Owning a dog is so challenging that bringing a dog home seems easy. But it’s about a lot more than just buying food. Toysand a leash. Here’s what you need to know to make your dog’s return home as happy as possible.

Dogs need time and space to adapt to new environments. Your very first job is to provide a safe, cozy place for your new buddy. The Oregon Humane Society (OHS) recommends making an entire room available to your pup as they adapt. If you can’t swing this, a covered box or pen in a quiet corner will work too. Keep other pets and children out of the dog area and remove or secure any items that might even seem easy to eat to a stressed dog – cat litter, power cords, houseplants, children’s toys, shoes, clothing, and food of all kinds.

On the drive home, things become real. Some dogs love driving in cars, but it really stresses others out. According to Petfinder’s Guide to First 30 Days of Dog Adoption and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) guidelines for traveling with petsPutting your dog in a crate in your car is the best way to keep him safe on the drive home. ((A little bit dog proof Can’t hurt either.) When they feel safe, the stress for everyone involved is minimized. Do not make any further stops or leave the dog alone in the car. Drive straight home.

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Once you make it home it’s time to show your dog the new digs – literally show them off. Petfinder, HSUS, and OHS all make it clear that the first stop after leaving the car should be where you want your dog to pee. Before entering, take your dog to this spot, let them do their business, and reward them with treats and praise for doing so. Once inside, lead them to their dining area, then to their room or box area so that they have time to really familiarize themselves with each area before moving on.

With these tips and a little luck, you and your dog should emerge from the first 24 hours of dog ownership with nerves intact. Take a deep breath and get ready – the real work has only just begun.

This story was originally published in September 2016. It was updated on March 9, 2021 to include new information and to reflect Lifehacker’s current style guidelines.

Photo: Tero Vesalainen (Shutterstock)

As vaccine supply struggles to meet demand, grassroots social media groups known as “vaccine hunters” have sprung up across the country to help people find and book appointments. As helpful as these groups are, they have also become the new favorite target for scammers. This is how you can protect yourself.

How vaccine hunter cheating works

Since many states have failed to provide centralized information on exactly where to get a vaccine booking, Vaccine hunter groups have closed the gap. These groups informally share information about where you might be able to make an appointment, be it on county health care websites, pharmacy websites, on-call informal pharmacy lists, or individual hospital waiting lists. In a spirit of goodwill, people in these groups often help strangers (usually elderly) book vaccination appointments on their behalf.

Unfortunately, this is where fraudsters come in. Scammers posing as Good Samaritans will ask for your personal information and try to sell bogus vaccine dates or vaccines. The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning warns people about the scam and offers the following tips to avoid disadvantages when looking for a vaccine appointment:

• Always go through official public health channels and approved providers for a vaccine appointment. In the US, COVID-19 vaccines are only available through official suppliers, e.g. B. through your local health department or pharmacy. The exact providers vary by region, but you can use to find the list for your region VaccineFinder.org. Aggregation pages should always refer you to the official providers in order to arrange your appointment.
• Anyone who claims to be selling vaccine doses is a scam. Be wary of anyone claiming to have doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. This Digital Citizens Alliance report Found Facebook pages promoting China-made vaccines. While the sites did not actively promote sales of the drug, the scammers offered to sell the fake vaccine after being contacted on Facebook Messenger.
• Don’t pay to put your name on a waiting list or to get the vaccine. The BBB Scam Tracker has received reports of scammers charging for fake vaccine appointments. The federal government provides the Vaccine free to everyone living in the United States. Vaccine providers cannot bill you for the vaccine. Any other claim is a scam.
• Be very careful when giving out personal information. You don’t need your bank account details, credit card information, or social security number to schedule a vaccine appointment.
• Always check the URL before entering any personal information. Scammers often buy official looking urls to use in their drawbacks. Be careful that the link is really what it claims to be. If the message is supposed to be from the local government, make sure the URL ends in .gov (for the US). If in doubt, do a separate internet search for the website or call the source directly.
• Research offers carefully. Scammers are very creative, so be skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true. Check all information about the vaccine with official news sources.

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If you’ve discovered a scam, report it on BBB.org/ScamTracker.

Microsoft is changing the legacy icons of its popular operating system. Some of these changes have already hit classic Windows 10 apps like Mail and CalculatorNext, new icons for the File Explorer folders will appear.

If you love the look and want to try out the new icons, you have two options. First, you can install the Windows Insider Beta that comes with these built-in changes. You need Windows 10 Preview Build 21343, which you get when you sign up for the Windows Insider Program (through your Settings app> Update & security). Make sure you choose the dev channel for your releases. This means faster access to updated functions at the expense of a certain system stability.

But I wouldn’t be using the dev channel for my primary PC just in case. Icons are nifty and all but not worth the potential trouble if or when the build starts to work. Fortunately, there is another easy way to get these updated icons: install them yourself.

First, download the icons from this helpful link (Courtesy of the Reddit user Random_Vandalwho extracted them directly from the operating system. mirror Here If that link doesn’t work anymore) Put them in a folder on your system that you’d like to keep forever. There are a lot of them – 662 in total – but they only take up 36MB of disk space.

Screenshot: David Murphy

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Then navigate to your user folder, usually C: users [your name]. Right click Click on any user folder whose icon you want to change, e.g. B. Downloads and click characteristics. click on To adjust Click the Change Icon tab, then click:

Screenshot: David Murphy

Click “Browse” and find the icon you want from the massive folder you just created. The ones that match the main picture in this post are:

• Desktop: imageres-175.ico
• Documents: shell32-127.ico
• Downloads: imageres-176.ico
• Music: shell32-129.ico
• Images: shell32-128.ico
• Video: shell32-130.ico

Repeat the process for all (or some) of the home folders that you want to customize as necessary. And if this simple trick doesn’t produce the results you want, you may have to jump into that Windows registry make additional adjustments. At the very least, this is how the new icons should appear in File Explorer under “This PC”. However, be careful about your changes as the registry is the only place you don’t want to screw anything up.

Photo: atsurkan (Shutterstock)

Making money from a rental property seems so obvious at first – if you have enough money to buy and rent a property, get your money back, and more, why not? While it is true that investment property can be a good investment, it is also risky and requires a level of operational and financial expertise that many people simply do not have. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of real estate investing, as well as the most common pitfalls to avoid when making the decision to jump.

advantages

A steady source of income

Over the past twenty years, the S&P has averaged 9.8% annual return as measured by the real estate sector did it just as well. In contrast to stocks, a piece of land is a tangible asset that tenants can use to passively earn money through rent payments. Of course, the asset also depreciates, so maintenance always devours your revenue. It’s a delicate balance. However, a well-managed property can offer a constant dividend that isn’t directly related to the uncertainty of the stock market and can be a great way to diversify your entire investment portfolio. It’s also worth noting that you are investing in an insurable asset, which means that in the event of a disaster, you will have some protection.

Inflation protection

By ForbesOne of the best ways to fight inflation is through buy and hold real estate. As inflation rises, so does the value of your property and the rent of your tenants. With inflation almost always flat or rising, real estate can be a better option than fixed income investments in the long run.

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Tax benefits

Many Americans think of ownership as a birthright, and the tax system no doubt reflects that given the fact Number of prints you can make for this. This includes normal costs, improvements, and depreciation costs. This means you can deduct mortgage interest, insurance, and repairs to increase the return on your investment.

Easy to finance

You can buy a property with just one 20% depositThis is how you can use other people’s money to get started. Of course, this can cause problems if the investment is poorly managed, but it’s a great way to scale up quickly without investing a lot of money upfront.

disadvantage

depreciation

You are in an endless war against repairs large and small. While you can save some money by doing the job yourself, it is a tremendous amount of time (hiring professionals is a better option, but it comes at a cost). Plus, it’s hard to plan – even if you’ve fully inspected the property, there are almost always unexpected costs, even in new homes. For example, SoFi offers a long, frightening list of unexpected repairs You may have to pay.

Lack of liquidity

In contrast to stocks, real estate is not liquid assets. This means that if you are desperate for cash, even if the market is in your favor, you will have to wait months or even years to sell your property.

Difficult tenants

The downside to a landlord is that you rely on others’ income for your own cash flow and people are unpredictable. Managing tenants is a stressful and tedious task, whether it’s tracking down late or missing rental checks, resolving disputes with other tenants, or filling unexpected positions. It takes a certain level of tenacity to protect your assets. So you need to know about conflict if you want to be a landlord. Of course, you can hire a property manager to take care of these things, but it can be costly.

Know what you are getting into

Before buying any investment property, you need to formulate a plan for how you can make money from it. This means that you have an accurate budget that includes fixed and variable costs, an emergency reserve, taxes, and numerous legal costs (to get an idea of ​​how many items to keep track of). Check out this list). You also need to be smart about property trends and choose a property with a long-term upward trend, which is not always easy to predict. For what is referred to as “passive income,” investment property is a lot of work and it can take years to pay off. So make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.