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Hello guys! So to keep a long story short, I work at a dog daycare sort of place, like a dog hotel. Unfortunately, where I work, it seems a lot of my coworkers sort of believe in the dominance myth and how you need to be the leader of dogs. Its so interesting because it is clear that no one person in my job is actually that knowledgeable on dog behavior or dog training at all, they just kinda play it by ear, and some people know some basics on dog body language, like what a Whale-eye means.
I find this sad because what they often recommend if a dog is playing a bit too rough or is a bit snappy, etc, they recommend yelling and telling them how you are the boss. Its so weird because they are all lovey-dovey with the good dogs and loving on them and 'aww baby' when even the 'bad' dogs are being good, but the second they start doing something, they yell and push and act all 'tough'. They then go on to pass this information along to unknowing dog owners about how to handle their dogs, and saying how they need to be the boss of their dog.
I feel really bad for the dogs sometimes as I am no expert on dog training by any means, but I know the dog dominance and alpha thing is a myth, and this isnt a nice nor effective way to teach a dog. Does anyone have any idea how I should go about nicely saying to my coworkers how this isnt a good way to treat or train dogs and how dogs dont have alphas in human-dog interactions? Thank you!

This is kind of long sorry

My dog 6 is very nervous we rescued him a year ago and is very sensitive hes gone through a lot. One thing we've been having issues with recently is our bug zapper, it makes a sharp loud noise that terrifies him when he goes outside but we can't turn it off because we get an excessive amount of mosquitoes in my area. So now he's refusing to go outside and we have to force him and when he's outside he is very stressed violently shaking, yawning and panting. My mom is against giving him anxiety relief treats as they have CBD in them so that's not an option so we got him a compression jacket and it worked very well he wasn't shaking and actually played at night outside. However the noise of the velcro sets him off when we try removing it. He doesn't bite he never has but he will growl and put his mouth on us never adding preassure but it is startling. i know there still is a possibility he could start biting which is what i want to avoid. I'm not sure if there is a way to desensitized him somehow or if we should just return the jacket and just get through mosquito season with him being stressed going outside. Any advice would be very appreciated.

Hello! I adopted my sweet boy, Russell about four

months ago. I think he’s just hit one year. He’s really sweet and rambunctious fellow but is food motivated. He’s some sort of greyhound collie mix and is 60lbs.

The last 6 weeks i’ve been struggling with bedtime. I’ll go through my routine because i feel as if i really am giving him enough exercise and mental stimulation. He’s my first dog, so not sure if this is just normal for his age, or if there is anything better i can do for him.

Weekday:

We get up between 6am and 6:30. i get up and get ready for the day and make coffee. He gets fed 2 cups of food then we go on our 45-50 min walk which includes a sniff around at the dog park. We come back I finish getting ready for work and I head out the door at 8:15am. He gets a kong with a treat and PB in his crate when i leave.

I come back at lunch and let him out for a 10-15 min walk and potty break then he’s back in the crate with a PB kong.

I get home from work about 5-5:30. He gets fed and then we either go on an hour long walk or go to the dog park for an hour.

In the evening we play, he chews on a treat while I make dinner, and we do training sessions.

The issue i’m having is about 9-9:30pm when i’m ready for bed I can’t get him to settle. We potty before bed i turn off all the lights and tell him to go to bed, where he gets up on my bed and i give him a treat. I have a sound machine on as well.

Am i just being unrealistic regarding how much more exercise and stimulation he needs? He will bark and pace in my room before he will get up on the bed, anywhere from 5-15 min. i ignore him if i know he doesn’t need to go outside.

i was not having this issue until about 6 weeks ago and our routine has not changed.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I have two sweet girls. The older one is a boxer and Australian shepherd mix, and she’s 5. She’s very reserved and cuddly, but has anxiety around strangers and hates chaos. She much prefers sitting on the couch under a blanket.

My younger dog is a blue heeler and is 3. She’s also a cuddle bug, but much more happy to play fetch and catch than her sister.

Generally, they get along very well. They’ll cuddle together, play tug with their rope toy, etc. There’s no growling over food, guarding resources, or “whale eye” stare downs. But rarely, maybe 2-3 times a year, all hell will break loose for seemingly no reason.

This happened yesterday. It’s been cold, and they both have sweaters they wear around the house. My older dog was sleeping on the couch, and wanted to get down. But her front legs had gotten tangled, and she was stuck in her sweater. She was struggling to stand, with just her back legs usable. Before I could get to her to help, my younger dog attacked her. This pissed off my older dog (understandably) and she yanked her leg through the first hole she could find and attacked right back. My husband and I had to grab them both by their back legs and separate them in their kennels to calm down. Today, they’ve been growling at each other every time they see each other and we’ve been keeping them separated.

What the hell? Why would the younger one attack when she wasn’t even in any danger anyway? And why do they randomly attack each other at all so rarely if they get along perfectly most of the time?

5 YO half border collie half miniature poodle, no neurotic behaviour, owned since 8 weeks.

I made a huge misjudgement and took my dog out when I thought I had accounted for fireworks but some started early and just as we turned a corner at the top of the street there was one particular firework which scared her, she turned around and ran home.

Several times since she has refused to walk up to the corner, complete stop, heels in, it's not happening. I have tried encouraging, I have tried picking her up and walking a few steps but she shakes and immediately turns to go back home, I don't want to over stress her but I'm currently giving in and going back home with her, lead on or off same thing. I'm scared I'm now reinforcing that behaviour by giving in.

She is hugely intelligent, well behaved, active, happy and will go for walks with other people. She isn't food orientated so can't be bribed.

I'm thinking of trying to walk that way with someone else, or driving part way down and walking back but I know for a dog with that level of strong will and propensity for neurotics, pattern recognition means every failed attempt could be adding to the problem.

I am proud of how well trained she is and can't believe I screwed this up, I really need help to resolve and not compound the issue.

So I am planning on getting my first puppy as an adult. I have a dog but he was already an adult and trained. I have never wanted to crate a dog and I don’t plan on it. I’m gonna do a fence with a bed to start but how should I go about it and eventually getting rid of the fence. (It’s a Bernese and lab mix so it’s gonna outgrow it anyway lol)

I rent a small unit in a rural area and my unit recently had many mice get into it. My landlord has set traps, but of course it will take a while for them to be effective. My unit is quite small, only a couple hundred square feet, so mice anywhere inside will be near where I sleep. I would like to use peppermint rodent pouches under my bed to try and keep them away from this portion of my home. However, I’m worried that the smell is noxious and is going to make my dog sick – I’ve opened one and it’s really strong. She’s a 17 pound mix, 8 years old. I’m not sure what else I could do to keep the mice away from us at night? But of course, I don’t want to do anything that will make her ill. Any guidance for the next few days while I wait for the traps to work? How bad is the scent for dogs if it’s truly the only option?

Edit: there’s no way she could get access to the pouches, the bed has storage underneath where the pouch would remain, but the back is open to the wall, which is why I fear mice will get into it.