Have you and your boyfriend/girlfriend discussed whether or not you would like to have pets once you are married? Of all the topics to cover before getting engaged, this isn’t the most important, but pets will affect your lives. So, we suggest discussing your views on pets and desires for pets before moving toward engagement. Obviously the first question you would need to pose to your boyfriend/girlfriend is, “Do you want any pets?” If you both answer in a resounding “NO!” then the conversation doesn’t need to continue ~smile~. However, if you both want pets – or only one of you wants pets, … [Read more...]

Have you ever watched chickens interact with each other? Watching chickens peck at the ground can be nice and relaxing until they turn on each other. Each flock of chickens has a pecking order. If you're at the top, you don't get pecked. If you are not at the top, you get pecked by someone higher on the pecking order and then you get to peck someone who is lower on the pecking order. If you are at the bottom of the pecking order, that's when they start pecking other objects (e.g., a human’s foot). My mom had a chicken that was incubated and hatched in her second grade classroom. After … [Read more...]

Before I had a dog, I really did not understand the bond other people had with their dogs. In my mind, dogs were cute, cuddly, and simply pets. Until I got my own dog, I was blissfully unaware of how much work they are and how much time they take. Not only that, but dogs need their owners for almost everything – unless you live in the country and your dog hunts its own food. Sometimes as we are playing with Ramsey (our golden retriever) or scratching her head, we ask her, "What do you do in return for all of this great care you receive?" (Not that we expect an answer... ~smile~) She eats … [Read more...]

My parents enjoy the visits Eric and I make to their house and they find Ramsey (our golden retriever) to be a wealth of entertainment. They love sitting on the porch and watching her chase thrown Frisbees. They laugh heartily when she steals someone's underwear and proceeds to drag it all over the house. They love giving her treats and watching her gobble them up. And they think she looks so sweet when she's sleeping. But... They can't stand her slobber. When she bounces up to them with a toy in her mouth that she wants them to either tug or throw, they say “eww, no thank you” or “Go to … [Read more...]

A while back, I wrote a post about how Eric wanted me to act as happy as our dog does to see him come home from work.  So, when I recently ran across the song, "Like My Dog" by Billy Currington, I had to smile. While I didn't appreciate some of the language used towards the end of the song, I found the concept to be true. Ladies, I think you might be surprised to learn how much dogs can teach us about how to treat our fellows! They are man's best friend for a reason, after all! Below are a few lyrics to Billy's song: He never tells me that he's sick of this house He never says, "Why don't … [Read more...]