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I've never had a dog so this is a little new to me and I’m hoping someone can give me a bit of advice.

A few years ago, a friend got a dog but never really did much training with her. Due to a few issues my friend is having, they’re struggling to walk her ,so I’ve offered to help out. She is a Labrador and just under two year old, around 16 months.

The problem is that whenever she sees another person or dog, she starts pulling and barking. Today I thought I’d try doing a bit of training with her. I took some treats and watched for the moments when she started to notice other dogs.

When she did, I’d show her a treat and ask her to sit. It wasn’t perfect, but it did seem to help a little (she was still barking). I also asked her to sit now and then when it was just the two of us, hoping she’d start focusing more on me rather than everything happening around her.

My worry is that I went through nearly an entire bag of treats in just one hour. I’m planning to break them into smaller pieces tomorrow, but I have a couple of questions:

1. Does this approach seem like it could work?
2. Is it okay to give her this many treats in the short term while I try to reduce her reactivity?
3. Assuming it isn't okay to use that many treats do you have any other suggestions? I was thinking of cooking some plain chicken for her?
4. Is there a time frame where things should improve? I ask this to know if what I'm doing isn't working.

I’d just like to get to the point where I can walk her twice a day without the stress. While it doesn't happen often, sometimes I can tell I'm annoying other dog walkers and it makes me somewhat anxious.

Any tips or advice would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

Trying to update our rescue dog’s info using the microchip no. from the paperwork that came with them.

I thought the microchip would be scanned if the dog was lost, and we would be notified, but My Pet Health/24 PetWatch sent this indicating the microchip is useless!

“a microchip without registration won’t help if your pet goes missing. Finish now with Pet Registration —get 15% off with code SAVE15.”

Is this true?

Hi All,

After trying many dog collars I am still out for one that meets our needs, any advice is welcome (2 dogs, one hunting, one farm)

* suited for hunting: outdoors, can get in the water

* heavy durability: something that is made from good quality materials, and sufficiently thick

* for the german shepherd: something that can stand some weight and force, too many examples of the "metal" parts buckling or bending

Does anything exist with proper stainless steel for the metal parts? in combination with rugged nylon?

Hey everyone, I really need some help or reassurance because I’m feeling kinda stressed about this.

I have a 1-year-old Pomeranian who’s always been super vocal on walks — he barks at other dogs and strangers, but he’s never been aggressive. If someone approaches him, he lets them pet him and he’s actually pretty sweet. We’ve always described him as dramatic more than anything else lol.

But… we recently brought home a new Pom puppy (3 months old, like 2–3 lbs) and my older pom (14 lbs) is NOT handling it well. He growls, barks, and even snaps at the puppy totally unprovoked. I’m honestly scared he might bite the puppy if they get too close. We’ve been keeping them separated with a baby gate, but even then they just bark at each other through it.

Another thing that concerns me is that if we try to pull the older dog away while he's barking/snarling, he sometimes growls at us too and even snaps in our direction – which he's NEVER done before.

We tried introducing them on neutral ground at a park, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.

Has anyone dealt with this? What can I do to help them eventually coexist in the same room without my 1-year-old being so reactive? I don’t expect them to be best friends immediately, but I’m worried this won’t get better.

Any advice, tips, or personal experiences would be super appreciated!

no judgements … but I need help :/ I got my 11 week old puppy last week and the previous owner stated he was potty trained….. im trying to get him to pee/poop on the wee-wee pad but instead he likes to go in his crate and handle his business in there. Any tips on how to get him to handle his business on the pad instead of going in his crate? this is my first puppy in over 12 years…..dont know what to do 🙁

Hey guys I am going to pick up this sweet girl named Sirena sometime next week from a foster family, She is about 50lbs. I never had experience with traveling with a Dog and wanted to see if you guys have any new pet owner advice. Any suggestions on any products to get before I receive her. I am a bit worried with how this car ride is going to go i've been told she doesn't like cars not sure how to make her feel better about that.

hey guys, has anyone else here been screwed over by Good Dogs "Protection & Support" fee? im honestly so livid right now and trying to figure out if im just unlucky or if this is a common thing.

long story short: bought a puppy through Good Dog a few months ago. they charged me for their protection service which explicitly claims "Payment protection", "Lifetime support from our Care Team" and that they will "help resolve issues".

well the puppy arrived super sick. multiple parasitic infections, vomiting, lethargic, underweight, the works. vet bills started piling up immediately. i filed a claim with Good Dog and their response was basically too bad so sad. they denied it saying parasites arent covered and claimed i took too long to see a vet (I found out on friday when I picked him up 3 hours away that we had 3 days to get him seen. Thee puppy arrived on a friday and my clinic was closed over the weekend and first available appointment was 10 days after placement). they just told me to go talk to the breeder.

like, i paid YOU for protection? now youre telling me to handle it myself? the kicker is they only offer email support. no phone number. despite calling it a "SUPPORT" service. they responded citing a lack of documentation and exam records proved the dog was healthy, denied the claim, and that was it. they even ref'd a vet exam from a date after he was placed that didn't happen and stated the lack of paperwork also validated the health of the puppy.

i started digging and it looks like this is their standard operating procedure. i found 60+ BBB complaints with similar issues, and TONS of reviews on other sites saying the fees are designed to be nearly impossible to decline but offer zero actual coverage.

some of the bbb complaints are identical to mine, like people saying "The Good Dog Protection and Support Fee is a joke considering there is no available phone number" and "I paid extra for protection of my funds. If Good Dog can't get my funds back they are supposed to refund according to their policy and have not done so".

it honestly feels like their business model is just charging everyone 15-175 bucks for this fee, making it hard to opt out in the app, and then citing fine print to deny everyone who actually needs help.

my damages are brutal so far. paid the fee for literally nothing, paid full price for a sick puppy they claimed was “tested”, "healthy”, “dewormed”, and “vetted", plus four figures in vet bills and decontamination costs. im out almost 10k at this point.

ive already filed complaints with the ftc and ag, and im talking to some lawyers to see if this counts as systematic fraud for a class action.

i have documentation of everything – marketing, the fees, the denial emails, vet records, etc. just trying to share and protect other families from this.

/rant

Our pup just got her 16 weeks/final shots.

We've been doing relatively short outings with her since we got her (10-20 mins in car to location, hang out in location 10-20 mins, 10-20 mins home).

Just wondering when everyone started having their pups out for longer amounts of time?

Good Morning everyone. Me and my wife are thinking about getting a puppy for our 3 1/2 year old son to grow up with. Currently we have a 9 year old boxer/pit mix (Koda), who is the most well behaved dog I have ever owned. We ended up getting him from a friend of mine who had too many dogs about 5 years ago. Right now, we don't really want to have two dogs in the house, but could manage. I have heard that puppy's tend to learn from other dogs when they grow up in an environment with another dog, unfortunately dogs don't live forever, and our boy Koda is getting up there in age. I kind of of want to get a puppy to live along side Koda, to learn from him as he grows up. What has been your experience with having a puppy living alongside your older dogs, as compared to raising your puppy alone? is there really any benefit to having another dog around for your puppy to grow with?