Floenz Blog

One of the few things that dog owners or prospective dog owners think about is whether or not they will need to train their dog. Although training a dog is not absolutely essential unless your dog has a particular problem, a small amount of training to remove bad habits and set boundaries for your dog should be considered. In addition to this, a well trained dog will feel much more secure in your home when it knows its boundaries. Even in the wild, a dog will have some sort of enforced boundaries of behavior by the pack structure and hierarchy that exists. At the end of the day, your dog is part of your ‘pack’.

A very important point to note about dog training is that any form of training should be approached from the perspective of ‘positive reinforcement’. This simply means that you should reward your dog with praise, a treat or even better, both for any positive behavior that she exhibits. Success will come quickly to anybody who praises a dog for good behavior. The same cannot be said for somebody who punishes a dog for NOT exhibiting good behavior.

For example - If you ask your dog to sit and she does, you give her a treat. In the dogs mind sitting when told equals treat. Simple.

Now what if you tell the dog to sit and she doesn’t, and then you punish her? In the dogs mind you have just dished out a random punishment for nothing. This will only serve to confuse your dog and lead her to mistrust you.

Positive reinforcement is the key.

One of the most common mistakes that dog owners make is to inadvertently train their dog……. into bad habits. Typical examples include barking, face licking, jumping up. Let’s look at each of these.

Barking - Most dogs’ bark, that’s a fact. It’s WHEN a dog barks that determines whether it’s normal behavior or a bad habit. If your dog only barks when somebody comes to the door - fine. This is normal territorial behavior. Your dog is warning you - as a member of its pack - that there’s potential danger at the door.

If your dog spends the best part of its waking life barking at just about anything including you, then it’s formed into a bad habit - but one that is easy to cure.

The first mistake that people make is to shout “Quiet” or “Shut up” at their barking dog. The main reason why this will not work is simple. Your dog barks, then you ‘bark’. From your perspective you are shouting at your dog to shut up. From your dogs’ perspective, you are barking along and enjoying the noise.

A more effective method is to wait for a pause in your dogs barking then heap lots of praise and a treat upon your dog. As soon as the barking starts again, ignore your dog, walk off - anything but DO NOT pay your dog any attention. Then, when the barking stops its treat time again. It won’t be long before your dog puts two and two together.

Face Licking - Face licking is an overthrow from your dog’s puppy days. Face licking is a way for a puppy to get its mother to regurgitate food for them. You will often see this in the wild. Also wild dogs will lick the face of a higher member of the pack to express and accept their submissive status in the pack. Unfortunately, because you and your family members are higher in the pack, you get the licks!

At first sight face licking is not a problem but should still be avoided due to health concerns. Never let a dog lick a baby or toddlers face. This is likely to expose the infant to germs that its immune system may not be able to handle. Similarly if your dog has worms or has been investigating other dogs’ faeces or even grooming itself, the last thing you want is for your dog to come and lick your face. Try and discourage this behavior using positive reinforcement.

When your dog approaches your face firmly - but not shouting - say “No!” If the dog doesn’t back off push her away from your face. When the dog first responds to the “No” phrase, it’s time for a treat. Keep this up consistently, and the dog will realize face licking is unacceptable.

Jumping Up - Jumping up may not seem such a bad habit, but if there are young children about it can be quite dangerous. Your dog will not know that jumping on you is o.k. but jumping on the children isn’t. This will just confuse the dog. Try to discourage this behavior by telling the dog “Down!” every time she jumps up. Give her a treat when she first responds and every time after until you just need to use the words.

There are lots of simple ways that you can train your dog. These are just a few. There’s no need to tolerate bad habits in your dog as they can be so easily remedied. Oh, and never pay heed to the phrase “You can’t teach on old dog new tricks”, you can - it’s never too late.

Article By Andrew Strachan. Find lots more information about different dog breeds and types of dogs at www.types-of-dogs.com. Lots of help and advice too.

Conducting an air purifier comparison can be a daunting task - there are so many different manufacturers’ products available on the market, using a wide variety of differing technologies. How is the ordinary person to know which one is best for them? Choosing the right air purifier for you comes largely down to the particular needs of your household, but whether you have asthma or chemical sensitivity, here is a quick air purifier comparison to help illustrate the purifiers you shouldn’t buy.

There are a variety of different technologies utilized in the air purification systems available today, and while some of these receive more publicity than others, an air purifier comparison quickly shows us that some systems simply don’t live up to the hype. Most of us have heard, for example, a whole lot about the Sharper Image air purifier, or we may have picked up something about ozone air purifiers. Just remember - just because a system generates a lot of attention doesn’t necessarily mean it’s for the right reasons.

Air purifier comparisons consistently turn up negative evidence on a few of the technologies employed in the air purification systems you will see in stores. Ion air purifiers, for example, while popular with many consumers, are seen by experts to be fairly ineffective. This type of unit, like the Sharper Image air purifier, rely largely on hype to get you to spend your money, so be careful before you buy to perform your own air purifier comparison, to ensure that the information offered by the marketers is reliable.

An internet air purifier comparison will quickly show that another technology, ozone, is deemed by many experts to not only be ineffective, but can actually be dangerous to your health. There are many useful studies available online on this topic, so be sure to utilize these when making your personal air purifier comparison.

Your air purifier comparison should always consider the needs of you and your family, but remember, regardless of your particular requirements, an ozone or an ion air purifier are probably not the best or safest choice.

Air purifier comparisons aren’t easy, but there are some to avoid.

For a website totally devoted to Air Purifiers visit Peter’s Website Air Purifiers Explained and find out about Air Cleaners as well as The Best Air Purifiers and more, including Electronic Air Purifiers, Hepa Air Purifiers, Ozone Air Purifiers, Room Air Purifiers and Whole House Air Purifiers.

When choosing to have a credit card or credit arrangement how many of us take an interest in the APR or look into how much our borrowing will cost us over the year that we have a credit amount outstanding.

The APR or annual percentage rate that is used for a credit card or credit facility is our guideline as to how much interest we will be paying to the financial lender on the money we borrow.

With the competition nowadays to offer us credit on all matter of consumables we can all to easily forget that what we sign for today on a credit card or credit arrangement will inevitably cost us considerably more than the original purchase price if we don’t make some preliminary investigations into the total cost of the item including the financial lenders interest.
So when making your next purchase using a credit card, or any other credit arrangement, be sure to enquire first what the APR is and what the total cost of the item will cost you including the interest.

As a basic guideline obviously the lower the APR is, the smaller the amount of interest charged should be, however it is always wise to ask for a full quotation of the total cost in writing when ever possible.

Also check what APR your current credit card is charging and make the time to see what better offers are being made by the other financial institutions, it is not uncommon nowadays to find interest rates now being offered from 0% to the high 20% range.

Again it is also well worth asking how long the interest rate being offered is guaranteed for as some companies may offer an attractive introductory rate for a short period of time which when reverted back to their normal rate may be far more uncompetitive than others available.

Copywrite 2005 Terry Till

http://www.credit-card-offer-deal.info

With the 125% loan, the home owner is able to borrow more than the actual value of the home. The actual amount available to be borrowed in a 125% loan is dependent upon the real estate value of the home and the amount already owed on the home through a mortgage or other loan program. The 125% loan is often used to access cash for large purchases. The 125% loan may also be used to make home improvements and increase the real estate value of the home. Because the 125% is a partially unsecured loan it may have higher rates than other home mortgage loans.

The 125% loan translated into dollars

The 125% loan uses a calculation of home value percentage to determine the amount available for the loan. The125% loan means that you are able to access more than the total amount of the home’s value up to 125% of the total value of the home. (This number is calculated by dividing the worth of the home by four and adding this number to the worth of the home.) However, this does not mean that you will be able to automatically get, in cash, 125% of the home’s value. The 125% loan is calculated by determining the value of the home, multiplying that value by 125% and then subtracting the outstanding amount owed on the home.

Real estate value changes over time

The real estate market fluctuates and the value of your home will change over time, usually increasing if the home is properly maintained. The 125% loan is based upon the value of your home at the time of the loan. If the value of the home has increased significantly since the home was first purchased, the 125% loan may actually give you significantly more money than you need to repay the first loan and make home improvements. Home improvements will further increase the market value of your home, creating the potential for generating enough revenue through rental or sale of the home to repay the 125% loan.

Using the money from the 125% loan

The money obtained from the 125% loan may be used for any large purchases. However, it is usually wise to first use the money to repay any other outstanding loans on the home. The reason for this is that it is difficult to pay two monthly mortgage bills each month which is effectively the case when you take out the 125% loan on a home which already has an outstanding mortgage.

Partially secured loan

The 125% loan is a partially secured loan which uses the home as equity. Because the total amount of the loan is more than the actual value of the home, that portion of the 125% loan which exceeds the value of the home is not secured by home equity. This makes the 125% loan a somewhat risky investment to lenders. Because of this the 125% loan sometimes has a higher interest rate than a standard mortgage loan. In fact, the interest rate may be different on the unsecured portion of the 125% loan than on the portion of the 125% loan which is secured by home equity. The actual rates and amount of repayment of the 125% loan will depend upon the credit of the borrower and the total amount borrowed.

Martin Lukac, represents RateEmpire.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies! Visit http://www.RateEmpire.com today

It is a common belief that management and leadership are the same role. While it is common that a manager also plays the part of the leader, these two roles are truly separate in function and in the way they add to the success of an orginization. By understanding the difference between management and leadership you will become more effective in helping others see the road ahead.

To understand the difference between management and leadership, consider the construction of a new road. To build that road there are workers, machinery and tools which are all vital in the road’s construction. Managers help ensure those workers, machinery and tools work together in the most efficient way possible. A manager makes sure those workers are well-trained, motivated, rested and that they know what they’re supposed to do next. The manager does the same thing with the tools and the machinery to make sure that they’re working correctly and that the workers are able to use them efficiently and safely. This is the role of management. On the other hand, a leader makes sure that the road is going in the right direction before the construction begins. That leader also monitors conditions in new situations to ensure that the road under construction is still the correct one and is still going in the right direction.

How does this affect you as a leader? Are you spending your time managing people when you should be making sure that the road ahead is the one that you want to be on? To expect to be an effective leader you must present a clear vision and a trail you are willing to walk on first. While there are times when it is appropriate for a leader to fill a management role, it is vital to understand the difference between leadership and management so you can be effective no matter which role you happen to be filling at a given time. If you are a leader overseeing managers, it is important that you provide them with the correct perspective so they may be effective in their management role. Don’t manage the managers. Lead them.

If you are not in a formal leadership role, it is also important that you understand that when a leadership opportunity arises there is a difference between being a leader and managing the effort. Even if you end up filling both sets of shoes it’s important to understand the difference in roles in order to fill them effectively. If, on the other hand, you learn how to lead by showing people that you are walking down the right road, you will become a natural leader and will be able to help many others find success as your achieve your own.

You can learn more about effective leadership by reading “12 Winning Leadership Qualities: Unleash the Leader Instinct Within You” at http://www.unleashtheleaderwithinyou.com

When you are in a bind and have a financial emergency a payday loan can be a real help in these situations. However, you should be extremely careful when taking out any type of payday loans as the fees that you will be charge can become extremely large. The whole purpose of a payday loan is to help you when you need money fast and right away. Many people use a payday loan to help them with unforeseen car repairs, bounced checks, pay off a utility bill that is threatening disconnection, emergency trips, or even to pay rent. In general, those who use a payday loan company are generally having a rough go about life and in financial pitfalls.

The bad thing about payday loans that even though they are there for the short term loans and for emergencies, they can become pains in the rear. If you need emergency cash for any reason they are there to “help” however they will charge you an arm and a leg for that help. The fees charged by a payday loan company can become extremely high and if you do not pay it off right away, you run the risk of having even more money added. How a payday loan works is that you place an application with the company and tell them you need money. You will be required to have a checking account with proof of it (like a statement), proof of income, address, and show some photo identification.

There are no credit checks with a payday loan; you are just simply required to provide information about yourself, your checking account, and the company you work for. You will then write them a post dated check for your next payday and for the amount they have loaned you, in addition to the fees and interests they will charge. When your next payday arrives, you will have three options. You can either opt to allow them to deposit your check into your checking account for payment, go there is person and pay off the loan and receive your post dated check in return, or rollover the loan with a payment on the interest and fees.

It is important you fully investigate all of your options and sound advice would be to only use a payday loan service as a very last resort, because this could end up causing more problems than necessary if you are not careful.

Jeff Lakie is a contributing author at our website where
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What is the ideal golfing trip?

For some golfers the ideal outing would be going to a major course and getting to play on it, knowing professional golfers had played over this same course.

What golfer would not want to play the course where the Master’s or U.S. Open is held?

Most would almost kill (figuratively speaking) for the chance.

These are courses where legends have played - players such as Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. (Yes, Woods can be considered a legend of golf based simply on the fact he has won so many tournaments at such a young age.)

For others, though, the ideal golfing is not so much where they play as to the weather conditions. Some golfers prefer a day with mild temperatures and a light breeze to help keep them cool, while others want a challenge and will go to the extremes weather-wise.

There are those who will play when the temperature hits triple digits, or drops well below freezing, just to see how well they play under these circumstances.

And, there are golfers who will play in the snow and at night. Specially designed golf balls have been created for these golfers.

The night players can chase their glow-in-the-dark golf balls all over the course, but need to take a flashlight to prevent running into a tree or some other hazard on the course. For those who play in the snow, fluorescent golf balls were created. These brightly colored balls are easy to see against the snow-covered course.

Either way, golfing in the extreme is a challenge, and not one for the faint of heart, or the poor of play. For golfers who play in extreme heat, they need to remember to bring plenty of water to drink and leave all alcoholic beverages alone.

Those who play in the cold should have something warm to drink in a thermos to help keep their body temperature up, even if they are walking the course. But, these people tender to consider this to be ideal golf outings.

For most golfers, though, the ideal golf outing is simply the chance to go to their favorite course with a few friends and chase golf balls all over the pasture, just having a good time and not taking the game too seriously.

This is the most prevalent type of golfer, and these players can usually be found playing in couples and foursomes. They will chide one another on a bad shot, while complimenting one another on good shots and putts. The final score rarely matters (unless they tend to be serious golfers), as they are on the links to have a good time and get away from the stresses of every day life.

Oddly enough, there are golfers who prefer to play the game by themselves. The solo golfer will most likely walk the course, getting to know the feel of every tee box, fairway and green with his or her feet.

Whether you’re looking to travel to new courses every chance you get, to find extreme challenges, hoping to improve your game, or just enjoy the drive, the putt and the satisfaction of a completed round of golf, it’s up to you to define your ideal golfing experience. All that’s left after that is to go out and make it happen.

All that’s left after that is to go out and find a great place to play. The author prefers the Golfurlaub resource to find those places.

You have probably come across potty training sticker charts and other rewards systems that parents use when potty training their children. Some parents will simply use the stickers as a reward, others will reward their child’s overall progress with a bigger prize or present (like a new toy) once they get a certain amount of stickers on their chart. Some parents are reporting success with using small candies like M&Ms as a reward for using the potty.

Is using a rewards system during potty training a good idea or are we just bribing our children? It’s a good question and of course brings up some valid concerns that you may have as a parent entering into the world of potty training.

You most definitely have to be careful how you use a rewards system when potty training. You want it to be encouraging, easy to attain the rewards, yet challenging enough to make your child try.

You apparently also have to be careful how you word the “terms” of the reward to your toddler. A friend of mine promised her boy a particular toy car that he wanted if he didn’t do number two in his pants for two weeks. The boy didn’t; in fact, he didn’t poop at all during those two weeks, which ended with an enema in the doctor’s office. Of course this story is a little extreme, but nevertheless it stresses the point that we need to be very clear with our kids about what we expect in return for the potty training reward.

For me personally, a combination of lots of verbal praise and a potty training chart that showed the child’s progress with stickers has worked best. But every child is different, has his or her own personality. Your child may respond better to a few M&Ms or a larger toy. Try what you feel would motivate your child the most. If it doesn’t seem to work, you can always move on to a different rewards system.

For more information about potty training, potty training tips, a free ecourse, and a potty training chart to help you potty train your child visit http://www.mypottytraining.com

Where do you find that perfect mini skirt that you can afford? Finding any article of clothing can be a challenge, especially if, like me, you need it at a reasonable price. It may seem like a mini skirt is one of those things you can just find anywhere, but believe me, that is not necessarily the case when it comes to finding one at a good price. I have found, though, that there are three places you should look before you make that final purchase. For that perfect and affordable mini skirt, check online, in a department store, and in the second hand store.

The first place to look for mini skirt would be on the internet. Many department stores and clothing retailers have websites that offer mini skirts for sale. These sites often have special online only deals that can assist you in finding the price you are looking for. Be sure to go to a search engine and seek out mini skirts as well. There are sometimes retailers that only exist on the Internet that will have better prices on clothing than even mainstream retailers might.

The second place to look for a mini skirt at a good price would be at a department store, physically. Often times at a clothing stores, there are discount or clearance racks with clothing, including mini skirts, that may offer even better prices than you found online. The other advantage to a store’s physical location is that you will be able to pick up, try on, and feel the mini skirt to know if you like the way the fabric or stitching is in it. Either way, a department store location or retailer is a stop you really should make in your search for a mini skirt at a good price.

The third place to scope out for a mini skirt is one that may not be for everyone. Some people are uncomfortable with second hand stores, but they can be fantastic for getting a good price on an article of clothing that you want. You have to keep an eye out and find a piece that is in good condition and of a good brand, but you would be surprised what you will see at a good second hand store. A similar place to look that is not quite second hand is an overstock store. Many stores now take clothing from larger retailers that have been overstocked. They get a discounted price and pass that along to you. You may find a great mini skirt at an overstock store that is a name brand and just what you want only at half the price.

Finding a perfect mini skirt at just the right price can be a difficult proposition. You don’t want to buy just any brand to save a buck, but you also aren’t made of money. Take the time to search all three of these places to find the what you need. Check the internet first, the department store, then either a second hand or overstock store to see if you can catch a deal at just the right moment. Take your time, do your research and you will be surprised at how great a deal you just might find on the mini skirt you want.

If you would like to find more of my personal articles on todays fashion please check out my fashion website!

Do you often get bogged down with too much email to handle, chewing up your valuable time online? With email being one of the most popular forms of online marketing you can be sure you are going to receive much more email in the future, wanted and unwanted.

Picture this scenario:

You receive 40 new emails in your inbox each day:

1. 10 are from personal friends. 2. 10 are requests for more information from potential clients. 3. 10 are new newsletters that must be read. 4. 10 are junk mail

So how do you deal with it?

1. Create different email addresses using domain forwarding.

If you have your own web site, your web host allows you to forward all your email from your domain (domain forwarding) to an outside address (ie james@aol.com). This is called your “catch all” address ie set up your email aliases (info@yourdomain.com, sales@yourdomain.com etc) so when you receive email from any of these, they will be forwarded to your “catch all” address.

The limitation of this method is that you can’t send email from your alias addresses. It can only be sent form your “catch all” email address.

2. Set-up separate email accounts.

To also send mail from each new email address, you need to set up a separate email account for each address. Usually your web host will give you a number of free email (called POP3) accounts that come with your hosting package.

Create a new email account for different categories ie

firstname@yourdomain.com - for emailing your personal friends. newsletters@yourdomain.com - for subscribing to newsletters. articles@yourdomain.com - for submitting articles. ads@yourdomain.com - for advertising information

ads1@yourdomain.com - a public email address you use for forums, newsgroups and SPAM. If the spam gets too much you can dispose of this address and set-up a new one.

3. Create new inboxes for each of these separate email accounts.

Set-up your corresponding email accounts (as above) in your email software (ie outlook express, eudora etc).

You will need this information:

incoming mail (POP3) = mail.yourdomain.com - incoming mail server (SMTP) = mail.yourdomain.com or your ISPs - outgoing mail server.

account name = newsletters@yourdomain.com password = the password you select

Do this for each of each of your email accounts.

4. Create folders and subfolders in your inbox.

ie newsletters - marketing tips newsletter - web design newsletter - forum newsletter

This allows you to immediately categorize your incoming email by dragging and dropping it into each of these subfolders. Now you know instantly where to retrieve your past correspondence.

5. Set-up filters (message rules) for receiving different emails.

Most email clients have filters or message rules you can set-up to filter your incoming email. For example to make sure you don’t ever receive emails from a specific email address again, you can block the sender.

To do this in outlook express, highlight the email address you received, go to message - block sender. That’s it!

For a more extensive tutorial on setting up extensive message rules in outlook express, go to:

http://familyinternet.about.com/library/weekly/aa020603a.htm

6. Periodically delete your received email.

Soon you will get into the habit of automatically hitting the delete button as you recognize email that is obviously spam. This means your inbox will fill up very quickly with deleted email and will slow down your email software. Therefore clean out your inbox at the end of every day.

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll go more deeply into how you can effectively deal with spam. This will help you to be more organized, save time, frustration and enable you to be more efficient in your online marketing adventures.