My info comes from several years of working at a vet clinic.

Gonna warn you: large dogs tend to have joint problems at an earlier age. I have never heard of a large dog that doesn't develop them.

That said... a large breed that doesn't shed and is incredibly intelligent would be a standard poodle. They're not really aggressive, and barking is a matter of training them properly. Anything with standard poodle in it (labradoodle, goldendoodle) may have these qualities as well. Just check on the shedding, because it varies by dog.

Airedales are also amazing large dogs. Very smart, very loyal, low-shed.

If you're looking for a low-shed dog, look for one with coarse, wiry 'hair' as opposed to fur. You know how poodles feel? That's what you should look for.

If you're looking at getting a large dog and living in the city, make sure you can commit to at least one long walk a day. Any less and they'll terrorize your house. If you're living in an apartment, pass on the large dog, because it'll be unfair to them.

I used to have 3, and they wanted me to wait until my second was healed before I got my third.

I think the concern is that it could get infected, and that would ruin the other piercing. Also, when you get one done, it makes your lobe swell up, which could mess with the placement of the next one.

Last I checked, life expectancy has gone up in the United States over the last 50 years.

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le00_in&idim=country:USA&dl=en&hl=en&q=life+expectancy+united+states

It's all about moderation. It's okay to have the occasional cheeseburger, but you're going to die at 40 if you eat five a day.

I would like to know what 'toxic food' the FDA is allowing. Last I checked, things under their jurisdiction were heavily regulated.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/default.htm

Bottled water in the sun is a concern, because a carcinogenic chemical leaches into the water from the plastic bottles when they are heated; not a predicted effect. Those 'drugged up' cows? It's growth hormones to make them meatier (and thus more efficient use of resources) and antibiotics to keep them from becoming severely ill or growing parasites. I've seen cow farms, and they all seemed pretty happy. Farmers take care of their stock.

Yes, ground beef is often made of lower quality beef than say, steak. If you don't like it, don't eat it, and leave the rest of us to our delicious burgers rather than insulting us all and calling us stupid I'll be polite enough to not mention the e. coli bacteria present on your organic lettuce :P

Don't rely on conspiracy websites and PETA to get your information! It's all one-sided.

In fluoridated tap water, there's about 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L (that's milligrams per litre), which is a very tiny amount. In fact, it works out to 0.00005% by volume.

In toothpaste, there's about 1000 ppm fluoride. That works out to about 0.1%.

In rat poison? About 35-40%.

For a comparison, check out this 'unknown chemical':

"...ingestion of stronger solutions is dangerous to human and animal life. It can cause severe damage to the digestive system, and a potentially lethal change in the acidity of the blood."

"...handled in a fume hood because of the pungent, corrosive vapor."

Sounds scary, doesn't it? Not something you'd want to put in your body, right?

Acetic acid comes in varying strengths. Over 25% is deadly. 5%? It's vinegar!

You have to take these conspiracy websites with a grain of salt.

Tooth decay is seriously prevented by fluoridating tap water. If you want to avoid it, drink bottled water. But hey, it's your life; keep in mind that bottled water is under fewer restrictions for fecal content than tap water is! Yummy.

Just suck it up :)

I've had it even worse; my fiance and I have had to move to opposite ends of the country for the summer so we could earn enough money to go to school in the fall. We could talk to each other for about a half hour a day, because the time difference was 4 hours. Now, we're at least living together, but he's been working full time plus the occasional weekend day.

Sure, it sucks, but what happens when you guys graduate? Are you both going to go on welfare to sit around and talk to each other? It's a part of a relationship, being away from each other from time to time. Plus, it'll make the time you have together even better!

How do you support it? Be proud of him for having work ethic, and tell him so! Ask him how his day at work was, sympathize if he's had a bad day. Rub his feet if he's been on them all day. Just keep being nice to him, and whatever you do, don't complain about all the time he spends away from you.

The Bible was written thousands of years ago. It was a book of their laws and beliefs. Smart Christians try to read the book as a set of lessons and apply the core messages to their daily life. Others will say that you have to live by every single rule in the book, but choose to conveniently forget that there are rules in there about stoning your disobedient teenage son to death, and owning slaves. I know plenty of Christians who believe in evolution. Most of them are just brainwashed into believing otherwise. Christian science is a huge joke... don't even get me started on that :P

Just because it isn't in the Bible doesn't mean it's not right, and just because it is doesn't mean it is right. Good Christians use the Bible as a tool for learning how to make their lives better, and to make themselves better people. Bad Christians use it as a weapon, condemning good people to hell for not believing what they believe.

If you want to believe in a Christian God, then do it! You can blend modern science and ideals with the core principles of the Bible. I'm an atheist, but I've read it a few times, because it's such an influential work of literature. What did I, the untrained heathen, get out of it? The core message is love. Love yourself, love your God, love your neighbour. Funny, isn't it, how people can live their whole lives by the book and not catch on to that!

If you want to convert to Islam, go for it! The main thing that is important is to have faith in something, and for that faith to comfort you. Myself, I've chosen faith in my fellow man rather than an intangible man in the sky. It's all personal choice. That's the point of faith. Religion, on the other hand, is a set of rules written by people. Not God, people. And people have their own motives for what they do.

I would suggest that you watch Dogma and Saved, since both are excellent movies (hilarious, too) on the subject of Christianity and its misuses.

As someone who does live with bipolar disorder, I can tell you that there's no magic pill that will fix you.

Treatment is incredibly complex. It's not a matter of going in to your family doctor and demanding a certain prescription.

The first thing you should be looking into is getting counselling. Medication is only a tiny percent of the battle. Most of your symptoms and challenges need to be taken care of by developing good coping skills. You need a psychiatrist who can determine what your diagnosis is, because you can't diagnose yourself, no matter how many online quizzes say so. They will be able to monitor and adjust your medication regimen, tell you when to take it and what you need to take, and they'll be able to determine the correct combination (that's right, combination!) of meds for you to take.

Psychiatric medications are tricky. They have awful side effects that need to be countered with other medications, and can cause serious problems in people under 18. How do I know this? Because my family doctor overstepped his bounds as a family practitioner and prescribed me antidepressants at age 12. They had a horrible, permanent effect on me.

Science diets are specially formulated for preventive health. Regular dog food is food.

When an animal starts having health problems (which is pretty much inevitable), science diets are a great idea. A different balance in minerals can decrease bladder stones, help them lose weight, or help their joints.

For a perfectly healthy puppy? It's the vet trying to make an extra buck. You should be giving her a puppy food, not just a small breed food until she's about a year old, then adult food from then on. No table scraps, but you can give her unlimited raw veggies. That will keep her happy and healthy.

I've seen repair shops for sewing machines, televisions and vacuums in my city, specifically. I know there are also places where you can get any small electronics repaired.

People generally don't do this because it can cost more to repair a toaster than it would to buy a new one (a toaster can cost as little as 10-20 dollars!)

Guys can be sort of stupid about these things. From birth, pretty much, they're being bombarded with commercials and media saying that "IF YOU LOVE HER, YOU'LL SPEND LOTS OF MONEY ON A RING". Personally, I would have preferred that my fiancé had spent 1/3 of what he did and used the rest on something more practical, and I told him so. Didn't work.

Most people can't even tell diamond from cubic zirconia let alone judge the quality of a diamond. Those who do care enough about diamonds to learn how to judge cut and clarity need something better to do with their time.

As far as I'm concerned, if you love it, then it's good enough. (It is really pretty!) Convincing him might be more difficult.

This brings back some memories! This happened to me for my first kiss. OMG. It was really stupid and funny, and we both ended up laughing hysterically. So that's your worst case scenario.

Most guys will start off closed-mouth. You can always open your eyes a crack to see what he's up to as you go in :)

If you had a guy friend who had a committed girlfriend, would you kiss him? Probably not, because cheating is cheating, no matter what gender preference. Her boyfriend might have been fine with it before, because in Grade 7 nobody's that serious about each other, and hey, he got to see two chicks kissing.

I know it sucks, but you've got to keep this to yourself until if and when she breaks up with her guy. It's rough, because it seems like it would be something totally different. It's not, though.

Also, you broke up with her before because you were ashamed of what people might think; that would make me stop and think twice. I know if I were her, I wouldn't want to risk that again. If you do approach her for a relationship, make sure you go about it the right way. Don't be all skittish about people thinking you're a lesbian. Be proud of your girl :)

You don't mention how old you are. That can have a lot to do with your confusing feelings.

Not everyone fits into your LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) labels. There's a whole other realm out there.

You would be labelled (if you care to do so) as genderqueer. You identify neither as a man or a woman, but as someone in between. Don't worry... you're not weird!

I'm not a real expert, even though I have a friend who is genderqueer. Your best bet for advice on how to deal with feelings and confusion would be to join a website or community group dedicated to genderqueer issues, like

http://unitedgenders.org/

or

http://www.polygender.co.uk/

Eew! You probably get irritated because your parents shouldn't be discussing their sex lives in front of you!

There are certain boundaries that should be in place, whether you're friends with your mom or not. There's nothing wrong with knowing your parents have sex, but details are totally unnecessary.

Maybe you should have a talk with your parents. Let them know that it's great that they have such a stellar sex life, but it's really none of your business and you'd like to keep it that way.

Losing your virginity isn't about breaking the hymen. If that's the case, then I lost mine when I was about 10 years old, riding my bike.

I would disagree with Lucy - to lose your virginity with a girl, you don't need a penis-shaped object. That sort of flies in the face of what lesbianism means. Using a toy is fun, but it's not as meaningful (in my mind at least) as actually having sex.

Most people would not define fingering as sex. Would a girl who has been fingered by a guy say she's lost her virginity? It is a sexual activity, but it's not sex.

Personally, with a girl I define sex as oral. Maybe she feels the same way, and that's why she considers herself a virgin.

Other people have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea of not having had a penis in them but not being a virgin. Silly, but it's all a product of how they were raised and where they got their information from.

Either way, you should let her know how you feel. In any relationship, discussion is key to happiness!

There are a few ways, but they can all be prevented and shouldn't be a deterrent to masturbation!

- You can cut yourself if your fingernails are too long

- You can bruise yourself if you masturbate for too long.

- You can cause tiny tears in the skin if you're too dry.

These can be prevented by keeping your fingernails short and clean, practicing moderation and using a tiny dab of lube.

This is going to sound weird:

If you're embarrassed about telling him you're a virgin, you're not comfortable enough with him to have sex.

It's not a thing to be ashamed of. It's a beautiful thing that you would be giving him, and any decent guy would be ecstatic, regardless of the timing.

Sex is a terribly awkward thing. You make weird faces, you make funny noises, you sweat, it's just not pretty in practice. When you're with someone you're comfortable with, though, you can really let go and enjoy yourself without feeling so awkward and unsexy. If you're uncomfortable about just telling him you're a virgin, think how it would be for you when you're actually in the act.

He may be the right one, but you need to relax before you can have happy sex with him.

And, as always, make sure you're on birth control AND use condoms!

There is no painless way to commit suicide.

Sure, you might find a method that won't physically injure you. Thing is, it will hurt everyone wh ohas ever known you; every family member, every friend, every co-worker. Suicide is an aggressive act that hurts everyone around you more than it hurts you.

If you want a rest, take one. Save as much as you can and go on a vacation somewhere across the world. Go on a working vacation somewhere new. Get away from your world.

I have seriously attempted to commit suicide before. I live with mental illness, and have for my entire life. I know as much as anyone can that life can be absolute hell. I've done bad things, things that have hurt people. I've made mistakes. We all have. Thing is, you can't run away from your mistakes by dying, because you leave the effects behind.

You need to seek help. You need to find a counselor of some sort, either a social worker or a religious counselor, whichever you prefer. You need to get your dark secrets out in the open and to work on rectifying any wrong you've done. You also need to learn that you're not a terrible person. That was one of the hardest lessons for me. A counselor can help to assess whether you need to get in contact with a psychologist or a psychiatrist so that you can be medicated if need be.

Just like when alcoholics are in recovery, I felt the need to apologize to everyone I had hurt while I was in my bad places. I apologized to old friends I had hurt, to family members, to myself. Tears ran down my face, and it was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but their forgiveness helped me to feel like maybe I wasn't a terrible person.

It's hard. I'm not going to lie. Life is hard, you make mistakes, things go horribly wrong. You can make life what you want it to be, though. You get out of life what you put into it. Start volunteering, and help make someone's day. Or you could start small, with just smiling at someone on the sidewalk.

Find joy in the little things: a pretty flower, a delicious meal, a beautiful sunny day, a happy puppy. Every tiny little thing that you find joy in is another reason to stay alive. When I have trouble doing this, I go to this website. It's been a big help, oddly enough:

1000awesomethings.com

Remember that you are a worthwhile person. You can do good in this world. Get out there and do some!

You're probably having trouble because the tampon is too dry. That happens when you use one that's too absorbent for what you need.

There are a few things you can do:

- soak in a bath (and maybe the water will soak into it and loosen it)
- if you have any lube kicking around, you can try to use that
- try peeing, and it might dampen enough for you to get it out.

In the future, you'll probably want to avoid using anything more than a regular absorbency when your period isn't super heavy. I tend to avoid tampons when I'm really light just because this always seems to happen!

Absolutely. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. You can miss them because of stress, change in diet or exercise, or just for no apparent reason.

Your age doesn't show, but if you're within the first few years of getting it, it's going to be pretty irregular. Things tend to calm down eventually.

My Personal Forum

My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.

In my last 8 years with Advicenators, I've gone from honours student to failing out of university (and getting back on top again!), from single to married, from tenant to homeowner.

Until lately, I have been struggling with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and OCD, which had basically ruined my life and taken just about everything from me. I'm thankful every day for every experience I've had because of this ordeal, because it's helped to make me who I am today. Things like that really make you appreciate what you do have. Now that I'm back in work and school and starting to become myself again, I couldn't be happier. I credit Advicenators with saving my life back when I was a teenager, which is a big part of why I'm still here.

I won't necessarily give you the answers you want to hear, but I'll always be honest and do my best to help.

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