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Our 10 year old lost her buddy last year. While he was alive, he would get (and mostly tolerate) twice daily head "baths" from her. Since we lost him, she does a lot of licking on couches, our bedspread, etc.

I've come to learn licking is a soothing activity and woke up this morning wondering if there's any sort of "stand in" we might be able to get for her (we don't really care if she licks the couches, etc., just wondering if there's something better people have found that we might place in a couple of spots in the house).

I did see something called a licking mat that you put peanut butter, yogurt, etc. on, but that seems to be more for fast eaters (?). I'm thinking a fabric, or something that simulates hair, or something? Thanks for any thoughts.

I have a Jack Russel Dachsund mix, hes about 7 months old now and I got him when he was 3 months. Hes been a velcro dog since day one, like he will get up and follow me to the kitchen even if he was sleeping. I work from home so Im with him a lot and he sleeps in the bed with me. Long story short I have been working gradually on leaving him alone and got up to a few hours at a time but had a major setback recently. I went to the movies and got back 3 hours later like I have many times and nothing unusual. But the next time I tried to leave him alone he just started trembling in fear like Ive never seen before.

Here's what Ive done so far:

I tried crate training after he was comfortable in the house at about 14 weeks and the first time he freaked out and tried to bite his way out of the crate, his face got stuck in it and he started screaming, one of his puppy teeth ripped out and he was bleeding and scared. So pretty much immediately I gave up on the crate and started making the bathroom puppy proof and decided I would leave him in there instead. Started small with a minute, few minutes, 10, 20, etc. I got to the point where I could leave for an hour and then more, all over the past 4 months. I would stay for a couple minutes talking to him and giving him treats so it didnt surprise him when I left. I pretended to leave and monitor him and after about 10 minutes he would quiet down and he would be quiet when I got back so I figured he was settling okay. Coming back it would always be a mess, he spills his water and food, chews his potty pad, but he would do those things when I was home so it wasnt really out of the ordinary (typical Jack Russel stuff).

I got him a safer crate, one of the plastic ones with a small metal gate and started crate training again. He is okay in it while he has his peanut butter kong but then wants to come out, he wont freak out like when he was young but he will let me know. I tried tether training too but its the same problem with the crate, he will cry and bark if he cant get to me, even if im 2ft away. It doesnt matter how or where I leave him he just wants to be able to get to me. So its not really a confinement problem, he will actually go in the crate on his own sometimes now. I started leaving the crate in the bathroom with him and just leaving it open and gradually he stopped panicing and trying to run out of the bathroom when I would leave. He started going in the crate obediently and would sit calmly while I shut the bathroom door to leave. I thought we were making good progress! But something changed one night after I went to the movies for 3 hours, he has been alone for that long plenty of times but after that night he started trembling and shaking when I put him in the bathroom to leave. I feel like Ive lost all progress and dont know what to do now. Should I start from square one or consider medication at this point?

Hes and amazing dog in so many other ways, he was potty trained after like 48 hours somehow, he has no problem self regulating with naps throughout the day, never aggressive towards other dogs or people, incredibly cute and acts like everyone is his friend, hes done really well in puppy training classes, and he alternates between being an absolutely hilarious psycho and a sweetheart but thats just his breed. I love him to death and would never consider getting rid of him, but the separation anxiety is the one thing I just cant figure out.

I’ve been using her normal kibble to train as that’s some advice I was given but now I feel like she doesn’t care about meal times lol. I’m not over feeding her. I use maybe half of her meal for training/positive reinforcements. So she definitely still has more calories she should be getting in. She also eats it with no issues when training, so she doesn’t dislike the food. Please help!

i have a 10-week old Border Collie/Australian Kelpie cross, and at the moment, his ears basically change every day. sometimes they’re pointy, sometimes they’re floppy, sometimes one is pointy and the other floppy, and sometimes vice versa. is this normal, and if so, is there a way i can predict how they’ll be when he’s older?

i’ve been walking my neighbours dog to help out for the past few months and last week i took her a walk through a local cemetery.

i didn’t know beforehand but the cemetery was filled with squirrels and she was totally obsessed and not wanting to leave – this just seemed cute and funny but not every single time i take her out she begs to walk to the cemetery and whines when i don’t go that way. it’s so bad that she often completely stops walking and we end up in a stand off

i’m just wondering if anyone knows if she’ll eventually stop doing this on her own or if there’s something i can do to try and stop her

i should mention she’s an extremely timid lurcher and it took me quite a while to even get her to walk with me so i don’t want to do anything that’ll upset her

tldr; dog’s obsessed with squirrels and doesn’t want to go on any walk that doesn’t involve them lol

Context: 9 week old Labrador, crate set up in the living room, no pen, access to living room, kitchen ana hallway when supervised.

Hello, we brought a gorgeous 9 week old boy home almost a week ago. It's been tough, but also very rewarding. I think that the main unwanted behaviours were experiencing are: – not settling in for a nap leading to him being overtired

– biting and pulling on clothes

Could someone please give me some reassurance if what in doing is right or give me some pointers? I do not want to ruin the bond between the puppy and us, I don't want to poison the crate, I do not want to do anything to him that would harm him, because he's such a sweet boy. Our day looks kind of like this: He wakes us up, we carry him downstairs for toilet. He goes in the same spot for a pee and if he doesn't go for a poo within the first 5 minutes we go back upstairs (he gets super distracted outside with all the dead leaves, branches, etc). He pulls on his training lead quite a lot when exciting things happen during poorly break and I feel so bad when I am holding the lead firm. I always try to redirect him with a cue or a sound but not always successfully. If he gets too excited I just carry him home. We then give him fresh water and play with him a bit and try to do some short training, even if it's just reinforcing "sit". I try not to do training sessions for too long or to play with him too hard, because I don't want to overtired him. We try to settle him down for a nap in his crate. We give him chew toys, but he wants to play with them outside of his crate, which is ok, as long as he will be ok to chill in the crate afterwards. I don't know if the chew toys calm him down, or excite him when he accidentally throws them in the air, or pushes them away. We try to lure him to his crate with a treat and when he's in down position, we close the door and stay next to the crate. He then starts to whine. If he starts to bark, we wait for him to calm down, give him water and try to settle him again. If he barks again, we take him outside. Usually after that when he gets back to the flat he only whines in the crate, and doesn't bark. I know that sometimes he just wants a cuddle and we let him fall asleep in our lap and then move him to his crate. And it breaks my heart when he cuddles up and I was just having really negative thoughts and frustration towards him just minutes ago. When he goes berserk on zoomed, he bites our ankles and latches onto our clothes and growls. We started putting him in the crate (luring with food) for timeout and we leave the room. This usually clears his mind a bit. We hear if he's whining or barking and then we give him water and take him outside.

Are we doing the wrong things? I know that's he's a baby and he's only been with us for 6 days, but I want for him to have a great experience when he's with us. I know it should get a bit easier when we can take him for longer walk once he's fully vaccinated…

Thank you for your help, this community is really lovely and I hope that someone will be able to point me in the right direction