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Everyone knows to train a recall, its the single most important thing your dog can learn. A lot of people blend a recall, and an emergency recall, but for us, a regular recall is "head back this way", no real urgency to it, just come back closer to me.

Our emergency recall (we use "NOW!"), means "drop everything and get back to me this second". Our dogs regular recall is solid, i dont usually have to worry, but it does take her some time to get back to me.

Today we were in the field, on a long line because its not fenced and I dont trust her to know to stop at the sidewalk yet. I clip her long line to my belt loop, usually she doesnt get far enough away for it to be a problem. Today, she did. She saw something and took off towards it, all 75lbs of German Shepherd speed and stregnth, snapped the leash and broke the belt loop. She was totally detached from me and racing across a field after something.

I used our emergency recall, she stopped on a dime, whipped around and came racing right back (rewarded with so many treats of course). Would her regular recall have worked there? Possibly. I didnt want to rely on her trotting back in her own time when I no longer had control over her or the situation though, and wanted her back in arms leash ASAP.

Ive never been so happy to have a reliable way to get my dog back to me so fast. Train an emergency recall, its worth it.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to fly from Germany to the New England area (either New York or Boston) and I’m trying to bring my dog with me in the cabin if possible. I’ve been reading airline rules but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have actually done this.

My dog is about 52 cm long, around 42 cm high (including his head), and weighs about 8–9 kg. From what I’ve seen, many airlines say the limit is around 8 kg including the carrier, which makes me a bit unsure if it will work.

I have a couple of questions:

First, about the carrier. Is it usually okay if the dog lies down comfortably in the carrier while it’s zipped closed, even if he can’t fully stand up inside it unless the top is open? Or do airlines actually check that the dog can stand up normally while the bag is fully closed?

Second, does anyone have recommendations for a good soft carrier that works for a dog around this size but still fits under the seat?

And finally, which airlines flying from Germany to NYC or Boston tend to be the most realistic about letting dogs in the cabin? I’m especially wondering how strict they are about weight and carrier measurements. For example, do they actually weigh the dog plus the bag at check-in, or is it more about whether the carrier fits under the seat?

If anyone has experience flying transatlantic with a dog around 8–9 kg, I’d love to hear how it went and which airline you used.

I noticed our adolescent pup, a 14-month old Staffy mix, seems to be slowing down a bit. She still has tons of energy and gets super excited about her favorite things, but is becoming more serious and she is taking way more naps than she used to. And she is choosing to go in her crate by herself daily now, even if we don't ask, which is new. (Crate training was an off-and-on struggle of puppyhood.)

Is this just normal puppy-to-dog development? It's so weird to see personality changes. I keep worrying it's health-related but she has a clean bill of health from the vet. I also didn't expect her to start slowing down so soon. I am considering talking to the vet to lower her fluxotine dosage in case it's related, but she's been on it for months now and this change is new, only in the last few weeks.

When did others' pups slow down after adolescence and what did it look like for you?

We got a new puppy about 3 weeks ago. So he is like 11ish weeks old. If we put him in his cage, he is screaming. If we let him out to the yard, he is screaming. He constantly poops in his cage no matter how often he goes out. We have been doing every 2 hours or less except late at night. Then it’s 3-4 but he doesn’t usually poop in the middle of the night. We will take him potty and he will go and we will bring him in and he will immediately poop and pee on the floor (no matter how long he is outside).

He is our 4th puppy in the last few years and none of them have ever been this bad for even a day. We have 3 kids and he is way worse than having infants. Having him has made me so stressed, anxious, and depressed. Wtf do I do?

I heard Staffies are notoriously clingy and mine just turned 11 weeks. I've had him for about 2-3 weeks and I'm starting to notice he's getting bad separation anxiety/FOMO when I leave the room.

I bought a playpen for the living room and tried to give him treats and let him sleep in it, do enforced napping, lights out, soft music, but no matter what I do he will go berserk and try destroy the pen, pee frequently every where, with very little sleeping happening.

Honestly, the only thing that settles him is him sleeping on my lap or feet, but I can't keep that up personally. I took a couple weeks off work to get him situated but now I have to start my routine again WFH.

if I leave the room while he's in his pen he wails so loudly, and if I stay in the room ignoring him he just whines but he's not really getting much sleep in there. So now he's becoming a terror at night–biting, zoomies, barking, being aggressive. and it's hard to calm him.

I tried bully sticks but that made him so much worse after, and I've tried licking mats which work for like 5 minutes.

Any advice to get a rambunctious staffie to settle in their pen would be great.

Our pup is about 8.5 months now and is such a buddy. Every day he has a good walk in the morning, hangs out (napping or chewing on bones) while I work at home until about 1pm, when I pop him in the crate for about 3.5 hours (after a potty break) so that I can work at my desk upstairs and get more dedicated work done. He then comes out around 4:30, has another good walk, followed by dinner and hang time until bed around 9:30/10.

The issue: he's such a good boy throughout the day, but 5:30 (post walk/dinner) hits and he becomes an absolute terror. Nibbling at me, humping me, barking at me. He doesn't bite, but he sort of cobs at me non-stop. I've tried ignoring him, being stern with "leave it", sending him to his bed, etc. But this pattern seems to happen both nights at the moment.

Has anyone else experienced this? He's getting neutered in 2 weeks and I'm praying this helps his hormones settle…

Hi! My golden pup has been crate trained since we got her and sleeps through the night. Sometimes if she’s anxious or upset though she will chew through her bed and eat the fluff. We’ve went through four beds at this point and I’m wondering if anyone has a recco for a bed that’s more of a pad that doesn’t have fluff, or any advice on what to use in the crate going forward? I feel bad she’s been on the crate plastic for the last few days and want to give her something that’s more comfy. Thank you!

Hello! Me and my 8 years old girl Labrador just moved today to a different place. My new roommate also has a dog – 1 year old Papillon boy. My dog is completely fine, but the Papillon keeps barking when he hears any noises from my dog. We're in a different rooms and it's 1 AM and he keeps barking from time to time. According to my roommate, he started barking only a few months ago, so she doesn't know yet how to deal with him right. My dog almost never barked, so I also never dealt with this situation. The dog clearly needs training, because he also started to literally mark his territory right in the apartment (that was in january). The question is in what order should we train him? Because from my point of view this dog is clearly trying to defend "his territory". Any advise will be much appreciated. We really need help. Thank you!

My current dog is a 6 years old. She’s been my only dog since 2020. When the pandemic hit, I started to work from home and that’s when I got her. I haven’t had to return to the office so it’s been her and I all day everyday for 6 years. When I travel or plan to be away from home for more than 8 hours, I send her to doggie daycare. Its hard to tell if she really likes going because she’s more of a “people” dog than a “dog” dog. She loves being around people but couldn’t care less about hanging out with dogs once the initial excitement of being around them wears off. So she gets really excited when I tell her she’s going to doggie daycare but once there, she follows the attendant around the entire time. Wherever the attendant goes, she’s by their side. She’ll sniff the other dogs and on the rare occasion, engage with them to play but that’s the extent of her interactions with other dogs. She’s not aggressive towards other dogs at all, she’s just kind of uninterested in them. I don’t know if that’s her as a dog or if I should’ve socialized her more as a puppy. I dont know anyone else with a dog and I’ve never been a fan of dog parks. Shes always gone to doggie daycare a few times a year. That being a full day if I’m away from home for the day or 5-8 consecutive days when I travel.

One last tid bit to share about her, besides being uninterested in dogs, she’s not the most affectionate either. She loves to lay by me but only when she wants to. She loves attention but only on her time lol that seems to be her MO with people and dogs.

I really want another dog, esp with so many needing homes. I’ve been debating about getting one for a while now but the only thing stopping me is being worried that my dog may not enjoy having another one around. It’s only been her for 6 years.

Anyone have a similar dog that got a second one? Did it work out? Either way, any advice to share?

We are getting a mini schnauzer and I am wanting a good, high quality set of hair clippers that will last me a long time. Does anyone have any recommendations for a specific model, not just a brand?