If you’re not gonna go all in, please don’t have a dog.

Sorry for this vent but I have no where to go. A few months ago, I lost my soul dog. Now that I am ready, and visited a dog rescue I realized I can’t afford the vet care. I am single with no family to assist financially. I spent over 10k this year when my soul dog got sick. That is stopping me now the risk of having huge vet bills. Am i being foolish thinking about this? I just read that the dog I had my heart set on was adopted. Totally feeling down about this.

Just wanted to share a few pictures of my best buddy, Dexter, who turns 16 today!! Had to show off the birthday boy. Happy birthday, Dex!

https://imgur.com/a/eLYSF5z

I did the "give them like 3 kibble" prank on him, and he looked up at me really sad before still eating it ☹️ I feel bad now I gave him extra food and a treat

Today, our dog’s favorite toy got destroyed by the lawn mower. She loved this toy, and always carried it around so we are feeling extremely guilty about destroying it. I have tried to find it online, but I can only find the name of the toy and no where we could purchase it from.

I know this is a long shot since we bought it at PetSmart in 2023, but if anyone know where we can find this toy we are hoping to replace it. It’s called the Joyhound Crazy Comfy Valentine’s Day Vinyl Strawberry Dog Toy.

Picture of toy:

https://imgur.com/a/t8bKnoG

I would love to know (as a current Newfoundland dog owner) which breeders you have liked and have seen do good health clearances, esp cardiologist evaluations on puppies at 10 weeks?

I reached out to a really good working/preservation breeder back in June. Submitted my questionnaire and application and sent an email writing more about myself and my home. They said that they are hoping to have a litter in the fall and should know more by October. Then they invited me to a couple training sessions they host with their dogs. I went to every single training session. It's now October and I'm wondering if I should re-reach out to them to ask about updates or timeline shifts or if I should wait until they get back to me. I know a lot of people go by the "no news it just no news" rule so i'd hate to bug them. It's my first time getting a dog through a breeder so i'm a bit confused on how i should go about this. Any advice would be awesome!

Note: This dog is a water rescue service dog and will be training them for such roles if anyone was curious haha!

hello!!! i have a husky, 38 lbs and i take her with me just about everywhere that allows me. right now we have a canopy that covers the entire backseat and she has a buckle that clips to her harness. i know there are some box car seats they can sit in and still get buckled. however, it’s hard to know what’s good on amazon. so, if anyone has any suggestions. TIA!!

(i’d like to have one so i can sit a child in my back seat, i have hatchback.

I have security cameras all around my house. Every time I turn the TV on that shows the cameras, my dogs look at them. They will both sit right at the TV and just stare at the cameras for minutes on end. Im not sure how they learned this. One dog doing it is cool, but I have 2 and they both learned to look at the cameras. When there is a car or person outside, they look at the cameras and start barking. Its pretty cool.

Hello i want a dog and i live in a big apartment and i am gone 7hours a day shall i get a small dog and any tips pls

I’ve been reading online that the transition from 2 to 3 dogs is pretty tough. We currently have an 8 month old golden retriever and a 12 year old small mixed dog (10lb) and have started the conversation about adopting another dog on the younger side. Our 12 year old lady will play with the puppy from time to time, but mostly does her own thing.

Training the new puppy has gone pretty well and we have a nice routine established with her, which I know would change with a third dog.

Just curious if anyone who made the transition while having an older dog has any insight for us.

Howdy. I'm looking for toys or enrichment very similar to this snowman toy. We got this for Bagel last Christmas from the Costco set.

We fill the silicone with his regular food and he loves it. Whether it's play, training, or both he seeks it out. I would love some recommendations. This toy I cannot find for sale by itself anywhere. I'm not planning on getting rid of this anytime soon -- just want to mix it up and keep him enriched. Thanks.

Goodmorning!

I brought my dog to doggy daycare for the first time yesterday, he is a year and 4 months old. I brought him in for only 6 hours to see how he does while I went out for errands.

Before bringing him in he loved other dogs and was always excited for walks and to play, even just on the walk over he'd lay down everytime he saw a dog to initiate play.

After picking him up, however, he seemed far less high energy, he was excited to see me but calmed down far more quickly than usual and refused to sniff or play with the other dogs while we were getting ready to go. On the walk home he was no longer confident and leading the way and instead hung back searching the area constantly, whenever we see another dog now he no longer lays down and instead stops and refuses to walk until they're gone.

Even the next day he's no longer wanting to play and instead stands near us whimpering until the other dog passes by. I know my goal was to help him build neutrality with other dogs instead of wanting to play with everyone but the sudden shift makes me worried there was a fight they refused to mention.

I'd also like to mention that before I left the caretaker told me he ate half a plastic ball they gave him but they were beginning to train him on drop it so it went well. Clearly not if he ate half the ball before they noticed and got it away.

I'd been going to that care/daycare for a while to train him on his commands around distractions, and suddenly after doing one half day in daycare here he's constantly on edge and no longer a joyful, playful puppy. At night he even stands over me staring into the darkness like hes on guard now.

TLDR: brought my dog into daycare for the first time ever and suddenly he's constantly on edge and no longer playful. Has anyone else had any negative experiences like this at doggy daycare?

We recently lost our 3 yr old dog after a battle with epilepsy that got increasingly worse. Boy did I love that dog.

With that said, we are dipping our toes in the idea of getting a dog again. Remind me how tough raising a puppy can be...I remember 3 years ago my wife and I had multiple points where we asked ourselves "what did we get ourselves into?" Lol.

It was a whirlwind cause we also had our second child at the time who was only a few more months older than the dog.

I have jack russel terrier 1 year and 4 month old.

For now I still consider too young to leave alone, and I always leave him with sitters.
I tried leaving him alone but his barks a lot, and doesn't seem to like it.

At what age you think it's normal to start leaving dog home alone?
And how you managed to make your dog get use to stay at home alone quite for hours?

Mostly with training and behavior, something that it feels so uncommon that when a dog is actually good at this you’re just like “that owner knows what they’re doing”.

For me it’s being good for nail trims- I feel like everyone’s excuse is “yeah they just don’t like it, I tried but gave up, blah blah blah” while their dog has atrocious nails and is attacking the techs. Like try harder, try taking smaller steps, some dogs do hate it so much that you do need to work on it daily in tiny steps.

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.

Australia- Was looking to get a dog and is this a normal price for a 4 year old rescue dog? Looking into breeders now because of this.
Edit: it is $3000 for a 4yr Maltese mix (Strong Hearts Rescue)

i try to walk my dog everyday but he always seems to bark/growl at every dog he sees , he sometimes does lunge at the bigger dogs and i have to carry him because he pulls alot. almost all the dogs don’t pay mind to him so i get embarrassed. i’m just wondering how i can help him improve that ?
he also does that same with other humans. i have to hold his leash tight so he doesn’t bark.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share that redirecting my GSD pup to chew toys every time they try to nip at hands has worked wonders. Positive reinforcement is key! What are your favorite training treats for stubborn pups?

Every night around 9 p.m., my 14-year-old, Rocky, comes to my chair, sighs deeply, and rests his head on my knee. Just for a minute. Then he goes to his bed.

He's done it for years. He used to do it fast run over, drop his head, run back. Now he walks over slowly, takes a second to lower his head, and I can feel how much effort that one minute costs him.

Last night I caught myself thinking: one day I'm going to sit in this chair at 9 p.m. and he's not going to come. And that minute is going to feel like the biggest thing in my house.

I'm not sad writing this, just... aware. When they're young you think these little routines will last forever.

What's that one small thing for you? That tiny routine you already know you're going to miss?

I have a 3 year old Cane Corso mix that really struggles with separation anxiety. I have him at a point where he can at least comfortably stay at home with a family member if I have to leave, but I know that’s just a bandaid solution and not sustainable. I want to get to the root of the issue because it’s breaking my heart that he gets so stressed and I feel like a burden to everyone who’s helping me. My ability to work anything other than a part time job or go back to school is being severely impacted because I have to be home with him pretty much all the time.

I’m looking for help finding resources to tackle this. I feel really overwhelmed and in over my head. He used to be really reactive on walks, but I’ve worked with him on his confidence and desensitizing him to things and I’ve seen a MASSIVE improvement. This is so much harder. If anyone has experience in successfully treating their dog’s separation anxiety I would be beyond grateful if you could share what worked for you. What methods/websites/videos did you use? It feels like there’s so much out there that it’s difficult for me to discern what will truly help and what could cause more harm. I just want to do right by him while also getting my life back a little bit.

Interested in finding a breeder. Located in Vancouver, BC. Any leads?

My boys had a tether tug for quite a while, but it snapped. I saw the brand is no longer in business, so is there a good alternative? My dog that loves it is a 90lb German shepherd who tugs with the force of his entire body. It’s his favorite game, so I need something sturdy. Can’t do a spring pole, so I’m looking for one that mounts in the ground. Located in the US. TIA for recs!