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I literally was speechless the other night. I came home and for the second time my puppy (9 month old Corgi) had escaped her crate/pen setup. She is regressing a little and we are attempting to work through it. But, upon further investigation when looking at how she could be doing this, I found poop ON TOP of her crate. She's got a makeshift crate cover that was hiding the evidence a little bit. So, she had literally jumped on top of it, took a poop, jumped down and decided to do whatever else. It could have been the day she pooped two more times in the house. Think she had a belly ache or something. Still, coming home from an hour of sitting in traffic to that is just not what my brain had the capacity for.

I do have a camera but I don't have the 24/7 recording subscription. Unfortunately. I was just baffled lol things have been such a rollercoaster with her recently and I am so exhausted. I feel bad she has anxiety but the amount of anxiety and issues I also have are adding up. I'd recently posted about becoming allergic to her. I was officially diagnosed with being allergic to dogs and I am just not sure I can live in this constant state of uncomfortable all the time. Spending so much money on things to make it better too when everything is so expensive right now. Sometimes these things feel like they are snow balling into too much. But there are days when I can't imagine life without her. It's so hard.

I am one week into owning my very first dog – a golden retriever puppy. She is now 9 weeks and is adorable. She is taking to training pretty well – we have "sit" nailed without needing treats and decent recall if she isn't overtired. Crate training is going very well.

But since this is my first puppy, I think I am putting so much pressure on myself for her to be perfectly well behaved, especially because she is a golden. She has had a total of 3 pee and 3 poop accidents inside in the last week – which I think is pretty good considering how many times a day she poops and pees! One time she was halfway through eating breakfast after just having pooped 10 minutes earlier outside, and ran over to our rug and pooped – that one really threw me for a loop!

She gets overtired and crazy girl energy after about 45 minutes of being awake typically, so we have to put her in her crate to nap since she doesn't usually self-settle into naps outside of the crate. She likes biting clothes and we haven't learned "drop it" yet, just wants to run to spots outside that aren't snow covered so she can find rocks and sticks to chew on (I intervene for her safety), and will jump around and not potty if she's too overstimulated. She's also been digging at her puppy bed and ripping up some of the fabric cover.

I was describing the anxiety of being a first time puppy owner to my new therapist (it was only our second session) and she kinda dismissed it as "well you have a golden so you'll be fine." And I have two coworkers with goldens and they have said things like "she just slept at my feet all day while I worked" or "he didn't have any potty accidents inside when I got him".

I think I'm just looking for solidarity with golden puppy owners who don't have perfectly behaved angel puppies?? Is this all normal puppy behavior within week 1 of owning her?

I have a two-year-old fox terrier. She has the bad habit of picking up food. How can I educate her to stop eating things on the ground outside?

I’m thinking about getting a DNA test for my new rescue dog. I’m pretty sure I know her primary breed but I’m very curious about her mix. I’d also like to know about genetic disease predisposition because her primary breed has some common genetic issues. Right now Embark is charging $125 on “Valentine’s Sale” for the breed/health test. Is that a good price? What did you pay for Embark?

My german shepherd (about 1 year old) sometimes lays on his back with his feet in the air, anyone know why? (Also he's able to get out of his cage anytime he wants somehow)

I’ve recently had to relocate for work leaving my dog at home with my bf, they have a routine and are so bonded. If I go back for visits for a few days would that be stressful for my dog? To see me and spend time together then leave again? I miss him terribly and need to go home to visit my partner but worried about my dog getting stressed please share any advice

This might sounds like a my lobster is too buttery problem for some but my dog is too cuddly at night. He insists on being the little spoon and sleeping with his head on my shoulder and his whole body pressed up against me as much as possible. He's not large or heavy but once he's on bed he's impossible to move at all. If I try to wiggle away he just wiggles into me right back. I end up pressed between my partner and him and it's really painful in the morning, especially during my arthritis flare-ups. How can I get some space without hurting his feelings? He's a beach rescue and otherwise pretty anxious which is why I dont want to push him off like I would have with my other dog…

Hello! I'm just wondering if you think it would be fine to take a bike ride (going slow, so equivalent to running I guess) in -8 c/17 f. It's pretty sunny out. He will wear a jacket and boots because he's not a long coated dog. We will bike maybe about 8 km. I'm thinking it's okay since he will get warmer by running? We took a 5 km bike ride the other day in -6 c. Thanks 🙂

My husband uses the blender or coffee grinder every morning. He howls, but also sounds like he is crying.

I think he sounds sad, but my husband thinks he likes it. "he'd go to the other room if it bothered him". What do you think?

I have a Pekingese who wants to play with my newly adopted boxer mix. The boxer likes to play and is very gentle with the Pekingese. The Pekingese will escalate the play from gentle to rough and then start growling and baring teeth. So far the boxer hasn’t responded to this with violence and will either freeze or start barking. How to I stop this behavior in my Pekingese or teach the boxer a “leave it”/walk away response to this behavior?