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  • I just adopted a 11 year old blue heeler who is 69 lbs.

    Hello! I just adopted a 11 year old blue heeler named Pip! She is a adorable older lady who doesn’t have any health problems other than she is overweight, I am looking for any recommendations for a no pull harness that goes into a larger size that would fit her comfortably. I don’t want to try to squeeze her into anything and I thought I’d ask for recommendations.

    submitted by /u/Spooper_Duper
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  • How do you rent an apartment or find a house when you have an "aggressive dog breed"?

    I want to preface, it's probably not the dogs' faults. It's probably a bad owner.

    I love those "aggressive dog breeds." But, I wouldn't adopt one knowing I would have a hard time finding a place to live to keep that dog long term. I know a few people's HOAs banned many "aggressive dog breeds."

    Curious, on your tips on finding places that do accept them?

    submitted by /u/Old_Front4155
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  • Dog walks perfectly alone, goes nuts if we bring his sister.

    My family of 4 people has 3 dogs. Our largest is a 2 year old 65 lbs male. He completed the petsmart beginner class a year ago and is generally well behaved but high energy. His only major problem is overly excited greetings when we come in the door. When walked by himself, he walks on a loose leash attached to his collar. He will stare down strange dogs and people without barking and responds to a leave it command.

    We have 2 female dogs, 3 year old 20 lbs and an almost 2 year old 45 lbs. (yes we got 2 large puppies at the same time- my parents were convinced by the rescue while I was out of town.)

    If the male spots either of the girls on a walk, either because two of us take both at the same time, or just at a distance if one dog is getting home and one is heading out, he is completely unruly. He will leap 3-4 feet into the air and pull forward at top speed until he’s close enough to touch and then he just flails in place from excitement getting everyone tangled in a leash. He can’t be distracted by our voices, treats, or even by hard taps to the nose or hip. We’ve used multiple harness styles that did not give any more control. The girls like him, but do not match his intensity.

    Inside the house he’s the most calm out of the trio. We’re working on some tension between the girls but he gets along perfectly with everyone and has pretty good cat manners too. I’m just stumped on how we can ever walk more than one dog.

    submitted by /u/FishInMirror
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  • Puppy biting as protest

    Hi! I know puppy biting during play and when overstimulated is very normal. We respond by “yelping” and immediately stopping play, often followed by time in the crate or pen to settle down. What I’m seeing that feels like more of a red flag is biting when he doesn’t like something or to get attention. It doesn’t feel accidental or playful. No growling when he does it but definitely a “hey I don’t like that, I’m gonna bite about it” vibe. Is this standard puppy behavior or something to be more concerned about?

    submitted by /u/poopsmcbuttington
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  • Puppy Ate Piece of Latex

    We have a 10 week old puppy, about 3.5 pounds. She was chewing on a Multipet Latex Giraffe and I think ate half of the ear (probably the size of a mini training treat). I haven’t been able to find the piece and I’m worried that she’s so small, it could cause a blockage. Has anyone else experienced this with latex toys?

    submitted by /u/NewlyADHDwoman
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  • Stray Puppy Help- searching for a home, crating in the meantime

    Please help me.

    I found a small puppy, est. 8 weeks old on Thanksgiving running through traffic. I have registered to foster her as all the shelters in my area are full and kill shelters.

    She is so sweet, but I have a job. Im back from Thanksgiving break, and I have to leave her around 3-4 hours at a time each day. (I come check on her on my lunch break) in checking the cameras, she screams and cries in the kennel for HOURS while I am gone. She may tire out and stop for 15-20 minutes but then starts up again.

    She tore up the blanket I used to cover the crate. She chews at the bars and screams. If I close her in a room, she still screams and howls and tries to tear everything up. She's a perfect angel when she's out and about and I'm home.

    She has toys, blankets, and food in the crate and a puppy pad (she tears that up every time though so I've stopped putting it in case she chokes on plastic). It's a large crate as its my german shepherd's old one. She's got room.

    I am worried I am dooming her to never tolerate a crate but I feel I have no choice. I haven't found a home for her, I have to go to work, and its better than her being loose in the streets. But waiting out her cries or rewarding good behavior just doesn't happen. Even while trying to acclimate her to the crate if I'm home and try to crate her for shorter periods, she screams non-stop until I let her out. I try to wait and ignore her until she stops and reward her but then she doesn't. For over an hour. It's SO loud too.

    How do I soundproof my apartment to this? How do I acclimate a puppy who won't stop screaming and crying? It's literally like a wild banshee screaming. I hate to see her so upset i just want her to be comfortable.

    Any advice welcome.

    submitted by /u/ithinkedit
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  • An issue with training and heat

    So. My 7mo Bernese is in heat, at the stage where she's stopped bleeding but she's still fertile. She's been a lot more cuddly and generally velcro-like, and a lot more reactive to things she's scared of (like the vacuum cleaner) which in general is within what I expected. As background, she's been training since 3-4mo, and we go to a nearby mall once a week, which she likes. All is good there.

    Today, however, she was particularly odd. We didn't run into any other dogs, and she handles people well by now. We were sitting down on a bench, as we usually do, and she lays down so we can just people-watch. Trainer then excuses himself to the bathroom. Immediately she's up, definitely stressed, refusing both treats and commands and generally looking towards the way to the bathroom. It was strange, but she was fine with some pets. I didn't mention it, and it wasn't an issue the rest of the session.

    Now. Trainer leaves, and it's pandemonium. She TUGS towards the door (and this is a 60lb dog atp, which THANKFULLY I can handle, but it's not by any means easy), refuses to go back with me and if I tried leading her wherever she didn't want to, she'd sit and refuse to move. This has NEVER happened in any session before, by this time she is usually tired and satisfied with the walk and is very compliant with driving home. She's never outright refused my commands in this context.

    I'm puzzled. The only thing that changed between this session and all others is that she is in heat, and while she's familiar with him, she sees this man twice a week at most. Is this… normal?

    submitted by /u/SizzleMitten
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  • dog poos whenever he goes into a new place

    I have a young male chihuahua (<2 years old) who has a terrible habit of having a sneaky poo whenever he’s in a new place that isn’t home. I take him to work sometimes, and he’ll go into my boss’s office to have a poo! 💩 He also does it when we visit family or friends, usually in a quiet back room.

    It’s almost worse when he does it somewhere he’s been a few times before, like at work or a neighbor’s house. It’s mortifying. I take him outside all the time, so it isn’t like he doesn’t have the option to just do it outside. He is completely house-trained and very rarely messes in the house (only if he’s poorly). He has never had an accident in the car. And it doesn’t seem like he’s marking territory, because he doesn’t wee. I just don’t understand it.

    He is currently not neutered (I will get him neutered soon) — so I’m not sure if that has something to do with it. But it’s embarrassing and his worst trait. Please help!

    submitted by /u/kiranne
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  • Dog reactive

    Hello! This is my first time posting in this sub. I adopted a poodle a month ago from a rescue. She was being rehomed bc she started fighting with the other dog in the house after her previous owners had moved. From my understanding she could have killed the other dog. She’s now living with me by herself, but she’s aggressive towards other dogs and certain people. She’s had full vet checkups to rule out anything physically, and she’s a very sweet and docile dog towards my mother and I, but it’s clear she’s learned some bad habits, and I’m not sure how the trainer she was sent to before I got her trained her, so I’m posting here to figure out how I can mitigate any dog/dog interactions with the least amount of stress and excitement.

    Background: female standard poodle, 2 years old, spayed at 18 months. Sent away for training after first dangerous encounter with previous owners dog.

    She knows sit and stay, and has a space she goes in (not crate trained, previous family didn’t like using it, she really hates it)

    Very food motivated, but also stubborn. It’s clear that she was trained in a way I haven t deciphered yet.

    Had one unplanned interaction with an off leash dog at her groomer which went poorly (neighbors dog ran over and got in her face, had to get between them as the strange dog was pushy and also aggressive.)

    I grew up with dogs, but all those dogs were puppies when we got them, and they weren’t dog reactive like she is.

    Any tips would be very helpful. Thanks!

    submitted by /u/Stock_Stretch_7337
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