INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Plant-based materials, including grass, straw, leaves, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and weeds are great materials for a compost heap. Compost will ensure your homemade potting mix will have rich nutrients and beneficial microbes. " "Browns" are materials that produce carbon, such as leaves, straw, and cornstalks. "Greens," which produce nitrogen, include kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, weeds, grass trimmings and the like. Never put animal meats, dairy products, feces from dogs, cats or pigs, or biosolids (human waste) in your compost. This can make your compost a health hazard. This container can be purchased at a home supply store or made yourself. It should have a lid and be at least 3 feet cubed. This minimum size will ensure that the contents will be able to heat to 160F (71C) for at least 2 weeks. This will result in fully composted material. Be sure to turn over the composting material at least 5 times during these 2 weeks in order to ensure that the material is composting throughout. You can also add worms to your compost, which helps the composting process. Once the material is fully composted, which usually takes about three months, push it through a screen in order to get particles of compost that are a consistent size. The particles should be relatively small so that you can mix it well into your potting mix. Return the larger particles to your compost bin.

SUMMARY: Save kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and other compostable material. Mix 3 parts "browns" with 1 part "greens. Put compostable material in a composting container. Process the compost through a screen.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Obedience training consists of teaching your dog to do things in response to your verbal commands or hand signals. Basic commands like "sit", "come", "leave it", and "stay" are important to help you manage your dog and ensure her safety, but there are many other commands you can teach, like "shake", "roll over", "jump" or "speak". Most of these skills are taught with the same basic reward-based methods capturing or luring which will be demonstrated here with "sit". Be sure to break up the training described here into multiple short sessions carried out over several days. With a treat in hand, hold your hand out so your puppy can smell it, then lift your hand up and back over her head. As her eyes follow you and her head goes up, your golden puppy will automatically sit. As soon as she does, say "yes" or click and give the treat. Do this until she is easily lured into sitting. Now try the same thing, but with no treat in your hand. Say "sit" and move your hand back. Give her the treat as soon as she sits. When your golden has mastered sitting for your empty hand, back away, and use the same hand motion at a distance while saying "sit". Finally, say "sit" without the hand motion, and reward your dog when she does so. Get some treats. Ignore your puppy, but watch her closely. As soon as she sits, say "sit" and toss a treat. She will probably try all sorts of things to get another treat. Wait for her to sit again, then say "sit" and toss a treat. Your dog will quickly learn to link sitting, the word "sit" and treats.
Summary: Decide what you will teach your puppy. Use the lure method to teach "sit". Use the capture method to teach sit.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The first exercise to begin with when attempting to improve your balance is the weight shift. This is exactly what it sounds like - shifting your weight from one foot to the other. Stand with your feet one hip width apart. Try to distribute your weight evenly over both feet. Now, shift your weight so that you are balancing on your right foot only and lift your left foot just slightly off the floor. Hold this position - balancing on one foot - for as long as you can while remaining steady. Aim to reach 30 seconds. Lower your left leg and stand on both feet again. Now repeat the exercise, this time balancing on your left foot. Repeat 3 or 4 times on each leg, and practice the exercise everyday until you can easily balance for 30 seconds on each leg. This exercise is the natural progression from the weight shifting exercise. It is performed in the exact same way, except this time: When you balance on your right foot, lift your left leg and bend it backwards at the knee. Try to hold for 30 seconds, before repeating on the other leg. If you want to make this exercise more challenging, consider balancing on a pillow or thick rug - this provides more of an unstable surface and makes balancing more difficult. For this exercise, you will need a single dumbbell - the weight depends on your own personal preference, but somewhere between 5 and 15 pounds is good for starting off. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold the dumbbell in your left hand at waist level, with the palm facing upwards. Shift your weight onto your left foot and lift your right foot off the ground, bending your leg forwards from the knee. Perform a set of 5 - 15 bicep curls, depending on how long you can hold your balance for. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg. This exercise is similar to the previous one and will also require the use of a dumbbell to perform. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your weight evenly distributed. Hold the dumbbell in your left hand. Lift the dumbbell upwards toward the ceiling, until your forearm is perpendicular to the floor. Now lift your right foot off the ground and bend your knee backwards. Try to hold this position for 30 seconds without losing your balance. Repeat holding the dumbbell in your right hand and balancing on your left leg. This exercise tests your ability to walk in a straight line without wobbling or losing your balance. If practiced on a daily basis, it can help with your coordination and allow you to improve your balance. Find a straight line on the ground. It could be the crack between the tiles in your kitchen, or a painted line in a children's playground. You could even make your own using a length of sticky tape. Now try to walk along the line, one front in front of the other, without falling sideways. The first couple of times you can extend your arms out to the sides (like airplane wings) to help you balance. Next try doing it it with your arms pinned to your sides. And once you've mastered that, try walking backwards. Finally, try walking along the line with your eyes closed - tricky, but not impossible!

SUMMARY:
Try weight shifts. Try leg lifts. Try one-legged bicep curls. Try one-legged shoulder presses. Walk the line.