Category: Top Dog

Hey everyone, happy Friday!

Are there any air fresheners you can recommend that are safe for households with dogs?

Thanks in advance 🙂

Hi everyone,

I’m 18 years old and I recently got my first puppy — a 10-week-old Vizsla girl. She’s my own dog, fully my responsibility, and I’ve wanted a Vizsla for years. I’ve always been a huge dog person, and I researched the breed for a long time.

She’s so far an easy Vizsla. She sleeps well, she’s super affectionate, gentle, a bit sensitive, and not a crazy high-drive tornado like some Vizslas can be.

But I’m struggling more than I ever expected.

Ever since I brought her home (4 days ago), I’ve cried every single day. I feel this intense, almost chemical kind of panic — like everything in my life suddenly turned grey and heavy. I feel trapped and emotionally numb at the same time. It’s like I can’t feel joy, excitement, or even “myself” anymore.

I’m not annoyed with her. I’m overwhelmed with the responsibility and the reality of being completely alone with it.

I can’t eat normally, I can’t sleep properly, I feel like my identity disappeared overnight. I can’t enjoy anything I used to, and I look at dog videos (which I used to love) and feel absolutely nothing. I feel guilty even thinking about rehoming her. I feel like the worst person ever for even considering it.

But at the same time, my brain is screaming that I can’t keep going like this.

Part of me knows it’s “puppy blues,” and that lots of new owners go through this. Part of me feels like I’m genuinely breaking down.

I don’t want to rush into rehoming out of panic. But I also don’t want to harm my mental health by forcing myself into something I can’t handle alone.

Has anyone else been through something similar? How do you know when it’s just overwhelm vs. when you’re not in the right place to raise a puppy?

Any honest advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

My boy is 7 months old. I never notice him eating or chewing my hair. He sleeps under the covers by my stomach, yet most walks I’m pulling poop with my hair stuck in it out of his bum. I vacuum twice a week. I can’t figure out when or where he is eating my hair. He is crated while I’m at work and goes to doggy day care 2x a week. He does have free roam while I’m at home. I checked his toys, I saw more of his hair than mine. I wash his pillows and blankets once a week.

How do I make this stop? I don’t mind so much, but it’s annoying and I would imagine not good for him. As a baby I would notice him chewing my hair in bed, I figured he would grow out of it. I thought he had as I don’t see him do it anymore, but the hair in the poop doesn’t lie!

Our 11 month old lurcher finds it very hard to settle sometimes. He isn't destructive by and large, but only when it's the witching hour and his zoomies arrive and he doesn't have us there to play.

With Christmas coming up, my wife and I have been invited to a few evening drinks with our friends, but it's all from like 7-10pm. Our darling pup is asleep every night by 9/9:30pm, but he wakes like clockwork at 7:45pm for playtime.

He has a crate and loves it, but we haven't trained him with the door locked, as he lost a nail very young from panicking with the door locked.

He generally just chills in the puppy-proofed living room, and we leave a snuffle ball, Kong with treat inside and an olive stick for him. The one or two times we've gone out for a drink in the evening though, he's peed on the couch and tore a hole in the couch cushion. 😅

Our trainer said this is classic separation anxiety, so we're working on this now, but any advice on how we could get away with a few hours to have some alone time?

Introduction

• Hey there! We're a family of four (two kids) and looking into getting a dog. Please help with what breed we should look into.

1)Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

• We both grew up with dogs. However we never owned a dog of our own.

2)Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder?

• We would like to go through a reputable breeder since we feel like there is less risk in ending up with odd behaviours. This is especially due to the safety of our two young kids.

3)Describe your ideal dog.

• Our ideal dog should be big (possibly huge) and very chill. The dog should be very good with younger kids since we have a girl (7yo) and a boy (3yo) in our house. We cannot deal with any kind of hunting instinct since we live close to woods and fields and our house will have open doors especially throughout the summer season. I do like to jog and workout and would love to have a dog to be my partner in this type of exercise. It doesn't need to be much though. I don't run full marathons or anything. Being extremely chill is probably the more important requirement.

4)What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

• We were looking into Bernese or Newfoundland dogs but are generally open to other breeds as well.

5)What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

• It would be very important to walk without a leash in almost any situation. Besides that there's not that much necessary. My daughter may have an interest to start agility training at some point in time but that is very optional!

6)Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

• Possibly but very optional. No experience at all.

Care Commitments

7)How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

• I can do a walk or light workout session for about an hour every day. Possibly even more.

8)How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?

• Definitely take the dog on short jogs/runs multiple times a week as a workout partner. Other than that regular long walks are very feasible for us. My daugther may have an interest in teaching some tricks. A dog park is unfortunately not nearby.

9)How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?

• We will do what has to be done. And yes, we would be willing to pay a professional if necessary.

Personal Preferences

10)What size dog are you looking for?

• large, possibly huge. No real limit.

11)How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

• We can handle it but generally speaking the lesser the better.

12)How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?

• Very important

Dog Personality and Behavior

13)Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

• Snuggly would be nice

14)Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

• Eager-to-please

15)How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?

• Yes, greeting strangers and visitors would be prefered.

16)Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

• Absolutely not. We cannot handle that along with two small kids.

17)Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

• Hunting instinct is a no-go.

Lifestyle

18)How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

• Very little since both of us work from home

19)What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?

• The dog needs to be able to handle two young kids. Other than that I've described everything above.

20)Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?

• No other pets

21)Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

• Yes, very much so. Girl (7yo) and boy (3yo)

22)Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?

• We live in our own house which is fairly large

23)What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?

• German countryside. No breeds banned.

24)What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

• ~25C in Summer and ~5C in Winter… +-10C

Additional Information and Questions

25)Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

• No additional information.

26)Feel free to ask any questions below.

My two month old beagle bit me and there are no visible marks or wounds. In fact I only have the slightest burning sensation on the skin. I think I have invisible scratches. He only got his first vaccination and my mother is extremely worried about getting rabies or my puppy having rabies. I did wash my skin thoroughly using soap.