Todd said, >Let those without faults, those without any mistakes and those that are >absolutely perfect, cast the first flames. And Julie said, >My Own Stupid Mistakes and as well as all the other posts regarding this subject? What is the matter with people? It never fails to make me wonder what goes through peoples minds. To flame, to degrate, what in the hell is the point? People need to realize that *everyone's* life is different, as well as the personalities of their pets. There have been debates regarding Marshall Farms, Pet Store Buying, children around pets and yadda yadda yadda. If people took the time to pay atteantion to their pets, then perhaps they would realize the personality and adapt to this. As well as their children (what children *are ok, versus what ferrets (animals) are ok with children and what children are not.) What pets are good with children, what pets are not. The common sense factor can go on and on and on. Sammie is a free roaming ferret. He has been with me going on two years this Christmas and has been free roaming ever since. There are nine other ferrets here as well as 6 dogs. Sammie hates other ferrets. He loves dogs. The toy chiwawa (can't spell) and the minature dashound play with him big time, as well as he LOVES it! The rest of the ferts? NO! The could never be free roam. They play in silverware!...The 9 others have their own room. Lots of fun stuff to do! Bootsie, (mini chawawa) *has* to jump in there with me every morning to clean their room. They bite her cause they don't know what she is. She is a play toy. Answer? WATCH the ferrets and Bootsie together. Supervise! My daughter? My son? Not a problem. They love the ferrets they know the dogs and treat them with respect. How? Raising children to respect ALL LIFE! The bottom line of this is I have been around animals all my life. I had a pony named Dum Dum that loved to Nip. He would pretend to eat his dinner and virtually move his lips over to your foot to bite. Smart as a whip when he wanted his way he would limp like he had hurt himself. The next bottom line is why do people have to be so mean? Why must people flame others because they believe they "know more", or "know what's best"? I'm probably not making alot of sense. Nevertheless, I've got animals. Alot of them. They are all taken care of very well. I know each of them as individuals. They are not "dogs" that should be here or should be there. They are not "ferrets". They are all individuals. Own personalities. I am constantly adding new toys to the ferret room for play. And btw, I leave for work at 7:30 a.m. I do not return home until 6:00. This is if I'm not working for the local newspaper, which is every Monday night or working for the Chamber of Commerce. This is not if I have a pet sitting job that takes up even more of my hours in the evening. This does not stop Panda going down the slide as many times as she wants, nor does it stop Hoppes from getting kisseys as he wants. I could go on and on. If people choose to accept animals in their life then they need to accept their personalities also. I have 8 ferrets that were "given" to me due to foster care. They could not take care of them. I have 2 dogs that I adopted myself, one from the humane society and one from the pound,(Bandit was found in the Landfill with his mom and his brothers and sisters), Snipper my sleeping buddy that I took from "the breeder" at 4 weeks cause she had him in a cardboard box with food thrown on the bottom and Winston, who someone decided to dump at the local supermarket at 5 weeks. I guess I'm just sounding off. I'm so tired of people blaming people for things they don't think are appropriate. I find it very said that we must do this. My husband, without a doubt, does not understand my way of thinking insofar as animals. But he respects them, and he respects me. Why can't people be more like him? Karen&Manna, the 9 year old who can nip train the best of them and the 10 carpet combers, + 6 dogs, 1 hamster and 1 g.pig who lives in the ferret room with absolutely no way for the ferrets to get him.... [Posted in FML issue 2767]