# Rawhides Unsanitary?



## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## joe (Jan 5, 2003)

was this near one of those big buckets of open rawhides or were they in packages?


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## joe (Jan 5, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Nichole_@May 24 2004, 09:13 PM
> *They were all packaged.*


 well then, that blows my theory :wacko:


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## joe (Jan 5, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Nichole_@May 24 2004, 09:43 PM
> *What was your theory?*


 well i know here some store have them in big buckets or bins and people pick thru them finding the right one so they are bound to have germs and such on them, haha, that all i could think of :wacko:


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## TikisMom (Jul 22, 2003)

Here is an interesting (and discusting) article that may answer your question:

Dog Treat Dangers

GROSS!:wacko: 

Judi


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

that article is disgusting! I dont see how anyone cant wash their hands after handling pig ears---they're soo greasy. 

and about the rawhide thing---thats weird. i heard from a dog trainer that rawhide is soaked in formaldehyde--anyone hear that?


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## Maxismom (Mar 24, 2004)

i give maxi all rawhide treats to play with but they come packaged like he lovs the raw hide shoes


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

i read up on the formaldehyde thing---turns out that if you buy it from mexico or another country---then they soak it in formaldehyde or chlorine. but if its made in the USA---then its fine. but there's still warnings about choking and stuff.


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## TikisMom (Jul 22, 2003)

Ok all of this had me concerned, so I did a little research and gave my vet a call. Basically he agrees with what I found in this article:

News Paper Article (July, 2001)

As you search around you will find lots of opinions. Tiki loves to chew rawhide and I do buy the good old "made in the USA" kind. I always supervise him and take it away when he looses interest to let it "harden" again. My vet said this is fine unless he starts having problems.

Hope this helps









Judi


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thats so weird about the article because he said that there's formaldehyde in animal feed. they probably do it as a preservative, you know? yuck! I have kong with peanut butter and i guess the longest i've kept it out is 3 hours. and i freeze it, so it takes them a while to eat so they pretty much keep interested in it. 

i havent had problems with bully sticks or pizzle sticks. and with the bully sticks---i've bought some that are around 3-4 feet long but its around $7-8 each--BUT it takes them maybe a week to finish one (including gruffi chewing it). and Petco has bully sticks that are 12 inches long. and thats around $3 maybe. but that lasts a long time too. try buying one--im sure your dog will love it. also try the 12 inch braided ones. the braided ones are pizzle sticks and smell like peanut butter when chewed. 

take them away when theyr'e around 3-4inches long.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)

-_-


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

i hope so. they're usually in the section with pig ears. 

this is what they look like

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4301969604&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4301969535&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4303901787&rd=1

they have 6 inch bully sticks at petsmart and petco too.


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

That's interesting I've never heard of the bully sticks either. I will definantely look into getting some for Caesar. We gave him his first piece of rawhide a few days ago. I dont remember what kind it was, my grandma bought it for him, but it was sealed/packaged in white plastic. He loves it and its taking him forever to eat on it. I'm thinking it was like Friskies Alpo brand, anyway its long and flat. We debated on giving it to him, not because of the germ or chemical thing...we had no idea about that until now, but we didnt want him to choke on it. We just let him have it when we're watching him.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thats great that you're keeping an eye on caesar. i had a tutor for my math class and i gave him a bully stick because he asked me about it. and i was like 'just make sure you take it from him when it gets to around 4 inches long' and he was like 'how am i supposed to know' and i was like 'well, you have to watch him'. turns out that his jack russell is an outside dog.







i feel bad for him. but yeah, as long as you're watching your dog--you're totally fine.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)

<_<


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

they're made out of bulls penis. i know it sounds nasty...but oh well. lol. :lol: 

you should get Tivo. we got that last month---i get to tape everything and i never miss a show...and i dont have to watch commercials!!! yay!!


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

LOL. but hour shows only take 45 minutes to watch. lol. and you know the show Trading Spaces---i fast forward till i see the end result. i dont have to watch them fixing the house. And when i watch animal precint, animal cops, emergency vets---i fast forward and only watch the parts that have dogs. its really cool. and you never have to rent a movie again, you can pay $3.99 or whatever---and record the movie and you get to keep the movie however long you want. and im sure there are times where you might have to go somewhere, or cook---you can put pause for 15 minutes. or you can record it and watch it the next day. im a big tivo fan. lol. obviously. we have been talking about tivo since day one--now the receptionist here and her husband want it. LOL.







not my fault


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

LOl, that's true. I usually watch tv when the dogs are sleeping and eating. I used to be all into Martha Stewart--i remember hating that i had school at the same time it was showing. Now i have come to the realization that i will NEVER do anything that's on her show---so now that i have tivo..i dont watch it. lol. 

anyway--we're you able to find the bully or pizzle sticks?


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

the advantage of the bully sticks compared to rawhide is that your dog can't get a large soggy piece off and choke, they seem to have more flavor than rawhides--my dogs preferred bully sticks to rawhides when they had the choice. bully sticks dont splinter---they sorta get chewy...but harden when dry (i guess like a rawhide). i dont think they're unsanitary---the only problems i've had is that gruffi sheds like crazy---and hair will stick to the bully stick. i just take the hair off and give it to the girls or back to gruffi. i really hope toby and wally like them. i've given bully sticks to friends dogs and they love them.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

oh, and bully sticks clean their teeth too. ellie is constantly chewing, and when i go to brush her teeth---she never gets plaque! 

oh, a disadvantage with bully sticks--it only happens to sprite--but she gets little pieces stuck in her teeth. so if you notice them licking their own mouth all weird---it might be because they have a little piece stuck in their teeth. lol. it sad...but cute at the same time.


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## kit001 (Jul 6, 2003)

The article was grosse! Thank goodness I don't buy pig eras for my babies! (YUCKKKKK)

I do however buy the rawhide bones for ALL of my babies, they all love them and I think they have more fun fighting over them than anything! lol But a word of caution, I learned to stay away from the "stcks" My oldest dog, Buddy, was chewing on one and jabbed the roof of his mouth, of course, no one knew it. His whole half of his face swelled up and his eye buldged out of its socket and his face started to sag it was so swollen, this was all over a span of 12 hours, bedtime, we noticed something wasn't right with his face, but couldnt' quite put our finger on it. By morning it was a mess!

We got him to the vet he asked about chew toys, we told him about the rawhide sticks, he said a real no-no. He explained that he had gotten jabbed in the roof of his mouth, then a thin layer of skin grew over it and bacteria had built up under the skin and he had a bad infection from it.

He said he was going to put him out so he could look at it, he got in there, and one little touch and it ruptured. He said he was going to lance it anyway, so it fine that it happened. He ended up on a months worth of antibiotics and no more sticks to chew on!


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## kit001 (Jul 6, 2003)

It ws from a rawhide stick. So now they chew on the rawhide bones, the ones that have a knot in each end. I stopped buying the rawhide all together for a very long time because of that, I was so afraid. But i talked to the vet about it and he said the bones were fine as they were so thick it was very unlikely they would jab themselves with it. It was just any kind of chew sticks he didn't recommend.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## joe (Jan 5, 2003)

heres some more reading on rawhides ...

http://nmnm.essortment.com/rawhidechew_rbzt.htm

http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artS...w.asp?artID=618


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

kit-thats so freaky about the rawhide sticks. i know gruffi goes crazy for those ones that look like lollipops with the (i think) peanut butter tops. all three of my dogs have choked a little on rawhide though. like when it gets all stringy and goes down their throat. have you tried bully sticks? they're as thick as nickels or quarters and never get sharp like rawhides. 

nicole--did petco have the bully sticks? sometimes at the 99Cent store Smokehouse has a little bag of pizzle sticks and 'stuff'. the dogs love that it. they havent had it in a while though because gruffi eats it so fast. and then he wants to steal it from the girls. lol. 

thats cute how toby barks at the kong. gruffi still barks when he cant reach his toys under stuff--so he'll cry bark and then look at us saying "hello, im waiting for you to get it for me". lol.


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## Maxismom (Mar 24, 2004)

well i guess anything can hurt i gave Maxi a bone from nature something
in any event i get home from work and apparently he threw up so who knows it depends on your baby and i guess what kind you are buying
my Maxi is a mjor chew'er he loves chewing on bones and stuff like that more than eating
he lovest he mrs.greenies


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)

:new_Eyecrazy:


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

Yeah, bully sticks are pretty expensive. but $8 for that long sounds like too much. i got 3 foot bully sticks for $8 each. sprite, ellie, and gruffi love pig ears also. but they want me to break them open to that stuff in the middle







it hurts my fingers after a while. also at petsmart or petco--they sell lamb chops. my dogs love that...but they dont last too long. but they sell big bags of it. i think they're called lamb chops or lamb cuts. i'll look for a link 

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1085687332715

they look something like that. 
oh, and check this out:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1085687384020

it looks a lot cheaper online.

talk to you later.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## kit001 (Jul 6, 2003)

Petco is a little pricey, I know I shop there all the time! lmbo Actually, I have no choice, it is the only place just about around here to walk in and buy, everything else is online ordering for me. When you get stuck in a tight spot, you have no choice but to shop there. They are making money hand over foot here cuz they are the only game in town just about. 

doctorcathy, no, I haven't tried them. They seem to like the rawhide bones and those are fine for them, it is just the sticks I stay away from. so I have just stuck with them. The greenies are another thing they love, can't keep enough around for them.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

wow, thats so weird that the prices are so high over there. the prices online are around the prices at the store over here. but there's like at least 7 different pet stores in Santa clarita valley (and its very small. valencia is part of santa clarita). and then at groceries stores and at grooming stores---they have toys and some chews. i try to buy all my stuff off ebay or something though. but when there's no time or if im at the petstore anyway--i buy their stuff. like on ebay, i buy 1,000 wee wee pads for $102! its way cheaper on ebay. and that price included shipping! 

kit---my dogs love greenies too...but ellie vomits (i guess she's allergic)...so they havent had it since.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thats awesome. im really into hello kitty---i bought almost everything. like i have the Coffee maker, toaster, and sandwich maker. and of course i have blankets and car accessories!







lol. does wally wear any t-shirts? oh, he probably doesnt get cold easily, huh? sprite and ellie only have 5 or 6 t-shirts and sweaters. i really really want to get this dress though:

http://petaporter.com/


i was thinking for when i get married sprite and ellie could dress like that. but i was thinking recently---probably not. i want to get married in the summer...and those dresses probably dont feel too comfortable. lol. but they're cute!!


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

OHMYGOSH! That's a lot of mickey stuff! lol. A couple of years ago i was totally thinking about wanting to have my wedding at disneyland or something. lol. it seems like total fantasy, huh? when i would tell people about it, they would say it was cool and thought it would be a great idea. disneyland was my most favorite place till two yrs ago(we went 8 times in one year) so now I'm bored. I always like the winnie the pooh theme though---my nieces have their nursery like that. my brother got a painter from Cal Arts to paint the characters, a tree, and a sky in the nursery. it looks awesome. and then the next room (for the older girls 3 &4) have a whole castle theme. its really awesome. my sister and I bought hello kitty tiles from ebay---that we plan on having installed into our bathroom. lol. Now im way more into the dogs. I have a bunch of maltese and veterinary things in my room or storage. 


anyway, your wedding sounds awesome. you should post pics of that---it'd be really neat to see. my wedding idea now is to have it at the four seasons in Santa barbera (over looking the ocean) and for wedding favors---a chocolate cake made into little box with a chocolate covered strawberry in it that says the date and our names. i found out how much it costs to get married there---$30,000 at least for all the basic stuff :wacko: and i'd definitely want more than the basic----so i keep telling my boyfriend that he has to work hard. lol. i was like "i better get my dream wedding, or i will never be happy". lol. so the pressures on!


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

LOL :lol: 

my mom wouldnt like anyone that any of us got married to. like my brother and his wife were dating for 10 yrs, got married, and have been married for 6 yrs! my mom still doesnt like my brothers wife!!!! at least she's polite to her though. lol. 

my boyfriend and i have been going out for almost 5 yrs. our anniversary is in december. i'd get married now---if i knew we'd get all the things i wanted. i seriously cant imagine 80 thousand dollars on flowers though!! 

2 weeks!! 2 weeks!!! thats crazy!! i still have an issue with my other brother. he's a lawyer in the army...met another lawyer 2 yrs ago. but they didnt start dating till October '03 and in december '03 he asked her to marry him!!! 

and she wanted to get married this year!! my brother is in Iraq right now, and she's going there in a couple of months. he told her that he'd want to wait till next year. anyway, my point---i dont like how desperate she's acting. and her name--Catherine...but she calls her self Katie. where the heck did the 'k' come from? lol. anyway, im having issues with her (she doesnt know it though) and i havent met her. lol. we'll see.










so how long have you and your husband been married? so is toby your trial child (i think thats what people call it) or is toby all you're going to have?

i already told casey that i dont want kids.







his mom is a little sad (cuz caseys an only child) but i really really dont like kids....and i HATE pain. lol.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

you have the perfect situation with the husbands family!! my sister always says that she wants to marry an orphan---just so that she doesnt have to deal with his family!!! lol. ---well, she wouldn't mind family issues if she could marry keanu reeves.







and family issues---we let our mom live with us (because we feel sorry for her a lot...she doesnt really have anyone) and then she'll purposely piss us off---so we wont talk to her for months (the longest was 5 months). and we live in the same house!!









its good that you know what you want. for example--the secretary here is marrying the father of her son (he's 6 yrs old now) and she doesnt seem happy! or my cousin who married the guy she was seeing because she got pregnant. if it was up to me--and i was in that situation--i'd just have the baby by myself and leave! seriously! 

you sound really happy though. i met casey online too. i was looking up people that went to the same junior college as me...and lived in the area---his name popped up. i started writing to him, a week later i saw him (he looked cute.....but his hair was long and he wore black clothes(now his head is always shaved and he wears old navy clothes  im still training him







) 

OH, and i hate people (like the secretary here) who have kids---go on vacations--and leaves the kid behind!!!! i really hate that. the reason you have kids is so that you WANT a family. anyway, so since january (i dont know where she gets all this money) she has gone to italy for 2 weeks-w/o her kid, and the cayman islands for 1 week-w/o her kid---and in september or october she's going on her honeymoon----WITHOUT her kid!! that's just mean. 

i told people that right now--im 100% sure that i dont want kids. having sprite is enough for me! 

when you do adopt a child---i'm sure you're going to make a great mom.







and that shows you're totally not selfish. you know what you want and when you want it. that shows that you're independent and prepared. its an unselfish act that you want to make sure that you can provide for the kids (not meaning money---but time and patience like you said). 


my mom had my brothers and sister at 21-26yrs old....then she had me when she was 32 yrs old. major difference. but i didnt have to deal with the yelling and all the crap they had to deal with!


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

i honesty dont like kids. like i dont like that they cry or whine and they always do bad stuff. they cant keep still. and parents---they cant control their children!! i think maybe thats what makes me mad. like all these people have children--and shouldn't have. my neighbor was letting her kids go on their bikes up our driveway---even when we had our cars parked there. and then she planted bushes on our side of the lawn and came to our house to ask us to stop having gruffi pee on her bushes!! ugh! i was like "have your kid controlled, make him stop looking into our house" and she was like "he's only 5 yrs old, i think it's fine if kids peep".







my mom NEVER let us "peep". this lady is so stupid. our nickname for her is "the alcoholic". lol. she sorta looks and walks like one. 

and my cousins---my aunt and my uncle dont really like us(my moms children) because they're sorta jealous. anyway, so my cousins 1-sells marijuana and grows it. 1-got pregnant and married the guy--who didnt even want to marry her and "lost" his wedding ring on the to sacramento 2 of them havent lived with their parents since they were 13 yrs old. anyway--there's a total of 7 cousins--and 6 of them do marijuana (at least). the one that has a baby doesnt do drugs. only 2 of those cousins graduated college....one is going next year. 

now there's the four of us:
my oldest brother-kurt-lawyer, he's in the army now...getting married next year

my second brother-hedgefund manager--made his first million at 30 yrs old (now he's 32...and still doing it)

my sister-cynthia-just became a hedgefund manager this year--she was a stockbroker before---planning on making her first million this year or next year (she's 29)

but then there's me...lol. still going to junior college---but im working on it. i dont drink or smoke--so i'm not cool to my cousins. oh well. lol. 


we grew up on welfare for a little while. my mom had been cleaning houses till 4 yrs ago when my sister told her that she didnt have to anymore (my sister supports us). 

and my mom meets people that ask her what she did. and she told them to keep their kids in control, she said that she would hit us if we ever came home drunk (that only happened with my second bro) all of us new better. she had us under control.

and you know what people say to her? "i cant do that, i cant take away their freedom". :wacko: 


i remember my mom tried to take my cousins into our house---but then their parents would be like "dont treat them like that....i'll take them to my house and try to raise them". 



that sucks that your sister doesnt have patience with your neice. 

your mom sounds great though. and my mom never left us either---and dont you appreciate that? it shows you that they actually care. all these other women act as though their husband is #1 and their children are #2....and that's messed up.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

well, i think my mom is still crazy. like one day she's totally cool, and the next day she'll be pissed off....i'll find out later on that it's because THAT day she didnt want my shoes in the living room. i dont know--shes seriously crazy at times. my boyfriend, casey, doesn't really like talking to her. the first day he met her--she told him about how her life sucks and how she married my dad 4 times(she would divorce him a couple months after she would have one of us). 

oh, and kids running in the store---i hate those kids. i remember i would ask my mom something--and if i asked her too many times (like 4 times) then she would pinch me or slap me and i would cry--and she would give me that 'look' and tell me to be quiet. <--whats up with that?? so i had to cry quietly---which i wish parents would do to their kids now. lol. 


remember a couple of years ago(it showed in california) but this woman was arrested for child abuse because her kid that has like ADHD or something was screaming and having a tantrum on the ground---so she grabbed her kid from the collar of his shirt (or grabbed him by the hand) and literally dragged him out of walmart. channel 2 news or something interviewed a bunch of parents that had been there--and almost all said that they would've done the same thing. lol. 

they had the whole thing on tape. this little kid was a piece of crap. i totally wouldn't have dealt with it. 

yeah-3 of my cousins (they're all siblings) got their GED...and i think the 4th (their brother) is going to drop out of highschool and get his GED also. i mean--at least that's something, but i remember thinking that getting my highschool diploma was nothing--that I HAD to get my bachelors degree. <---and their father, he makes a good amount of money. BUT he was soo busy caring about his girlfriends kids (one just recently went to juvie)....that makes me mad. 


OH MY GOSH!!!!!! i would be _pissed_ with my neigbors. people are such trash! i was thinking my neighbors were trash--but i feel soooo bad for you! cant you call home owners or something? in our area there are like total strict rules on how your house looks and bounderies and all that crap. i just got a letter yesterday saying that i need to water my grass more because part of the grass is dying!! 

and the cops there are unbelievable. i called the cops on someone who was knocking on my front door too hard! well, the person was also yelling and saying "i know you're in there" but still! 


i remember like 5 people that i knew in highschool that got pregnant---one, thankgod (and i feel bad saying this) got an abortion. but she wanted it, her parents wanted it---and it was best for her. 3 had to go to another highschool. and 1 gave her kid up for adoption...she didnt even get to hold him. and 2 of their parents seemed like good parents too. i worked with another friends mom--that family was MESSED UP. but she was a great mom. her dad on the other hand.... so lazy!!! he was an accountant-got laid off, then went back to school, couldnt find a job...now he works at Osh (its like a home depot) and they had taken all their money from their IRA. my point is that it's a shame that she had a dad like that. her mom was sweet (cooks like a chef) and cares for everyone. 


your mom teaching you to have a high self-esteem is the best thing she could've ever done. my mom didn't do that----well, she would tell us that we had to make tons of money and have a better life than what she had to deal with (she grew up in peru, her dad was a doctor in the army, and at one point she had to live in the jungle). i think she had a pretty good life till she was around 15 when her dad died and they moved here with nothing. i would get upset sometimes growing up---like i would get a 90% on a test, and she would be like "why not 100%". <---well, that only happened once! :lol: I didnt get As growing up. i'm more like a C person. <_<


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

geezz...thats so scary!!!! i called animal control on this one dog a block away because he's tried to attack our dogs twice. i havent seen the dog out at all since. but who knows---people are stupid. where i used to live, this lady would take her dog off leash. i told her straight out that it was illegal and that her dog could be killed....i think she thought i was threatening her. LOL. 

that is sooo messed up that you cant even walk down the darn road. people are really messed up. oh, i was wondering, you said that your husband is in contruction, right? does he know how to do a fence? 

this one guy that we knew would come to our house and do random stuff and did it really well. he worked for a construction company and if he didnt know how to do something at our house---he would go to work, ask someone, come back that night and do it. it was really neat. 

i would really try to get a REALLY REALLY high fence. my brother knew a guy that would put barbwire and broken glass at the top of the wall he had put in (this guy was a freak). anyway...if i were you, id do that. lol.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

that would make me crazy if i had to get out of bed at 2:30am. i know what you mean about the fence thing. i like looking at pictures of real estate in other states where people have 20 acres of land and it just looks like it goes on and on forever. 

thats totally awesome about the gazebo. and its even better that you have room for that. where we're moving we're going to use up almost all the land for our house and i really really want a pool. lol. so i want to keep everything flat and grassy for the dogs to run in. we were thinking of making a seperate little lagoon area for the dogs---but they dont even like the kiddie pool that we bought at petsmart....so i dont know if that's going to happen. 

how can you make dogs like water?

i really want mine to learn to swim. 
i'll talk to you later.

cathy


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