Blog

my family got a 10w old miniture chihuahua and we’re trying to crate train her. she constantly whines as soon as we put her in and it can go on for minutes. the vet said its best for her to be in the crate im scared she’ll stress herself out.

she already went into a hypoglycemic shock twice (shes okay now after vet visit).

so do we just let her whine? what if she gets too stressed?

My dog brings me his toys like he wants to play but won’t fetch but lays on his bed after I throw it and won’t go get it till after I sit back down, does anyone else have this problem? Does he really want to play or just wants to play on his own?

Hello everyone

We're moving at the beginning of February. We have a Papillon Chihuahua mix female dog whose fur grows like weeds under her paws. Therefore, I'm looking for helpful recommendations for a good, affordable dog groomer in Koblenz and the surrounding area.

We can't go to our current groomer anymore because of the move, as I don't want to subject our dog to a 4-hour commute just for a quick visit to the groomer. Oh, and the groomer should be easily accessible by bus and train.

Thank you in advance for any helpful information.

We have a husky and two cane corso mixes. The one is half lab and loves to swim the other is part neopolitan mastiff. All three love nature and are around 2 to 4 years old.

Our husky will run away if he is off leash

Hi all,

Specific questions are at the bottom of the post, below is just some context about my situation and what I've learned for far:

Background

I live alone an apartment and work 9-5 Monday-Friday, with two days per week being remote. I'm trying to understand whether it would be viable for me to adopt (preferably foster-to-adopt) and what I can start doing now to make sure that I'm well educated. I'll most likely take some time off work as well so that they aren't being left alone for a full 8 hours within just days of coming home with me.

I've been reading about the 2 week shutdown period, have read Patricia McConnell's "How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety" and have just started her "The Other End of the Leash" book.

Right now, I'm thinking that adopting a slightly older (young, but not a puppy) dog would be a good idea so that they're more likely to have an easier time on their own during the day and might be more capable of holding their bladder while I'm at work. We had dogs when I was a child, but this would be the first time that I would be fully responsible for care and training. Not set on any particular breed, I'll probably ask the shelter for some advice based on my lifestyle.

Plan so far

The plan would be to take around 1.5-2 weeks off of work and organise my WFH days so that I'll get just over 2-2.5 weeks at home starting from the day they come home with me. Have a crate, lead, toys, food at home already and waiting. During that period, minimal guests (just my partner, and only after the pup has had some time to acclimatise to my home), no outings, keep a regular feeding schedule and make no demands of their attention unless they want to come up to me.

After about a week(?) in, start spending more and more time outside the apartment (like starting at a minute and working up to a few hours), and then probably stagger my WFH days when I first go back to work so that I'm not doing 3 consecutive days in the office for the first couple of weeks.

Concerns/Questions

– Please recommend some books for me to read up on, particularly if it's about training and welcoming rescues home rather than puppies without the same baggage.

– I've read that obedience training is a no-go during the shutdown period. Does that include crate training to give them a safe space?

– I don't have a garden, so bathroom breaks are going to be out in public starting from day zero. How can I manage the overstimulation of seeing cars, people, etc. out on the street during bathroom breaks?

– My apartment has no lift, just stairs. I'm worried about how much it might stress out a dog to be immediately forced up/down stairs or picked up multiple times a day for bathroom breaks. Should this be a big concern?

– Would it be a good idea to set up some of those disposable real grass pads inside (or on the balcony) to address the bathroom issues? I'm worried about having to later re-teach them to only go outside.

– What sort of exercise is safe to do with them during the shutdown period? Walks outside might be too scary for them, and I don't have a yard.

– How soon is it appropriate to get them used to me being outside for increasing lengths of time?

Thank you! If it looks like I've missed anything, please let me know!

So I have a 11month old male (entire until next month) mix of Malinois/Mastiff/Great Dane names Hades. We aren’t semi rural so he has space to run around, but he’s always digging and chewing EVERYTHING! He has continued training, weekly trips to the dog park for socialisation, 2 daily walks, plays fetch daily, plays with my son constantly, and attempts to play with our elderly dog (Athena 14year old Rottweiler X female desexed for years) all the time.

He isn’t food oriented but definitely ball/toy oriented. Which is fine he’s generally pretty gentle with his favourite toys. But the other dog likes to destroy all the balls lol

So I’m looking for suggestions for toys that could be outside for him to chew and run around with that the older dog isn’t going to be able to destroy on him. I’ve seen some indestructible balls advertised – are they legit? He’s got a few horse toys but he’s not overly interested in them I think they are too big for him

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated- he’s absolutely a gem I just want him to be entertained enough

Not sure if this is the right subreddit for this but as someone looking for their first canine companion, I've noticed quite a few fake breeders advertising their services on Facebook. These usually happen through innocuous Facebook groups titled things like "Bernese mountain dogs for adoption", and inside these groups you will see breeders advertising their services. The kicker is that the breeders are fake and the Facebook group themselves are created by the fake breeders and filled with fake admins to promote their services. They are very believable with fake website and photos, many of which are AI generated. I spoke with one recently and they gave me two obviously AI generated photos of their pups and asked me to transfer them money through an African payment service. Facebook does not care about these scams and will do absolutely nothing if you report them (I tried).

Here is an example of one of the fake Facebook groups:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/688112049382252/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

Storybook family breeders is the name of the fake breeder. Check their name history and you'll see they changed their name over 5 times within the last few years.

My beautiful 1 y/o pittie mix is a dream. Extremely well behaved and has so much personality. Due to my health issues I can’t take her for walks every day, but I always want to make sure she stays stimulated.

She swallows EVERYTHING we let her play with. For awhile, I was giving her cardboard boxes/empty tp rolls, but then we noticed big pieces in her poop and she was struggling to potty. So I started giving her “an allotted amount of card board” each day. I still worried about her stomach so I stopped. We had to get rid of all the rope toys in the house bc her poop has string throughout it (she’s okay this was awhile ago), so we only have nylabones in the house and maybe two fabric toys that she’s monitored with.

She is not destructive in general, but she just swallows everything she chews on. I think she really enjoys shredding things, and I want to give her toys/items she CAN so the behavior doesn’t go to things she shouldn’t.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to give her for stimuli/shredding? I saw iceberg lettuce before and that seemed smart. I just want to let her occasionally shred something without worrying about her getting a blockage.

TLDR: Young dog swallows all her toys and I need ideas for things she can safely put that shredding energy into.

My wolfhound cross and I have a routine… Kibble is out out in the morning…. And at night I give her a big bowl of food which rotates between cooked mince with vegetables and prime 100 rolls with sardines or tuna. Sometimes cheese on the top. She seems to get very bored if I don't give her variety, but I know it's not that good for them so I switch it up every two weeks. My point is, she eats very well and I spare no expense!

After dinner she gets a Greenie chew. She LOVES them. It's expensive but I love her so I get them.

The issue is the last three months, after the Greenie she starts whining and crying asking for more treats. The issue is I've given in. Her cries break my heart! And I've given her extra different types of treats. Up to 4 a night.

Now, when I don't give her the extra treats she cries and cries and when I say "no" firmly and hold my hand up in a stop sign, she barks at me. She's a big dog so while it's ok for me it would be scary for anyone dog sitting her.

The more I say no, the more she barks. And she cries and whines and some nights I just don't have it in me so I give up and give her more treats.

But the treats are costing me $70 a week not even including the Greenies (or her food) so it needs to stop!

How do I get her out of this habit – while letting her know she's loved and cared for?

My dog's fur was very smooth until he was five years old, but now it feels a bit rough to the touch. What are some good solutions?