I saw it in a news release that this was the pricing strategy.
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Does anyone have recommendations/info about good hair donation charities? My hair has officially reached ‘long enough to get caught in pants’ level which means I’m about to get it rendered considerably shorter, and the chain place near me that used to partner with the local children’s hospital no longer does. They’re perfectly happy to cut off a ponytail for me to send wherever, but while I know a couple of the more common charity names (Locks of Love, Wigs for Kids) I’ve never dealt directly with them. Locks of Love seems to have some questionable practices per internet search, but no idea how much of that is reality.
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I heard good things about this one but they’ve shut down since synthetic wigs are so good now
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https://matteroftrust.org/clean-wave-program/
ETA: I hadn’t tried this before posting. The donation process seems overly complicated.
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I mentioned at my knitting in the park meetup yesterday that I wasn’t as excited by honeycrisp any more, and I was now a fan of cosmic crisps.
everyone was very confused until we realized I was talking about apples and they were thinking cereal.
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So it seems like my family is coming around to the idea of getting a dog. I really want one and want it to go well! I had shelter rescue dogs growing up as a kid, some good experiences some bad. Partner and metamor don’t have much dog experience. Tell me your reccs!
Mostly I’m looking for 1) resources (books, video, etc) on dog training and 2) any thoughts about rescue vs breeder. It seems like the shelter landscape has changed a lot since I was a kid and now most of the local rescue dogs are from far far out of state and/or have more problems which is making me question the whole “adopt don’t shop” mantra I grew up with.
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Zac George was great. He’s a positive discipline based guy and the videos are super approachable. The puppies101 subreddit was a huge help on what to expect with a puppy (and I had puppies growing up but never as the Primary parent/trainer). Definitely go in OPEN EYES if you do a puppy. We did this Dr Sophia Yin checklist and, coincidence or not have an incredibly sweet and outgoing dog:
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My thought on this is that adoption is wonderful if it fits with what you’re looking for, but mindful shopping is also a very powerful thing. Very intentionally selecting a breeder who breeds for health and does it in a way appropriate to the mama dog’s health and wellness is voting with your dollar. We will end up with only puppy mill puppies if people aren’t willing to spend the money on a well bred dog, and not just as in to hit silly breed standard checklists, but to hit actual health markers and breathing health problems out of that breed and things like that. I will also say, only get a breed that you were comfortable with the breed traits. For some reason people get breeds that are totally not suited to the type of dog that they actually want to have and then they’re surprised when they can’t train those breed traits out. 
It sounds stupid when you put it that way, but I think it’s an easy trap to fall into wanting a majestic husky but not living a sled dog lifestyle you know? Or a less obvious example, getting one of the breeds that really only bonds to one person, but then expecting them to be a very calm open family dog that easily interacts with every member of the family, that sort of thing.
Or getting a beagle if you don’t want barking. AHEM MY BROTHER AHEM.
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Or getting a Jack Russell terrier because Wishbone was so cute! At least we knew what we were getting into.
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There are also a lot of rescues that are moving to a foster to adopt model where you really have time to see if you and the pup are a fit and there is absolutely no judgement if you decide that they’re not a fit for your family.
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Yes I think I’m starting to really appreciate this. The whole idea of actually useful health testing and puppy socialization is really appealing to me. Especially since we will be inexperienced owners.
Honestly I would be very interested in a responsible mutt breeder - focused on health and temperment - but idk if that exists so instead now I get to learn about purebred dogs I guess?
We are talking a lot about breed traits! Sooo much research to do.
That’s definitely the route I’d want to go with if we do adopt from a shelter! I really love that it’s becoming more common.
If I had to guess, we’re probably about a year away from actually being ready for a dog but we’re definitely talking seriously about it. I’m excited!
Thank you!! These look like a great place to start. It’s so confusing trying to google for this and trying to figure out which sources I actually trust, lol.
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Very cool, thanks. I think I’m going to end up going with Wigs for Kids (turns out one of the people at the salon has/had some personal experience with them and were very impressed), but I’ve got this bookmarked for trims and when the cat attempts to shed a second cat. Although I’ll agree that they could stand to simplify their process a little 
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Oh I resemble that remark! I don’t have a dog now, but I grew up with dachshunds and I really want one. BUT I don’t want any of the traits you read about. Ours growing up were very well trained and honestly IDFK how my mom did it. Maybe she just got lucky - or maybe the person she knew with the family we got two from, did a really good job with the breeding. Anyway I think they were unicorns, and I probably won’t get one in the future but I want to. 
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As someone with a wildly hard rescue (love him! He is very cute and also challenging to keep alive and behaving normally ish!) I agree with everything BJ said.
Because my dog is so hard I’ve gone down multiple dog behavior rabbit holes, and one of the more interesting ones I’ve found is related to exactly this. This group sounds like something you’d be interested in: https://functionalbreeding.org/
If you or anyone in your fam is on Facebook, they have a general group and a puppy seekers group, and both are well-moderated and helpful.
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For these free/freemium phone games, is there math on the back end when they’re being developed to determine how hard a certain level is? For example, I’m playing one that matches up color blocks and there’s some special power ups or different maps to make some levels harder or easier. Are there people at one point who can say “OK if we make this level only have three different colors, what’s the difficulty rating on that? Then what if it’s the same map but we do four colors?”
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Based on the ones I get at the farmers market, you wanna wait a little bit longer until the flower head (currently the bulge toward the top of the stem that’s more white) is a little darker and thicker. And often you’ll get one or more complete loop waiting till that point. But I haven’t done this with garlic I’ve personally grown, just bought a lot of garlic scapes at the farmers market ha ha.
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Where is the puppy seekers group??
I may break down at some point and agree to getting a dog. But it has to be the right dog!
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The group is “FDC Puppy Seekers.” Should be searchable but let me know if it’s hard to find. The info now says something about watching a webinar first, I joined before they added that? But they generally put out good content.
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Thanks!!
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