He’s gorgeous! It’s always hard to guess breed mixes based on appearance alone, as physical appearance is determined by such a small percentage of DNA. It’s always fun to guess, though! I’ve worked in various animal industries for years, and we always start a poll when someone submits their dog for DNA testing. My guess for the predominant breeds is either Belgian Malinois or German Shepherd, then Staffordshire terrier.

Congratulations on finding such a fantastic dog, and I hope you update us once his results are in!

And all lives matter, right? How else can we commandeer this conversation?

Hi, friend. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. It sounds like you’re really going through it.

I also deal with major depressive disorder. I’ve had severe panic attacks since I was a small child. My family situation was well below ideal, so my mental foundation is full of cracks. I can absolutely relate to the anhedonia and intrusive thoughts. I’ve even made a serious attempt, but I put too much faith in the integrity of my closet bar.

Have you considered inpatient treatment? When I was feeling like my only option was swinging by my neck again, I made the decision to check myself in. I figured I had literally nothing else to lose, so I surrendered. I went in at the height of covid, so the facility wasn’t operating as usual. I think the experience now would be better. Either way, though, taking a break from life for a week helped me refocus. I also got access to treatment options I didn’t know existed.

After I was discharged I entered into a partial hospitalization program. I had to go back from 8-3 every weekday to continue treatment. They monitored how my meds were working, and I spent a lot of time with people struggling with all kinds of issues. I found that to be really helpful. It put my own struggles in perspective, and I got the chance to talk with and help others in similar situations. All these years later, and I still keep in touch with some people I met in Don’t Kill Yourself School.

Once they were satisfied with my progress in partial, I progressed to what they call IOP. It was virtual meetings that took place 3 days a week with a therapist and group of people in treatment. It was a gradual reintroduction to my normal life. During all this time, I quit my toxic job that was ruining my mental health and got on meds that were actually working. I’m not going to lie, the work was hard. Very hard.

I continued seeing a therapist and took a months long course on dialectical behavioral therapy. It has its moments, but I didn’t find all the material to be particularly helpful. I have since switched therapists, and I’m doing trauma work with the hope of working my way up to EDMR.

This may not be for everyone, so please feel free to disregard this, but another hugely helpful treatment I discovered is psychedelic therapy. LSD and psilocybin have helped me get out of my well worn neuropathways and look at things differently. I honestly think these substances saved my life.

I hope you don’t mind me sharing my story with you, and I hope parts of it are helpful. When I was pondering committing myself, researching and reading other people’s experiences helped prepare me for what I would be dealing with. You have so many more options than you can see from the hole you’re in, and there is an entire community out there that is waiting to give you a hand up. It sucks hard right now, but that doesn’t mean it always will. I know you can do this. You’re intelligent, and the fact that you wake up every day and keep going shows your strength. If you can deal with everything you have been going through, you can absolutely handle the work it takes to change your life.

I hope you have a wonderful vacation. If you ever want to talk, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I would love to help in any way I can. Please take care. 💜

They make freeze dried raw salmon treats for dogs and cats. Mine go crazy for them!

I had the privilege of watching Tootoo ravage someone live and in person a few times, haha. I was just talking about him the other day as an example of small but serious. I miss the Tootoo whistles.

It’s so great to find another Preds fan on Lemmy! So glad we broke the streak last night against the Blues, and I’m becoming cautiously excited about the playoffs. I went down to Nashville when we lost in the finals in 2017 and am still recovering from the feels.

I am a huge hockey fan. Let’s go, Predators!

Yes, the fights are fun for fans, but they happen for a reason. Hockey is fast-paced and dangerous. Highly skilled players are targeted, and it’s not difficult to cheap shot a hit and put a valuable player on the injured reserve list. Enforcers are players whose main job is to bring a physical presence and protect their teammates. Fights most often happen as a response to a questionable hit. If you are the type of person who wants to rough up another player, you may think twice about it if that team has a big dude who will punch your face in for being dirty.

It’s also a morale thing. Sometimes when a team is getting pounded and underperforming, a fight will ignite and inspire the rest of the team to continue that energy. Sometimes teams simply hate each other due to rivalry or history, and their players are more likely to take offense to something.

Love it or hate it, it is a cultural norm in the game. The NHL made moves years ago to try to phase it out, but it seems lately to have come back with a vengeance. I’d personally rather see fighting than cheap-shotting, as injuries very rarely result from a fight.

Plus, if you really hate a player, it’s so satisfying seeing them get punched in the face.

I will admit I love introducing people to it, but I always preface it as the worst tasting liqueur for most people. I have a wonky palate, and I love bitter and herbal flavors. I have introduced it to some people who enjoy strong herbal flavors that hadn’t heard of it and were pleasantly surprised.

I usually have a bottle of Malort at home, and I especially love it when my stomach is unsettled. I sip it neat or on the rocks.

Fun aside, it’s also a great way to add some complexity and balance to an overly sweet sparkling wine. It has its place in making cocktails, but I get why most people don’t like it.

I saw the South Park Bigger, Longer, and Uncut movie in theaters as a kid. I lived in a small town adjacent to a small city, and there weren’t many other people in the theater. During the scene where the boys are watching the Terrace and Phillip movie and the theater-goers walk out, so did everyone else in our real life theater. It was surreal. We had a great time watching the rest of the movie by ourselves.

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Then eat Nexgard appropriate for your weight.

I’m sorry to be this person, but that’s an albatross chick. They are struggling to reproduce because of this problem. 😞

Also, natural variations in ingredients are a thing.

This week’s edition of "It’s so hard to shut the fuck up’.

For some people this works well. I am an introvert, and my alone time is necessary. Having a part of the day only for me is helpful. My partner feels the same way. Our schedules are mostly dictated by work, so we sometimes move closer together schedule-wise on the weekends. It’s a good balance for us, and we complement each other more because of it.

I’m actually surprised that my area of Wisconsin has the majority of these within a 15 minute walk. Bar included, of course. It makes me appreciate my neighborhood more.

She is so darling!

I cannot believe the ignorance and hatred on this site for pit bulls. Reddit was just as terrible. My most downvoted comments of all time have to do with pit bulls and breed stereotyping in general.

I’ve worked in the animal industries for decades and have a lot of first-hand experience with dogs, but all that means nothing in the eyes of people who would rather be afraid of stories they tell themselves. It’s so disheartening.

Yeah, probably when the system changes.

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This is the correct response. I don’t know a single vet who hasn’t done a spay-abort, and I’ve worked in animal welfare for decades.