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Our 7-month-old Great Dane/Pitty mix rescue has officially graduated from sleeping in his crate to sleeping in the bed with my husband, our older dog, and me! We’re three nights in and completely accident-free. I’m so proud of him! 🥹

It means a lot to me to have our dogs snuggled up with us at night, so this feels like a big milestone.

Anyone else have small victories to celebrate? Puppies, seniors, or anything in between, I’d love to hear what you’re proud of lately!

So I am considering adopting this beautiful 3 yr old, 60lb German shepherd pure bred (Zelda) from her foster family, where she lives with another GSD and a Pomeranian with no issues. She was found as a stray about 10 months back and was only 28 lbs and covered in fleas/ ticks and is heartworm positive. They are already going through that process, she should be done with treatment by EOY. I have had my dog, Sophie, an 11 yr old, very well trained, 45 lb shepherd mix for 10 years. My girl really wants someone to play with, which is my main reason for adopting another dog. Ever since we moved out of state and she lost her dog friends, I feel like she’s sometimes a bit bored. After much deliberation with the foster dad, I did a meet and greet in my back yard 2 days ago. So the pros: Zelda is very well behaved though clearly needs more training, which I am up for. I actually consider it a bit of a perk to work with her the way I’d like to. She sits, is now house trained (foster had to work on that), takes treats very gently, and seems almost docile with humans. Very calm. As a whole she’s exactly what I’d like to have as an addition to my home. She was great. Cons: Then it was time to introduce the dogs in the yard. We started with them on opposite sides of a wire fence to test out. Sophie immediately put front legs down and rear up in the play position and Zelda started barking. Okay, nbd. Dogs bark. Keeping Zelda on the leash we brought her into the yard. Sophie walked up cautiously to do the initial greet and sniff and Zelda let out a low, deep growl. No teeth, but it was clearly a warning growl, not playful. Sophie left her alone but any time she’d try to come close Zelda would growl and bark. Nothing that seemed super ready to fight, but clearly a warning to leave her alone. Which Sophie did, just started wandering the yard while Z watched. This continued for the entire hour+ visit, with Zelda staying attached to foster dad’s hip the whole time. My questions are this: Is she possibly guarding the foster dad? I would not be surprised due to her breed. Should I try to meet on more neutral ground and maybe have him away a bit? When he handed the leash to me and called my dog over for treats, Zelda was patient and sat by me, though obviously had a bit of jealousy and tension in wanting to get back to him. When he sat on the patio furniture, she jumped up and laid next to him and again deep growled every time Sophie came within 5 feet. She just was not having it. I cannot tell if Zelda for whatever reason just doesn’t like Sophie (it happens, some dogs just don’t get along) or if it has more to do with the foster dad being around. How would I get them accustomed to each other if I did adopt her? Would a muzzle (temporarily) help in the sense that Zelda at least can’t bite if she chose to? Zelda is crate trained, I can see where that would help in getting them used to each other. My biggest concern is that Sophie is historically very unforgiving to dogs that have tried to fight her, she doesn’t offer second chances, and if Zelda did try to go after Sophie she would definitely win that fight. Is there a way to fix this long term or should I mark it as not a good fit? Since this is supposed to be a friend for my girl, seems kind of against the point if they can’t get along eventually.

Hey everyone, my dog Kiwi (6F) and I recently moved to hawaii. She just turned 6 last week, and I've had her since she was just over a year old. She had quite a large neglect history before I got her (given up by 4 different owners in her first year of life, the last of which was a frequent drug user and would couch hop from place to place while leaving Kiwi in the car for double-digit hours a day.

Since I've had her, we've moved and driven all around the US. She is a great travel dog and generally very secure.. we've come a long way from her prior separation anxiety, where she would poop herself in the crate, whine, bark, etc. We did a lot of crate training and positive association (she loves cheese.. I give her at least half a slice broken up into many smaller pieces anytime she would go in there, feed her in her crate, any treats or rewards come from the crate, etc.). After a while, she seemed secure enough to not have her spend anytime I'm not home in the crate so I started phasing it out, which lasted a good 3 years probably.

Anyway, we recently moved to Hawaii a few months ago. She did great on the trip (certified her to fly in cabin, she slept the whole time and was very chill). I was prepared for some minor separation anxiety early in the transition, which proved to be true. She would shiver in the corner of the living room but eventually would chill out and sleep until I got back home. We have a good schedule going where I work about 6 hours and then get back, eat a snack and hang and then go for a nice 2 hour walk (~3-4 miles where she's off leash and allowed to explore at her leisure). We live in a nice, spacious house with a nice big yard. It isn't fenced in but she does well just hanging around our space. Her anxiety got better with each day until one day I left for about 2 hours only to come back to her outside waltzing around the neighborhood. I pulled into the driveway, which she noticed and came running back to our house. It seems she was able to pry open our jalousie windows (coastal windows), remove a couple of the glass panes, and break her way through the screen for the window. After a few iterations of trying to close, lock, and block the windows, she still manages to find a way out.

So I've been reintroducing the crate while bringing her to work with me a couple of times a week. She does great at work, just sleeps and hangs out.. she is the best dog when she's around me but I obviously cannot be around her all the time. But her anxiety in the crate has been awful. She's shoving it around, panting the whole time, barking, yelling, howling, which is all so uncharacteristic of her. It's heartbreaking and I hate seeing her so stressed. I do give her 600mg of GABA about 1-1.5 hours prior to leaving for the day, but nothing seems to quell her anxiety much. I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? She is so anxious when she gets into the crate while I am preparing to leave, I feel like this is not the correct course of action. I'm happy to provide more information about our background and how the transition to Hawaii was. Please do feel free to ask. Thank you in advance.

Hello – I am an animal shelter volunteer and I am searching for a specific leash. There are a few dogs who prefer this leash to the standard climbing rope slip leashes. We have only a few left and are looking to get more.

It is a leather slip leash on one end and has a loop handle on the other with a clip. On the slip leash side, there is an O-ring that allows it to loosen and tighten easily and a D-ring that allows the clip to be attached so that the slip can be loosened. I am attaching photos with the post.

Several of us have done online searches and found similar styles but it is typically missing the clip and D-ring. Would greatly appreciate your help in pointing me in the right direction so that we can acquire more to use with the dogs. Thank you!

PIC: https://imgur.com/a/q7U3H3B

Hi everyone,

I’m taking care of a farm dog who absolutely refuses to walk on a leash. He either panics and bucks around or lies down and won’t move at all, he’ll literally fall asleep in place before he moves anywhere.

For some background, I work on a farm off a backroad where people often dump unwanted dogs/cats, or sometimes hunting dogs get lost. Since our place is the only farm for miles, they usually end up here.

This particular dog showed up less than a year ago. As far as I can tell, he’s never worn a collar or been on a leash before. He’s very wary of new people and spooks easily. He’s extremely attached to our farm manager, follows her everywhere and chases her truck all day. He doesn’t trust most people and usually refuses high-value treats unless he’s feeling comfortable (if the other dog is around) and even then, only if you’re not looking in his direction.

Over the past month, I’ve been feeding and playing with him more to build trust. He’ll now take treats from me, most of the time without hesitation (though sometimes he’s still cautious). There’s another older farm dog who’s very firendly, and when that dog is around, the shy one relaxes and interacts with me more, I think there’s some level of “jealousy” when the older one gets pet and loved on.

I’ve been trying to get him used to handling because I have a vet appointment scheduled this weekend to get him neutered. I’d really like for him to be able to walk on a leash by then, it would make transport and recovery a lot easier for me.

Last week, the farm manager and I tried putting a collar on him, but he freaked out and avoided me the rest of the day. Yesterday, he was back to normal, so I tried again with a slip lead. He spooked again, but I eventually managed to get it on. He bucked and struggled for a while, but I got him into my car and brought him home. I gave him a bath (he was full of fleas and smelled bad), then fed him and let him rest. He ended up sleeping through the night on my bed I don’t think he likes being next to me, but he definitely likes the soft bed.

I don’t plan on keeping him long-term, he seems happiest running around the farm, chasing pigs, and following the manager’s truck. I just want to make sure I’m not doing too much or stressing him out unnecessarily. Should I stop trying to leash-train him before the appointment and just keep him kenneled at the vet and after surgery while he recovers?

I have been taking him with me to and from work each day, he’s very excited to get down from the car, but shuts down as soon as he realizes im not going to let him run loose. I keep him in my office, but as soon as we arrive in the parking lot, he freezes and lies down when I try to walk him from the car to the building.

It’s easier for me to take him everywhere I go since I leave early, get home late, and sometimes go to class or study at my local university afterward (dogs are allowed). However, if it is better for him to be left kenneled at home during the day away from the farm I would be open to that.

Any advice or training tips would be really appreciated, especially from anyone who’s worked with nervous or semi-feral farm dogs. Sorry for the long post, TIA!

Hello! I’m looking for some advice or perspective on how to keep progressing with my two dogs’ integration.

I have a 4-year-old pit mix (Aria) whose personality has always been calm, cuddly, and low-energy. She’s not had much dog interaction in her life, she tends to get overwhelmed by overly energetic dogs.

About a month and a half ago, we adopted a 9-month-old Cocker Spaniel (Penny) from a shelter. When we first brought her home, she was anxious, shut down, and slept a lot. Early on, she couldn’t even see Aria without barking, lunging, or stiffening up.

We took things slowly: • Started with visual exposure only. • Moved to short parallel walks. • Then controlled yard sessions on leash. • Eventually off-leash yard time, which now goes well. • Added calm garage sessions until both could coexist off-leash there.

Recently, we’ve started bringing them inside together, and that’s where things get trickier. There have been about four fights total since adoption, always short and loud (lots of snapping and growling) but no one’s ever been hurt or latched on. Each incident seems triggered by different stressors:

1. The first two happened early on when Penny was still overwhelmed by her new environment and Aria’s proximity. 2. The last two have been the opposite, Aria starting them. One involved Penny entering the kitchen (a space Aria seems to guard), and the other involved a high-value toy that had been left out. 

We’ve removed the toy trigger and are managing the kitchen carefully, but I’m unsure how to train through this phase versus just managing it.

Both dogs can now: • Spend time together in the yard off-leash with no issues. • Walk side-by-side calmly. • Coexist in the same room for long stretches on leash.

But the household tension, especially around the kitchen, makes me nervous that Aria might be resource guarding space, or that Penny’s nervous energy is keeping her on edge.

Has anyone dealt with something similar where the established dog starts guarding spaces or reactivity resurfaces after initial progress? How do I safely work through this next phase inside the house?

Any advice or perspective from multi-dog households, trainers, or behaviorists would be hugely appreciated. I feel like we’ve come so far, but the home environment still feels fragile.

Hello everyone, I'm looking for help understanding my roommate's dog's behavior so we can treat it better.

Dog is 5yo hound mutt. He hyperfocuses and chases my cat. He's made great progress with using the "look at me" command and high-value treats, but I've noticed his "lock in" and chase only happens when my roommate, his owner, is home.

I get home from work first, and will put the dog on a leash and take him into my/the cat's room. He doesnt care about the cat, he just wants pets. I sit on the floor and give both animals treats, the dog with the look at me command, but I hardly need to. They've sniffed noses and hung out with zero issues.

When my roommate is home, the dog is on alert. He watches the stairs for the cat to come down. He'll chase, though he's getting better every day with stopping or holding himself back since we started training every day. We train by having me hold the leash and practice the look at me command with treats while my roommate goes into my room to pet and love on the cat (with breaks to give the dog love and treats too).

We noticed this extends to other dogs as well. My parents dog sit him, and when my roommate is there, the dog will lock in and stare at a smaller dog, occationally going up to it to bark at its face. When my roommate leaves? His dog barely even looks at the other one. Not a care.

So whats going on? We think its protection, but how to we address it? Does anyone have resources we can read, or what we may need to look for in a trainer?

I was expecting my 3 month old poodle to start acting out/testing boundaries at puberty so I'm surprised to see he's doing so already, I believe.

My mother picks him up off the sofa when he tries to climb on, he's now big enough to jump onto it. When she does, he always bites her once. Same when I did it – he'd bite me once once I'd picked him up.

When I hold him back and make him calm down before greeting a guest, he start biting me.

I've seen teething behaviours on him before and this dosent seem like that because he's just biting once or twice and applying force not a nibble. It seems deliberate, like he is testing boundaries.

In the case of guest greeting, his biting me when I hold him back and ask him to sit and calm down is quite hard. Not enough to bleed but it's not playful and seems quite deliberate.

He hasn't displayed these behaviours in the past – of course teething and biting gently but not deliberate bites if he's annoyed.

Also, he has developed selective hearing. He definetly knows his name, as he pays complete attention to me while I have his food, but on walks, he ignores me calling for him even though I have a treat. He also ignores me if im calling for him while he's playing or something, or if he's hyper trying to greet someone.

Is testing boundaries this early normal? He's been with us for a month now and has gotten quite comfortable so maybe it's a normal phase? I'm quite worried about the new biting behaviour though. It does get better after walking him but he still does it when he's annoyed at me.