Rosalie B. wrote in
:

I wonder if sometimes people don't like certain things because
they have an allergy to them. That would explain me, but not my
nephew.

it's why i don't eat shellfish anymore. i realized when i was 6
that within several hours of eating shellfirh, i'd be throwing up
for hours. simple solution. don't eat it. didn't go over so big
with my parents at the time, until i pointed out to my mom (a
nurse) what happened. she had me eat a single bite of scallop...
and i was violently ill. they never gave me seafood again.

When my parents found out about my allergies (I was in first
grade and my mom noticed that I was always sick with a cold
which no one else in the family ever got), they gave away our
cat. My dad gave me desensitization shots for years. I got a
dog when I was 12 (almost 13) and supposed to be past the worst
of the childhood allergies but I took dog training classes
through the Girl Scouts to learn to handle a dog. Even though I
had a Shetland Sheepdog which is not as big or vigorous as a
Porty. DH thinks the First Family will have a problem because
Michelle obviously does not know how to handle a dog and those
kinds of dogs need a firm hand.

well, Michelle *and* the kids should take training classes with
the dog, not rely on an outside trainer to produce a nice pet for
them. that just doesn't happen i like Porties. my ex's sister
raised them... i'm much happier they got one of them, rather than
the "Labradoodle" (a mutt by any other name costs way too much
money...) that was being talked about originally. at least a Porty
has a pretty good chance of having the typical temperment of the
breed, even though it's headstrong & stubborn. with a mutt like a
Labradoodle, temperment is pretty much totally a crapshoot. there
are wonderful mutts & there are horrible ones... the really bad
ones end up in shelters somehow.
lee