The Kellogg's Cornflake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

I Declare My Independence From Homework Essays - Education Reform

I Declare My Independence from Homework In class, October 22, 1997. The practically consistent presentation of the 2,000 understudies of Glenbard West High School. We proclaim our freedom from any schoolwork; we will no more endure its unfairness. When over the span of academic occasions, it gets important to suspend certain inadequate practices that have constrained the extra-curricular exercises of the understudy bodies, we, the understudies are compelled to take a stand in opposition to these practices,and rebel for more noteworthy's benefit of mankind. I, along these lines, have been decided to pass on to the personnel the reasons to end the training, and in doing as such to legitimize the pending resistance. Schoolwork causes undue worry at an early age, prompting unexpected passing of numerous understudies. It has restricted the time that understudies need to work, take an interest in extra-curricular exercises, and moreover it makes a less amicable understudy educator relationship, accordingly causing between close to home pressure. Schoolwork causes by and large abhorrence of the educational system by understudies. Uncompleted schoolwork powers numerous understudies to miss undue sums of school so as to complete outlandish outstanding burdens doled out by educators. It powers understudies to accomplish monotonous work, regardless of whether they as of now comprehend the topic. The idea of schoolwork is so instilled into the brains of instructors that they don't see that it is even terrible from their imminent. Appointing schoolwork implies that an instructor must burn through important class time going over it at the point when they could be addressing and showing the topic just as adequately. In the instances of bigger schoolwork assignments, educators burn through their significant time reviewing it. Schoolwork adds to an effectively exorbitant measure of time spent on instruction of youthful America. The realities of the issue are that numerous individuals who are self-taught spend from one to two hours on school work a day what's more, still regularly end up in front of those in the state funded school framework. In view of this reality, shouldn't a seven-hour school day be sufficiently long to do whatever learning we have to do? By any means times during our school vocations, we have fought commonly the treachery of schoolwork. Be that as it may, the workforce and the state officials have not even once tuned in to our requests for no schoolwork. We have had petitions, and we have introduced contentions to instructors, yet without much of any result. In light of the above realities, we the understudies of Glenbard West High School are compelled to defy the very idea of schoolwork, except if you, the staff, put vigorously a change of approach with respect to schoolwork right away. We will as of the marking of this archive not, at this point total doled out school- work at any non-class time.

Overview of Ritalin for ADHD

Overview of Ritalin for ADHD ADHD Treatment Print Using Ritalin to Treat ADHD By Vincent Iannelli, MD facebook Vincent Iannelli, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Iannelli has cared for children for more than 20 years. Learn about our editorial policy Vincent Iannelli, MD Medically reviewed by a board-certified physician Updated on February 04, 2020 ADHD Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Living With In Children Mike Simons / Getty Images In This Article Table of Contents Expand Forms of Ritalin Warnings and Side Effects Abuse View All When parents think about treating ADHD, they often think about Ritalin, as it was one of the first ADHD medications introduced (amphetamines were first). Ritalin has been used to treat ADHD since the 1950s. Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) is a central nervous system stimulant that is used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. It is also used to treat patients with narcolepsy.?? Since Ritalin is often used as a generic term for the whole range of ADHD medications, sometimes people attribute every negative thing they have ever heard about ADHD treatments to Ritalin. This is unfortunate because Ritalin has a good track record of helping a lot of children with ADHD.?? Forms of Ritalin Ritalin is available in a variety of short, intermediate, and long-acting forms. Focalin (dexmethylphenidate) and Focalin XR are made of just one part or isomer of Ritalin. These medicines leave out another part, which is inactive and may contribute to side effects. Doses of stimulants dont usually depend on a childs weight,?? so your pediatrician will usually start with a low dose and then work upwards until it usually works or is causing side effects. Although most forms of Ritalin, including Concerta, must be swallowed whole, it is possible to open Ritalin LA and Metadate CD capsules and sprinkle the contents on food, such as applesauce. The liquid and chewable forms of Ritalin are good alternatives for children who cant swallow pills. Except for newer medications, such as Daytrana, Quillichew ER, and Quillivant XR, most of these medications are available in generic forms, which can help you save money. Short-Acting Ritalin Short-acting Ritalin is available in 5mg, 10mg, and 20mg tablets that are usually taken two or three times a day. Each dose lasts three to five hours.?? RitalinMethylin (chewable tablets) Intermediate-Acting Ritalin With these formulations, a dose lasts 3 to 8 hours.?? Ritalin SRMetadate ERMethylin ER Long-Acting Ritalin A dose of these medications lasts 8-12 hours, which means a child only has to take one dose per day.?? Although convenient, once-a-day forms of Ritalin are typically much more expensive than generic methylphenidate Daytrana (patch)Metadate CDRitalin LAConcerta (methylphenidate ER)QuilliChew ER (chewable tab)Quillivant XR (oral suspension) If your child misses a dose of Ritalin (or a similar stimulant), they can take the dose late. But they should not take it after six p.m., because it may interfere with their ability to fall asleep. Warnings and Side Effects The most common side effects of Ritalin are nervousness and insomnia (trouble sleeping). Other side effects include hypersensitivity, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, headache, dyskinesia, drowsiness, blood pressure, and pulse changes, tachycardia, angina, cardiac arrhythmia, abdominal pain, and weight loss (when it is taken for a prolonged period of time).?? Many side effects can be managed by lowering the dose. But if they continue, ask your childs doctor about a switch to another medicine. Although Ritalin is well tolerated by most children, there are some who should not take Ritalin, including those with other conditions such as:?? Marked anxiety, tension, and agitationGlaucomaMotor tics, Tourettes syndrome,  or a family history of Tourettes syndromeHypersensitivity to Ritalin Ritalin is also not approved for children under 6 years of age, or for people taking MAO inhibitors. It is not recommended for pregnant women. Ritalin Abuse Short-acting Ritalin is sometimes abused by people who crush and snort it or simply take Ritalin that they havent been prescribed. They may believe it will help them study better or perform better at school. Ritalin is a controlled substance, but despite persistent myths, that does not mean that is a narcotic. It is controlled because it can potentially be abused (if taken by people without a prescription or medical need).??

Travel Vocabulary Quiz for English Learners

English learners generally have one thing in common: they love to travel and find out about new cultures. One of the main reasons most of us learn a new language is in order to try it on by going to a country where they speak the language. Of course, in order to get there, you have to travel. Thats when travel vocabulary becomes absolutely necessary. Here is a quiz with related travel vocabulary for four means of travelling: by rail, by bus or coach, by air, and by sea. Use the following words to fill in the gaps in the travel chart. Each word or phrase is used only once. bus terminalaircraftcatch/get on/boarddisembarkquay/docklinertripdepart/leavelandbridgedrivers seatpilotcorridor/aisle Have a safe journey! Means of Travel By rail By bus / coach By air By sea station _____ airport port train bus _____ ship catch/get on _____ get on/board embark get off get off get off/disembark _____ platform departure gate departure gate _____ passenger train coach / bus passenger jet/airplane _____ journey _____ flight voyage _____ depart/leave take off sail arrive arrive _____ dock engine _____ cockpit _____ engine driver bus driver _____ captain _____ aisle aisle gangway Practice using this vocabulary in short writing and speaking assignments like this example to integrate the new vocabulary: Last year I flew to Italy for a months vacation. We got on the plane in New York and disembarked in a completely different world. The first thing I did when we arrived was to get a real Italian espresso. The next weeks were wonderful as we took passenger trains to many different cities throughout the country. We also went to Leghorn, a port in Tuscany, and embarked on a ferry trip to the island of Sardinia.

Taking a Look at The Matrix - 611 Words

The Matrix is a sci-fi action film created in 1999 by Andy and Lana Wachowski. The Matrix explores each branch of philosophy with great depth, giving the viewers a reason to question the world we live in today. The most intellectually stimulating problem presented by the Matrix trilogy is the question of the nature of reality posed by the premise of the film. This is actually an ancient question, which Plato asked and attempted to answer in his Dialogues, especially in the famous allegory of the cave. Both share the major philosophical issue, metaphysics, with the ongoing questions of â€Å"What is reality?† and â€Å"Are we living in the real world or an illusion of the real world?† Are we only glimpsing that which we have the potential to behold? Other main philosophical issues evident in The Matrix are ethics: â€Å"is it morally acceptable to kill someone to save another person’s life?† or â€Å"is someone’s life worth sacrificing to save a lot of people†. When taking in the political side of things we come across the ethical issue: ‘is it acceptable for the government to keep things from us that we wouldn’t like or want to know?† Another ethical issue perceived in The Matrix is Epistemology: â€Å"how do we know what we know?† and â€Å"How do we know that we have reached our fullest potential?† The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both show us how to perceive our own reality and to distinguish between what is real and what is not real and how the people living in the Matrix world areShow MoreRelated Analyse The Streingths and Weaknesses Of The Boston Matrix As An Aid T910 Words   |  4 Pages In this essay I will look at the strengths and weaknesses of using the Boston Matrix to help make decisions in business. I will first briefly explain the Boston Matrix and then analyse its effectiveness as an aid to making a marketing strategy. Like Ansoffs matrix, the Boston Matrix is a well known tool for marketing managers. It was developed by the large US consulting group and is a way that a business can compare all of its products. The two aspects it looks at are market share (relative toRead MoreThe Matrix, Directed By The Wachowski Brothers1533 Words   |  7 Pages The 1999 film ‘The Matrix’, directed by the Wachowski Brothers, tells the story of a computer-generated world in which humans are used as batteries to power the matrix’ systems. The film focuses on a small team of humans who are fighting against the matrix. There are several themes in this film and many of which are suggested through the ‘material body’. The material body is made up of four key elements- cinematography, mise-en-scà ¨ne, editing and soundtrack. These elements are crucial to the audience’sRead More The Matrix Essay1310 Words   |  6 Pages The Matrix In 1999 directors/writers Larry and Andy Wachowski (Bound) made a dark and often disturbing Science Fiction film, The Matrix. With the production expertise of Joel Silver (Commando, Predator, Lethal Weapon series, and Die Hard series), Andrew Mason (The Crow, Dark City) and Barrie M. Osborne (Face/Off, The Fan, Childs Play), The Matrix is sure to be a favorite among Science Fiction movie fans for years to come. The Matrix won the Oscar award in all four categories it was nominatedRead MoreThe Matrix And Allegory Of The Cave Analysis769 Words   |  4 Pagesreal? A thought in both The Matrix and Allegory of the Cave. The Matrix, written by Lana Wachowski illustrates many questions throughout. The main character, Neo, tries finding Morpheus in need of an answer to his question. What is the Matrix? Considering, Morpheus is the most dangerous man alive, he does all that he can to find him. Neo is approached by Trinity and led to the underworld to meet Morpheus. They soon realize that Ne o is â€Å"The One† who can defeat the Matrix. Similarly,The Allegory ofRead MoreFilm Analysis of The Matrix Essay754 Words   |  4 PagesFilm Analysis of The Matrix The Matrix is a movie about computers taking over the world and how one man changes everything. The opening shot is a shot of computer generated pixels, next there is a reverse zoom shot which reveals the word ‘searching’. A computer sound is then played, which sounds like something is downloading. The reverse shot is than cut, which shows Keanu Reeves, known as Neo, lying down on his head, looking pale whilst listeningRead MoreThe Allegory Of The Cave Essay975 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Allegory of the Cave†, and the renowned sci-fi movie â€Å"The Matrix.† Both works deal with escaping a false reality while unveiling a real one. In Plato’s â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave†, the escaped prisoner synonymous to the character Neo in â€Å"The Matrix†, exhibiting a shared theme behind both plots. Socrates suggest that with effort, all that is beautiful and right can become visible or apparent to the prisoner, where as in The Matrix, Neo is called to a similar fate, under the premise that the zenithRead MoreA Virtual Simulation Created By Ai s? Essay1542 Words   |  7 Pageswith our lives? No one really knows. Life will be one of the greatest mysteries for all of time. We may never know the answers to the questions that have been around since the beginning of time. What if the Matrix is real and we are actua lly in a virtual simulation created by AI’s? The Matrix starts off with a computer screen showing that a phone call is being traced. You can hear someone talking about â€Å"The One.† Cops start to descend on the room where the call is being made. The cops find TrinityRead MoreWorld s Increasing Demand For Energy Essay1283 Words   |  6 Pages2035. Within that, gas looks set to become the fastest growing fossil fuel, spurred on by ample supplies and supportive environmental policies. 1.1 BACKGROUND From the advert of the modern oil and gas industry, petroleum geologists and engineers have followed a conventional route for exploration; look for hydrocarbon source rocks, find reservoir quality rocks where hydrocarbons can accumulate, identify a trapping mechanism and then drill a well. But a revolution is taking place in the explorationRead MoreComparing Smartphones with The Matrix1029 Words   |  5 Pagespersonal traits. Individuality is an individual’s attitude that distinguishes the individual from everyone else. However, our reliance on the mass- media, is taking away our individualism leaving us susceptible to being controlled by the powerful. Individuality is being lost because the human brain is vastly becomingRead MoreEssay on Project Management1166 Words   |  5 PagesFunctional, Matrix, and Dedicated Team Approaches to Managing Projects These team approaches have all different set of advantages and disadvantages to them. The major difference between the three is that functional team approach is â€Å"employed† totally from within the parent organization. Functional approaches have absolutely no cost to them and provide more than adequate flexibility in the use of staff. However, its disadvantages include poor integration and a distinct lack of ownership that does

German Buying Habits Free Essays

German Costumer’s Buying Habits Online According to figures released by the German Association for Consumer Research (GfK), 34. 1 million German consumers buy merchandise or services on the Internet (2010). Among the most popular purchases are books, clothes, travel and concert tickets, and cars. We will write a custom essay sample on German Buying Habits or any similar topic only for you Order Now Unlike in other European countries where there is a reluctance toward online shopping by seniors, almost half of Germans between the age of 50 and 69 buy merchandise on the Internet. Decision Making The Internet also plays a major role when it comes to decision-making among German consumers. Before buying merchandise or services,, they usually consult the web for information and to compare prices. The cheapest bidder is not always the winner; tidiness, easy-return options, sustainability and quality of the product are more important in the decision-making than the price. International Shopping German consumers do not necessarily choose German products. The most popular online vendors in Germany are eBay and Amazon, with their international communities. Food and wine, consumer electronics, and even cars are among the most popular imported article. Corporate Social Responsibility 4% of consumers want to see more ethical behavior. And they hold both the government and brands accountable to deliver; up 34% compared to 2007 for government and up 23% compared to 2007 for corporations. Small correlates to responsible in our respondents minds. 68% said small businesses act more responsible. By stark comparison only 16% thought big business could be responsible, irrespective of s ector or origin. National pride and ‘Made in Germany’ continue to gain relevance in the area of CSR. 52% of consumers believe national brands are more responsible, with the exception of the financial services. This is evident by their choice of the Top 5 most responsible brands (all German): Landliebe, DM, Bosch, Audi and Tchibo. By comparison, 37% believe European brands act responsibly, 18% for UK brands, 11% for USA brands, and only 7% for brands from Asia. Companies and brands are an integral part of German society. And as such, society looks up to them to find the solutions. 47% of Germans see this as a critical factor for their brand choice (up from 43% in 2007) As we have stated before, strong brands that engage in CSR initiatives that dovetail with their offerings are better positioned to reap the rewards. And the research backs it up. How to cite German Buying Habits, Essay examples

German Buying Habits Free Essays

German Costumer’s Buying Habits Online According to figures released by the German Association for Consumer Research (GfK), 34. 1 million German consumers buy merchandise or services on the Internet (2010). Among the most popular purchases are books, clothes, travel and concert tickets, and cars. We will write a custom essay sample on German Buying Habits or any similar topic only for you Order Now Unlike in other European countries where there is a reluctance toward online shopping by seniors, almost half of Germans between the age of 50 and 69 buy merchandise on the Internet. Decision Making The Internet also plays a major role when it comes to decision-making among German consumers. Before buying merchandise or services,, they usually consult the web for information and to compare prices. The cheapest bidder is not always the winner; tidiness, easy-return options, sustainability and quality of the product are more important in the decision-making than the price. International Shopping German consumers do not necessarily choose German products. The most popular online vendors in Germany are eBay and Amazon, with their international communities. Food and wine, consumer electronics, and even cars are among the most popular imported article. Corporate Social Responsibility 4% of consumers want to see more ethical behavior. And they hold both the government and brands accountable to deliver; up 34% compared to 2007 for government and up 23% compared to 2007 for corporations. Small correlates to responsible in our respondents minds. 68% said small businesses act more responsible. By stark comparison only 16% thought big business could be responsible, irrespective of s ector or origin. National pride and ‘Made in Germany’ continue to gain relevance in the area of CSR. 52% of consumers believe national brands are more responsible, with the exception of the financial services. This is evident by their choice of the Top 5 most responsible brands (all German): Landliebe, DM, Bosch, Audi and Tchibo. By comparison, 37% believe European brands act responsibly, 18% for UK brands, 11% for USA brands, and only 7% for brands from Asia. Companies and brands are an integral part of German society. And as such, society looks up to them to find the solutions. 47% of Germans see this as a critical factor for their brand choice (up from 43% in 2007) As we have stated before, strong brands that engage in CSR initiatives that dovetail with their offerings are better positioned to reap the rewards. And the research backs it up. How to cite German Buying Habits, Essay examples

The Different Between Male and Female Entrepreneur free essay sample

Under contract number SBAHQ-06-M-0480 Previous research has shown the performance of women-owned firms lagging male-owned firms on factors such as annual sales, employment growth, income, and venture survival. Reasons for the differences are often hypothesized, but empirical tests have historically suffered from data with a limited number of control variables on the motivations and characteristics of the owners. Moreover, many of the previous studies have suffered from survivor bias as they study existing (or surviving) businesses. This study seeks to determine why a performance difference exists for female- and male-owned ventures. Overall Findings When other factors are controlled for, gender does not affect new venture performance. However, several factors—differing expectations, reasons for starting a business, motivations, opportunities sought and types of businesses—vary between the genders, and these result in differing outcomes. Such observations should be taken into account when comparing the outcomes of ventures across genders. Highlights While gender was shown not to affect new venture performance when preferences, motivation, and expectations were controlled for, the differences observed among men’s and women’s new business ventures include the following: †¢ Men had more business experience prior to opening the business and higher expectations. We will write a custom essay sample on The Different Between Male and Female Entrepreneur or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page †¢ Women entrepreneurs had a larger average household size. †¢ The educational backgrounds of male and female entrepreneurs were similar. †¢ Women were less likely than men to purchase their business. †¢ Women were more likely to have positive revenues, but men were more likely to own an employer firm. Female owners were more likely to prefer low risk/return businesses. †¢ Men spent slightly more time on their new ventures than women. †¢ Male owners were more likely to start a business to make money, had higher expectations for their business, and did more research to identify business opportunities. †¢ Male entrepreneurs were more likely to found technologically intensive businesses, businesses that lose their competitive advantage more quickly, and businesses that have a less geographically localized customer base. †¢ Male owners spent more effort searching for business opportunities and this held up when other factors were controlled for. D ifferences between women and men concerning venture size and hours are explained by control variables such as prior start-up and industry experience. †¢ Researchers and policymakers need to understand that studies which do not take into account the differing nature of men- and women-owned firms could result in misleading results. Scope and Methodology The data used was from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED). The PSED captures very small ventures on average and is a self-reported survey. The subset used was a sample This report was developed under a contract with the Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, and contains information and analysis that was reviewed and edited by officials of the Office of Advocacy. However, the final conclusions of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Advocacy. of representative entrepreneurs who started in 1998 and 1999, resulting in 685 usable new businesses. Women represented 349 cases as they were oversampled, and the data were weighted to account for the oversampling. Various measures of performance outcome were studied, such as venture size. Many of the variables were on a scale from â€Å"no extent† to â€Å"a very great extent. † Econometric models were created to determine the relationship among the variables. The relatively small sample size, short time frame, and nascent nature of the ventures are limitations of the study. This report was peer reviewed consistent with the Office of Advocacy’s data quality guidelines. More information on this process can be obtained by contacting the director of economic research at [emailprotected] gov or (202) 205-6533. Ordering Information The full text of this report and summaries of other studies performed under contract with the U. S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy are available on the Internet at www. sba. gov/advo/ research. Copies are available for purchase from: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 (800) 553-6847 or (703) 605-6000 TDD: (703) 487-4639 www. ntis. gov Order number: PB2007-112634 Paper A05 ($31. 50) Microfiche A01 ($14. 00) CD-ROM A00 ($24. 00) Download A00 ($18. 95) For email delivery of Advocacy’s newsletter, press, regulatory news, and research, visit http:// web. sba. gov/list. For Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, visit www. sba. ov/advo/rsslibrary. html. I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes a statistical evaluation of the similarities and differences between male and female entrepreneurs and their ventures. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of the extent to which entrepreneurship by men and women is different. Using data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, the sample included 685 new business people who indicated that they were in the process of starting a business in 1998 or 1999. Preferences, motivations and expectations are not randomly distributed across gender. Analyzing the effect of structural barriers on new venture performance requires precise measurement of the effects of gender on these things. Failure to measure the effect of preferences, motivations and expectations, or inaccurate measurement of the effect of these factors, will lead to biased estimates of the effects of structural barriers, and over- or under-estimation of their effects. Our study contributes to the literature on gender differences in entrepreneurship by showing the presence or absence of support for many previous findings about gender differences in entrepreneurial activity. Specifically, the more limited findings shown in the PSED, in comparison to previous studies, indicate the limitations of previous studies, and suggest caution in assuming their validity. First, because the PSED is a survey of a representative sample of people in the process of starting new businesses in the United States differences between the findings here and those of prior studies might exist because the results of previous studies are artifacts of recall and selection bias. Second, differences might result from differences in â€Å"self-employment† on the one hand, and business formation on the other. Third, the differences might be explained by selection bias in previous studies, like the Survey of Small Business Finances, which survey surviving small businesses. Fourth, the differences might exist because of unobserved heterogeneity in previous studies that examine data sources like the Statistics of Income and the Current Population Survey, which include a limited number of variables. Our study makes several contributions to public policy. First, it shows that there is no evidence in the PSED for the effect of gender on new venture performance when preferences, motivation and expectations are controlled. Second, the study provides information useful to policy makers who seek to analyze whether government intervention is needed to overcome structural barriers to female preferences, motivations, and expectations for new ventures. 2 II. BACKGROUND A wide variety of research studies have shown differences between male and female entrepreneurs: motivations for starting businesses; their preferences for venture risk; the types of businesses they start; the process they use to identify business opportunities; the size of their start-ups; the effort they expend in developing of those businesses; their confidence in their start-up efforts; their start-up problems; their expectations for the performance of their businesses; and their performance outcomes (Brush, 1992; Brush et al. , 2006; Carter et al. , 1997; Du Rietz 1999; Fischer 1992; Rosa et al. 1996; Sexton and Bowman-Upton, 1990; Van Stel 2003; and Verhuel et al. , 2004). Despite the wealth of studies on this topic, some researchers have questioned how much we understand about the similarities and differences between male and female entrepreneurs because of limitations of the data that have been used to explore this question. These data are limited in four ways. Fir st, many sources of data, such as the Current Population Survey, examine â€Å"self-employment. † While selfemployment is an important phenomenon, it is not a good proxy for new business creation. Many selfemployed people do not create new businesses, and many people who create new businesses are categorized by the Census Bureau as â€Å"wage employed† because wage employment is their primary source of income (Reynolds, 2000). Second, many sources of data are quite limited in the information that they include. As a result, analysis of these data cannot control for many other factors, making the results subject to the limitation that gender may merely be proxying for unobserved characteristics that really account for the differences observed in the data. Third, many data sources fail to measure entrepreneurial activity from the beginning of the process – that is, when a person begins to create a new firm. As a result, the data collected from this process is highly selective (only entrepreneurs running surviving firms are contacted). Moreover, the data collection process involves a great deal of recall bias, as entrepreneurs are asked to reconstruct events, attitudes, and motivations that took place months, and often years, before (Reynolds, 2000). Finally, many data sources are convenience samples that are not representative of the underlying U. S. population. This is necessarily the case when studies use sampling frames – Dun and Bradstreet listings, unemployment insurance filings, new incorporations, trade association membership, and affiliation with a university – which are not representative of the overall population. As a result, one cannot draw inference from the results of these studies to the overall population of start-ups in the United States. The data limitations make it difficult for policy makers to develop effective policies toward entrepreneurship because they cannot have confidence in the data on which they are making policy choices. Because researchers cannot undertake randomized experiments to discriminate against groups of entrepreneurs, gender-related policy questions in entrepreneurship need to be addressed through regression 3 analysis. Accurate regression analysis depends on the ability to measure and account for a variety of factors that could account for gender differences that policy intervention is designed to remedy (e. . , discrimination in capital markets). Given that the multitude of factors which needed to be ruled out are almost never randomly distributed across gender (e. g. , motivations for starting a business, effort expended, expectations for performance or the types of businesses started), measuring gender differences in these alternative factors is essential to determining if discrimination ad versely affects female entrepreneurs. Failure to measure them will likely lead to biased estimates, which could result in the over- or under-estimation of the need for policy intervention. Moreover, even if the variety of factors that could account for the gender differences that the policy intervention is designed to address are controlled, accurate policy can be formulated on the basis of those findings only if the phenomenon of new business formation (and not something else, like self-employment) was examined in the studies, and only if the samples in the studies represent the population that the policy would effect, in this case the overall United States. This study uses a new data set, called the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED), to examine many of the differences between male and female entrepreneurs documented in the literature. The PSED examines new firm formation from the inception of the firm formation process for a sample of U. S. entrepreneurs that matches the distribution of the Current Population Survey in terms of gender, race, age, and income. Consequently, the PSED allows exploration of the difference between men and women in new business creation without being subject to many of the limitations (described above) that come from the examination of other data sets. As a result, this study permits examination of the differences between male and female entrepreneurs, which is necessary for policy makers to determine if policy intervention is needed, and, if so, what types of interventions (e. g. , laws to prevent discrimination, education and support programs, and so on) should be used to alleviate the problems. It is important to note that the PSED suffers from its own limitations. First, the PSED data are obtained through a survey, and the self-reported data are not verified through corroboration with another data source. Therefore, the answers given by respondents to the PSED may not be entirely accurate and might only reflect differences in the way in which male and female entrepreneurs answer questions. Second, the small sample size and short time horizon of the PSED might account for many of the null findings. Because many of the differences between male and female entrepreneurs discussed in the literature come from the examination of very large datasets, substantive differences between entrepreneurs of the two genders may not be statistically significant in the PSED because the sample size is very small. In addition, because the PSED begins with the examination of people in the process of starting a business and gathers data only over four years, it may not show differences that become visible only after the businesses age. 4 Third, the PSED mixes entrepreneurs with people who say they are starting a business, but fail to do so within the study period. Only one-third of the PSED sample has a business that the respondent views as â€Å"up-and-running† at any time during the four-year observation period. This small proportion suggests that the majority of the sample consists of people who never actually get a new business started. The inclusion of these people in the sample might explain the divergence of the findings from those observed in other datasets that look only at employer firms or people for whom self-employment is their primary occupation. Fourth, differential selection into starting a business might account for many of the patterns observed among male and female entrepreneurs because men are twice as likely as women to start businesses. Therefore, women entrepreneurs might not differ much from male entrepreneurs, because a more selected group of women start businesses. If women started businesses at the same rate as men, then more differences between male and female entrepreneurs might be observed. In the next section, we briefly review the findings of previous researchers about gender differences on a variety of dimensions of entrepreneurial activity and use them to formulate hypotheses that we would expect to be supported in our investigation. III. PREVIOUS RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Previous studies have shown that male and female entrepreneurs differ in terms of their business outcomes; the motivations they have for starting businesses; the effort that they put into the development of their businesses; the size of their start-ups; the types of businesses they start; the performance expectations they have for their businesses; their preferences for venture risk; the process through which they identify business opportunities; the confidence they have in their start-up efforts; and the start-up problems that they face (Brush, 1992; Brush et al. 2006; Carter et al. , 1997; Du Rietz 1999; Fischer 1992; Rosa et al. , 1996; Sexton and Bowman-Upton, 1990; Van Stel 2003; and Verhuel et al. , 2004). We review each of these topics in turn, and then posit ten hypotheses for the current study. III. 1 Firm Performance Studies have shown that the performance of female-led new ventures lags behind that of male-led new ventures. Sales growth, emplo yment, employment growth, income, and venture survival are all lower for female-led ventures (Boden, 2000; Office of Advocacy, 2006; Robb and Wolken 2002; Srinivasan, et al. 1993). Women-owned businesses have lower sales and employ fewer people than men (Fischer et al. , 1993). For instance, in 2002 women-owned employer firms generated an average of $87,585 in sales and had an average of 7. 79 employees, as compared to $1,862,159 in sales and 12. 04 employees for those owned by men (Office of Advocacy, 2006). Women-owned businesses are less profitable than those started by men. The average employer-firm owned by a woman generates only 78 percent of the profit of the comparable business owned by a man (Robb and Wolken, 2002). Moreover, 46 percent of self-employed women had an 5 income of less than $15,000 in 1998, while only 21 percent of self-employed men earned this low level. In contrast, 16 percent of self-employed men earned more than $95,000, as compared to 4 percent of women (Office of Advocacy, 2001). New ventures started by women are less likely to survive over time than new ventures started by men. The four-year survival rate of new women-owned employer firms is 8. 6 percent lower than that of comparable new businesses founded by men (Boden, 2000; Srinivasan et al, 1993). Finally, research from Norway shows that new ventures started by women are slower to complete the organizing activities necessary to get their businesses â€Å"up-and-running† (Alsos and Ljunggren, 1998). These observations lead to our first hypothesis: Hypothesis1: The performance of new ventures led by female entrepreneurs is lower than the performance of ventures led by male entrepreneurs. III. 2 Motivations for Starting the Business People start businesses for a variety of different reasons; and these motivations vary by gender. First, women are more likely than men to start businesses to achieve a work-family balance (Brush et al. , 2006). In surveys, women cite the desire for flexibility and work-family balance as a reason they started their businesses more often than men (Boden, 1999; Carter et al. , 2003). Parenthood plays a significant role in women’s desire to become self-employed (Birley 1989). Research shows that many women want to become self-employed to develop a more flexible work schedule that allows them to balance work and family demands (Boden 1996; Georgellis and Wall, 2004; Lombard 2001). They also pursue selfemployment because it allows them to work at home; and may ease the burden of finding childcare (Boden 1996; Connelly 1992; Presser and Baldwin, 1980). In fact, Boden (1996) uses data from the Current Population Survey to show that, there is a significant positive correlation for women between entrance into self-employment and becoming a parent. Second, male entrepreneurs are much more likely than female entrepreneurs to say that the desire to make money or build a company were the reasons why they started their businesses. For instance, DeMartino and Barbato (2003) found that male entrepreneurs prefer careers that make money, while female entrepreneurs prefer careers that allow work-family balance. Women also place higher value on nonfinancial dimensions of employment than men do (Jurik, 1998). They are more likely than men to cite personal interests, a desire for self-fulfillment, and job satisfaction as their reasons for starting businesses (Georgellis and Wall, 2004; Jurik 1998). Women are also more likely than men to say that they started their businesses to be challenged personally and to achieve self-determination (Buttner and Moore, 1997). Third, women are more likely than men to start businesses to gain the recognition of others (Fischer et al. , 1993). Shane et al (1991) found that women in the United Kingdom and in Norway are more likely than men in those countries to start businesses to â€Å"achieve something and get recognition for it† (page 438). 6 These observations lead to our second hypothesis: Hypothesis 2: Male and female entrepreneurs start businesses for different reasons. III. 3 Effort Expended on New Business Creation Researchers have found that female entrepreneurs, on average, work fewer hours than male entrepreneurs. In particular, studies have shown that women invest less time in the development of their new businesses than men (Verheul et al. , 2004). They also indicate that self-employed women are less likely to work full-time than self-employed men (OECD, 1998). Male entrepreneurs may work more hours than female entrepreneurs because they are more likely to have gone into business to earn money. Alternatively, they may face fewer competing demands for their time because women devote more hours to caring for children, older parents, and the household. Competing domestic demands may restrict the time and effort that women can devote to other things, such as venture formation, leading women to spend less time on their new ventures than their male counterparts. This leads to our third hypothesis: Hypothesis 3: Male entrepreneurs spend more hours on the development of their ventures than female entrepreneurs. III. 4 Venture Size Women start businesses that are smaller than those started by men. Studies of surviving businesses show that those that are women-owned are smaller than those that are men-owned (Kalleberg and Leicht, 1991). In addition, women start businesses with lower levels of initial employment and capitalization than men (Brush, 1992; Carter et al. , 1997). The smaller scale of female-led start-ups is believed to be the result of a lack of access to larger-scale business opportunities and the financial resources necessary to develop them (Reynolds, forthcoming) and different goals and intentions for their businesses (Carter and Allen, 1997). These observations lead to our fourth hypothesis: Hypothesis 4: Male entrepreneurs start businesses of larger magnitude than female entrepreneurs. III. Type of Business Started Male and female entrepreneurs do not start the same types of businesses. Female-led businesses are more likely to be found in personal services and retail trade and less likely to be found in manufacturing and high technology (Anna et al. , 2000; Brush et al. , 2006). In addition, women start businesses that are less 7 growth-oriented and less driven by opportunity, and more oriented tow ard wage substitution (Minniti et al, 2005). Some researchers argue that gender differences in the types of businesses that men and women found are the result of socialization and structural barriers. Women tend to work in certain occupations and industries because these occupations and industries are more socially acceptable for women, and because women face obstacles to working in other industries and occupations (Mirchandani, 1999). Because entrepreneurs tend to identify opportunities to start businesses that are similar in type and industry to those in which they previously worked, the tendency of women to work in certain types of businesses leads them to start those types of companies. In addition, some businesses cannot be founded easily by people without the appropriate educational background. This is particularly the case for businesses that rely heavily on technology. Because women are less likely than men to study engineering or science (Brush et al. , 2006), they often lack the education to start businesses that demand technical skills. Furthermore, some businesses are inherently easier to start than others because they have lower barriers to entry. Women may be more likely to start businesses that face low barriers to entry because these businesses make lesser demands on human or financial capital than other businesses, and women may lack these types of capital. These observations lead to the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 5: Male and female entrepreneurs start different types of businesses. III. 6 Expectations for Venture Performance Female entrepreneurs have lesser expectations for their businesses than male entrepreneurs. First, they expect to generate lower profits and employ fewer people than male entrepreneurs because they are less highly motivated to make money and more motivated to achieve other goals (Brush, 1992). Second, male entrepreneurs have greater confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities than female entrepreneurs. These differences in confidence lead male entrepreneurs to form greater expectations for their businesses. Third, female entrepreneurs tend to start types of businesses that have lower growth and income potential than male entrepreneurs. As a result, the expectations of female entrepreneurs, which are in line with the reality of the businesses that they start, are lower than those of male entrepreneurs. Fourth, female entrepreneurs are more likely to set limits beyond which they do not want to expand their businesses to ensure that they do not adversely affect their personal lives (Cliff, 1998). Fifth, female entrepreneurs start smaller scale businesses than male entrepreneurs; hence their initial expectations for their businesses tend to be lower (Anna et al, 2000). These observations lead to our sixth hypothesis: 8 Hypothesis 6: Male entrepreneurs have greater performance expectations for their businesses than female entrepreneurs. III. 7 Risk Preferences Research in sociology and psychology shows that women are more risk averse than men across a wide variety of settings (Arch, 1993; Byrnes et al. , 1999). In particular, women display greater financial risk aversion than men (Jianakoplos and Bernasek 1998). Some studies suggest that this greater risk aversion carries over to female entrepreneurs. In fact, one study shows that a convenience sample of female entrepreneurs have lower risk propensity scores than male entrepreneurs on a psychological scale (Sexton and Bowman-Upton, 1990). The greater risk aversion of female entrepreneurs is thought to make them less willing to trade potential gain for risk, which leads them to prefer businesses with lower failure probabilities than those preferred by male entrepreneurs (Brush et al. , 2006). As a result, male entrepreneurs pursue business opportunities that involve more risk than the opportunities pursued by female entrepreneurs (Baker et al. , 2003). The greater risk aversion of female entrepreneurs also leads them to engage in greater amounts of risk minimizing activity. For instance, Mallette and McGuiness (2004) found that the female entrepreneurs focus more on minimizing risk than male entrepreneurs in the business organizing process. These observations lead to our seventh hypothesis: Hypothesis 7: Male entrepreneurs prefer riskier ventures than female entrepreneurs. III. Opportunity Identification Female entrepreneurs search for new business opportunities differently than male entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. First, many opportunities are identified through information that is transferred through social networks. Women have different types of social networks than men (Renzulli et al. , 2000). As a result, they have access to different sources of information about opportunities. For instance, male entrepreneurs are more likely than female entrepreneurs to identify opportunities through conversations with investors and bankers because, on average, they know more investors and bankers. Second, learned behaviors and social norms lead men and women to develop different cognitive processing styles (Gatewood et al. , 1995). As a result, on average, men and women gather information and solve problems differently (White et al. , forthcoming) For instance, female entrepreneurs are thought to learn from a greater variety of sources than male entrepreneurs, while male entrepreneurs are thought to learn more from setbacks than female entrepreneurs (Barrett, 1995). In addition, the greater risk aversion of female entrepreneurs may lead them to search for more information that mitigates the potential risks about business opportunities than their male counterparts (Eckel and Grossman, 2003). 9 These observations lead to the eighth hypothesis. Hypothesis 8: Male and female entrepreneurs identify business opportunities differently. III. 9 Confidence in Organizing Abilities Because of how men and women are socialized, women have lower levels of career-related selfefficacy than men, particularly in careers that are seen as traditionally â€Å"male† (Brown, 2002). Because starting a business has been considered a traditionally â€Å"male† career, female entrepreneurs are thought to have less confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities than male entrepreneurs. As a result, they are less likely to believe that they can undertake the key tasks in organizing a new venture, such as obtaining start-up and working capital, and attracting customers. This argument leads to our ninth hypothesis: Hypothesis 9: Male entrepreneurs have more confidence in their abilities to organize their new ventures than female entrepreneurs. III. 0 Start-up Problems Research suggests that social norms about the role of women in society, the shortage of female role models, and the greater household burdens faced by women lead female entrepreneurs to face more start-up problems, and for those problems to be of greater magnitude, than their male counterparts. For instance, attitudes toward the role of women make it more difficult for female entrepreneurs to be take n seriously as business people (Brush, 1992), and to gain support for their entrepreneurial activities from their spouses, family, and friends (Stoner et al. 1990). In addition, the relative shortage of female role models makes it more difficult for female entrepreneurs to obtain adequate mentorship for their start-up efforts. Furthermore, the greater household and childcare responsibilities of women lead them to have more trouble balancing business formation and family responsibilities (Stoner et al. , 1990). These observations lead to the tenth hypothesis: Hypothesis 10: Female entrepreneurs face more start-up problems than male entrepreneurs. IV. DATA RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IV. Sample We use data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) to conduct the analysis that is discussed in this report. The PSED is a multi-year effort to follow a representative sample of people who 10 were involved in the business formation process in 1998 and 1999 (Reynolds, 2000). To create a sample representative of people in the lower 48 states who were involved in the business formation process at this time, researchers contacted 64,622 U. S. households between July of 1998 and January of 2000 through random digit dialing (Reynolds and Curtin, 2004). They screened the first adult who agreed to participate, subject to quotas to ensure an equal number of men and women (Reynolds and Curtin, 2004). In the screening process, three telephone attempts were made to contact blocks of 1,000 potential respondents over a three-day period, with the same number of people contacted on weekdays and weekends (Reynolds, 2000). People who were contacted were identified as being entrepreneurs if they answered ‘yes† to the question: â€Å"Are you, alone or with others, now trying to start a new business? † The entrepreneurs were offered $25 to participate in an hour-long telephone phone survey. Approximately 71 percent agreed to participate, and could be contacted (Reynolds and Curtin, 2004). However, 27 percent of the respondents were eliminated from the survey because the respondents indicated that their businesses already had positive cash flow for three consecutive months, which the PSED researchers considered to be â€Å"beyond the start-up phase† (Reynolds, 2000). Those respondents who completed the telephone survey were offered another $25 if they would also complete a mail survey, which 72 percent did (Reynolds and Curtin, 2004; Reynolds, 2000). These respondents were also re-contacted 12, 24 and 36 months later for follow-up telephone and mail surveys. The respondents were treated as key informants about their new ventures. Information was collected about a wide variety of topics, including demographic characteristics; background and experience; motivations, beliefs, and attitudes; perceptions of new ventures and the environment; new venture strategy; organizing activities; the achievement of milestones; financial investments made in the ventures; performance expectations; the use of assistance and educational programs; and a variety of other topics (Reynolds, 2000). The sample included 830 people who indicated that they were in the process of starting a business in 1998 or 1999. However, the analysis reported here is limited to the 711 respondents that were in the process of starting a business that was independent of their employer’s company. An additional 26 respondents indicated that the start-up effort was not active in the past 12 months and were dropped from the sample. As a result, the usable sample includes 685 new businesses, 481 of which completed the additional mail survey. Due to over-sampling of women, 349 of the entrepreneurs were female. Because the research effort over-sampled women and minorities, and because some categories of respondents were less likely than others to be reached or to respond to the surveys, post-sampling stratification weights were used to match the data to the Current Population Survey on gender, age, education, and race (Reynolds and Curtin, 2004). In the analysis presented here, the weights were recentered on 1. for the usable subsample to avoid biases in the standard errors (Reynolds, 2000). 11 IV. 2 Analysis The data were examined in two ways. First, descriptive statistics were examined to compare male and female entrepreneurs on a variety of dimensions that correspond to the arguments made in the literature. In addition, the differences in the variance in characteristics across male and female entrepreneurs were explored, both to explain those differences, and to ensure that subsequent regression analysis to examine thes e differences is done accurately. Second, the effect of gender on those dimensions for which bivariate analysis shows statistically significant and substantive differences were examined in a regression framework that controls for a variety of factors that might alternatively account for the differences between male and female entrepreneurs on these dimensions. Given the nature of the dependent variables, two types of regression models were used. For the continuous variables, we used ordinary least squares regression. For the dichotomous variables, we used logistic regression. IV. Variables The study involved the examination of the effect of gender on several different dependent variables and employed a variety of control variables. These variables are described below, with the dependent variables described first. IV. 3. a Dependent Variables We examined several different dependent variables to measure the factors posited in the ten hypothesis: performance outcomes; effort expended; motivations to start a business; ve nture size; the nature of the venture; expectations for income and employment; risk preferences; approach to opportunity identification; confidence in venture organizing; and start-up problems faced. We begin with performance outcomes. IV. 3. b Performance Outcomes We examined seven different measures of performance: venture termination; becoming an employer firm; level of employment achieved; achievement of first sale; achievement of positive cash flow; count of organizing activities undertaken; and perception that the venture is â€Å"up and running. † Because the PSED involves the collection of follow-up data on new ventures at three additional times after the initial interview, it is possible to look at performance outcomes that occurred over a four-year period. We measured venture termination with a dummy variable of one if the effort to develop the venture was stopped by all parties working on it at any time in four years covered by survey. Specifically, termination will be identified as occurring when the respondent answers â€Å"no† to the PSED question: â€Å"Are you, or is anyone else, still actively pursuing the creation of this venture? † 12 The U. S. government measures new employer firms (which it defines as firms that have at least one employee, including the founders) based on unemployment insurance filings. Because many new ventures do not become employer firms, this status is an important milestone in the lives of new ventures. We measure employer firm with a dummy variable of one if the venture paid unemployment insurance taxes at any time in four years covered by survey. We measure employment as the number of non-founder employees of the venture at the end of the four years covered by survey. If the venture is terminated, its employment is coded as â€Å"zero. † If the venture is alive, but the respondent does not provide the number of employees in that year, we take the latest available employment provided by the respondent. We calculate part-time employment as one-half of full time employment. Because the employment number is skewed, in the analysis we also use the natural log of the employment plus one. For the same reason, we also operationalize employment with a dummy variable of one if the venture has any employees other than the founder and zero if it does not. We measure has revenues with a dummy variable of one if the venture receives income from the sale of goods or services at any time in four years covered by survey.

Women Exercising While Pregnant Essay Example

Women Exercising While Pregnant Essay Example Women Exercising While Pregnant Essay Women Exercising While Pregnant Essay This paper aims to give relevant updates on recent evidence that concerns exercising during pregnancy; this includes effects for the fetus and the mother as well as the frequency, types, duration, rate and intensity of progression depending on the exercise performed. Current research findings on exercising during pregnancy are related with the higher cardiorespiratory fitness, reduction in depression symptoms, preventing lower back pain and urinary incontinence, and cases of the gestational diabetes, subsidized number of pregnant women who needed insulin. However, there is no correlation with the reduction in the preterm birth or birth weight rate. Therefore, the kind of exercise does not show a difference on the results and its intensity must be moderate or mild for the previous sedentary pregnant women and moderate or high for the active women. The exercise suggestions are based on recent guidelines on the low-impact, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for at least thrice a week. Nonetheless, new guidelines suggest an increment in weekly physical activities expenditure while instilling vigorous exercise as well as adding light training to an exercise routine of the healthy and fit pregnant women. However, cases of other chronic diseases such as hypertension have limited data hence more research has to be carried out to examine safety of this intervention. Nevertheless, physical exercise is advantageous for pregnant women even during their postpartum period. This is not linked with any risks for a newborn and could lead to alterations in lifestyle that show long-term advantages. Chapter One Introduction There is an increased amount of women in developed countries who are overweight or obese in the early pregnancy period. This could lead to severe consequences for immediate as well as long-term health of the expectant mother as well as the fetus. Therefore, pregnancy has been prioritized for application of various interventions that target to minimize unhealthy pregnant women. Pregnancy is a period that is critical and unique in a womans life because they become more receptive to the interventions of behavior change. Promotion of physical activity is the main characteristic of interventions for weight control for pregnant women because it has advantageous effects on the glucose metabolism. Physical activity may improve the outcomes of pregnancy irrespective of weight. However, some research show that pregnant women usually possess lower levels of physical activity and these levels keep on reducing as the woman advances to the later pregnancy stages. Currently, the number of expectant mothers that willingly engage in strenuous exercise has increased. Both physical activity and pregnancy increase the metabolic demands of the body but physiological adaptations of the combined demands are not expensively understood. Ultimately, one could expect immense fetal or maternal effects due to the conflicting demands of acute muscle exercising and the pregnant uterus. However, nature has presented various examples whereby intense physical activity during a pregnancy could co-exist with the pregnancys favorable outcome. Hence, further investigation on adaptations to physical activity and exercise in expectant mothers is essential from a physiological viewpoint. Physical fitness and exercise have gained popularity dramatically for the past few decades; they have taken up significant roles in many womens lives. Reproduction and physical activity for healthy women is beneficial for a baby and the mother in several ways. Therefore, a healthy woman who has a normal pregnancy could either continue regular exercises or start a new exercise routine. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the American Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (ASOG), pregnant women who are normal and health should carry out an exercise regimen. Generally, swimming is seen as a suitable and safe exercise to undertake during pregnancy and the study above shows that swimming was not linked with miscarriage. It should be noted that a reduced rate of the physical activity for many women, the level of activity is usually reduced further throughout the pregnancy and exercise before pregnancy is often not retrieved six months after giving birth (Wolfe, 2008). Among the women that actively engage in exercise before pregnancy, the aspects linked with discontinuing sporting activities during the pregnancy are the same as those for inactiveness both before and after the pregnancy. Therefore, if the exercise during pregnancy is considered healthy for the fetus and the mother, knowledge on an exercise behavior with regards to predictors and pregnancy is useful when it comes to interventions of public health. Generally, there has been increased focus on exercise or physical activity hence it is important to establish guidelines that are e vidence based during a pregnancy period. Pregnancy is considered as a normal physiological form that is characterized by growth of the fetus and the mother. From the moment of conception onwards, a fetus forms into a baby while the mother experiences physiological and physical growth. All mothers desire to have good health for themselves as well as their babies, but there are some women who are concerned about the regular maternal physical activities during pregnancy because it may lead to miscarriage, poor fetal growth, musculoskeletal injury and premature delivery. However, for the normal pregnancies, such concerns have not yet been substantiated. Indeed, the participation in a regular weight-bearing exercise has revealed that it improves the maternal fitness, restricts weight gain with no effect on fetal growth, and hastens the postpartum recovery. Additionally, there are psychological advantages of exercise and this has to be nurtured by any person that cares for a pregnant women. During a first trimester, there are major physiological alterations that take place, even though there are few maternal body changes (Frank Cone, 2011). Therefore, during the low-level exercises, pulse responses and blood pressure are not very different from a woman who is not pregnant, but fatigue could be noticed earlier during the exercise routine. When early pregnancy proceeds, blood volume expands while the uterus keeps on enlarging; here there is minimum weight gain which could vary from zero to eleven pounds. At this time, the fetus undergoes significant growth which includes organ and limb development. Due to this fact, the mother must have balanced nutrition, exercise, rest and hydration. It should be noted that the pregnant mother has to avoid a large increase in body temperature during an exercise routine. When well hydrated and fit pregnant women examine their main body temperatures in an efficient manner they should be able to regulate their body temperatures. The second trimester and third trimester come with dramatic changes in the pregnant womans body. The weight gain varies from 22 to 36 pounds which is normally around the pelvis and abdomen and this alters posture as well as the center of gravity. At this time, exercises that need agility and balance could become harder because of the change in weight distribution for the pregnant woman. Therefore, appropriately adjusted exercise equipment and aquatic exercises can b immensely helpful. The additional caloric demands during this period of pregnancy are greatly variable because the increment of caloric need cannot be accurately estimated. A lot of information exists with regards to the attitudes of pregnant women towards physical activity. Nonetheless, a limited amount of studies highlight the significant limitations to the participation and this includes lack of facilities, time and physical barriers. As a matter of fact, studies show that some pregnant women view physical activity as unsafe for the fetus. Ultimately, few studies have provided elaborate insights into experiences and views of the overweight pregnant women. Chapter Two Literature Review Many studies have shown that when pregnant women exercise, the risk of acquiring various conditions is reduced. For instance, women that exercise during the first trimesters have a great chance of delivering the baby naturally and with regards to the pre-eclampsia, the time seems to be beneficial. Also, such women may seem to have a greater ability to avoid the gestational diabetes. Hence, women that regularly exercise before pregnancy through to the time of delivery are more likely to attain a health benefit. If promoting physical exercise would limit incidences of pre-clampsia, then a first half of the pregnancy is more likely to become the effective period, particularly for the first-time mothers. However, further studies must be carried out to examine the effectiveness of this kind of program. The study will extend the findings of studies that have been done by identifying the controversy and comparing the conflicting findings. Evidence from the scientific studies shows the significant role of the physical activity particularly in the health promotion as well as quality of life. In addition, evidence of control and prevention of various diseases during pregnancy has been shown. Until almost recently, pregnant women were directed to limit their activities as well as interrupt occupational work particularly during the pregnancys final stages (Frank Cone, 2011). However, by the 1990s, practitioners admitted a positive influence resulting from constant physical activity during the gestation period and it has been encouraged. But, this applied only if the woman did not present certain adverse conditions (Frank Cone, 2011). As a matter of fact, there seems to be some kind of consensus that maintenance of a light or moderate exercise during uncomplicated pregnancy gives several benefits for the health of the woman. This has been explained by evidence that proves that exercise causes thermal response as well as circulatory redistribution that shifts blood concentration from a placenta and uterus to extremities. The process assists to reduce as well as prevent lower back pains, foster lower liquid retentions, reduce cardiovascular stress, increase oxygenation capacity, decrease blood pressure, reduce risk of the gestational diabetes, prevent thrombosis and the varicose veins and assists control of gestational weight gain (Connelly, 2009). The benefits also include the emotional aspects because exercise helps to make pregnant women more confident of themselves and satisfied with their appearance, also it raises self-esteem hence reducing chances of post-partum depression. However, the exercise during pregnancy may still raise certain controversies. According to Connelly (2009), the published guidelines and studies on exercise during pregnancy are not enough. On the other hand, Chasan-Taber et al. (n.d) state that even though they are limited, the literature recommends that practicing the moderate exercise while pregnant will not present additional risks and it does not result to unwanted outcomes for both the fetus and the mother. Both researchers still suggest that more studies have to be carried out. The advantages of exercise or physical activity during a gestation period do not seem to be appropriately publicized and some of them consider this theme as a taboo. Most women perceive that physiological limitations presented by the pregnancy hinder them from taking part in programs which enhance regular exercise. Other women perceive that remaining relaxed and rested during pregnancy is more important as compared to exercising or maintaining the active lifestyle. Exercising while pregnant has raised many controversies from researchers and experts but this study aims to carry out systematic reviews of scientific articles on an association between the exercising while pregnant and an occurrence of the maternal-child health results. The review will focus particularly on the aspect of physical activity for pregnant women based on the occupational and leisure-time physical activity. The former includes activities related to an individuals occupation (unpaid or paid), that is, all the activities performed within the work space which includes housework. While leisure-time physical activity refers to activities performed with an aim of promoting health or leisure. According to World Health Organization, exercise plays an important role when it comes to the hindrance of the cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, stroke, breast and colon cancer as well as depression. Previously, women had to limit the physical activity once they got pregnant because of the assumed high risk of the spontaneous abortion as well as preterm birth. Pregnancy is considered as a unique condition that is characterized by the various physiologies in a mother and the concern for the developing fetus; however, this precaution is currently disregarded in general. Today, exercise is an added part of the antenatal care. For instance, the US, Great Britain, Norway, Canada and Denmark recommend that pregnant women should engage in physical activities that is equal to a women who are not pregnant. Apart from general health advantages, the physical activity is linked with favorable effects on the maternal outcomes in the gestation period like pre-clampsia and gestational diab etes (LeMoyne et al., 2012). However, Wang et al. (2015) question the assumed preventive actions on pre-clampsia. When looking at the negative and positive effects of exercise during pregnancy especially on the fetus health, the evidence is usually weak. People have always believed that physical activities may initiate labor activity as well as imminent pre-term birth hence this can only be avoided through bed rest. However, such notions are scientifically proven but they have come up as matters of precaution particularly in the absence of proper treatment actions against the pre-term labor. Moreover, hypotheses that have been presented by Schirmer (2007) show that the physical activity could lead to reduced fetal development because of the redistribution to working muscles rather than the fetus and placenta. Therefore, there are still concerns for an unborn child with regards to a mothers exercising level, and few reviews touch on maternal exercise and the reproductive outcomes. The initial study on the maternal physical activity was examined and the risk of a miscarriage is among the most popular adverse pregnancy results. It was found that an increased risk of a miscarriage among pregnant women who engaged in physical activity was high for the ones in their first trimester (Wang et al., 2015). It was revealed that where was a relation between the level of exercise as well as the risk of a miscarriage. Furthermore, certain kinds of exercise like jogging, racket sports and ball games were found to be closer related to a miscarriage as compared to other activities. A section of this association could be explained by the potential bias because of the retrospective exposure data collected. Nevertheless, studies on the lifestyle aspects in the beginning of pregnancy as well as early fetal loss using data that has been collected prospectively are hard to carry out hence they are rarely done. Generally, swimming is seen as a suitable and safe exercise to undertake during pregnancy and the study above shows that swimming was not linked with miscarriage. It should be noted that a reduced rate of the physical activity for many women, the level of activity is usually reduced further throughout the pregnancy and exercise before pregnancy is often not retrieved six months after giving birth (Wolfe, 2008). Among the women that actively engage in exercise before pregnancy, the aspects linked with discontinuing sporting activities during the pregnancy are the same as those for inactiveness both before and after the pregnancy. Therefore, if the exercise during pregnancy is considered healthy for the fetus and the mother, knowledge on an exercise behavior with regards to predictors and pregnancy is useful when it comes to interventions of public health. Generally, there has been increased focus on exercise or physical activity hence it is important to establish guidelines that are e vidence based during a pregnancy period. Wolfes (2008) findings on physical activity linked with miscarriage along with a sparse knowledge of the possible effects on a fetus of the maternal physical activity came to be the main aims of the study because physical activity has been extremely focused on in the public health. However, it should be noted that just informing women about exercising while pregnant is not enough because of barriers like time and financial constraints and absence of transport and facilities. These pressures could prevent the women from organizing an exercise program. Nevertheless, if a practitioners knowledge is insufficient on whether exercise is valuable during pregnancy, then the pregnant woman may not know the health benefits it has. Hence physical exercise has the ability to enhance the outcomes of physical health during pregnancy. Wang et al. (2015) believe that exercise has to begin in the first trimester of a pregnancy or before the pregnancy in order to get the most benefit. The promotion of physical exercise at the start of the pregnancy seems to be very beneficial particularly to first time mothers. Most of the studies that have been carried out with regards to pregnant women engaging in exercise have been prospective and observational whereby only limited studies were carried out through random trials. Furthermore, the exercises done by pregnant women are not similar in terms of intensity, frequency, duration and type of exercise because they are distinct between studies hence they are hard to compare and quantify. Therefore, fitness for maternal pre-pregnancy varies. According to Schirmer, (2007), these variables are important when it comes to determining the influence of exercise on a fetus and the woman. Moreover, these control groups utilized during the study are not consistent and they range from women that have not exercised before to women that exercised before a pregnancy but stopped exercising during the pregnancy to the women who kept on exercising during the pregnancy. This makes it difficult to compare between various studies. According to LeMoyne et al. (2012) there are several physiological changes that take place during a pregnancy which could affect an exercising pregnant woman. They add that at the beginning of a first trimester blood volume increases, the plasma volume increases as well as the mass of red blood cells; the cardiac output also increases because of the increased stroke volume and heart rate. These changes can be seen in the early first trimester whereby by twelve weeks the increase in cardiac output is up by 35 percent above the pre-pregnancy levels. He concludes that regular exercise can also increase blood volume and cardiac output. There are physiologic changes that can be seen in pregnant women who exercise regular and they are usually amplified. Hughes (2006) says that when comparing women that exercise before a pregnancy, an additional 40 percent increase in the cardiac output is seen in women that keep on exercising while they are pregnant as compared to the women that do not. This effect can also be seen in blood volume that expands up to 20 percent in women that keep on exercising while they are pregnant. Freyder (2009) believes that exercising while pregnant does not just improve fitness, but the women that exercise while pregnant have fewer pregnancy symptoms like somatic complaints, anxiety and insomnia. On the other hand, Evenson Bradley (2010) study showed that the women that kept on exercising for 20 minutes every week have fewer pregnancy symptoms which include heartburn, nausea, lower back pain, leg cramps, ligament pain and so on during the first trimester and third trimester. Women that exercised before pregnancy still have benefits throughout the pregnancy even after they stop exercising. However, these benefits are not as good if they are compared with the women that kept on exercising during the pregnancy. The study also shows that pregnant women that exercised while pregnant but stopped later during pregnancy showed fewer symptoms but with less improvement of the symptoms but noted a subsidized improvement in the symptoms after exercise stopped. Frank Cone (2011) believe that exercising while pregnant improves self-image but after 2 weeks of cessation of physical activity, this positive influence begins to disappear. They prove that women that begin an exercise routine during pregnancy have immense improvement in physical health, muscular strength, body build, energy level and stamina. This information on the maternal weight increase conflict. Various observational studies and two meta-analyses revealed no difference when it came to the maternal weight increase. However, the meta-analyses could not find a distinctiveness between intensity, exercise type, levels of pre-pregnancy fitness or duration when the results were being examined. All of these factors may impact the maternal weight increase. Various observational studies revealed that women that exercise while pregnant gained minimal weight as compared to the control group. The studies involved women that exercised before pregnancy and kept on doing so while they were pregnant. Connelly (2009) carried out an observational study which compares the fit women who kept on exercising three times a week for an average of 30 minutes while in the #7th week of gestation to women that halted exercising while pregnant and revealed that the weight gain rate was the same between both groups in first trimester but this was immensely lesser during the second trimester and the third trimester with regards to those women that kept on exercising. This total weight increase was around 3kgs lesser within the exercise group; hence, it was still in the suggested range of the maternal weigh increase or gain. A study by Chasan-Taber et al. (n.d) showed that around 1.9 kg weight increases in the women that participated in the exercise routine for around 2 hours every week for almost 12 weeks. The weight gain could be due to the amount, timing and intensity of the exercise during the pregnancy. Various studies also show delivery and labor related outcomes with regards to engaging in exercise while pregnant. Chapter Three Methodology The study will be conducted through a search whereby articles will be identified through the literature search of LILACS and MEDLINE databases using key words like exercise or physical activity and gestation or pregnancy. The articles will include those that have been published between the years 2005 to 2015 in English and the will refer to follow-up, case-control and cross-sectional epidemiological studies. The expected principal outcomes of these studies will be gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, miscarriage, gestational weight increase, fetal development or growth, prematurity, mode of delivery or prematurity. The search procedure involves a survey of references that are based on key words that finds 3,300 articles. The references will be sifted using search filters. Articles with abstracts will be read depending on other inclusion criteria that have been verified. The studies will undergo methodological quality based on the fetus and mother outcomes. The studies will be evaluated independently and assessed using Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Then the results will be classified based on the scale to measure the concordance between various evaluation methods. The studies will be organized according to country of origin, publication year, study design (cross-sectional, case control, cohort), sample size, maternal-fetal health outcomes, physical activities measurements, participants age, and results in order to estimate what was used in the scoring and analysis of methodological quality. Later, the studies will be grouped in terms of the ones with similar results depending on the outcome. The objective of this is to facilitate and systematize understanding of the findings of articles that have been reviewed. Moreover, the mean of the total scores that will be assigned to these studies in every group will be calculated. No article will be rejected due to its methodological limitations, but the results will be considered much more consistent in these studies which could receive higher scores. References Chasan-Taber, L, Schmidt, MD, Pekow, P, Sternfeld, B, Manson, J, Markenson, G. (n.d.).Correlates of physical activity in pregnancy among Latina women. 353-363.) Springer New York LLC. Connelly, F. S. (January 01, 2009). Exercising while pregnant.The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy,10,9, 358-65. Evenson, K. R., Bradley, C. B. (January 01, 2010). Beliefs about exercise and physical activity among pregnant women.Patient Education and Counseling,79,1, 124-9. Frank, E., Cone, K. (January 01, 2011). Characteristics of pregnant vs. non-pregnant women physicians: findings from the women physicians health study.;International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics: the Official Organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics,;69,;1, 37-46. Freyder, S. C. (March 01, 2009). Literature Review: Exercising While Pregnant.;Journal of Orthopaedic ; Sports Physical Therapy,;10,;9, 358-365. Hughes, H. (2006).;Watercise while you wait: A unique exercise program for pregnant women. Mesa, AZ: HH Books. LeMoyne, Elise L, Curnier, Daniel, St-Jacques, Samuel, ; Ellemberg, Dave. (2012).;The effects of exercise during pregnancy on the newborns brain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd. Schirmer, J. (2007).;High-risk diabetic pregnancy and work: two hard-to-reconcile circumstances. (Revista panamericana de salud publica, 2, 6, 408-14.) ; Wang, Chen, Zhu, Weiwei, Wei, Yumei, Feng, Hui, Su, Rina, ; Yang, Huixia. (2015).Exercise intervention during pregnancy can be used to manage weight gain and improve pregnancy outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd. Wolfe, L. A. (January 01, 2008). Pregnant Women and Endurance Exercise. 531-546. ;;;;;;;;;; ; ;;;;;; ; ;

The 21 Best Dogs for Apartment Living

The 21 Best Dogs for Apartment Living SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Living in an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t also have a happy, healthy dog as well (unless your apartment complex doesn’t allow dogs, of course!). Though apartment living comes with a few hurdles when it comes to dog ownership, finding the right dog breed can make all the difference. With a little effort, the majority of dog breeds can live in apartments, but apartment living is certainly easier with some breeds than others. So let’s check out what qualities make for a good apartment dog and the top breeds that fit the bill. What Makes a Good â€Å"Apartment Dog†? There are a few basic qualifications for the best apartment dogs, since living in an apartment (as opposed to living in a freestanding home) brings with it a few restrictions: The size of your place is likely relatively small. You have more difficulty getting a dog to a grassy area to relieve themselves. You have to worry about noise level with your neighbors sharing a wall with you. To help your dog live comfortably in your space, a good apartment dog should meet at least one (but preferably two or three) of four qualities: Be small to medium in size. Have low to medium exercise needs. Be able to hold their bladders for several hours at a time (or be comfortable using a wee mat or turf for their potty needs). Be relatively quiet. Size and Weight Most apartments are much smaller than the average freestanding home, so a dog will have less room to move and romp around in an apartment. The larger the dog, the less room they have in a small space and the more likely they are to feel â€Å"cooped up.† Larger dogs will also be more likely to accidentally leaving destruction in their wake in a small space. An enthusiastic jump or tail-wag from a five-pound dog won’t do much damage in an apartment, but the same gesture from a large dog in a small space can easily knock items off a low table, knock over lamps and other furniture, or otherwise cause chaos. In addition, larger breeds are also more prone to joint and hip problems and can have more difficulty going up and down stairs. And this can get especially tricky in an apartment complex. When it comes to sheer size alone, it’s often best for both dogs and humans if an apartment dog is less than 50 pounds (even better if the dog is less than 25 pounds). There are some exceptions to this rule, but in general, smaller is better for apartment living. Exercise Needs All dogs need daily exercise and living in an apartment can sometimes make this tricky. Without a backyard, your dog must get its daily exercise quotient from walks, some amount of playing and romping in the apartment, and trips to outdoor spaces like a dog park. Some breeds require a boatload of exercise and stimulation to be happy (a Border Collie, for example, could run circles around most people without tiring), while other breeds take a more laid back approach to life. With dedication, you can exercise most dog breeds well enough to handle apartment living, but it will take commitment and a significant amount of time each day to accomplish this. As most people do not have the time or energy to exercise a high-energy breed all the time, the best dog breeds for apartments are those naturally equipped to need less exercise. The best apartment dogs are content with a daily, 20 to 30 minute walk or trip to the park, and will spend the rest of their day snoozing, chewing, or playing games indoors. Potty Needs Even when fully grown, toy breeds and other small dog breeds simply can’t hold their bladders as long as larger breeds can. And living in an apartment can make it more difficult for you to take your dog outside. But don’t despair! If you live in an apartment, you have a few options for your dogs and their potty needs. Because it can sometimes be tricky to constantly take a dog outside, you can either: Choose a dog breed that can hold its bladder for a reasonably long amount of time (seven to eight hours) Choose a dog that’s small enough to comfortably use a wee mat or fake turf If you don’t want dog waste in your home and your apartment has a balcony, you can set up a bathroom area with mats or turf outside. You can also simply set aside a corner of the bathroom or other area of the home for this purpose if you don’t mind your dog going potty indoors. The best apartment dogs will either be able to follow a routine of going outside on a leash with you every seven to eight hours to relieve themselves, or they will be small and trainable enough able to go cleanly and comfortably in or around the apartment. Noise Level Apartment living means sharing walls (and noise) with your neighbors. For the sake of peace and quality of apartment living, it’s a good idea to choose a dog breed that’s less inclined to bark. Some breeds are natural â€Å"watchdogs† and will light up at any perceived threat or noise, while other breeds will generally keep mum. Though, with time and patience, you can train a â€Å"watchdog† to be less reactive, it’s simpler to go with a dog that’s little less likely to light up in the first place. Some dogs will also tend to bark or howl when left alone, so a good apartment dog should be one less inclined towards this kind of separation anxiety. The 21 Best Apartment Dogs Now that we’ve looked at some of the most important criteria of what makes for good apartment dogs, let’s see the breeds that make the cut for the best dogs for apartment living. Bichon Frise Cuddly and kind, the Bichon Frise is a popular toy breed that requires little exercise and isn’t prone to yappiness or other excessive barking. They are easily adaptable to new environments and are willing to listen to training and gentle correction. They can, however, be inclined towards separation anxiety. So you may have to be careful about separation whining or barking and look into separation anxiety training if this happens. Brussels Griffon Despite looking like they walk around with a perpetual cartoon frown, the Brussels Griffon is an extremely sweet breed of dog and wants little more out of life than love and cuddles. In fact, they will often demand love and cuddles (and play!) at home, but they don’t need a lot of outdoor exercise to be happy. They can be stubborn and difficult to train, so try to nip any bad habits- like watchdog barking, whining, or indoor soiling- in the bud before they become too firmly established. And a loving training regime will do wonders to curb any unwanted behavior. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel You’ll never be in want of love or cuddles with a King Charles Cavalier around. An extremely friendly and easy-going dog, some will greet guests by giving a couple of friendly barks and licks. But they aren’t inclined to bark excessively or at strange noises (unless they see a bird out the window). They’re a curious and playful breed, but don’t need much exercise beyond a daily walk. Their favorite place is in a lap- your lap, a friend’s, a stranger’s, any lap will generally do! Chihuahua Popular for their small size and big, sweet eyes, the Chihuahua is an often-seen apartment dog. Though their size and minimum exercise needs are perfectly suited to apartment living, they can also be prone to loudness if not well-trained. So be sure you know how to train against excessive barking before you take on Chihuahua ownership! Chihuahuas are probably best trained on a wee mat or turf since they can’t hold their bladders very long. Coton de Tulear Bouncy balls of cotton-fluff, Coton de Tulears are adaptable, friendly, and fun. They’ll make their own entertainment when you’re busy, but they will also take direction well if it’s time for training or games. They need to spend one or two days a week romping around a park to run, but otherwise are content with daily walks. They’re happy to be outside or inside snuggling, whichever’s on the menu. English Bulldog English Bulldogs are sweet, gentle, and fairly low-maintenance. Not much inclined towards exercise or barking, these dogs would rather be sleeping or lounging than running or sounding the alarm, making them one of the very best dogs for apartments. Do take care that these are brachiocephalic dogs, which means they have flat faces. This can make breathing- especially strenuous breathing- difficult, so be careful with exercise and hot weather and make sure to monitor them closely. French Bulldog Friendly, funny, and relaxed French Bulldogs will often be happy to entertain themselves. But they’ll almost never snub an affection pat, so don’t mistake independence for aloofness. Another brachiocephalic dog breed, so little exercise is needed or required here. Though do take care that the French Bulldog is inclined towards (over)eating, which means you’ll have to be careful of weight gain, since it’s difficult for them to run off those extra pounds. Glen of Imaal Terrier A spunky, curious breed, Glen of Imaal Terriers are eager to explore the environment around them. They are less inclined towards confrontation or hunting than other terriers are, so are a little less likely to get themselves into trouble. Glen of Imaal Terriers require some quick exercise to be happy, so in addition to a daily walk, they’d like a few days in the park, a jog, or other opportunity to run every week, but will be happy to spend the rest of the time indoors with the family. Greyhound Though they’re large, extremely prey-driven dogs, Greyhounds are happy couch potatoes and will be satisfied with a daily walk and playtime at home. This is especially true for former racing Greyhounds who are more than content to retire to a life of relaxation. Very sensitive, snuggly, and loving, Greyhounds are tuned into your emotions and needs. They are quiet dogs, but they are also inclined towards separation anxiety and separation-based destruction. So start training them early how to handle your leaving the house if you don’t want to come home to the destruction of all your worldly possessions. Havanese Playful, spirited, and brave, the Havanese is a high energy breed that requires daily mental stimulation. But they don’t need much more than a short daily walk when it comes to physical exercise. It’s a good idea, however, to bring this dog on regular outings in the world- especially to different locations whenever possible- to feed some of that mental energy. But, otherwise, the Havanese will be happy to spend the day indoors, sticking close to their family and snuggling. Lhasa Apso The Lhasa Apso is a loyal, sweet, and gentle dog with model-like hair. They’re also smart dogs, though, unlike many clever dog breeds (such as terriers), Lhasa Apsos are not inclined towards mischief or destruction when bored. They will, however, seek you out to ask for playtime and attention when they need it. They will also sound the alert if startled, so some training may be necessary. But, even then, the Lhasa Apso has a fairly quiet, and less-than-intimidating bark. Miniature Pinscher Miniature Pinschers are clever, fearless, and affectionate. Give them love, play, and a daily chance to sniff and explore, and your Miniature Pinscher (or â€Å"Min Pin†) will have everything its heart desires. These are natural watchdogs, but easily trained, so you can curb excessive barking with a little know-how (and a lot of treats!). Min Pin’s need a chance to run at least once or twice a week, but are otherwise content with a daily walk and some playtime at home. Papillon The Papillon is a smart, responsive, and playful breed. They can be timid towards strangers, but once they love you they love you, and there’s no letting go. Graceful and energetic, they love to play with their families and need to run off some energy, but a daily walk and some time in the park will be enough for them. Pekingese The Pekingese is an affectionate, but not overly-needy dog, happy to spend time either alone or with people. A Pekingese will also alert you to any visitors that come a’knocking, but won’t get carried away with barking. They are sweet dogs, eager to cuddle and play, but who don’t need too much exercise. In fact, the Pekingese is another brachiocephalic breed, so be careful with hot weather and letting your Pekingese get too much exercise too quickly. Toy Poodle All Poodle breeds (Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle, and Standard Poodle) are highly intelligent dog breeds that are easily trainable. But the Toy Poodle requires the least amount of exercise of the three types and is often the most even-tempered, so they’re typically the best choice of the three breeds when it comes to apartment living. Curious and playful, the Toy Poodle does well when provided with regular stimulus. It’s a good idea to take your Toy Poodle out and about with you when you’re running errands or are otherwise outside. Letting them see the world will help them focus all that mental energy, and will provide a daily dose of fun. Pug Pugs are generally quiet, laid back dogs that make great apartment companions. They’re sweet and goofy, and while they’re happy to play with you, most Pugs don’t need excessive amounts of attention throughout the day to be happy. They also don’t require much exercise and too much can even be harmful, as their brachiocephalic faces can cause breathing problems if they over-exert themselves or are out too long in hot weather. Do note that they can be prone to weight-gain, however, so be diligent in balancing out their meals and walks. Shih Tzu Friendly and relaxed, the Shih Tzu often has a large-dog temperament in a small-dog body. They’ll be happy to explore the world with you or chill out on the couch, depending on what you want to do that day. They’re also eager to learn and are highly trainable, so playtime is a must. But they don’t need too much in the way of exercise to be content. Silky Terrier Silky Terriers (or â€Å"Silkies†) are loyal and loving to their families, but are often wary of the world. So they can be prone to giving the alert by barking, both indoors and out, but training will help curb this tendency. Playful and energetic little dogs, Silkies are eager to play but will be happy with a short daily walk when it comes to their exercise needs. And when they’re not playing, they’re happy to curl up in small spaces, which makes apartment living perfect for them. Skye Terrier Pleple2000/Wikimedia Affectionate and fearless, Skye Terriers will take on the world, but they are sensitive to harsh words or reprimands from their families. Come at them gently and they’ll never be far from your side. Skye Terriers are mild-mannered and easily adaptable to city life and apartment living. They need daily walks but are otherwise content to play, explore, and snuggle at home. Tibetan Spaniel Tibetan Spaniels are extremely easy-going dogs. Adaptable to new situations and environments, they are equally as happy to go on long walks as they are to snuggle on the couch. Though they may sound the alarm for visitors, a well-placed treat will silence any barking. And they’re otherwise quiet enough that your neighbors will wonder whether or not you even have a dog in your apartment. Yorkshire Terrier Like most terriers, Yorkshire Terriers (or Yorkies) are spunky little balls of mischief and fun. They’re loving and cuddly with their families, but they are often shy of strangers. Many will try to run away or hide if a stranger tries to pet them, so it’s a good idea to socialize them early. Yorkies are energetic and playful and are happy to run, but don’t actually require much daily exercise beyond a regular, half-hour walk. Many Yorkies will also sound the alarm by barking if they hear visitors or other â€Å"suspicious† noises, but training can minimize this tendency. How to Help Any Dog Adjust to Apartment Living Though these are the best dog breeds for apartments, most dogs can learn to live in an apartment with enough exercise and the right training. And even the best apartment dogs will need to learn how to cope with the unique circumstances that make up apartment living. So let’s look at what you need to do to teach your dog how to adapt to apartment living. #1: Train Them to Get Used to the Noise Apartments can be loud. There’s noise above you, below you, to the sides of you, and the noise from people walking down the hallway in front of your front door. To your dog, all these people making noise near your home is a flagrant breech of privacy, and they can induce fear, anxiety, and even fear-based aggression. Help your dog get used to the noise of apartment living by connecting the noise to positive stimuli. Give your dog a happy-sounding cue word (like, â€Å"What’s that?!†) and a treat whenever you hear the noise from your neighbors. You can also invite a friend over (one that your dog likes) to knock on your door. Give the cue word and the treat when your dog hears the noise, then give your dog an extra reward by letting your friend inside for happy pats and cuddles. #2: Give Them Their Own Designated Space Your dog is a part of your family, and the apartment is a den for all of you to share. But just like you need your own space away from other people sometimes, so too does your dog. Make the apartment seem larger for your dog by providing them with their own, human-free zone. This might be a crate, or a dog playpen, or even just a dog bed in the corner of the apartment. Just make sure it’s a space where your dog can retreat to when they want some time alone and that you don’t try to bother your pup when it goes there. #3: Introduce Them to Other Dogs in the Complex If your apartment complex allows dogs, then chances are there are a good number of other dogs living in the building. To help your dog feel comfortable with these dogs (especially hearing these dogs move, bark, or whine throughout the day), see if you can introduce your pup to the other dogs in the building. Try to take your dog to the places the other dogs go for bathroom breaks, or introduce yourself to any of your neighbors that you see with dogs. Set up doggy playdates to help your pup make friends with the neighbor dogs (and you may even make some human friends out of it too!). #4: Teach Them How to Use a Wee Mat or Train Them to â€Å"Hold It† for Long Periods of Time Wee mats smell faintly of urine and pheromones, so dogs will naturally be inclined to potty on them. But even so, you’ll have to train your dog on how to use the wee mat or the indoor turf to make the process fun and easy and avoid any accidents. If you choose to forgo wee mats and train your dog to wait until you can go outside together, then you’ll have to progress slowly. Many grown dogs can potentially hold their bladders for upwards of 8 hours, but not all dogs can manage this. Start by taking your dog outside every 2 to 3 hours and then increase the time between outings by half an hour every few days until you get up to between 6 and 8 hours. If your dog starts to have accidents indoors or sniffs or whines to go outside, then you may need to decrease the time between potty breaks. Alternatively, you may think about getting a doggy turf to place in your bathroom or on the apartment balcony.