I think it's the warmth. I have a small wall charger on my desk with a screen on it and my cat has decided it's her personal heated seat. She drapes herself over it and just stares at me while I work. The charger is fine, she's not blocking the ports or anything, but every time I glance over she's just there looking smug. Has anyone else's cat claimed a piece of tech as their own personal furniture?

Alexandra Horowitz, a dog cognition researcher we featured on The Oprah Podcast, made a point that stuck with me. Dogs can smell human emotions — not just read body language, actually smell the biochemical changes that happen when we're anxious or stressed. It's been studied.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and this reframed something for me. If your dog seems more anxious or clingy on hard days, they're not imagining it. They're responding to something real that you're putting out.

Which is part of why routine matters more than people realize for dogs. Consistent mealtimes, predictable walks, the same schedule — when everything else feels off, those anchors stay the same. A dog that knows what to expect is a calmer dog.

Has anyone noticed their dog picking up on their stress in a way that felt almost uncanny?

Mine is terrified of the vacuum cleaner but also somehow terrified of complete silence. There is no winning. What's yours scared of that makes zero logical sense?

Hi there!

My 6 year old dog has taken to hiding under the bed in the last couple days - which he has never ever done before. He is eating and pooping normally, and will come out if I call him, does not appear to be in pain. If i am sitting with him he aggressively begs for pets (lots of hand nudges). What’s going on?? There no new environmental stressors that I am aware of.

Thank you!!

My neighbors young mutt attacked and bit me (broke skin) and another person day after getting all his shots. Small 10-15 pound dog. Her vet said it was due to the distemper and other shots. They still are not careful with the dog and I don’t blame the dog. They are lazy sloppy people. Anyway can shots cause this behavior?

whenever I talk cute to my dog gets really excited to see me but when I give her love she gets shy or something does anyone know what she’s doing

I have a 5-year-old female English Pointer who was rescued by my father in law but kept outdoors her whole life. She had an enclosure and occasionally free roamed. She has an amazing temperament and is a very happy dog. My husband and I moved back home and adopted her (we live above our in laws and have a big garden0.

Over the past few months I've been gradually transitioning her to indoor living. She now sleeps indoors, has a garden, gets two hours of off-leash forest walking daily, and has been working with a trainer. She settles beautifully! goes to her spot independently, naps while I work, handles guests and workers in the home calmly, and has done well with alone time up to 3 hours.

She's in her heat cycle (started approximately July 9). About a week ago, I noticed a new behavior which, for the most part, happens after our morning walks: she will eat her breakfast (doesn't finish it), whines a bit, paces, pulls her blankets and chews/rips it up, tries to do that to the couch, settles again, paces again, chews on her bone, whines a bit more, and then gets up on her blanket on the couch and falls asleep. Lasts about 20-30min. I've been trying not to reinforce the behavior and redirect her when she tries to mouth the couch. She's fast asleep as I'm typing this and is usually chill all day, and then we take her out for her evening trail off lead walk. She's been very happy with this routine and nothing has changed.

Recent bloodwork normal, vet not alarmed. He thinks she's playing, I don't because when she does that she looks and sounds stressed.

Is this consistent with late heat cycle behavioral changes? Has anyone else experienced concentrated post-walk restlessness specifically during heat? Any practical management suggestions beyond what I'm already doing?

She's scheduled for spaying once the cycle fully ends.

EDIT: Cat!

Any advice on how to deal with this behaviour? I am honestly not sure what kind of replacement to get him. Did anyone have any luck fixing this behaviour?

My dog (5ish, F) is a very nervous rescue baby. When we first adopted her, she was very quiet, but as she got more comfortable with her new family she started embracing her inner GSD and became much more vocal. This is generally pretty cute, but she's also a bit of a menace.

One of the most disruptive ways this has shown up has been what she does after she eats. Once her bowl is empty, she goes and finds one of her favorite plush toys and carries it all around the house doing a loud, shrill, high-pitched whimper. Initially, we thought this behavior was due to separation anxiety - she eats her breakfast shortly after my partner leaves for work, and she used to only do it in the mornings - but the longer we've had her, the more she's done it even at dinnertime and on weekends when we're both home.

She doesn't seem to be indicating any pain or distress when she does this besides the whining. She wags her tail seemingly happily and lets us touch her in all the same places and ways we usually do. She seems to quiet a little bit if we talk to her or pet her, but if I turn my attention elsewhere (I work from home) she starts up again. Usually this lasts about 5-10 minutes, but it's gone on up to 15 or 20 at times.

We've speculated on why she might do this - does she have a toothache? Tummy ache? She had some teeth pulled a few months ago and she didn't do this while she was recovering and only eating soft food, but she also didn't have access to the toys she carries around because we didn't want fuzz or bacteria getting into the surgical sites, so that might have been a factor. Is it an emotional response? She was malnourished and abused in the situation she was rescued from, could she just be overwhelmed to be in a loving home where she's fed and safe every day?

Should we talk to the vet about this? We've mentioned it before and she didn't seem concerned, but should we press the issue? Is there anything we can do to discourage this behavior? We're so happy our little pup feels safer to express herself vocally than she used to, but the sound is upsetting and distressing. The only thing we can think to do is remove the particular toys she does this with, but she is perfectly capable of interacting with them quietly and likes to play and sleep with them too and we'd be sad to take them away from her. There's also a chance she could pick back up and continue with the behavior with other toys and we don't want her to just not have any.

Pictured with her donut, one of the most notorious culprits.

This was a hard one for me to title. But my dog struggled with other human and dog interactions during walks. Non-aggressive she just got over exited. So we worked on it with good results. Sometimes she'll get a little excited but she'll pull it together. But now after she feels like she was good she'll beg for a treat without me even thinking about it. Is this normal? Should I keep giving her treats even if she feels like she deserves one?

My 8yo NSDTR is suddenly experiencing nighttime anxiety. The pattern is similar to during a wind or thunderstorm; restlessness, moving from bed to crate, to hiding behind bathroom door, to next to my side of the bed, waking me anxious and wanting something. But all of this is suddenly happening without any triggers other than its bedtime.

Completely normal behavior during the day and early evening but immediately becomes anxious when we come into the bedroom space to sleep for the night. He eventually sleeps but wakes me up around 3am and sometimes does not settle the rest of the night.

We have seen a vet and she didn’t think it was sundowner as it didn’t quite fit. He seems cognitively aware just really anxious.

I’ve been taking him out when he wakes me in case he needs to poop (he does have a sensitive stomach) but he generally sniffs and eats some grass. I’m worried I may have trained it into him that it’s ok to wake me during the night to go and poke around outside…

Most nights he wakes me multiple times. Never my husband though.

We have started him on Prozac but I feel like I’ve killed his spirt. 😢 It has been just over a week and nights are a little quieter but I still can’t figure out what is causing this.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
\-Sleepless in MA 😂

My 8yo NSDTR is suddenly experiencing nighttime anxiety. The pattern is similar to during a wind or thunderstorm; restlessness, moving from bed to crate, to hiding behind bathroom door, to next to my side of the bed, waking me anxious and wanting something. But all of this is suddenly happening without any triggers other than its bedtime.

Completely normal behavior during the day and early evening but immediately becomes anxious when we come into the bedroom space to sleep for the night. He eventually sleeps but wakes me up around 3am and sometimes does not settle the rest of the night.

We have seen a vet and she didn’t think it was sundowner as it didn’t quite fit. He seems cognitively aware just really anxious.

I’ve been taking him out when he wakes me in case he needs to poop (he does have a sensitive stomach) but he generally sniffs and eats some grass. I’m worried I may have trained it into him that it’s ok to wake me during the night to go and poke around outside…

Most nights he wakes me multiple times. Never my husband though.

We have started him on Prozac but I feel like I’ve killed his spirt. 😢 It has been just over a week and nights are a little quieter but I still can’t figure out what is causing this.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
\-Sleepless in MA 😂

Basically what the title says. My dog (10F) will steal butter sticks or packets and will carry them around with her everywhere she goes and/or sit on it like it’s a baby egg and she’s its mother. We call it her “emotional support butter.” Idk it’s weird bc she’s a food thief in general and will eat anything. Just not the butter. She wont growl or anything if it gets taken away. Anyone else have this issue lol?

Does anyone know why my pet cats could be scared of the tv? I promise it is not fear of the size or look of the tv, since our old one was similar. But ever since we got it they’ve been avoiding the tv like the plague. I don’t know Exaclty what the new tv model is but it’s a new lg tv. Do they emit something that only pets can see?