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With a dog being afraid of people that is a psychological problem. (If a dog can be said to have a human-like psyche.)
Thunderstorms are different because it is physiological and instinctive.
The noise from the thunder and rain HURTS!
The sudden drop in atmospheric pressure disorients the dog.
The dog's "fight or flight" instinct is activated.
This is visceral, not psychological like being afraid of people.
Cyndee's dog was, for all intents, abused by strangers. No wonder the dog became afraid!
Second, Cyndee's dog needs to be alert at all times. Tami's dog doesn't necessarily need to be alert during storms.
A light, natural tranquilizer might be called for in Cyndee's case. Tami's case is different. We're trying to prevent the dog from re-injuring its leg. Medicinal tranquilizers might be called for in Tami's case.
Now, mind you, I said before that I don't like to use drugs when it's not 100% necessary. However, in this case, I think it might be necessary. If you don't, the dog could injure its leg.
Again, I will say it, call the vet. He is a professional. He knows what to prescribe.
If you are concerned about giving the dog too much drugs, tell him. Ask him for a pill you can give in small doses.
Like SueAnn does. Give the dog 1/2 a pill. If that doesn't work you can give another half pill. That way you only give the dog as much drug as it needs and no more.
Ask the vet. It's his job to know these things. 
If you are on good terms with your vet you might be able to do this over the phone.
PS: You know what else?
I know you guys are going to jump all over me for this... But here goes!...
Try giving the dog a little beer.
<Dives under chair!>
For a small dog like yours, it won't take much. Maybe 1 ounce, max.
Dog's ears are more sensitive. Many people also believe they are more sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure. (Like the way our ears pop when we go up in an airplane only dogs are sensitive to smaller changes.)
The sound of thunder hurts their ears. The drop in air pressure that accompanies the storm front makes them uncomfortable and disorients them. Don't forget, to a dog, the sound of rain on the roof could sound like somebody dropping a box full of marbles on a wooden floor.
If you were as sensitive as a dog you probably wouldn't like thunderstorms either!
With all this negative stimulation, many times the dog's "fight or flight" instinct is kicked in.
Well, the dog can't fight a thunderstorm. She can't run away very far because she's inside the house. The best she can do is hide under the bed or something like that.
You can try desensitization therapy.
It's not hard but it takes a lot of patience over a period of time.
Find some noise she doesn't like that is similar to the sound of thunder. If you can find one of those sound effects CDs with the sound of a thunderstorm on it, that would fit the bill perfectly.
Play your sound effect (on the stereo) at a low volume. Just loud enough to hear but not loud enough to scare her.
Play with her. Pet her. Distract her from the sound. Continue for several minutes.
Then, when she doesn't expect it, turn the sound up a little bit. Keep playing and making nice with her.
Repeat this until you find the sound level that just starts to make her uncomfortable. Stop playing the sound effect but remember the level you were at. The game is over for today.
A few days later, repeat the "game" until you get up to the point where she got scared. Stop the game. Wait until another day.
A few days later, play the "game" again. This time try to inch the volume up a little higher.
Keep playing with her. Keep petting her. Keep making "nice" with her. Keep distracting her from the "bad sound."
After a couple of minutes, stop the game and wait till another day.
At first, you will only want to play the game for 5 or 10 minutes. On subsequent games, try to work her up to 15 minutes but do it gradually. Each time you play the game, try to inch the noise level up a little bit more. After you have done the game a half-dozen times, you should be able to play the noise at a fairly high level before she gets scared. You should be able to play for 10, 15 or even 20 minutes. After a while, you should be able to play the noise at maximum level and she should only be mildly uncomfortable.
The next time you have a real thunderstorm, make like you are playing the "noise game" like you always do. You should pet her, play with her, make nice with her and tell her what a good girl she is. After a while you should be able to ramp down the game and she should not be afraid anymore.
Be aware! This game could take a year or more to complete! Some dogs can do it in a few months. Other dogs never really learn. They can only be calmed down a little. Overall, most dogs can be trained to act "mostly normal" during storms over the duration of one season.
When I was a kid, we had a Schnauzer that was afraid of storms as a puppy. By the time he grew up he was mostly over it. Sometimes, when a big clap of thunder hit, he'd dive under the sofa but he'd come out in a few minutes.
This probably doesn't help you in the short term. This "noise game" takes a long time.
If she is in danger of hurting herself because of being scared of storms you could call the vet and have him give you some doggie tranquilizers. Keep a few of them on hand in case of an unexpected storm.
I don't normally like to use drugs unless it's 100% necessary. But, in this case, it's either give her drugs or risk her re-injuring her leg.
When you consider that the teddy bear is inanimate...
That kind of talk will get you into trouble in these parts!
Remember what happened to Gulliver?
(Ummm.... Pudge... He didn't mean it! Go easy on him. He's just a silly human!)
Sorry about that, folks. Pudge gets a little testy sometimes.
Typically we like traditional Bears. We do have some character Bears and non-traditional Bears. Melanie's mom knits and crochets. She made us a few felted Bears and some crocheted ones.
We have seen some Bears that look like they could have come straight out of a Tim Burton movie.
As nice as the are, in terms of being well-made, we are just not turned on by Bears that make us feel creepy.
We prefer Bears who have happy expressions. Bears with dignified looks are good, too.
We have a few that look pensive or thoughtful but we don't really go for Bears with soulful or sad looks. Bears are supposed to help you feel happier when you need a lift. A Bear who looks empathetic might be nice to talk to when you are down.
Bears whose faces are in good proportion are most desirable. We don't necessarily mean they all have to be based on the Golden Section but "roughly" proporioned, at least.
Other than that, we can't give you really specific likes or dislikes.
If you showed us a picture or two of Bears you make (or drawings) we could tell you what we think.
Those are some really nice Bears! 
I think it's nice when humans let their Bears have pets. A lot of ours have pet ducks. One has a pet hedgehog.
Your shelving looks nice but what did those Bears in the middle picture ever do in order to wind up in jail?! 
How many Bears do you think live in your hug?
This friend walked up to my cabinet with bears and said things about some of my artist bears, like ''he is ugly'', ''I can't imgaine someone paying for this'' and then she came to my raccoon Aviva and said that she could buy such a thing at the HEMA.
Ellen
I can't fault a person for not liking every Bear they meet. Everybody has their own tastes. It's natural.
I have to be honest. There are Bears I see on Teddy-Talkers' websites that I'm not taken with.
But it's just plain rude and stupid to say a Bear is ugly!
If you're going to critique a person's artwork, then fine. Be honest. Tell them what you like and don't like.
"I think his eyes look droopy." or "I like his perky ears."
I was also taught in photography class that every critique must be balanced. It must contain at least one positive and one negative comment. And, if your critique is negative, you have to say what you think would improve the work.
For instance, "Make his feet smaller." etc., etc.
You know, a theater review in the newspaper has to remain fair and balanced, even if it is a negative review. The reviewer can "savage" a play or movie in his writeup but he can't just dismiss it without reason. He has to tell what he didn't like and why.
A person who doesn't give a fair and balanced critique of your Bears doesn't deserve recognition.
You have the right to tell them where they can go and you don't have to accept the criticism. 
And, if they don't like that, you can tell them that there are 1,000 Bears in this den all flipping them "the paw!" 
I see what you're saying. You don't want to spend a lot of money on a school project.
Still, don't forget your internet service provider.
Many ISPs offer free personal webspace. (Well, it's not actually free because you have to pay for internet service to get it but it is free as in "no extra charge besides what you already pay.")
See this page:
http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Hi … atures.htm
(Left side, near the bottom.)
Check your ISP to see what they offer. You might be pleasantly surprised. 
You can have:
1) Good.
2) Fast.
3) Cheap.
You may pick any two out of three.
:lol:
A simple way to say it is, "You get what you pay for." ;)
Yes, there are free website hosts out there but they are going to plaster your pages with ads. Also, because it's free, you aren't guaranteed 100% uptime, nor do they offer help or service in case you have trouble. Finally, you aren't going to have your own domain name. You'll end up with something like, "www.freewebhost.com/users/yourusername/index.html" Not easy for people to type and remember.
If you go to www.godaddy.com or www.fatcow.com you can pay about $5.00 per month. Because you are paid, you get help and you can have your own domain name. They offer a whole lot more features than the free web hosts.
Another thing to think about...
You might already have web hosting included in the price that you pay your ISP for internet access every month.
Many ISPs give you free space to make your own website. Usually, it's on the same terms of many of the other free web hosts... mimimal service, few features, no domain name, etc... but you won't have to jump through hoops to get your account set up. It already is set up.
Go to to the log in screen at your ISP's website and see if they don't have it for you. It's usually listed in the FAQ.
Rule #1:
Any job worth doing is worth doing well and a job well-done is its own reward. If a job isn't rewarding, then it's not worth doing.
Rule #2:
People value most those things that come at a cost.
***********
I do graphics and video work on the side. I've got a very good computer setup at home. It cost me a lot of money but is a fast computer with all software I need. One reason I take on odd jobs like this is because I want to recoup part of the cost of the computer. I don't make a lot of money doing it because I don't intend to make this my main occupation. Not, now, at least.
The second reason I do it is because it is an extension of my real job. I am the technical manager for a theater. I operate and maintain all the projection, sound, lights and computers. I oversee the creation of graphics and video for the theater's advertising department. This is something I enjoy doing. As, I said above, any job worth doing is a job worth doing well. The rewards for me come from doing a job well.
I often do work for free. Friends and family members call me up, sometimes daily, for help with little jobs on their computers. I am glad to help when I can. We're sort of obliged to help family and close friends for free. But it was a few years ago when I stopped working for other people unless I was paid. There has to be an exchange of money or something valued.
If you give something away for free, people will not value your work. But, the very same work becomes valuable to a person when he has to pay for it.
Your friends and family should get things on special occasions but other people should pay, even if it is only a little.
So, why should you make expensive Bears when others make them cheap?
Because it's a job worth doing well and you deserve to get what you are worth.
Put a tricorn hat on her head and a patch over one eye and you've got a peg-legged pirate for a pet!
Feed the dog firmer food. This produces a harder stool that helps the anal glands to self-express every time the dog defecates.
If the dog eats too much soft food, she will have softer stools. The dog's glands will not be expressed and it could lead to impaction and/or infection.
If the dog has trouble with her glands, you can express them manually. It's yucky but it will help.
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/8453 … glands.htm
Express the glands regularly and keep the dog clean "back there" and you should have little trouble.
Have the surgery only as a last resort. If the glands get infected a lot or if they get massively infected, this could be a problem that needs to be corrected with surgery.
Removing a dog's glands is a little bit like removing a human's tonsils. It's often unnecessary but needs to be done on occasion.
Try adding some dry dog food to her diet.
For the ligaments. I can't tell you much. We never had dogs that had this problem.
I can only hazard a guess... How is the dog's weight? I really can't tell from the picture.
I'm not making any judgments. I'm just saying that a dog that is carrying extra weight will have a greater likelihood of having problems in the legs.
That's the way it is in humans too. I speak from personal experience.
I have had problems with my knees for a few years, now. Just a few months ago I decided to lose weight. Since that time I have taken off about 20 pounds. My knee problems have gone away almost by themselves. :)
Carry that idea over to dogs... If a dog is carrying too much weight, its problems will be twice that of humans because they have four legs and we only have two!
That's the definitive caption.
The best way to cut an object out of a background is to use the pen tool to draw a bezier curve around the object. Then you create a vector mask to block out everything you don't want to appear in the picture. This allows you to use the "refine edge" tool to feather the edges of the object from completely opaque to transparency. If you do it this way you will not get that "cut out with scissors" look.
My wife, Melanie, does a lot of baking at home. This is her mascot Bear:
Whenever she packages something up to give to somebody, she puts a sticker like this on the box.
You can see how the edges fade out to transparency.
Cutting out the Bear was done with Photoshop. The result was imported into Adobe Illustrator to do the text and the paw print.
There is a falcon nest on top of the Eastman Kodak building in Rochester, NY. They put up a nesting box to attract them.
There are four live webcams focused on the box 24 hours a day throughout the nesting season. You can go to their website and see them any time, day or night. It is very cool!
http://www.rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/mainView.php
Just remember one thing... Falcons hunt live prey. Usually pigeons and things.
Aside from the conservation aspect, one reason to attract falcons is to control the pigeon population. Otherwise they become pests and spread disease.
So, keep that in mind. Once the eggs hatch, the male and female falcons take turn bringing dinner home to the babies. That means you get to see a live pigeon dismembered and eaten, live on the internet.
That's nature... Right? But, if you can't stomach the sight, be careful when you tune in.
If anybody would like to have a banner and an avatar created for them, I can do that.
I have a brand new computer and the Adobe CS4 suite of software. (Not the Photoshop Elements program. I have full Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator as well as others.)
I'm hoping to get into video, graphics and design as a home business. I am not nearly able to go out on my own and start a graphics studio but I am perfectly capable of doing small one-off jobs for people.
If you send me a few pictures of your favorite Bears and a description of your ideas I can generate a 425 X 75 banner and a180 x 220 avatar picture that you can use on this site or anywhere else.
For a nominal donation to my PayPal account I can whip something up for you in just a couple-few days depending on my workload at my regular job. I would send you back the finished work in JPEG, GIF and PNG format.
I don't want to do this to make a ton of money. I only ask for the donation because people value things more if there is a cost, even if it is only a few dollars.
If anybody is interested send me a message. If we can get on the same wavelength, maybe we can work together. If we can't come to a good agreement, nothing lost.
Here's a hint.
Go to your bank and open up a second account that's separate from your main account. Make sure you get an ATM/debit card to go along with it.
If your regular account is in good standing they probably won't charge you anything. Keep a minimum amount of money in the account at all times. Maybe $50 or $100.
Use this account for things on the internet and do not use your regular account for the internet.
This gives you a couple of benefits. The most obvious thing is that it insulates you from any security problems that might happen. If somebody breaks into that account you only stand to lose $50. Your household account won't be brought to a standstill while the bank investigates any allegations of fraud.
Second, it gives you a real convenient way to deal with PayPal over the internet. You can "attach" that card to your PayPal account and use it as a conduit to get money in and out of your PayPal account.
If you need more money in your PayPal account you can transfer it up via the bank account. You can also siphon off extra money and keep it in your bank account so you can use it for other things when you need it.
That's what I do.
You can always use your own name.
I might have trouble with a name like "Huggy Bears" but "Randy's Huggy Bears" will probably be okay.
It should also get you clear on fictitious name registration too. If you tried to start a business named "Huggy Bears" you might have to register it as a fictitious name. (Depending on local laws.) Putting your own name on the business makes it easier.
Also, go to any site that registers domain names (GoDaddy.com for instance) and check to see if your ideas are already registered to somebody else. That way, once you finally do pick a name you won't have to spend a lot of time picking a domain name that goes along with your business name.
+1 on PayPal!
