regarding the cat chewing plastic like crazy.  So it seems to be  some weird genetic trait.  I called the person who adopted the mother cat, she doesn't chew plastic !  So, they got it from their dad !!!  so, like people "Cats are strange"

Anyone have this problem ?

Plastic couldn't be lacking in their diet !

My previous dog ( R I P ) chewed his feet. It was seasonal allergies.  I then started him on some medication late summer and fall.  I followed vet instructions when walking him - keeping him on the road, not letting him walk in grass,  Rinsed his feet when we got home. Seemed to do the trick.

Marple

I think like us, animals can develop neurotic behaviors.  Maybe something lacking in their diet, their environment but sometimes it's in their genetic makeup.

River_Rat

Erica, yes I've had problems with cats and plastic although mine (long deceased) used to lick it, not chew it.  From what I've heard cats get a sweet, sugary taste from plastic.

otter

Odds 'n ends:

1) Excessive (obsessive?) grooming in cats can start out because of an allergy that causes itchy skin, or a small wound that the cat licks.  The abrasiveness of the cat's tongue will scratch the skin and make the cat lick the site more; etc.  But, some cats just groom themselves "compulsively", and that can lead to bare patches and hairless bellies.  Compulsive grooming can be a sign of a kitty neurosis.  Here's a good website:  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/news/lick.htm

2) Paw-chewing is a really common sign of allergies in dogs.  Dogs with allergies will lick and chew their paws until the hair on the paws becomes shorter and rusty-colored.  They'll also dig at their ears.

3) I am usually first in line to volunteer for jury duty when someone has been accused of rape.  My judgement against the alleged perpetrator is too hasty, and the punishment I suggest is almost always off-the-charts illegal (public humiliation, removal of relevant body parts, etc.).  I nearly always side with the rape victim unless something looks terribly suspicious.  In the case of the Wikileaks guy, the coincidence of the rape charges and the Chicken-Little reaction to the leaks has set off my credibility alarm.  I suspect the charges are trumped-up, and I suspect our U.S. government is doing everything it can to keep the guy under wraps.  How can you charge someone with making you look like the idiot you are?  Those leaked emails are an embarrassment, for sure.  Don't those government officials know email isn't considered secure?  Anywhere???

4) We live way out in the country, and I've tried mightily to start a compost pile.  (Our trash collection service offers no recycling -- everything goes into the county landfill.)  So, veggies and non-meat trimmings and fuzzy stuff from the refrigerator crisper go into a depression I've dug at the edge of the woods on the other side of the driveway.  But I never get a chance to turn it, or to mix in some grass clippings, because it's always gone by the next day.  It took me awhile before I finally realized I didn't have a compost pile -- I had a 'possum feeder.  We already knew that dh's gut pile (where he puts the stuff left from dressing [undressing] a deer) had turned out to be a vulture feeder, which was fine.  So our local wild critters are well-fed, at least.

Gotta go. Lunchtime.

otter

1Athena1

Otter - how can you break protocol. In this thread a person NEVER discloses that she is leaving for a meal without saying what she is having!!  Even I have shaken off my embarrassement at the fact that I never cook and have the most unexciting, one-item meals sometimes.

The Assange thing - my thoughts are identical.

Alpal

Welcome Cindy! Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the pokers from the pokees around here! That new med sounds wonderful. Just told a friend I'd research how to handle separation anxiety for her. They have a new rescue dog and he tears up the house every time they leave. I'm so afraid that they're going to give up on him that I'm considering letting them bring him here for doggie day care!

Feel free to join us. If the tone of the conversation makes you uncomfortable, just start talking about brussel sprouts or pets!

crazy4carrots

Yes, well, that's all very interesting, Cindy, BUT what are you having for lunch?  (Hey, just kidding!).  Glad you posted here and hope you continue to do so.  And thanks for the tip about Anxitine.

Cheers, Linda

1Athena1

hillck - I second Alpal's welcome! Never apologize for sounding like a know-it-all - this is one thread, thankfully, where you never have to worry about that. We are all know-it-alls. Or, should I say, we know it all!

leggo

I concur with the Kong toy to ease boredom. Put a little peanut butter inside and your doggy is good for a couple hours! Don't you wish we "humans" could be so easily amused?