Growing up, I loved it when our family game time came around. We’d all gather around the table with snacks and drinks and play Hearts. Those times have a special place in my memories.

Being a busy family of 6, we tended to go our separate ways a lot. So this was instrumental in reconnecting with each other. Because my husband’s family had the same fun times, we decided before we started our family to also implement this activity too.

As is common with childhood memories, you don’t see the problems involved in making such activities happen. We quickly realized that the age difference between our oldest and youngest (7 years) posed a problem in finding a game that both could play and enjoy.

A Few Ideas

Of course, I do have a couple of suggestions!! We discovered a very fun game last year called Mexican Train dominos. Easy to learn, fun to play and several people can play - good for a family of 7 and always a few strangling friends around. The dominos rules for Mexican Train we learned are different than the ones that came in the game (look at our website for how we play), but it worked best for our group.

Along with our Mexican Train dominos game, we found Apples to Apples. This game too can be played by all of us at the same time and we liked that it came in a junior version that was still fun for the older kids.

And for Christmas last year, Grandma bought a tile game called Blokus. It does involve some critical thinking skills, but our 7 yr. old was able to pick it up right away. It is only a 4-player game.

All these games are relatively inexpensive and sturdy. Mexican Train dominos, etal are definite must-haves for your family nights. You will enjoy the laughter and memories they will bring!

Aggression in a dog is something, which an owner should not tolerate and should be dealt with as soon as the problem arises. However, in order for an owner to find the right kind of dog aggression training they should be using to control this problem they need to understand the kinds of aggression that dogs suffer from.

In this article, we take a look at just what these are. It is important to remember that a dog may not only show just one type of aggression in fact they could show several.

1. Dominance - This kind of aggression will occur in a dog who thinks that they are in fact the alpha member (leader of the pack) and will use this as a way of asserting their dominance over the others in the pack (you and your family). Most commonly, you will find that male dogs and certain dog breeds are likely to suffer from this kind of aggressive behavior more. But in order for you to control the situation, you need to quickly and fairly establish that you and your family are the leaders in the group and they are at the bottom of the pack hierarchy.

2. Fear - A dog who suffers from this kind of aggression will generally find even the slightest noise can trigger an episode. In most cases such dogs will generally only growl, bark, bare their teeth or snap at the thing, which they are afraid or unsure of. However, should a owner choose to ignore the warning signs that their dog is suffering from this form of aggression it could lead to much more serious problems in the future. If left uncontrolled such dogs could end up causing injury to others as they may retaliate to the situation by biting what they feel is a threat to them.

3. Territorial/Over Protective - When a dog suffers from this kind of aggressive behavior if left and the owner chooses to ignore the problem they will become a danger to all those around them and not just to those they see as strangers or predators. This kind of problem will not be one that is a problem for the owner at home, but will also be one that will become a problem when the dog is away from it as well.

4. Possessive - This type of behavior can turn a loving pet into a real monster and will occur without any prior warning. Normally this kind of behavior occurs in a dog whose owner has allowed them to have their own way and is over something that they consider to be theirs. Such things that may trigger this kind of aggression in a dog is if when playing with them you choose to take away what they have or if you approach them as they eat their food. The only way to prevent this behavior becoming any worse is to immediately react to the situation as soon as you notice it happening.

5. Punishment - This kind of aggressive behavior occurs more often in those animals where punishment has been used excessively by their owners. Although initially when being punished the dog may not respond aggressively towards their owner, if over time the punishments become more severe then the chances of the dog responding in such a way is greatly increased.

Above we have looked at just a few of the types of aggression, which a dog may suffer from. Only once you are able to identify just what type of aggressive behaviour it is your dog suffers from, can you then find the right kind of dog aggression training for them. A quick search of the internet and you are going to be able to quite easily find the right kind of training for both you and your dog.

What you don’t know could turn out to be bad for your dog! While most of us don’t pay a lot of attention to what we’re feeding out pets, we really shouldn’t be trusting manufacturers to label things accurately and follow regulations. There aren’t actually very many rules about what can be used in dog food, and what you don’t know could make your dog very sick.

Not Fit To Eat

Did you know that many different brands of dog food could contain unpleasant substances like hair, ligaments, organs, skin, nervous tissue, and meat from diseased animals? Or that spoiled meat and the bodies of euthanized zoo animals and pets could be used?

Even the good meat that ends up in cat and dog food has undergone heavy processing, losing most of the value it once had. Ingredients like “poultry broth” and “animal meal” are far removed from the meat we imagine.

Animal meals are what’s left after all the meat and fat have been processed out of a carcass - any carcass at all. The remainder is ground and dried, producing a “meal” that’s similar in texture to ground grains. The broths in dog food are similarly unpleasant, made up of processed carcasses from all kinds of animals, in all kinds of condition.

It’s Legal!

Unfortunately, none of the disgusting or unhealthy ingredients in dog food are illegal. While we have reasonably strict rules about what can be part of human food and those laws are well enforced, pets don’t have that protection. Rules about pet food ingredients are much looser and more poorly enforced.

That means that almost anything could end up in your dog’s food, and that the labels on the package that claim it’s “healthy and balanced” have little to no meaning. All that those words mean, in a legal sense, is that those foods contain a particular percentage of fat, protein, and added minerals and vitamins.

Additives

We’ve all heard of recent pet food recalls caused by wheat gluten poisoned with melamine from China. However, that’s not the only additive that’s in pet food, and plenty of them are extremely dangerous as well. Preservatives that aren’t allowed in human food and cause serious illness in workers exposed to them are extremely common in dog food. Over time, they can cause cancer, illness, liver and kidney failure and many other problems. The food you give to your pet could be causing him or her to become sick.

Expensive Brands, Too

This is happening in cheap dog foods, but there’s no way to tell if the expensive ones are affected, too. these pet foods are often higher in quality, but sometimes they’re not. That means that even if your vet recommends it, you have to do your research.

Solutions

There are a number of things you can do to protect your dog. First, learn to read the label - ingredients higher on the label are in larger percentages. That means you should look for named meats instead of generic terms, broths or meals.

You should also learn which additives and preservatives are safe and which ones are dangerous. Avoid foods with too many grains, since they tend to be bad for your pet in the long run. You can also find a number of quality recipes out there to help you create nutritious diets for your dog. Just make sure you do something!

Do you always worry what your employees are up to behind your back? Or if you are a concerned parent who wants to know what the nanny is up to in their absence. Then you can put an end to all your worries by installing a hidden spy cam that will keep a vigilant eye on them. A nanny cam is going to monitor every move your nanny is making but it is going to protect your house from intruders as well. If buying a hidden camera has always been on your mind for quite some while now, then you will have two major options to choose from namely wireless and wires.

The wireless hidden gadgets were making use of batteries to record all the events and there was no wire that was attached; whereas the wired one has a tangible wire that is running from the recording equipment and transmitter. A nanny cam is just like any other object that is right in front of you but has a camera installed in it. This high tech video camera can be placed in any part of your home. The options can range from your mundane furniture to a toy with which the baby plays with. You can find even nanny cams installed even in wall clocks at the www.my-spycam.com.

Perhaps the most tempting thing about these specialized cameras is that they can be hidden in almost any object in a home, and lack any messy wires. Keeping a vigilant watch on your nanny or intruder could not be any easier than it is with a teddy bear camera. The wireless spy camera is so light weight and handy that it would very easily fit in your purse or even your shirt pocket. They come in a complete package, easy to use and simple to install. Some cameras feature wide-angle viewing, which comes in handy when you need to survey a large area.

The distance between the receiving unit that could be a monitor or a TV set should be within 150 feet radius for it to operate efficiently. You can supervise anyone with this high tech and innovative designed camera. The output that one receives in colour mode is remarkable, the picture quality is clear and so is the video. The best part is that these nanny cams don?t cost a fortune too you can find one that will fit your needs. Now you can be rest assured that your child is in safe monitoring in the supervision of the nanny.

There are many shops available in the market but if you always wanted a bargain and want the security product at an unbeatable price then my-spy cam portal is the one for you. This online site is so simple and right in the comfort of your home you will make your purchase. They have all the possible options that you ever wanted for security within your home and business. Now by making a simple choice you will have all the trust back in your nanny or keep a vigilant eye on the intruders.

There are several internet stores that cater to animals, and where you will find dog cookie pet treats. I have included a few of them in this article and listed some of the dog cookie pet treats they offer.

Canine Cookie Company dog pet treats are oven baked and made from the best ingredients, and are all natural. Some of their treats are sweetened with corn syrup and molasses, there is no added salt or processed sugar in their dog treats. They offer several options when looking for just the right treat for your animal. One of their best values is their “BAGGED TREATS”; you are able to choose which treats you want to purchase in a 10 ounce bag. The price is $4.15.

Another internet store having dog food is Pet Smart. They include the following items

Pet Smart is another internet store that carries dog cookie pet treats, below are some of your options. You can purchase Great Choice Healthy Treats for $3.49

At $1.99 it is possible to get Exclusively Dog Peanut Butter Flavor Sandwich Crme Dog Cookies

You can order Exclusively Dog Vanilla Flavor Sandwich Crme Dog Cookies for $1.99 and avail similar price for duplex Sandwich Crme Dog Cookies

Buy Exclusively Dog Best Buddy Bones Cheese Flavor dog treats at $1.99

The Old Dog Cookie Company offers treats that are all natural, yet help pets with Arthritis relief and diabetes management. These treats are herbal based, to help you maintain good health for your pet. These cookies are very good for older dogs as they help with the pain of arthritis. The Old Dog Cookie Company was started in 1996. They are geared to creating a much better life for older dogs with arthritis, and any dog with diabetes. They are dedicated to the life of your best friend.

You can find more websites which have natural dog cookie pet treats for the canine, and the goods are made from natural ingredients. Many of them offer excellent but simple treat for the dogs. If you are looking for something special and interesting you can check out Rover. Go through the websites and you will get what you want.

DYNAMIC SPEED READING becomes a part of long-term memory. We believe this is caused by intense concentration. Intense concentration causes the altering of states of consciousness which, in turn, accesses long-term memory.

The other factor is eidetic or auditory memories. You can remember everything you have ever seen or heard, even if you weren’t paying attention to what was said. Your brain/mind, like a computer, stores all memories.

As you start to learn the various methods used in the BE DYNAMIC THROUGH SPEED READING, you’ll notice learning skills improving quickly! It is techniques repeated over and over, with visualization and various other added methods that will help you achieve the results you desire and be the best you can possibly be.

All of this will make you a better student, employee, communicator, and decision maker in your life. And only one of your benefits will be that you will cut reading time on reports, memos, correspondence, newspapers, novels, non-fiction, magazine, etc. You will save time, and the saying goes …”time is money”.

Writers get paid by the word in articles and by % of gross sales (royalties) in book publishing. The thicker the book the higher the price and the higher the royalty. Writers are unnecessary verbose. This means is there are many words within sentences that are just there as fillers; what you have to learn to do, through the Be Dynamic Through Speed Reading program, is only read the words that are essential.

Dr. Jay Palmar created the “Be Dynamic Through Speed Reading” program to share these valuable tools with students to help them get the most out of their reading experience.

If an owner wishes along with using verbal commands to control their animal, they can also use hand commands as well. When it comes to teaching your dog the various different kinds of dog-training hand commands, you will in the beginning need to use verbal commands also. In this article, we look at just one of the ways in which a dog owner can teach such commands to their dog.

Certainly, teaching your dog hand signals is very simple and most dogs will find them very easy to understand. But in order to get started on training them you will need a few treats, which you can provide to your dog as a reward for getting what, you have asked (signalled) of them right.

It is important that in the beginning when you are teaching your dog to react to hand commands is that you use the words as well. Therefore, you will need to decide which hand signals relate to which commands you will be giving to your dog. Only once you have made a decision on which verbal commands go with which hand signals can you then start your dogs training.

When you first start your dogs hand command training you will need to say the word and show them very deliberately the hand movement at the same time. This you will need to repeat several times to them before they start to understand what it is that you would like them to do. Immediately you notice that they have reacted as you begin to raise your hand and say the word then this is the time that they should be rewarded.

With this kind of training you will need to repeat the verbal commands every time you do the hand signals in the beginning, then as time progresses you need to start eliminating the verbal ones. Although you should be still praising your dog and offering them rewards these should only be offered when they actually respond to the hand commands and not the verbal ones as well. It is a good idea to very slowly and gradually stop using the verbal commands and replace them with hand ones only.

Then when you start to notice that your dog is reacting purely to your hand commands only then this is the stage when you start to stop giving them food as a reward. However, you should never eliminate the rewards immediately from the training and if you want praise, them slightly for doing as commanded instead of offering them food.

When you are going to be teaching your dog to respond to hand commands rather than verbal ones it is a good idea to start of with the most basic commands that you want your dog to respond to. Most owners will start of with the ones we all learn in the beginning with our dogs, which is sit, stay, down and come. Only once you feel that you and your dog are ready should you be moving on to commands that are far more elaborate.

When it comes to getting advice on the right ways for you to do dog training hand commands there is plenty of places where you can get help. The internet is a great source for finding advice and information on the correct dog training hand command techniques to be used.

The colors in the Upper Peninsula in the fall will be well worth the trip to see. There are nine different areas that are suggested. The first is a trip of 105 miles from Hancock to Lake Linden, on to Lac La Belle, Bete Grise and then to Copper Harbor. Leave Copper Harbor and go to Eagle River and on to Calument and Laurium and back to Hancock. The route covers Mackinac County with the peak color expected in mid-October, Chippewa County with the peak color expected the first two weeks of October, Luce County with peak color expected the first two weeks of October and Schoolcraft County with the peak color also being the first two weeks in October. This is called the Eastern Upper Peninsula tour.

The Central Upper Peninsula tour goes from highway 107 to 64 at Silver City, on to Ontonagon, then hwy 45 to Rockland and Victoria where you backtrack to highway 26 and go to Greenland. You split at Greenland and take highway 38 to Baraga then hwy 41 to Chassel and Houghton where you take highway 26 to Twin Lakes and back to Greenland. This tour is 200 miles and covers Delta County where the peak will be around the second week in October, Monominee County where the peak will be the first or second week in October, Dickinson County with peak being the first week in October, Marquette County with the first week in October being peak and Alger County where peak will be the last week in September to the first week in October.

Now you can take the third tour which takes you on hwy 2 from Ironwood and Wakefield to Watersmeet, Iron River and Crystal Calls on the Western Upper Peninsula. Then take hwy 141 to Covington and then to highway 28 to Bruce Crossing and back to the beginning at Wakefield. Peak season for seeing this colorful route is the last week in September and the first week in October.

The fourth option is to start in Ishpeming on highway 29, go to highway 510 to Nagaunee and Big Bay, then 550 to Marquette and 28 to Munising, where you can take highway H 58 to H 15 to Singleton and highway 28 to Highway 94 to Chatham, Gwinn and then 35 to Palmer and back to Ishpeming. This trip is 165 miles.

The fifth option is a shorter one beginning at Iron Mountain and Norway on Hwy 2 to Spalding and then highway 41 to Menominee and hwy 35 to Cedar River and Escanaba. Just 125 miles long but full of beauty.

Now on to tour 6 which is from Esdanaba on highways 2 and 41 to Rapid River. Turn onto highway 2 and go to Manstique and Saint Ignace. Although this tour is 183 miles it runs quite straight along the bottom area of the peninsula.

Tour 7 is form Whitefish Point to Paradise on hwy 123 then to Newberry and hwy 28 to Seney where you take 77 to Grand Marais and H58 to Deer Park and back to hwy 123 and Paradise. This is 150 miles long.

The 8th tour begins at Saint Ingace which is on hwy 75 and goes on to Kincheloe and Sault St. Marie. Then drop down to highway 129 and Pickford where you will take hwy 48 to Goetzville and De Tour Village getting on 134 to Cedarville and then back to Saint Ignace. 150 miles of foliage to enjoy.

Number 9 is off highway 28 where you join highway 123 and enter Eckerman. Follow 123 north to Paradise and then back to the intersection to turn east toward Curley Lewis Scenic Highway. You will stay on this to Bay Mills and Brimley. Of all the suggested tours this is the shortest being only 90 miles. A Tour of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula