Blog

I got a 4 month old puppy from a breeder a couple weeks ago. I feel as though this is too much for me to deal with. I live with my parents and their dog doesn’t like the puppy and acts territorial and we have to keep them separate. We don’t have a huge house and now she’s always next to me and can’t roam around. I think I made a mistake but the thought of returning her makes me sad. I got my puppy with the intention of moving out soon but now that that’s not happening it feels impossible to keep her in the same house as my other dog.

i adopted my sweet (chaotic) boy at 9 weeks & he is now almost 14 weeks. although he has his moments, he’s gotten soooo much better at not being a complete psycho 90% of the day lol. we’re almost 90% potty trained & he just slept through the night for the first time last night. The first 2 weeks were … rough. & i began to ALMOST regret my decision. & as im getting my first signs or relief i know that the teenage phase is on the horizon. What do you think is harder? the young puppy phase or the teenage phase? He is a heeler pit mix so obviously a higher energy breed for reference, which i’m sure plays a part.

A couple days ago he swallowed his first object he is not supposed to swallow and could kill him, he swallowed a whole bone, he had JUST vomited it yesterday, and tomorrow morning while I slept he swallowed an entire tv remote, a big one, my mom had to take him to the vet, which we thankfully live right next to, he vomited it just fine but he kept one of the buttons, the biggest one, because of course he did, now im stuck waiting for him to poop it out or vomit again and im thinking, is this just life now?

This puppy is just gonna keep doing this his whole life? And I'm just gonna have to not leave him alone ever? Putting anything even remotely swallowable waaaay out of reach? He's gonna be a big dog so that's only gonna get harder and harder. I mean how the hell did he even get it down, he is big for his age but he is still not even 4 months old.

im a student right now, what happens when I move out and have to go to work? I'm just gonna have to wonder if he will have asfixiated himself?

I can't imagine swallowing that bone was a pleasant experience but as soon as it was out of his body he went to swallow an even bigger object. Maybe this time plus the vet visit was unpleasant enough that he won't do it again?

If your dog is a swallower please just tell me everythings gonna be fine and that he's gonna be fine and that i'm gonna be fine and it's just a phase and that he'll grow out of it 100% without doubt

Hi,

My partner (26), and I (24), are planning on adopting a dog. We were initially thinking around the ages 3-6, Golden retriever or Labrador but have found an 8 year old black lab that needs to be adopted.

My concern is that 8 isn’t a young dog and if we adopt her I will fall in love and be heart broken when her time comes. I understand that will happen with every dog eventually but adopting an 8 year old dog speeds that up.

Would love any thoughts on this, and advice on what to do.

Thank you!

i’m about to have a puppy in a couple weeks but i have two indoor cats i do not want getting outdoors but still want the puppy to have access to the backyard. i’m looking at getting a sureflap microchip pet door but i need to be able to put it on a insert that fits on the sliding door!

I'm an experienced dog owner, and have had dogs all my life. However, our last dog died when my daughter was just 2. Now she's 5 and we have the opportunity to adopt a sweet 4mo mongrel boy. My husband has a few reservations but is slowly coming round, my main concern is that I've never had a young, untrained dog and a child at the same time. Aside from the obvious never leaving the dog and the child alone together, does anyone have any advice? My daughter is already very good at approaching dogs gently, but obviously having a puppy in the house is another kettle of fish entirely. Should we get a crated area to make sure the dog has a place to retreat and ban our kid from entering there? Anything else? Sorry if a lot of this seems obvious but I want to make sure this goes safely for all concerned and I want to avoid having to re-home a dog because of my own inexperience. Thank you!

I’m turning 30 this year and really want to get myself a Labrador. I grew up with them, we almost always had 2 at the house.

My question is, how do people do it? I can’t figure it out. I live with my GF of 6 years in an apartment in a garden square in London (basically a garden for residents but I would still need to take the dog out myself and cross the road etc.) I work 4/5 days in the office and those days are pretty brutal hours wise. My GF works 3/5 in the office and one of those days overlaps with mine. That leaves 3 days a week where the dog would be alone for over 8 hours. What’s the solution? I’ve heard people take considerable wfh time for the first month to train it. What’s realistic?

Title really says it all, just not so funny anymore;(

My dog is 2 years old and VERY attached to me. I do understand that this is something she is doing to protect/guard me, as when my husband is home he commented that she doesn’t bark at visitors like she does when I’m here. She’s all of 5kg and not so intimidating, but it’s just pretty annoying! What can I do? Any suggestions?

After reading so many perspectives here recently about leaving dogs with sitters or family, I realised a lot of the stress isn’t necessarily about trust — it’s about communication.

Different people seem to need very different levels of reassurance.

I’m curious what actually helps you switch off while you’re away.

Do you like knowing when meals have been given and walks are done?

Do photos make a difference?

Is a quick “all good” enough?

Or do you prefer minimal updates unless something’s wrong?

It feels like mismatched expectations around this might be where a lot of tension starts.