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My dog is very choosy on food these days sometimes she doesnt eat completely im running out of ideas

How was your rainy November Monday? Here is mine with my 6 month old whippet male.

6.30 woke up and moved from his bed to the sofa. Continued sleeping.

7.45 out to the garden for pee pee and poo poo. Then inside for breakfast and goes straight back to sleeping on the couch.

10.30 wakes up and starts biting everything. 30 min sniff-walk. Some playing and digging on the carpet. Chewed a bone.

12.00 lunch and fell asleep after.

13.15 up and full of energy. Out we go for 40 min sniffing and met a lovely stranger. Had some zoomies and bit my jacket. Inside we did some training. Fell asleep after.

17.00 up again and did some more training. Followed by dinner and played on his own.

18.30 out for a 30 min sniff-walk and took him to the grocery store. Did some snacks shopping for me and the dog. Did some running and parkour on the way home.

19.30 Stole a pear from the kitchen. Ate half before we exhange it. Fell asleep on the couch after.

22.00 woke him up for final pee pee and poo poo. Gave him some food and after that he went in to the bedroom and his bed. Now sleeping for the night. Normally he sleeps straight through, fingers crossed…

I would say the days are mostly the same. Love my little dude!

But please tell me about your day with your puppy! Curious!

I’m having lots of issues in training regression with my puppy, but this one in particular is bad.

I used to be able to say “crate” and my puppy would go in her crate. Now, she doesn’t at all, and thinks it’s a game to run away from the crate when I say so. I now have to drag her by the collar or leash into the crate especially if I am in a rush and have to go to work etc.

Now when she’s actually in the crate, it’s fine. She lays down and goes to sleep.

I have tried throwing extremely high value stuff in the crate (hot dogs, cheese), lick mats, yogurt, you name it… and patiently waiting for her to go in after saying “crate”. She will literally ignore the food (walk away) or stare at it and not move toward the crate. I will sit there and wait and she eventually just walks/runs away. I’ve sat there for 10 minutes before and then it’s very clear she will not be going in because now she’s off doing something else mischievous in another room.

I have tried saying “crate” and pulling her in and then giving a treat also because I didn’t want her to think the crate was punishment, but now maybe she has learned that even if she gets put in she might also get a treat.

I’m assuming I maybe need to start over with something but I’m not sure what to do. It’s annoying to be chasing my dog around where she thinks it’s a game when I have to leave the house. Has this happened with anyone else? I’m not sure what to do if my dog is literally ignoring hot dogs and cheese to avoid the crate….

Just wanted to share something that I’ve recently started doing with my 10 month old pup that’s been a real game changer in the moments where I desperately need him to settle and relax. Disclaimer: I originally saw this on an instagram reel. I usually take dog training tips from social media with a grain of salt, but this one has been surprisingly helpful for us! It’s supposedly a method used to help train service dogs to be chill in any environment.

Basically, I start by getting him into a down position – usually on a blanket so treats don’t bounce. Then when he isn’t looking at me I drop kibble one piece at a time from above his head every few seconds (so from his perspective it’s raining kibble lol). I aim for the space between his two front paws. If he looks up at me or my hand, I stop and wait for him to look down again. The goal eventually is to capture/reward him for the moments when he’s relaxed with his head resting between his front paws, but rewarding the moments where he’s looking away from me or his nose is sniffing the blanket is a great place to start. Over time, I increase the time between kibble drops.

Sometimes it’ll take 10mins or so of this, but eventually, I see his eyes start to get heavy and he dozes off. I’m shocked how well it works for him… it’s like I can see his system powering down before my eyes. I’ve also done this with him in public settings too. While he never fully falls asleep when we’re in public, it does seem really helpful and relaxing to him to have something low effort to focus on rather than fixating on the chaos of his environment.

It seems like since we’ve started practicing this, he’s gotten a lot better at relaxing in general. He’s taking more frequent and longer naps which in turn has led to improvements in his behavior and he has far fewer chaotic outbursts.

Like with anything, I’m sure it doesn’t work for every dog (especially if they aren’t as food motivated as my pup). But as someone who had been desperately searching for a way to help my energetic herding pup calm the heck down, I just figured I’d share in case it helps someone else! 🤍

To preface, I adopted an 8 week old puppy back in December 2024. He's a black lab mix, and highly energetic. He's a menace to the fullest extent. If he gets bored, he will start nipping at you or all the things you hold dear. In the first 6 months, my arms and hands looked like I was getting into daily fights with about 50 cats. Ever since then, his main priority has been destroying random things in my house.

He is now about 13 months old, and my couch has been obliterated at every corner, my coffee table looks like beavers had sawn off each edge, and I've had to replace doggy beds once every few months due to him destroying each one. Every toy I buy him ends up in pieces within a couple of hours, despite how "durable" it's branded.

I've tried many different tricks over the year. Redirection only works for a few moments, and being stern only makes him feel like a challenge to play more or play harder.

There's more to it, but the long and short of it is this:

1. What kinds of toys or objects can I get him that will keep him busy but will also hold up longer?

2. What strategies can I get him to do to stop chewing on my furniture and my belongings? It's getting expensive to replace.

3. As someone who works 40 hours a week and lives alone, what further strategies can I do to keep him busy and worn out? I already walk him every day, play fetch with him outside or take him to doggy day care 2x per week.

Let me be clear, I love the little stinker to death and wouldn't trade him for the world. He is my absolute baby. I just want further help in making the rest of my life easier and my belongings last longer.

Hi, i don't want to beat around the bush here, but i guess i am in the puppy blues.
I have a 10 week old puppy – bearded collie x miniature poodle mix. Me and my partner have wanted a pet for a while, and when we met this puppy we thought we just had to add him to our lives, it felt right.
We've had him for over a week now, and although I understand i am in early days, and puppy blues is a real thing, i cannot get over the idea that i may have made a mistake in life.
I am in my late 20s, decent job, living in the city in a rented flat/apartment. I work remotely; my job is extremely important to me, and i put my all in each day.
The hard part i am dealing with at the moment is I went from doing nothing – working all day, small walk outside, get food, back home for a movie and chill – sleep really well each day – to going up and down 4 flights of stairs to the garden and back to my flat multiple times a day: 7am – 8.30am – 10am – 13:00 – 15/16:00 – 19:00 – ~23:00. Thankfully the puppy sleeps/is quiet for the entire night.

4 flights of stairs does take a mental toll on me, it's a big mental blocker, there are other things that take a strain like him crying each time he's in his crate during the day, but I know those issues will fizzle out with time and repetition of practices.
I looked online for my city (in the uk) and i can barely find any properties to rent that allow pets and have a garden. I feel locked down completely! I feel like my choices are stairs each day for years or having a serious talk if this is the life i want to live. This is clearly a big lifestyle change for me, and it could be worse (he could wake in the night), but i just can't get the idea that i cannot not go out the flat, cannot go to an office without worrying or paying money for a sitter, cannot go out for dinner, cannot go do anything random anymore.

Does anyone have any advice on what kind of routines that i could use in the future to help me? Anyone live in a city without a garden/poor accessibility to a garden?
I'd like to know when he is older, will it be easier? Will the dog be able to be calm in the flat for majority of the day, and go on 2-3 walks per day as a routine?

Hi friends! Sooo my 7 month old puppy is going through her first heat cycle and I think I’m slowly losing my mind.

I’ve had female dogs in the past, but they’ve all been rescued and spayed before I got them, but current Bebe was too young when I rescued her.

Took her to the vet and he said newer evidence is showing to wait until they’re “skeletally mature” for spay so I’m gonna go with what’s in my girls best interest health wise.

But guys- I am on the STRUGGLE bus and have so many “dog mom” questions my vet obvi cannot address in one small appt. So if anyone has experience and can help (sans judgment please to all the trolls) ya girl needs to know Its gonna be okay.

She has officially un-potty trained herself. Previously, 4-6 months no accidents to speak of. Now, she like REFUSES to go outside and then when I force her she just stays out and barks at the wind. Occasionally will poop. Then I’ll let her back in and like 5 mins later-puddle on the floor. I’ve started having to go outside with her or walk her every morning so I don’t come home to any surprises.

She also hasn’t been eating as much (of her food. She goes after the cats food like a wild hyena). And she will eat treats and other delicacies but she is officially a diva and her dry dog food with chicken broth is now for plebeians.

I just don’t know how to gauge what’s “normal” vs what’s “concerning” and how to handle it. I really don’t want her learning it’s okay to pee in the house again and like I am paying way too much for a rental with a yard just to have to go outside with her to get her to pee anyways. I have diapers as well that are as ridiculous as they are adorable But I like to give her time out of the diaper cause like…I wouldn’t wanna be in a diaper all day long either.

If anyone has any advice, tips, commiseration, etc I could use some cause I’m just trying to take care of my Bebe girl but I’ve never done this before!!!

Hello again,

There’s a stray dog near my school. It’s next to a major street. I want to move him into a shelter so I stop worrying about him. But part of me also wants to adopt him. Our previous attempts to corral him have been unsuccessful (putting food in a crate and closing the door remotely. The cats kept eating the food before he good get to it, but the one time he did get in, he was able to nudge the door and get out).

Part of me wants to get 10 or so people and surround him to capture him, but I’m worried he might hold a grudge or something if I helped capture him, should I choose to adopt. Is this a valid concern?