The dog - man's best friend, and sometimes, biggest pain in the rear end. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at a dog and said "why can't you just listen?". I know you have too.

Here's the answer - we were training them wrong.

When you were a kid and got a new puppy, what did mom and dad do when they went to the bathroom in the house? They rubbed their noses in it, softly, while telling them no, then they put them outside. Millions of people do it, I've done it. 

What happens when you try to have a wine tasting at your house? You either have to keep the dog locked up in an empty room, or outside. As soon as people walk in the house, the dog would jump on them, bark at them, lick them, or lay on top of them. Granted, this is not always a bad thing, as it is a sign of excitement and affection, but there are those times when you don't want it to happen.

We need to take a step back and look at how we are training our dogs. You've heard the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks", right? Well, this is absolutely wrong. You can train any dog, at any age. Potty training, with a new puppy, is always the very first step, and the most important. 

Think about what the dog understands. They are not humans - they can't always think the way we do. If your dog just went to the bathroom on your living room floor, think to yourself - is rubbing their nose in it, yelling at them, or chaining them up in a kennel or outside really going to change things? Dogs have ADD worse then humans, folks. They are doing something natural. They don't have toilets like we do. 

Now your dog is a bit older, may be potty trained, and is learning how to be loud. Again, it's a natural thing. Dogs bark, just like we talk. Think about this - when your dog is barking and being loud, is yelling at them (being loud) going to show them that it is not ok?

Most times, some people just go way off the path when training dogs. This leads to a dog being very shy, or being very mean. A dog jumped on you to show you affection and that it was happy to see you, and you pushed it off and yelled at it. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Training your dog IS absolutely easy. As I said, you just have to use a little bit of common sense and think about how they will react to what you are doing. 

If you'd like to learn a little more, and see some really great examples and techniques to use on any dog, check out the link below. I can tell you, guaranteed, that this guide will make you think differently. It changed our routine for good, and helped take our pain of a dog and turn him into my perfect best friend.

http://bit.ly/KcEdkl

Aquaponics is a very interesting character of producing. For starters, you can raise fish - the most popular being Bluegill and Tilapia. Who wouldn't like to have a cheap lifetime supply of fish in their freezer?

At the same time,  you can be growing your garden. Sounds crazy, huh? Check out this article.

Author: Jason Meyer
"Now in the 21st Century, traditional farming is changing every day – people have less time, less space, and sometimes less money.


However, even with these hardships, you can still have a thriving garden, literally growing whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.

What if I told you that after setting up a very simple system, you would not have to do a single thing while your plants grow until they are ready for harvest? What if I told you that at the same time you can raise your favorite kind of fish? What if I told you that kids, adults, and seniors will love taking part of this?

That's what you get with Aquaponics. Simply put, Aquaponics is growing a garden, raising fish, and feeding the garden with the water the fish live in. This makes a very full freezer, all year round, and tons of fun. Kids enjoy watching the fish and plants grow together, they enjoy feeding the fish, and they will definitely enjoy learning about the relationship involved.

You can do this anywhere, in any volume. We've had systems where we grew one plant with one fish, and we've also had systems where we've raised 300 fish and a thousand pots of lettuce. It is all up to you!

Here's a few reasons why Aquaponics is quickly becoming one of the leading trends, and why it is better then Hydroponics.

With Hydroponics, you have to give your plants all kinds of chemicals to simulate what they would gain from the soil and the sun. This makes them inorganic, not to mention taste different. Trust me, you can taste the difference. We recently did a study with 7 volunteers. Each one was given a cucumber, a pepper, a strawberry, and a handfull of green beans – twice. One side was grown in a Hydroponics system, the other was grown in an Aquaponics system. All 7 volunteers agreed that, without knowing what was what, the produce grown in the Aquaponics system tasted better. All 7 also said that the produce grown in the Hydroponics system simply tasted watered down.

The reason Aquaponics is more beneficial is simple. The fish eat all kinds of things – sweet corn, lettuce, algae, bugs, worms, minnows – they then produce beneficial waste. This stays in the water, which is then pumped to the plants. That is why you will never see a “weak” looking lilly pad!

The choice is simple. You and your family take your children to school, work full time jobs, have extra curricular activities – you don't always have the time to grow lettuce or strawberries indoors. Until now. With the Aquaponics system, you can literally set it, and forget it. Well, besides feeding the fish!"

Take a look at this link. http://bit.ly/1eYKxKO What you see here is a step by step DVD manual on how to create one of the easiest Aquaponics set ups around. You probably already have the supplies needed laying around your garage and basement! For anyone that has ever wondered if they could do it, this is definitely worth the purchase price!