Category: Top Dog

While this question is specifically directed towards those who have owned/trained (American) Cockers, it could also extend to show-line English Cockers. I've posted this to the cocker subs, curious what you guys' input is!

I have a mixed-breed female dog, about a year old, who I’ve had since she was two months old. She’s the sweetest dog. Unfortunately, she’s always had one issue: she’s possessive over resources with other dogs, and sometimes even with me. At home I can even take a ham bone away from her, but if she finds a puddle and starts eating mud it's a different story. Most of the time I can move her away without any problem, but every now and then she growls very intensely — and honestly, it scares me a bit.

Do you have any advice?

I have a 4.5 old male puppy that I’m essentially fostering. He will not stop marking. it doesn’t matter if I take him on a 30 min walk and he pees 5x outside- he will pee again once we get inside. I’ve used enzyme cleaners, a carpet shampooer, pee pads that are supposed to attract them to it. He won’t stop. His balls haven’t even dropped yet. What do I do?? Has anyone had luck breaking this habit?

Hi all! I’ve been abroad in the Dominican Republic for the past year with my dog. He is US born and vaccinated/microchipped. I received my USDA-endorsed Health certificate for export for my dog June 2024, so i understand under the new CDC rules I can use my certificate for re-entry since I received it before July 31, 2025. But here’s my problem- for whatever reason my dogs rabies and microchip info is not on the actual “export certificate” but I have a separate rabies certificate proving he has everything. It has the rabies info, date administered (3yr) microchip number, etc. and per the CDC website it states that info needs to be on the “export health certificate”. But I’m confused, because they are the ones who endorsed it?! and I have the proof they want, just not on the “same paper” 😤 anyone have experience with this? I’m so scared to arrive in the US January in ATL and they deny my dog entry… I don’t know what I would do, I’m so upset even thinking about it… please help me! 🙏🏼

I recently canceled an order with Chewy after my dog of 12 years passed away. I didn’t think much of it at the time and just figured the refund would go through and that would be the end of it. A few days later, I came home to find a vase of flowers and a handwritten sympathy card from them.

Losing her has been rough. The house feels empty, and every little habit or routine reminds me that she isn’t here anymore. Getting something so thoughtful from a company I’ve only ever bought food and supplies from honestly stopped me in my tracks. It felt like someone out there understood that she wasn’t “just a pet” to me.

I really want to give Chewy a shoutout for that. Their kindness made a hard week a little less lonely, and I’m truly grateful for it.

We are new dog owners (adopted our guy in June) and we’re boarding him for the first time soon. The place we’re boarding him said any belongings we bring should be labeled with his name. Any thoughts on how to label his toys in a way that’s safe for him? My first thought for labeling was to use a sharpie but I can’t imagine that’s very safe if he chews on it?

Whether you actually want to get one sometime in the future or just like the breed, it doesn't matter. I'm curious.

I'd like to own an icelandic sheepdog, a mittelspitz and/or a finnish lapphund. I like fluffy breeds with sass.

I also like silken windhounds but wouldn't own one because sighthounds are not a good fit for me.

I doubt I'd be able to get one of those anyways, they're rare for a reason and we don't have them (or even other more popular breeds) in my country. A papillon is plenty exotic because there are no breeders here.

Ok I’ve got 2 labs ones 10 ones 2 the last 3 nights they have been strange in there behaviour with me I live on my own, they have been very clingy resting their heads on me etc which is unusual for the older dog as she’s not overly cuddly. Also the younger dog has been less “crazy” and at times she sits just staring at me as if there’s something wrong with me? There’s been no changes in the environment, they are eating, drinking going to the toilet as normal. A relative came round earlier and they were normal with him. Which is making me think it’s something with me? I’ve not been 100% lately health wise more like 10% 🤣 Are they sensing some kind of medical issue maybe? I know dogs can pickup on stuff like that. And it’s only really been the last 2-4 days any other dog owners experienced this?

I was watching my dog do her weird routine today, and it got me wondering what weird habits other dogs have!

Immediately after every single one of her meals, my dog will walk over to the carpet, lay down, and lick one of her front legs for 10-15 seconds. Usually the left leg but occasionally she’ll switch things up and lick the right one. We call it her palette cleanser😆 and she only does it after her actual meals, not after having treats or the occasional people food. Palette cleanser is ONLY needed after meals, obviously.

So, what’s your dog’s weird habit?

I want to preface and say I did read the wiki on how to introduce a cat to a dog. It all makes sense and it's something I am capable of doing, but 'm not yet comfortable enough to try it, and I would still like someone to let me know if they think my dog is capable of cohabitating with a cat.

I need advice from people who are educated in dog behavior, specifically how to introduce them to a cat. I have a 7 year old female rottweiler. She's never shown a prey drive until this year when she discovered bunnies in our yard. She found a nest and ate all the babies, and she chased the adults out of our yard. I don't know how relevant that is to my question, but I thought I'd share.

So here's where I need guidance and advice. My 4 year old son has been begging me for a cat for over a year. We take him places so he can get his cat fix but that's never enough. Then this spring a stray showed up, she wasn't feral and we assume she came from an amish barn. We live in the country. That cat was pregnant and had 3 kittens, only one survived. The one that survived started coming to my house when it was barely big enough to begin exploring. That cat is now about 8-9 months old and we've semi adopted it We built him a home and we feed him. He had an eye cyst that ruptured and we took him to the vet. He's now blind in one eye. We play outside with him every day, sometimes we spend time with him in our garage and a few times he's spent the day in my bedroom snuggled on my bed with my kids (2 and 4). The mama kitty isn't keen on people so we rarely see her. We named baby kitty "Mr Whiskers." And while I think he enjoys being indoors, he still loves the outdoors. My rott did get out of the fence one day and she was face to face with mama kitty. They were about 10 feet apart. Mama kitty held her ground. My dog just stared at her. When mama kitty ran, that's when my dog chased. My dog has gone nuts this summer seeing Mr Whiskers outside. My dog has been outside and seen Mr Whiskers on the other side of the fence and she stares. When I say her name and use baby talk telling her it was a baby, she wagged her nub. She's only reactive when the cat moves or runs. She barks, she jumps up and down. I truly think it's more curiosity. I don't think she flips to prey drive until she sees it run away. Now, I'm not too terribly concerned because I don't know if Mr Whiskers will ever want to be a predominantly indoor cat.

Despite having Mr Whiskers, my son is still begging me for a cat. I thought, maybe if I got a kitten that hadn't been exposed to dogs and wasn't afraid of them, and if introduced the right way, maybe I could show my dog that a kitten is a friend. So, can this be done, and if so how? Do I bring home a kitten in a carrier and let my dog sniff it? The only way I'm ever going to know if my dog would eat a cat is to put a cat in front her face. I know she gets excited, but that doesn't mean she wants to eat it right? We thought about getting my son a kitten for his birthday next spring if we felt we had enough information and education to make sure a cat wasn't harmed.

Please tell me everything I need to know so we can make an educated decision.