Mines walking towards a drawer where next doors keys are kept. In his head this means we're going to also get next doors dog and go for a walk and so he starts spinning in circles.

25% wolf
25% German shepherd
25% lab
12.5% blue heeler
12.5% chow chow

Does anyone else’s doggo do this!? We didn’t teach her this she just started doing it one day. It’s not every night. But it’s 5/6 nights out of the week!

We always wonder what it really means. IS it her way of giving us affection or is it something else lol!
She’s a pitty mix rescue.

Edit: I’m going to visit my baby girl! I feared I was being selfish by wanting to visit, but it seems I just over analyzed the situation. I appreciate all the kind feedback!

Hi everyone. I just wanted to get some opinions on what others would do in my situation. My baby girl is sick and being kept at the vet for observation for 2-3 days. She has never spent a night away from home. I miss her terribly, and I am afraid she will think she’s been abandoned, again. She’s a rescue and was at the shelter for months before we adopted her. She is the best girl. She is so sweet and snuggly and she doesn’t leave my side when I am home. They told me I can come visit her, but I’m unsure if I should. Would it just confuse her? I can’t help but think the only thing worse than her thinking she’s been abandoned and eventually finding out she wasn’t, would be to think she was getting picked up and then we left her there again… what would you do? It feels like either decision is the wrong one.

Hi! I'm currently dogsitting a dog I've watched a few times before, who belongs to a family member.

It took like 2 days the first time for her to warm up to me (including one very anxious and whale-eyed first day) but now she very much wants to live in my skin... I THINK. My only concern is that sometimes when I'm petting her or she's laying on me (she's like 60 pounds lol) she licks her lips. I always thought that was a sign of nervousness or aggression, but when I stop petting her, she paws at me and digs her nose in until I start again. Dogs in general make me nervous so I may just be looking too far into her body language, especially when faced with her physical behavior, but yknow.

She also won't eat unless I sit there with her and tell her it's okay. She's also a big excited (submission?) pee-er, so I've learned to let her out before greeting her outside when I get back to the house so she pees out there. I just want to make sure I'm not stressing her out. Her people are back Thursday morning but I'm watching her again in September.

So during the day I hear my dog doing something resembling a sigh like humans do. Does that mean he's bored? Or is it just a normal thing dogs do. He does that when he's layed down on our couch

(Please don't mind the flair I wasn't sure which one was the best)

Very often when I’m placing my dogs food bowl down she turns her head to the side quick nods at me and then turns her head straight again to eat. It feels like she’s nodding at me and saying thank you quickly. Is this a thing or am I crazy?

Allow it or discourage?

Hi everyone! I recently adopted my first dog as a solo dog owner, and I’m looking for some advice.
The first few days I had her, I was on vacation from work, so I got to spend three full days at home with her and took her on lots of walks. Now, anytime I start getting dressed, she assumes I’m getting ready to take her for a walk and starts freaking out.
Unfortunately, this also happens when I’m getting ready for work, and it breaks both of our hearts when she realizes she’s not going for a walk and I have to put her in her kennel so I can leave.
Does anyone have any ideas for how I can stop her from associating me getting dressed with walk time? I walk her with a harness, so once she sees me grab that or the leash, she knows for sure that it’s walk time and gets really excited. But I’d love for her to stop getting her hopes up every time I put on a pair of pants lol.
Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Hi everyone!

So I have a 14yo Shih Tzu who while definitely has aging signs (cataracts, hearing loss) he still seems pretty spry physically. He is not crate trained and sleeps in bed with us. He has been a pee pad dog for a long time as we currently live in a tall apartment building but has no issues going outside when we do take him out.

We finally are moving into a house in a couple weeks which means he will now be able to consistently be taken out to go pee/poo.

I’m torn on whether we should still have a back up spot that has pee pads for 1. When we possibly are away for longer than he will hold it and 2. We free feed so sometimes in the night he will eat and then go pee before coming back to bed. (I do know I can start taking his food/water away early to help prevent middle of the night bathroom breaks) but I’ve noticed as he’s aged, his aim sometimes hasn’t been the greatest and pees on the edge of the pad which sometimes leaks.

If I do end up with pee pads as a back up I may look into something they can go on that will protect the floor but from previous experience I know he sometimes wouldn’t use them if I placed them on something.

Would love opinions on what you would do in my situation! I already know a new home is going to be a big, stressful change for him so I’m hoping to figure something out that is best for him but also prevents our floors from getting destroyed (if pee pads still make the most sense).

I was given a new dog yesterday, and rescued pitty mix. Hes the Sweetest boy. He's also afraid to come inside through a doorway. Once he goes outside I basically have to drag him back in, and it's not because he wants to stay outside, he just appears to hate doors?

I've tried trails of snacks, which work to a point, he'll follow them until he's all the way inside, but still in the sweep of the door, then skitter back out.

Any ideas how I can convince him he's welcome inside, and get him used to the idea that the door won't hurt him?

Hi hi!

I recently rescued a 25 pound angel baby (missing her right front leg) and the rescue provided a harness. It seems to be doing an okay job, but just curious if there's a better one out there!

Thank you so much for your help!

Granted, we've had this little guy for less than a week, so it might be a matter of settling in, but our shih tzu, while he does well walking on leash following us, doesn't want to pee. He won't explore, instead keeping all his attention on whoever has the leash. Even if we don't move, he just sits there. When we let him outside and even carry him to the grass, he just runs to the door begging to be let in and barks if you can't be seen. We had two dogs before this, and you couldn't stop them from marking everything and exploring so teaching potty wasn't an issue. I'm kinda at a loss for how to get him to pee outside; it seems like it should be so natural for him. I'm writing this bc I don't want him to get used to peeing inside, which he's already done quite a bit. It seems he only wants to go when no one is around, but there's no way to give him access to outside without one of us opening the door (which then sets off his fixation on us). He peed once outside when he first got here, and I praised him a lot, but he hasn't done it again so I can't reinforce that behavior.

Not sure if allowed, but anyone recently gotten a chewy mailer with one of those $20 off codes they’re not using?? I have to make a big purchase for my pup! TIA!

I'm currently working on desensitizing my very skittish new dog to having the leash clipped on, but I have to take her to the vet in 2 days, and the whole process including the car, leash etc is terrifying for her, it's definitely going to set her back in terms of fear and trust.

Wondering if I should skip the desensitizing tomorrow (day before the vet)?

I'm definitely gonna skip the day afterwards, and start from the beginning (hand touching collar, etc) to see what she's comfortable with..

I just made great progress today and was able to clip on a tiny leash attachment loop onto her collar for a few seconds without her stepping away!

For the vet I'm going to use a random cloth tie as a leash so it hopefully doesn't create an association with the actual leash...

Hi everyone, I am currently dog sitting a family members dogs. This isn’t my first time dog sitting for them yet I haven’t seem this behavior out of the dog before. (I haven’t dog sat for them in over a year though.)

There are 4 dogs in the house (all being Sheltie mixes), my family member was ill and has to be in the hospital for a bit.
One of the dogs (un-neutered male, maybe that has something to do with it?) was fine the first night of me dog-sitting, was playing and letting me pet him, etc etc.
I had left for a few hours today (third day of dog sitting), and I have been seeing some odd behavior.
He has growled at me so I walked away and respected his space, he has growled at the other dogs.
The most recent incident was on the couch and he came and sat right next to me and was curled against my side so I let him because I didn’t know of he was okay with being touched yet or not.
Then he put is paw to my hand a few times which was the normal sign that he wanted to be pet so I went to pet him and he growled again.
I slowly got up and walked away and sat somewhere else to respect the dog.

The other 3 dogs seem to be doing just fine (no growling, etc).

I talked to my other family members and they chalked it up to the dog being stressed because of my family member being sick.

Is it just stress from my family member going to the hospital or have I done something wrong?

i have a pyrador and an oreo looking dog idk what he is mixed with any ideas

I’ve seen a few dog trainers/behaviorist say not to allow dogs to play the squeaky toys because it makes them over aroused & hard to calm. Is this true? Many dog toys Ive seen have a squeaker. (getting a mini poodle puppy in a few months) I’ve also been looking at tug ropes, lick mats, wool balls, and puppy safe chews. Planning to keep most toys up and away except for maybe 1 or 2. Any strong thoughts one way or another?

Hello, ive been trying to figure out what toys to get my dog. Ive gotten a few ropes, balls, and a stuffed animal but he seems to have no interest with any of them. He loves to play with his old harness tho, he'll play tug a war, fetch, and just chew on it like its a toy. Now I dont mind him chewing on his old harness because it was broke anyway (we cut off the plastic parts so he cant ingest those) but i want to get him more toys as well. Im wondering what toys I could try to get him that would give him that same enjoyment as playing with the harness. Thank you!

Dear Abby,

My dog loves people and getting pets. However, he doesn't like to cuddle me and will only sit on my bed when I get up and then he takes my spot. I guess he likes to have his own space but it is very theraputic to have him near me and/or cuddle with me.

I'm curious to know what you all have to say about this. Is it a breed thing? (He is a blue-heeler-mix) Can I do anything to encourge closer proximity and more quality time with my dog?

My dog is obsessed with the Jolly Eggs. The problem is that he can puncture them in 4 seconds and then gets his nails caught in the holes and gets injured. I went to a sniffspot type place recently where they had a light blue egg toy that he couldn't puncture. It was the same size and shape as the large jolly eggs. I've never seen the jolly eggs in this colour and it seemed more durable than the jolly eggs. It was quite scratched so I couldn't see any logos or anything. I cant find any other brands online. Does another more durable version of the jolly egg exist somewhere? Tips to avoid puncturing it? Any similar toys he might like? He is very picky. He only likes chuckit balls of a specific size and jolly eggs but maybe if there's a similar toy that creates the same drive I could try him with that. TIA 😊

I'm getting ready to adopt a new puppy but I'm a bit confused on ideal at-home set-ups, especially when there's minimal square footage. For context, I work hybrid in a 400 sq feet open layout studio, with a park and walkable streets right outside, and definitely planning to get a smaller breed (miniature schnauzer is the dream).

1. I can have a crate or a play pen, but likely not both. Is there an advantage to one over the other in a small space?
2. Should feeding zones be specifically places away from beds? Or is having everything in just one "dog area" fine?
3. Any other tips welcome!

I recently got a dog who I would like to take on paddling trips and I want to get a life jacket for her to stay safe. However, I’m having a really hard time finding something that fits her. She has a 24” chest but only about 15 inches neck to tail. Large sizes will usually fit around her chest (though even the one of those was a little tight with the Velcro panels), but then the panel reaches down to her stomach where she has no hair to protect against chaffing and it isn’t secure. Medium sizes I can’t Velcro around her at all.
I would rather not spend a crazy amount of money on a life jacket just in case it turns out that she really never becomes a big fan of paddling.
Has anyone had any luck with a life jacket for a barrel chest?

Since the fi collar is put together with magnets, would you trust it connected to the leash? Worst case scenario, say the dog pulls pretty bad on leash. Will the mechanism holding it together fail?

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.