Category: Top Dog

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing to set off on a long journey walking across Europe. I’m planning to do it with my dog over the course of 3–4 years, visiting every EU country, camping with a tent, etc.

I’ve started to plan the route in more detail, and after my starting country the first one will be Romania. I’ve seen several times that people warn you to be careful with the shepherd dogs there. Many say you should watch out for them, avoid them from a distance, and so on.

I don’t have any issues with my own dog, but I would really appreciate any advice or tips on how to handle the situation in Romania, especially regarding the shepherd dogs.

I have been fostering a rescue for the past two weeks and have unfortunately grown very attached to him. I say unfortunately because he gets really aggressive towards other dogs and the community I'm in has a lot of other dogs. I cannot keep him if I he goes berserk every time he sees another one. He's 4, is a great pyrenees, and has not been neutered.

Hola! Estoy pensando en comprar un cachorro de golden reteiever inglés en un criador llamado HT golden and labrador retriever. Está ubicado en Guils de Cerdanya. Sabéis si es seguro?

Hey,

I’m currently completing my final-year Psychology dissertation, and I’m looking for participants for my study on pet ownership.

The survey explores how attached people feel to their pets and whether different types of pets are associated with positive well-being outcomes. *It only takes 5 minutes to complete and can be done on your phone!*

You can take part if you:
• are 18 or older
• ⁠live in the UK
• ⁠have at least one pet that lives with you (all kinds of pets are welcome!!!)

Every response is very appreciated and helps me in completing my degree!

All responses are anonymous and completely voluntary.

You can take part here: https://aruspsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyvuB4s80ZhCZP8

Thank you so much!! 🙂

I have a GSD puppy, shes 5 and a half months old. In the morning we go on a mile half walk, shes usually still hyper for a bit after.

I leave the back door open for her so she can come in and out freely, had a bunch of toys, balls, squeak toys, chewing toys, wrinkle toys etc. But whenever I look at the camera shes usualy just laying down either on the couch or staring outside.

She drinks alot, barely eats I guess? Idk shes never been able to keep a 3x a day feeding routine. Found she ate the most when I leave the food out and she normally does eat it all or leaves like a quarter of a cup left.

When I go downstairs she usually runs to me then just follows me around. I'll play fetch with her and she gets energetic.

Later in the afternoon she often gets hyper, just runs around for a hour with her toys in her mouth lmao

But yeah, during the day she just lays down in various places unless im there, then she'll follow me

My wife had a dog when she was a kid in Peru that ran away when she was younger. She was really attached to the dog and was heartbroken when it disappeared. Over the years she would occasionally post online trying to see if anyone had ever seen the dog.

Fast forward about 10 years later, someone actually recognized the dog from one of her posts. It turns out the dog had been a stray for years and was eventually rescued by someone who regularly takes in dogs. The dog has been living with that person and is currently in a safe and loving home for 11 months.

The dog is now almost 15 years old.

The rescuer seems like a very kind person and said they wouldn’t be opposed to returning the dog to my wife if she wanted. The issue is that the dog is still in Peru and it would cost roughly $2,500 to handle the transport and paperwork to bring the dog to the US.

My wife really wants to bring the dog here because she feels like it’s fate that the dog was found after all these years.

For context, we actually already have another dog that my wife’s family got after the original dog ran away. That dog eventually ended up not being taken care of well by family members in the US, so we took the dog in and now she lives with us.

So we’re definitely dog people and we already take responsibility for one dog.

My hesitation is more about the practical side:

• The dog is almost 15 years old
• International travel can be stressful for senior dogs
• The dog already has a stable home with someone who rescues animals
• It would cost about $2,500 to bring her here

Part of me feels like the best thing for the dog might actually be to stay where it’s already settled, but I also understand why this means so much emotionally to my wife.

If you were in this situation, would you bring the dog back, or leave it where it’s already settled?

Shih-tzu, 4 months old female humper. Seems early. I've had her 3 months. I have an other shih-tzu female that just turned 9yo. She's a humper, she's a marker, but most of all she's a chill gal; both are. My question is essentially nurture vs nature– is this learned or inherent.

My area has a significant chance of bad weather and tornadoes in the next few days. It’s uncommon for my area. I’m torn about the best way to keep my dogs safe if I were to end up in a tornado warning.

Obviously I will bring them into my safe room with me (bathroom). But I’m not sure whether it’s better to bring a kennel in to the bathroom for them, or keep them on leash only.

On the one hand, I feel they’d be possibly more protected from debris in a kennel that I put a mattress over. But then they couldn’t escape on their own.

On the other hand, if not kenneled, they may be more vulnerable to falling debris and my anxious dog would not just sit next to me under a mattress. She’d be pacing all over the room. And possibly they could get out and get lost if the worst were to happen and the home was hit.

The likelihood of all this is low I know, but I want to do the best thing for them.

If you live in tornado prone areas, what do you do with your dogs?

To start, I read the wiki and it was unclear on my question. I just got an adult Shih Tzu mix. I need to house train him. I installed a dog door and he's learned how to use it. I currently work 13 hour shifts and cannot reliably come home during my shifts. No one else lives in the house and the closest person I know lives 30 minutes away. I currently have a very large 30×48 kennel for him and I butt it up against the dog door, so he has access to the entire yard plus that little area inside the house.

The wiki says to watch him like a hawk and crate him whenever I can't watch him, but that's simply not possible for me, as I can't crate him 13+ hours straight. So when he goes potty while I'm at work, he receives no feedback. Im off work 3-4 days a week. Will I be able to house train him by supervising him just part of the week? The goal is to eventually be able to let him have the entire house and yard while I'm at work.

I'm looking to take my 1 year old Chihuahua /Rat Terrier mix in for some socializing and obedience training and was hoping anybody in the area had any recommendations?

I was looking into Chicago Canine academy, but when I went to check it out the place seemed… Off? The "Boss" came out to greet me in pajamas of all things. After reading some of their Google reviews, I decided upon not enlisting my dog there. Many thanks for taking the time to read this.