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I adopted/fostered my about to be 4-mo puppy a month ago. She was recovering from parvo and needed extra care (that’s how I started fostering) then she had Giardia and we worked hard until her labs were clear. I’ve paid for all expenses and vaccinations.

Just added that so show how committed I am to the welfare of this little life. Her littermate’s owner posted her DNA results (I get my puppy’s results in about 2 weeks) and it was a surprise!

She is a committee of several smart working dog breeds (I thought she was a retriever) she is Pyr, Catahoula, Husky, and Chow.

I am concerned that as someone who is middle aged with chronic health conditions that I won’t be able to meet her high mental and physical needs and I cannot afford the type of care enrichment activities that would make this breed combo happy – I am really debating returning her to the rescue.

I can’t rehome because she is not technically mine (although I paid fees) until she is spayed next month so I am kind of a grey area.

She is the sweetest dog, she has a gentle temperament and soulful eyes in a strong and agile body.

Have you ever changed your mind about your ability to raise a dog because of the breed needs? I really love her but I have health issues that make me wonder if this is the best home for her.

She is so gentle, I am concerned that because of her breed mix she’ll go to a home where they use harsher training methods – I think I can do it! And then I remember I need breaks, travel for dr appointments and very limited energy – the only positive is that I am disabled and able to be at home with her all the time so she is doing great with routines and training so far (with the normal puppy shenanigans)

Anyone have any advice or encouragement?

^

Sometimes when sleeping my dog will whimper and jerk her paws like she’s running. I assume she’s uncomfortable with a dream she’s having. She presumably also has pleasant dreams, but no obvious indications. I gently pet her until she wakes up. I pat her some more and she goes back to sleep and there is no whimpering. Are other people noticing such a behaviour with their dogs, and if so what do you do? I can’t see anything in particular going in that would make her distressed when she’s awake, that maybe I could change.

I have a large pup (Heeler). Where I live, it gets cold and snows. So I need to get him an outdoor heated doghouse for daytime while I’m at work. I’ve seen a couple and can’t decided. They are pricey, so I hope it’s great for my pup. Any suggests help!

https://www.chewy.com/dog-palace-insulated-heated-dog-house/dp/290392

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/aivituvin-heated-large-wooden-dog-house-with-metal-frame-6052197

Right. Let’s talk about firepaw treadmills vs going about it on your own.

From a commercial perspective, the cost of the machine really isn’t that bad far off from actually producing one for commercial use.

I’ve built 5 of my own machines to build my business, whilst I love the machines I’ve built.

They and by extension I have my own engineering limitations that I just don’t have the time or inclination to learn and surpass.

My machines function similarly to the firepaw machines, as expected for them to. They are strong, built tough and complete the function they were designed to do.

But, they a mission to keep clean. The belt sometimes gives me trouble. The bearings are noisy. Think 2 stroke Yamaha, clutch in and just holding the throttle open.

The firepaw is quiet, almost whisper quiet.

My machine looks big bulky, firepaw have a machine that’s crafted to look good. It’s easy to clean and maintain

And its optional bearings are in another league, the machine is years above where I could be and whilst it’s much more expensive for me to import into my country, having the accessibility to the team at firepaw and having someone I can talk back and forth about improvements, questions and ofcourse the reliability of the machine, surpasses the initial outlay for it.

Having our vans travel out means we need our machines to be reliable, constantly no exceptions.

The firepaw excels at this.

If anyone has been thinking whether they should get one or not. Just do it, best investment I made in my business

My fiance and I just adopted an 11 week old Alaskan Husky. We take her out about 4-5 times a day in our backyard for about 20 minutes each (10 mins of training). She runs around plenty and she responds well to commands, however we ran into a few issues that's driving my fiance a bit crazy.

1. The crate anxiety. We have two crates: one in the master bedroom so the pup can sleep with us within eyesight and the other is in the living room for when we want to chill out and watch TV. After taking her out, we take her to her crate and she completely goes crazy for about 5-10 minutes before chilling out. I'm not sure if it's because we're giving her very little exercise, but she seems to always whine when she goes back into her crate. For context, we do have a cat and we've let them sniff each other's things for a few days and even seen each other in person a few times now. I just don't want to let my pup roam around the house and destroy things or chase the cat around. Our cat seems to be curious/calm around our pup now though, so maybe we're just overthinking it and should let our pup roam free?

2. Our pup only seems to nip at my fiance. We both have similar putting routines with her but our pup seems to be especially nippy with her for some reason. I get that the nipping is a phase that will eventually phase out but we've tried addressing the issue so it doesn't evolve into something worse. The things we've tried include: yelling loudly, redirecting her with treats/toys, grabbing her upper jaw so she nips her lips, or just even bopping her nose. Nothing seems to be working. Any advice?

Hey all,

My German Shephard – rottweiler mix is now 4 months old and lost her first tooth 3 days ago and shes really sluggish, doesnt want to play and just sits by her bowl, no interest in cuddles either, even when i give her teething gel. Can someone help or know whats going on? its like taking care of an emo teenager and id know i was one, yesterday i took her on a short walk and she had to lay down halfway through. She also keeps laying down by her bowl? I think im feeding her enough 4 scoops of puppy food per meal 3 meals a day, is that too little???! help!!???

Context: My fiancé and I have adopted a 5-month-old female Dachshund from a rescue charity. All we know about her past owners is that they were breaking up and unable to continue to look after her.

We picked her up last Saturday and have been finding our feet with routines, potty training, and this week, command training. She is settling in really well.

She is comfortable resting in her crate, located in our kitchen. At night, we keep her crate door open allowing her to roam. We have had reduced periods of barking/whining at night and no accidents for 4 days now. Progress!

We have also set up a playpen in our lounge to let her be close whilst we relax on the sofa, eat meals, etc. Our end goal, once potty training is established, is to remove the playpen and give her full roam of the lounge when we are in there.

We have exposed her to being in our car with a booster seat set up and have already been on several small drives. She has been calm every journey and settles after 10 mins

Advice needed:

We have made plans to spend Christmas with my partner's family, which is about a 2-hour drive away. We have booked a dog-friendly hotel for 5 nights. This will be the first time we would be taking a pet to stay somewhere else. Is there anything we can work on with her before we embark to get her (and us) prepared for the situation?

Our current plan was to set up her crate and playpen within the hotel room in an attempt to replicate a simular environment to what we have at home.

Also:

We have noticed she is can get very barky with strangers on walks and struggles to settle. I completely understand it's early days for us all and we are working on 'Sit' and 'Quiet' commands. We are starting to worry about how she will react when we introduce her to the family. Again, is there anything we can work on beforehand?

I am working on getting some friends to come visit her during the day so witness how she is and if we can calm/settle her.