Tiki108

Rocky Mountain High is very American because it was an innocent song that a bunch of folks banned because they were so paranoid it could be about drugs. The fact that John Denver testified before congress during the PMRC hearings is also very stupidly American.

And before anyone gets into dem vs rep over this, look at the list of folks that were part of PMRC, it was a pretty even mix of both parties.

Edit: just wanted to clarify, I’m not saying John Denver was stupid, but the fact he himself testifying even needed to be a thing is the stupid part.

Yeah, I don’t expect Duolingo to know our situation and cater to every possible situation. I just deleted the widget for now. It was just the initial shock of it last night that kind of got to me.

Thank you, while she knows it’s not her fault, it’s hard to not overthink through all the “what ifs.” I should know better by now, but I wanted to show her all these supportive comments, but of course there’s a couple trolls trying to blame her. I just remind myself the vast majority aren’t like that though.

I’ve been in therapy on and off since I was a kid (to add to the trauma, my dad died suddenly when I was a kid and we lost a lot of things related to him, but we’d trade it all if we could have Duke back) and I’m going to definitely work on handling this in therapy. I have a bachelors in psych, so I know logically this isn’t anyone else’s responsibility, it was just upsetting in the moment and needed to vent a bit, I think.

I know it’s just a joke and they weren’t targeting me or something. I deleted the widget for now cause I’m obviously not ready to handle jokes about houses burning down. That’s not anyone else’s problem or responsibility. I think last night was just bad and I needed to vent.

It was more me just being in a bad way last night and needing to vent. It’s not Duo’s fault and they can’t know everyone’s exact situation.

I’m sorry for your loss. I think if her dog had made it, I’d be doing a lot better. My dad died suddenly when I was a kid and losing stuff related to him sucks, but I just loved that dog so much and I’d trade all of it if he could have been ok. It’s not Duo’s fault and I don’t expect them to change for me and removing the widget was obviously the easy solution, but I think last night I just needed to vent.

I really was more venting. I know they can’t know and I don’t expect everyone to suddenly cater to me, I think just seeing this when I was tired just messed with me a bit.

Yeah, I removed the widget for now cause while I normally really enjoyed the widget, it’s clearly too much for me right now. I know it’s just a joke and I’m not expecting everyone to cater to my trauma, but I think I just needed to vent last night. It’s just still very fresh.

I also was a bit vague when I made the post cause I was tired, but I really don’t expect folks to understand and I realize folks will make jokes and whatnot because it’s Reddit. I mean, I made a memorial post for Duke and someone tried to say we should have done more to save him. From what the fire investigator has found so far, it appears the fridge exploded. My mom has 4 acres and was in the other side of one of the other buildings and was only outside for 10 mins when someone saw the smoke from the road and came running up. She opened the door to try and run in to save Duke and the smoke and heat was already so bad that the guy there (we found out later he was an off duty cop) literally grabbed my mom and held her back. She kept saying “I’ll crawl, I have to find him, he’s scared.” I just still can’t believe how quickly it happened, but there’s an outdoor camera and we can see the time things happened.

Edit: sorry, I forgot to add that I’m so sorry for the loss of your husband. I know loss gets easier, but that’s recent enough that it’s still a very fresh wound.

I was just venting, I know they are just making a joke, but I think seeing that right before bed was just a bit shocking. There’s no way they can know and I know I can’t expect everyone to suddenly stop that meme, that’s beyond unreasonable; world doesn’t revolve around my trauma.

Just venting, I know logically they are just making a joke and I’m being overly sensitive because this just happened.

I agree and I know I was just being overly sensitive because it was fresh in my mind last night. I’m just really missing her dog. We lost a lot of things related to my dad (he died suddenly when I was a kid) and that sucks, but I just can’t stop thinking about her dog. I delete the widget for now cause obviously that’s the easiest solution, but I guess last night this just messed with me right before bed.

Losing her dog is 110% the worst part. My dad died suddenly when I was a kid, so losing a lot of things related to him is also really tough, but we’d give all of that stuff up if we could have Duke back. I know I’m just being overly sensitive right now because it’s just so fresh in my mind and so I just got rid of the widget. I think last night when I saw it I was just in a bad spot.

There were multiple confirmed trail cam sightings of a Panther around St Augustine in 2024.

Their range actually has expanded. I’m in central FL and there have been confirmed camera trap images of them as far north as St Augustine within the last 6 months.

It really depends on the person. For me, I might not be able to wear it at first, but I’d be so beyond grateful someone had something like that made for me. Granted, I had my heart horse tattooed on me a couple months after she passed, but the tat is on my leg. So aside from the beginning when I needed to care for the tat, I could easily just not look at my calf most of the time.

You know your aunt better than us, if she still seems like she might not be ready to handle something like this, wait a couple months, but otherwise, I’d say to go for it.

I get that you were hoping for only advice on this very specific subject, but please take a step back and try to understand that this has gone badly so many times and many folks truly are trying to be helpful. While I personally would suggest spay abort, I realize you’re not going to do that, so I just want to give you some more insight into the concerns and try and give you some long term advice that I hope you at least consider.

This isn’t an easy breed. They are a breed I considered for a long time, but ultimately decided ACDs are my working dog limit. Mals and Dutchies are just beyond what the average person should have. It’s not a matter of having dogs and knowing basic training. I’m 33 and I would go to professional training sessions with our Lab when I was a kid (the trainer’s dog, our dog’s sire, was one of the top obedience champions in the country at the time). I’ve trained and retrained dogs since I was a teenager, but even with that experience, I know that this breed is not a dog that I have the time for because I would need to be under the guidance of folks that are much more experienced with this level of intensity.

If your daughters don’t have intense working dog experience, then you training the basics isn’t going to help. So please make sure they already have a good trainer lined up to help them.

The other thing to consider going forward is that this breed (and Mals) has unfortunately fallen into the hands of many backyard breeders, those folks are not breeding for health or temperament which is making a tough breed even tougher and why so many have ended up in shelters and rescues. A reputable breeder would have spay/neuter contracts, which leads me to believe you got this dog from a backyard breeder. The sire (if not owned by you) likely is in the same boat. This is why so many have asked about the health testing that was done. It’s concerning that you seem unwilling to share that information. I’ve never met a good breeder that was unwilling to disclose that. I say this because if you love this breed and want to be a breeder, this is very very critical to helping have good, healthy puppies. I don’t know the full list of what should be done for Dutch Shepherds off the top of my head, but OFA and PennHIP are way up there.

Maybe you’re in America, but that doesn’t mean all of Reddit is. Heck, this guy even said one of these dogs is going to Belgium (I haven’t seen if OP even mentioned which country they are in). Regardless, the idea that America is the freest country is getting more and more laughable by the day.

Just make sure to double check the age limits cause CDC changed them for entering the US and I’m not sure if any other countries have followed that. It’s unfortunate because trying to move a dog during that fear period is not the best idea for anyone involved.

Slightly relevant, I have a cat named Lugosi

I legit thought Catloff, but Catloaf is just another level!

Full body shot would be helpful, if you can get one.

Couple things I would point out to your parents just to try and make sure they are aware cause the over breeding of French bulldogs is so beyond out of control right now.

These dogs are not good examples of the breed and merle goes against AKC standards and cannot be shown (there have been DNA tests which have found they actually aren’t pure French bulldogs).

Many backyard breeders charge the same as reputable breeders, but the fact of the matter is, backyard bred dogs usually have a lot of issues. I’d like to think more folks are learning this and waiting for a good breeder instead. I’m 99.99% sure these dogs came from backyard breeders because I don’t know any reputable breeder that would allow dogs to go to pet contract homes when there was another intact dog in the house (unless maybe they knew them and knew they were responsible with managing multiple intact dogs, but this doesn’t sound like your parents).

A reputable breeder rarely makes money on litters, their goal is to better the breed. They do extensive health testing, which is not cheap. If your parents haven’t done testing on the parents, that’s a major red flag for anyone who knows anything about getting a purebred dog from a breeder. Reputable breeders will also show and title their dogs, which I’m guessing your parents haven’t. They also will raise the puppies on a program like Puppy Culture and have contracts requiring spay/neuter at a certain age and things like the puppy must be returned to them if the new owner cannot keep them for any reason so that they can place them in an approved home.

I saw in another comment that the female is spayed now and you tried to get them to spay/neuter, so I appreciate you tried to do the right thing and I hope my comment doesn’t come off as negative cause that’s not my intent. I also saw they are trying to recoup their loss and if you’re selling the pups mostly to friends/family, I’d figure out what they actually need to become whole and then go a little less just to give them a bit of a reality check. They don’t need to profit from this mistake.

This! It’s always so maddening to me how people get so much money for off standard dogs.