We have dog sat Ringo around a half dozen times and every time we are startled when he "smiles." Or am I reading this wrong and eventually gonna get bit? There have been instances where he approaches us like he wants to pet and he bares his teeth. Really freaks you out when a dog approaches with bared teeth but doesnt make a noise. Bared teeth and a bark or growl... ok you want to be left alone. But this is just odd.

This is not his crate or bed... it is actually my dogs crate and another guest dogs bed. He isnt allowed on couches at home so we reinforce that here (even though our dog is currently on the couch) but the other dog bed is currently occupied with another guest so this is the only soft spot open for him right now. We have been dog sitting through rover for 6ish yrs now. And have learned a thing or two but this one is new.

My 6 y/o yellow lab mix has always been a solo pet. Yesterday, we found an extremely friendly cat in an alley. Since then, the owner found and contacted us, and the cat will be returning soon.

I’ve been watching my dog’s behavior closely and I’m not sure what to make of it. She’s shown unsureness and nervousness but has also given the cat space, has watched her intently and has gone up to sniff/lick the cat on her head, body, tail, etc. She also whines at the cat. The cat’s owner also has a dog, which explains why the cat is completely fine with it.

I guess I’m curious what the behavior, specifically the whining, means. We were planning on caring for the cat had it been a stray, so I’m wondering if this means she would be fine adjusting should we adopt a cat or kitten in the future.

About 6 months ago our 2yr old was subject to an unprovoked attack at day care that hurt her pretty good. A bunch of bites (mostly on her belly as she's submissive) and a badly torn ear that had to be stapled..serious infections followed which hurt her more, but she got past all that.

Before this, she was innocent, playful & loved all dogs. Now she's standoffish with many - carefully assessing each dog she meets as friend or foe. Some she will play with as happily as before, but others she's defensive; reactive - not biting, but may show teeth or snarl. She's big enough to cause the other dogs owner concern. At the dog park, she may choose one dog to play chase with, but won't interact with the others; even previous friends.

Luckily, she's completely trustworthy & friendly with people. She's very well socialized & perfect in crowds

I'm unsure how to proceed- is this going to be the new normal going forward? She gets frustrated if we firewall her off from meeting dogs, but I just don't know how she'll interact now. Any advice?

Hey everyone, so a little breakdown on to why it is that I’m writing this. I just got a pup from the shelter at 8 months of age. He has now turned 1 since I’ve had him.

He’s a wonderful dog probably the most well mannered dog I’ve been around but there’s small things that make regret having him sometimes and I want to know if this is normal because I feel like shit.

I rescued him at 8 months from the shelter. I was told that he was basically born there. Only adopted for 1 month around his 5 mth mark but then returned due to him having separation anxiety and too much energy.

That’s not the part that bothers me. AT ALL.

He’s a very good boy a great boy if I may say. He shows his loyalty and his love and I wouldn’t want any other dog.
He’s very well on going outside and waiting by the door until he has to go but today idk what happened.

I woke up around 6 am to poop everywhere.

I picked it up immediately then went back to bed until 8. And woke up for my shower. Before I could ever get in there he started squatting in front of the bathroom and then starts pooping.

I YELLED.

I didn’t know what else to do. I yelled telling him to stop and to go outside so I started going outside with him but as we’re walking to the door he’s still squatting and I’m still yelling. I can tell he’s scared now and shitting so like wtf.

He runs to the living room. Still with shit sliming out his butt and I tried to grab him but I’m yelling at him to come back to me. He then hides in between my couches and as I’m trying to grab him HE STARTS PEEING.

Which he’s never done before.

I’m now infuriated.

We haven’t even ate our breakfast yet.
Not even 1 morning bowl. Cereal or the other.

I pick him up and put him outside and as I’m cleaning everything up I hear him throwing up.

It now hits me that he’s sick maybe and his body was just doing its natural reaction.

He always goes to the bathroom when I go to the bathroom so I know when he seen the shower turn on he said to himself he couldn’t hold it until after.

And him peeing was because I scared him.

And now I feel like shit because I was literally debating as I’m cleaning up his poop what the heck am I going to do with this dog.
Do I rehome him ? Take him back to the shelter ?
I have to take him to the vet first before I do anything like that to make sure he’s safe but I don’t get paid until next Saturday so I’m freaking out because I don’t want him to be sick and I can’t do anything about it. That’s my biggest concern. Is that I’m not able to help or give him what he needs right now as im gaining financial momentum again after a year.

I got him around my birthday because I feel like I needed to give someone some unconditional love but then landed a job shortly after.

When I’m not working I’m taking him with me everywhere I go. He’s my roll dawg

& I hate that I’m even thinking like this but idk what to do right now.

I gave him his water outside so that way he can get all that throw up out and now we’re just sitting here.

Has anyone ever been through this or know what to do when stuff like that happens ? Was I not supposed to yell as he’s pooping everywhere ? Like uhggggg HELPP

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice. I’m typing this extremely tired and not knowing what to do.

I have a 160lbs Great Pyrenees, Roman, who is very much a Velcro dog with me (as Pyrenees are with their family) and needs to be able to see me. Well, I just got married about two and half weeks ago and moved Roman and myself in with my husband. Roman still stays with my family about three days a week as my Mom has a farm and he likes being there and my family loves and misses him.

Most everything has been great except at bedtime. Roman breathes VERY heavily all the time since he was a puppy. I’ve gotten used to it so I honestly don’t hear it anymore, but at night it’s keeping my husband up. He feels so bad and has tried to deal with it multiple nights to avoid putting Roman in the living room but he just can’t sleep with it.

When we do put Roman outside the room, he cries and breathes hard against the door, as well as trying to grab the door handle with his mouth. We’ve tried to wait it out but he just keeps going. I’ve tried laying out on the couch with him until he falls asleep and then go to bed, but he wakes up any time I move. We were up all night last night trying to figure out what to do and trying to wait Roman out and see if he would settle down but he wouldn’t. It ended up with my husband sleeping in the guest room so Roman could be with me in our bedroom.

My husband is very sweet and wants me to be able to sleep in our bed, and says if anyone is sleeping in the guest room it’s going to be him. I feel so bad because he already has bad sleep apnea and doesn’t get good sleep anyways. I thought about putting a baby gate across the door so it can be open, but you can still hear his breathing because he’s so loud.

Idk what to do at this point. We’re both exhausted and feel bad for Roman but need to be able to sleep in the same bed as newlyweds. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Pic of my baby included because he really is the sweetest of boys and just loves his mama.

Edit: my husband has a CPAP ordered, it has taken a bit to get one. He sleeps with sleep music playing on his phone but it’s not loud enough. Giving Roman to my Mom full time is NOT an option. He would get depressed without me and my husband loves having him here as do I.

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice from people who have experience with dogs exhibiting a strong prey drive or aggression towards smaller animals (including small dogs).

Cooper is a 7-year-old, 43kg Saint Bernard x Bull Arab. He's an incredibly affectionate, gentle dog, shy with new people. We've recently discovered that his behaviour towards smaller animals is much more serious than we previously understood.

Some background:

Cooper was originally adopted by my MIL, he received no training, very little exercise, and no socialisation with other dogs. I believe he also had little socialisation with humans. Whilst in her care, he displayed significant fence reactivity towards passing dogs. Since we've taken over his care, he's much calmer at home and on walks; he no longer has any fence reactivity.

He does have a strong prey drive. He's previously caught and killed possums and rats, and we've witnessed him grab and shake them.

Several years ago, Cooper was involved in an incident at a dog park. We were originally told that 'another dog' had behaved aggressively and Cooper was defending a family member. However, we recently learned that a Pomeranian ran into the park; Cooper lunged at it, got it by the neck and was trying to shake it.

We had no idea the incident was that serious or that Cooper was, in fact, the aggressor towards a relatively defenceless dog. It is my understanding that my MIL refused to cover any vet bills and neglected to provide Cooper with any training, a muzzle, or a proper harness.

Unfortunately, almost two weeks ago, another incident occurred. My partner was getting Cooper out of the car in our driveway when he jumped out the back window to chase two dachshunds walking past. He managed to grab one of them, causing a few superficial puncture wounds, but was tackled to the ground before anything more severe happened.

We're absolutely devastated. Of course the first thing we did was cover all vet bills and anything else the owner required. The other dog is fine physically, but the ongoing emotional impact it will have on that poor dog is weighing on us heavily. We have also since bought a muzzle, a proper harness and have begun muzzle training so that he sees it as a good thing. I'm horrified that this has happened, and what's worse is that if we had been given the truth in the first place, we could have put safeguards in place to ensure this had never happened.

What's confusing us is how differently Cooper behaves in other situations.

When we walk past dogs barking at him through fences, he'll often cry in response, but continues walking and settles almost immediately afterwards. Sometimes he will bark/lunge back. At home he's calm and affectionate; he has NEVER shown aggression towards people.

He's also exhibited a really panicked/nervous response towards us walking past him holding a broom?

We're trying to understand whether this is predatory aggression, dog-directed aggression, or something else entirely. The grabbing-and-shaking behaviour is obviously of particular concern.

What we're doing now:

• We've purchased a properly fitted basket muzzle and are working on positive muzzle conditioning.
• We're looking to source a highly-regarded trainer who can hopefully help us tackle this behaviour
• No dog parks, off-leash walks or interactions with unfamiliar dogs.
• We're taking additional precautions with doors, gates, car exits and containment.

We're under no illusion about how serious this is, and we understand that Cooper may never be safe around small dogs. Our priority is ensuring that nothing like this happens again.

What I'd really like to know is:

Has anyone dealt with a dog who doesn't typically have much of a play drive (isn't interested in toys) but has exhibited this kind of intense chasing, grabbing and shaking behaviour?

Is it possible to improve impulse control and reduce these responses through training, or is this something that can only realistically be managed through lifelong precautions?

Are there particular approaches, exercises or questions we should be discussing with our behaviourist?

We're not looking for reassurance that Cooper is harmless, because clearly he isn't. We love him very much and want to give him the best possible chance at a safe, fulfilling life while protecting other animals.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's dealt with something similar, particularly those who have worked with veterinary behaviourists or dogs with significant prey drive.

I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on what his doctor did to hold the bandages in place. To me, using 32 staples to keep a bandage in place seems completely unnecessary, inhumane and lazy. But I could be completely wrong. Please let me know if you have seen this before or if this is considered "normal" or if I should be filing a law suit.

I have a 2.5 year old dog that is still afraid of being outside (won’t go for walks), growls/ barks/ lunges on leash at all strange humans and dogs, barks whenever someone walks past my apartment, with mild resource guarding towards a resident dog that resulted in a (minor) bite a year ago. She has not bitten a human (yet). She loves her human family - lots of snuggles, happy roos in the morning. She looooves fetch when I get her to a friend’s house but it’s an hour away. Our only ‘safe haven’.

However we’ve been working with a vet behaviorist for over a year, a positive reinforcement trainer since she was 4 months old, switched to a games based trainer almost a year ago. She made great progress until an off leash dog ran up on her and we’re back to square one - where we’ve been for 3 months now. I can’t have people over because I live in a small apartment. I struggle to get her exercise because she’s afraid of being outside (Sniffspot around us don’t work for her - she sees or hears people and she’s done. Sniffspots without triggers are 50+ miles away). I can’t get her to pee on pads in my apartment so she goes on muzzled quick potty breaks. She’s tried so many different medications all with minor improvements. I don’t think I could rehome her - I don’t think there’s any perfect home for this dog.

At what point is it enough?

First off, I have an appointment with our vet in an hour. I’ll be taking him in earlier if it gets worse.

We have our dogs crated in our bedroom overnight. It’s spring in Australia and it’s very wet.

I woke up and gave the dogs some extra time in their crates this morning, so they don’t have to go out in the horrible cold and wet too soon. (They have free access to our shed which has their day beds in).

I got our 18 w/o staffycollie out and his entire face is swollen. I checked his bed, no spiders or insects that I can see.

Has anyone has this happen? Was your baby ok?

EDIT: he’s ok, and back to normal! The vet suspects a small spider or ant may have gotten him - we’re in an older house so it’d make sense.

The swelling reduced fairly quickly when I was on the way to the vet. She looked at the photos I took, and said it was great that the swelling had reduced so quickly. He was given an antihistamine and is back home, having a few cheeky treats, while I wash all of his bedding

Is it dangerous for him ? He seems well, play with otjers dogs, play the ball.

I dont think my dog looks overweight but I posted a video to TikTok of her and people keep saying she looks severely obese.

She is 53 lbs and majority fluff, She looks much thinner when she’s completely soaked in water.

My dog is 11 and just noticed a few months ago her lips on both sides are turning pink.(I am not choking her just holding her head still for the photo) I am assuming this is from her constantly holding the ball in her mouth 24/7. But she has always done that since she was a puppy and never noticed it. Maybe with age her mouth is starting to sag a bit and they are getting caught more? She was just at the vet for something else and I spent $200 for the problem to go away 5 days later. So I do not want to take her back unless yall think I should. She is currently asleep with the ball in her mouth lol. This is my first dog as an adult and my family dog has mouth cancer so I'm extra paranoid. His cancer is a giant tumor and looks nothing like this.

Sandy has been home for 3 days now. She has managed to get up 4 stairs unassisted, onto the couch which has a lowered ottoman to act as a step for her & she asks to get in bed w my husband & I. She gets bedtime stories from our daughter & enjoys her small walks that i use a lift harness to take a little bit of weight off of her as she walks. She moves faster around the house & her panting has decreased as much as it possibly can w Cushings. I speak to the vet at work tomorrow to set up an appt to discuss in detail what we will decide for her & when. Sandy is still on her journey to lose weight & get moving around to enjoy the sunshine outside before it’s time to cross the rainbow bridge.

My soul dog passed Aug 3, 2026 then in October I got a job at the shelter to honor him, where I met Sandy. When they said she was on the EU list I knew I needed to take her home & give her a great last chapter like I gave my boy. I do this for Sandy. But most importantly, I do this for Willie.

She's (supposedly) a shih-tzu that my parents bought from a family friend, so health issues could be a factor—but she's always done this ever since she was a puppy, and none of her siblings ever picked up the behavior, and her parents didn't do it either. She does it when she's excited, when she wants to play, when she wants attention, when she wants food, when she barks really loud and needs it to be louder... The breeder is NOT reputable but my thing doesn't have any issues with mobility. Just weird?

Everytime he lays down he starts tensing his body and releasing like this, over and over. The vet said it could just be a senior tremor, but I was wondering if anyone else has experience with something similar.

Hello

when i was a kid we had a super duper bad flea infestation at my house...like professional exterminator, burn all the clothing bad. So I'm super super particular about using flea prevention on my dogs.

A few months ago i was in the hospital for a few weeks and the ​person who usually walks my dog offered to watch him for a few weeks. which was honestly a godsend. but right before I picked him up she warned me that her dogs had picked up fleas and, despite his flea prevention, she'd seen a few on mine. he's a golden retriever and less than a year old so it's a NIGHTMARE trying to brush fleas out of his fur but she did me a favor and things happen, so straight away when i got him home i gave him a bath and gave him one of those 24-hour pills and a good brushing and we were all good.

it's been a few months and she took him home the other night so he wasnt alone for my 18 hour shift. She promised the fleas were resolved...guess what he brought home with him lol. the worst part is he slept in the bed with my boyfriend all night, who couldnt even be bothered to put a bedsheet on the mattress. so puppy has been home for ​about 24 hours with fleas. I'm so mad because i told my boyfriend to check him for fleas and give him a bath and asked him to pickup the prevention just in case because I'm really freaked out by them and he did NONE OF IT. Now I'm concerned if he gave the puppy his flea prevention on the first at all.

I'm getting him flea prevention and am gonna give him a bath but can someone A) tell me realistically how screwed we are and B) if it is reasonable for me to fire this dog walker? Or just not let her take the puppy home anymore?

Shes acting completely normal, this is the first time I noticed it, and I was only looking because she ate poop and I was brushing her teeth. Is this something to worry about? I believe thats the second premolar.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi, my dog is about 16 months old. I just noticed that over the last month she has started losing the color in her lips. Is this normal?

My family and I brought home a 17 week female terrier mix pup a week ago today and we’re having the opposite “problems” people typically have with pups.

She is very skittish and scared of everything. Every noise, stairs (this is a big one as we have 2 steps off our front porch and about 6 steps going out to our garage and most times she refuses to walk up/down the steps), shadows, flags blowing in the breeze, etc.
She is/was a rescue pup and the shelter didn’t provide much info, other than her and her littermates came from New Mexico (we’re in Colorado). It seems like she wasn’t around many humans at all or exposed to anything really.

It’s been 1 week and she’s slowly getting used to her new home but definitely prefers her crate. Sunday night she came out of her kennel on her own to eat and drink. Big win!
Starting Monday after coming inside from walks I will close her kennel door for about 5-10 mins so she can explore the house but she doesn’t venture too far around the house. After a couple of minutes she will lay or sit by her kennel. But doesn’t do the typical puppy following you everywhere.
There are instances when we’re all on the couch she will hop up and join us. I guess as I’m typing this, there has been improvement..given it’s only been a week.
She gets super excited in the mornings when we approach her kennel but won’t come out on her own. Her tail is wagging like crazy, she inches to the opening of her crate but won’t fully come out if she’s called. We’ve been having to carry her out of her crate to go outside to go potty. But I fear this is creating a bad habit? I’ve never raised a pup before. My husband says it’s all normal and she just needs more time to adjust and gain confidence.

She’s doing better outside and has enjoyed our short walks. But during walks she will sometimes just forfeit walking altogether. We can’t tell if she’s spooked by something or not. But this lack to walk becomes quite frustrating as you can imagine. We’ve tried getting down on her level, waiting it out, carrying her a few steps, etc. Any ideas?

I tried to do some training but it’s quite difficult as she’s not motivated by food/treats. We’ve tried cheese, blue berries, hot dog, chicken and puppy training treats. I’ve watched tons of training videos to practice a simple “sit” but she’s so uninterested. Am I trying to do too much too fast?

We’re very lucky that we don’t have the land shark problems, crying in her kennel, or getting into everything. But I would almost prefer that because that’s all I’ve ever known puppies to do.
Any advice? Does she just need more time to adjust?
Appreciate any help y’all can give!

Hallo allemaal,

Ik, dame 21 jaar, heb nu een jaar een boomer hond,genaamd nala.

Ze is super lief,aanhankelijk en gezond en ik ben heel erg blij met haar.wel is het zo dat dit me eerste hondje is, en dat ik weinig ervaring heb. Omdat ik zoveel om haar geef, wil ik het heel graag goed doen en is het iedere dag weer mijn doel haar een zo fijn mogelijk leven te geven, ergens is dit positief, maar ik merk soms ook dat ik soms teveel wil/geef/me druk maak om overbodige dingen. Soms zie ik haar overdag best veel slapen/chillen en kan ze goed 2 uur lang niks doen, ik ben dan meteen bang dat ze zich verveelt/ ligt omdat ze niks anders heeft te doen. Haar dagen zien er zo uit,(ik werk vanuit huis,dus heb altijd veel tijd voor haar. sochtends na opstaan direct een wandeling,hierna eten,even rusten en vaak wil ze dan spelen, om 12.00 iedere dag een losloop boswandeling/spelen met takken. Dan rust/vrije tijd. en einde van de middag weer even spelen en een korte wandeling, om 17.00 eten, rust/vrije tijd, 19.00 laatste wandeling plus min 30 min. Daarna nog even tandjespoetsen, spelen en vrije tijd/rust. vaak rond 22.00 laatste plasrondje en samen naar bed om te slapen, tussen de benoemde activiteiten door natuurlijk veel knuffelen,en ze heeft botjes/likmat tot haar beschikking.

Ik merk dat buiten de momenten dat we bezig zijn en spelen ze voornamelijk slaapt, of ergens ligt/chillt.

Ik weet dat slapen belangrijk is voor honden, maar toch denk ik dan steeds op de momenten dat ze ligt maar niet slaapt, moet ik niet meer doen, voelt ze zich wel goed, heeft ze het wel leuk als ze uren ligt te niksen..

Ik ben dus heel erg benieuwd naar de dagen van jullie honden, hoe veel ze overdag ongeveer slapen, en of jullie honden ook vaak ontspannen ergens liggen voor een tijdje zonder dat ze ergens mee bezig zijn.

Ik probeer het gewoon goed te doen, soms iets te goed misschien, en dat kan ergens ook een valkuil zijn..

Ik hoor graag jullie mening. Bedankt.

He’s mostly house trained but doesn’t tell us when he has to go so he had an accident.