An Adult Should Really Know This - Silly Things You've Had to Tell People

[Lynn2000]

I do not know the answer. Please help!

Do vegans/vegetarians wear: leather, silk, wool or pearls? Use down blankets?

I make jewelry and use pearls and shells quite a bit, and need something for a cousin's bridal shower. I know she likes the beach and was going to make a pearl and shell bracelet, but just found out she is ovo/lacto-vegetarian.

No fixed rules, depends on the particular beliefs of the individual.  Best to ask the person in question or someone likely to know.

POD to this. I knew about vegans often not eating honey or wearing leather, but I never thought about pearl and shell jewelry. I think it would really depend on the individual's beliefs--pearls I could see being dodgy as I think the oyster does not usually survive the harvest (?) but a lot of shells are just washed up on the beach and collected, at least in my mind. I could be totally wrong, though--that's the interesting part! Now I know to ask the person, in case it ever comes up.

[Ereine]

I go to an art class where one the students is vegan. She has compromised with some things (like using drugs that contain gelatin and the materials we use at the class than contain beeswax) but has decided that she can't continue using natural brushes, even though you can't achieve some effects with synthetic brushes. I think that she's been a vegan and an artist for years but has only just started thinking about the brushes. That's actually something that I would assume that people who do arts should know, that most brushes are made with animal hair.

[Team HoundMom]

I had to tell a disgustingly large number of people to CLOSE THE GATES AT THE DOG PARK on the weekend.

There are two gates at the off-leash park, the point being to close one gate before opening the other.  So dogs can't get out.  I was appalled at the number of people who walked in by opening both gates and worse: walked out and left both gates WIDE OPEN.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that if my dog had escaped (which she nearly did a couple of times) that she would have been across the parking lot and dead on the road.  She is FAST.  I was terrified to leave the entrance because I had to keep running over to close the gates behind people, at least a dozen times in the 1.5 hours I was there.  The only reason why I didn't leash up my dog and leave was because she hadn't seen her best friend (same fast breed) all winter and the weather was finally decent enough for a play date. 

At one point a bunch of people were coming in and they were opening both gates.  My friend and I asked a teenage boy who was just standing there in front of the open gate to please close it.  We explained why you have to open one at a time.  He said, quote: "Well this gate was already open when we got here."  I couldn't believe the sheer stupidity and negligence of so many people!

In all honesty, I had to take an anti-anxiety pill when I got home and I am seriously afraid to go back to that park.  What is supposed to be a relatively safe place to let your dog run off-leash is in reality a very dangerous place for my dog because of people.

[Katana_Geldar]

Some dog park gates I've seen can't be left open unless there's someone there holding it, if you let go the gate shuts, any chance the gates could be changed to this?

I noticed this on Not Always a Working, not sure where to put it but I'm pretty sure any soft cheeses aren't a good idea in pregnancy, even if they are made from pasteurised milk. All cheeses in Australia are done with this, but they still tell you to avoid Brie.

http://notalwaysworking.com/cant-get-pasteurized-past-her-eyes/34407

[PeterM]

Some dog park gates I've seen can't be left open unless there's someone there holding it, if you let go the gate shuts, any chance the gates could be changed to this?

People will use a rock or something else to prop them open. Guaranteed.

[baglady]

One of my favorite Not Always Right posts is of a woman looking for ham that is not honey-glazed, because her vegan daughter can't eat honey.

LOL!!   

My ex-husband, when he was first living on his own after college, took to buying kosher meat from the supermarket because he considered it better quality. One day he got extremely frustrated at not being able to locate the kosher bacon.

Yes, he's Jewish.

[Onyx_TKD]

I had to tell a disgustingly large number of people to CLOSE THE GATES AT THE DOG PARK on the weekend.

There are two gates at the off-leash park, the point being to close one gate before opening the other.  So dogs can't get out.  I was appalled at the number of people who walked in by opening both gates and worse: walked out and left both gates WIDE OPEN.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that if my dog had escaped (which she nearly did a couple of times) that she would have been across the parking lot and dead on the road.  She is FAST.  I was terrified to leave the entrance because I had to keep running over to close the gates behind people, at least a dozen times in the 1.5 hours I was there.  The only reason why I didn't leash up my dog and leave was because she hadn't seen her best friend (same fast breed) all winter and the weather was finally decent enough for a play date. 

At one point a bunch of people were coming in and they were opening both gates.  My friend and I asked a teenage boy who was just standing there in front of the open gate to please close it.  We explained why you have to open one at a time.  He said, quote: "Well this gate was already open when we got here."  I couldn't believe the sheer stupidity and negligence of so many people!

In all honesty, I had to take an anti-anxiety pill when I got home and I am seriously afraid to go back to that park.  What is supposed to be a relatively safe place to let your dog run off-leash is in reality a very dangerous place for my dog because of people.

I agree that the people leaving the gates open were way out of line. However, I'm a little confused about the bolded statement--does your dog not come when called or is she just such a runner that she'd be out before you could call her? I'm not a dog owner and don't know what normal dog-park standards are, but I always assumed that the dog reliably coming when called would be pretty vital for being off-leash in public, even in a dog park with the gates were closed. If another dog starts acting aggressive, or some other trouble breaks out (or some idiot compromises the integrity of the fences  ), then how do you get your dog away?

[Hillia]

I had to tell a disgustingly large number of people to CLOSE THE GATES AT THE DOG PARK on the weekend.

There are two gates at the off-leash park, the point being to close one gate before opening the other.  So dogs can't get out.  I was appalled at the number of people who walked in by opening both gates and worse: walked out and left both gates WIDE OPEN.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that if my dog had escaped (which she nearly did a couple of times) that she would have been across the parking lot and dead on the road.  She is FAST.  I was terrified to leave the entrance because I had to keep running over to close the gates behind people, at least a dozen times in the 1.5 hours I was there.  The only reason why I didn't leash up my dog and leave was because she hadn't seen her best friend (same fast breed) all winter and the weather was finally decent enough for a play date. 

At one point a bunch of people were coming in and they were opening both gates.  My friend and I asked a teenage boy who was just standing there in front of the open gate to please close it.  We explained why you have to open one at a time.  He said, quote: "Well this gate was already open when we got here."  I couldn't believe the sheer stupidity and negligence of so many people!

In all honesty, I had to take an anti-anxiety pill when I got home and I am seriously afraid to go back to that park.  What is supposed to be a relatively safe place to let your dog run off-leash is in reality a very dangerous place for my dog because of people.

I agree that the people leaving the gates open were way out of line. However, I'm a little confused about the bolded statement--does your dog not come when called or is she just such a runner that she'd be out before you could call her? I'm not a dog owner and don't know what normal dog-park standards are, but I always assumed that the dog reliably coming when called would be pretty vital for being off-leash in public, even in a dog park with the gates were closed. If another dog starts acting aggressive, or some other trouble breaks out (or some idiot compromi

Depending on the breed, a dog's hunting instinct may well overwhelm its recall training.  Dogs in the sight hound category (greyhounds, afghans,  whippets, etc) were bred to see an opening and run like lightning.  They're gone before you can react.  The same instinct will not kick in in other situations, at least as strongly, so while you can call a dog back from general playing or interacting with other dogs, if they've seen something interesting, it's pretty tough.  Just like a beagle will follow an interesting scent for miles - their instincts overwhelm (temporarily) their training.  I have a high prey drive dog, and it's almost impossible to call him off a cat - so we don't own cats, and he's never off leash anywhere cats might be.  If a cat were to wander into a dog park, it would take a few minutes to get past his instincts into the trained part of his brain.

[Team HoundMom]

Some dog park gates I've seen can't be left open unless there's someone there holding it, if you let go the gate shuts, any chance the gates could be changed to this?

I did write Letters to the Editor of both city newspapers suggesting this very thing, but City Hall is cheap and I can guarantee it won't happen.

Depending on the breed, a dog's hunting instinct may well overwhelm its recall training.  Dogs in the sight hound category (greyhounds, afghans,  whippets, etc) were bred to see an opening and run like lightning.  They're gone before you can react. 

Exactly this.  My dog is a Blue Tick Coon Hound. 

[TootsNYC]

Some dog park gates I've seen can't be left open unless there's someone there holding it, if you let go the gate shuts, any chance the gates could be changed to this?

I did write Letters to the Editor of both city newspapers suggesting this very thing, but City Hall is cheap and I can guarantee it won't happen.

Could you contact the Parks Department and find out if they'd take a donation? Then you could get a few people like you to pitch in $5 here and there, and buy one for the Parks people to install, or foot the bill.

It's more work on your end, but it might be effective.

[Elfmama]

Depending on the breed, a dog's hunting instinct may well overwhelm its recall training.  Dogs in the sight hound category (greyhounds, afghans,  whippets, etc) were bred to see an opening and run like lightning.  They're gone before you can react. 

Exactly this.  My dog is a Blue Tick Coon Hound.

Huskies will do this too.  And because they have absolutely no homing instinct, by the time they're finished running they can be 20 miles away with no idea how to get home again.

[Coralreef]

My Aussie would herd other dogs toward their owners.   

[kherbert05]

My Aussie would herd other dogs toward their owners.   

Mine do that. They have been also known to herd misbehaving kids toward their angry parents. My cousin was trying so hard to keep a straight face to scold her son and not laugh at the fact Abby and Andi were pushing her 9 yo son to her.

[P-p-p-penguin]

This literally happened about an hour ago:
My 28 yr old housemate: Are turtles mammals?
Me: o.O

[Reika]

This literally happened about an hour ago:
My 28 yr old housemate: Are turtles mammals?
Me: o.O

That made my brain cramp worse than when mom was telling me about Rocky being made as a musical.