r/dogs

I got my dog at the age of 2 back in middle school. I recently completed a clinical doctorate and he is still with me.... somewhat. By all test measures out there and appearances, he's "great for his age." No one ever guesses his age correctly. Lately the impending death is getting to me. The decline in the last 2 years has been rapid. He's gone from 2 hour walks to 10 -15 mins.

It's like there's a never ending fog over his mind that only allows food obsession and repetitive licking (me) behaviors. His life is: eat, toilet, lick, check for food. He has almost no personality anymore. Despite that he is still the happy dog he has always been.

The last year has been horrible with the urinating in the house. Took forever to find a something that worked and would stay on him because of his awkward shaped body. Every night and any time I leave the house he has to wear a body suit. Even then he still sometimes wiggles out.

This last week has been the worst. Now he's got some stomach issues. Pooping every night, every time I am at work. He's been delegated to his cage. He hates being in there despite it being large. I feel bad he's got to be stuck in there.

It's been hard with my partner. He never knew my dog back when he was cool and fun, so its been hard for him to bond. He's sick of the house hold accidents. We have carpet.

Getting old sucks.

No, I don't need to be told to take him to the vet.

For context I live in Seattle. It's rare for even new construction houses to have yards anymore. I work from home and have time to give to a dog. I submitted an application for one and aside from the $650 fee for a 3 year old dog feeling a little high (though understandable with comping their cost for vaccinations and spaying / neutering) I was surprised to also see that they are very insistent on applicants having a yard. They were very sure the dog had to have their "zone" of a yard and would not do well on walks or to grassy open areas (which are what people who own dogs do here obviously. There are multiple parks near me and grassy areas too within walking distance). I grew up owning dogs and volunteered walking them for years at a shelter. This rescue is located on the Olympic peninsula. They did offer to talk about some of their other dogs that they thought would be a good fit but the whole thing just feels odd to me. Are there dogs that really couldn't exist without a yard and could not do regular walks? I am planning on buying a place with a yard in a year so I may just revisit the idea then. I don't have any other pets in my home.

We have a 2 year old Alaskan Klee Kai. Back in November we moved from a townhouse with no yard to a freestanding house with a big backyard that is fully fenced and secure. Our dog is LOVING it. She wants to be outside all day (even in the cold - she loves cold weather!).

We try to take her on walks at least once a day, and throw a ball in the yard when we can (we also have a 1 year old son and I’m 4 months pregnant so free time is limited, unfortunately). We also usually hang out with her in the backyard for at least an hour or so every day now that the weather is warming up.

She seems happy out there. She has food, water, shade, and I give her plenty of opportunities to come inside if she wants to. She comes in when it’s dark (we never leave her outside overnight) and sleeps with us in our bed.

Is it okay that she spends all day outside? I googled whether it was okay and most things I read basically implied that we’re neglecting our dog. She doesn’t do anything destructive out there or seem in distress, she mostly just hangs out, roams around and chews on sticks. Sometimes she’ll bark at people outside the fence but it’s fairly rare, and when she does I go out there to manage it.

Can anyone recommend a professional dog photographer? I need to have some professional photos? I have two dogs.

I'm not concerned or anything. I just wanted to find a dog related subreddit and put the question out there: Does your dog spin in circles? And if so, is it only ever in one direction?

I've tried getting my dog to spin in the opposite direction for treats, and he flops around and gives up pretty fast. But yeah, clockwise? Fastest spinning pomeranian you've ever seen.

I want my dog (under a year) to live the best, happiest life ever. He is my favorite thing in the whole world. While he’s been maturing a bit lately and starting to enjoy going outside (whereas before he did not), I worry he may not be as happy as before (probably overthinking it). I just want to make him feel loved and cared for and leading the happiest life.

He is growing up and I know he’s gaining independence, but he used to snuggle in my arms all the time. Now he lays by my feet and doesn’t enjoy snuggling as much as (this is my first dog). He gets defensive a lot when other dogs are nearby and used to be curious and playful, now he’s in protector mode. I just want to make sure he’s okay. He is a velcro dog and follows me around everywhere. He doesn’t like car rides and there haven’t been any meetups in the area. We take him to the dog park at our apartment complex, but not a lot of dogs there.

I'm looking for a dog sitter in my new town, and recently met up with a very nice person who has a couple of sweet dogs and a nice house. I like them, my dog likes them.

The only problem is that their dogs pee and poop in the house fairly often. I understand that some dogs, especially small dogs, can be really difficult to house train. But my dog is fully housetrained. He has never peed indoors and only pooped inside once when he was sick. I'm concerned that spending time with these dogs might mess up his training?

Have any of you been in a situation where a housetrained dog became less housetrained after hanging out with unhousetrained dogs?

Unless I feed him in his normal bowl, he won't touch his food in his daily auto feeder while my wife is gone at work. Its not an issue of me having to feed him, but as to why he won't eat when shes not here.

I was driving and saw 2 dogs that were about to get hit by oncoming traffic. Instinctively I stopped traffic and grabbed the dogs. Now I don’t know what to do with them. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment with my wife and dog. There’s no space for them there! I’ve tried everything to find their owners. Posted them on all socials and local facebook groups. We also took them to the vet and one of them was chipped…but the chip was unregistered! There’s no information of previous owners and no one has claimed them through socials. I would love to keep them but I don’t have the space for them. Help?!

My dog is a mixed labrador and Bernese mountain dog - he looks like a BIG labrador (he is 8 and may be fat). The problem is that he always stinks no matter what we do, plus he is always kinda greasy? Like when we pet him our hands end up smelling like wet dog every time even if we barely touch him, and we can feel a small layer of grease on him. Everything he lays on smell afterward, and the air around him too. I never noticed that with any other dogs but didn’t met any dog like him. I love him very much but petting him is a bit annoying considering we start stinking just after. Has anyone ever encountered this problem and if so do you have a solution? Thanks!!

I have a healthy 12yr old chihuahua who recently has began to eat weeds. Not like dandelions or something cute, no - the spiky ones you step on in the yard. The hell? Looked it up and they aren’t toxic, I dug a bunch up today to stop her but she’s feral for these weeds. Any advice as to why she is doing this? I thought she might have been snackin’ on a turd or two which I would honestly prefer because wtf why the spiky weeds?!? 6 weeks ago she got most of her teeth removed and is in great shape otherwise; nothing abnormal with the bloodwork or anything. This has been happening for about 10 days now. Yesterday after I caught her again she tried dragging her butt on the patio and was not pleased with the result so she came inside to drag her butt on the carpet instead.

As of maybe last week, out of nowhere, my dog started struggling to jump up on my bed. She'll jump and lean up against the side of the bed, standing on top of her two hind legs, and cry. Eventually she does jump up on her own, and doesn't indicate any pain while doing so. But it takes her SO long and for minutes she'll just keep crying and leaning on my bed trying to get me to lift her. I think it's a behavioural problem but it's really strange.

I do not understand why this has suddenly happened? She's never had an issue with jumping up on the bed in the past, this is just so random, but I'm scared something is actually wrong and causing her to do this. She still can jump up on the bed - she's just extremely hesitant to. The only other thing I can think of is that lately (before this started) she'd been jumping on my mum's bed and the couch, and my mum would scream at her to get off. But it seems weird for her to now be scared of jumping up on anything since she literally sleeps on my bed and know it's a place she's allowed.

Any ideas? Is this just a random anomaly or something I should actually worry about? I can't really take her to the vets because my mum hates her and wouldn't want to spend money taking her to the vets for something she sees as no cause for concern. I also don't want to start lifting her because I don't want her to get used to not jumping to get on the bed - because I want to make sure she still can jump on her own.

Also my dog is turning 12 this June.

Hello! My 9 year old Shepherd/Husky mix is a habitual poop-eater. We’ve tried giving him pumpkin and have now tried three different poop eating deterrent dog treats but have had no success. When I stand outside and watch him, he’ll just grab it and scarf it down despite me redirecting him (gross, I know). It’s not a matter of picking up his poop more because he does it immediately after pooping. Anyone have a foolproof method to stop the madness? Or any treats you would recommend? Sorry for the grossness— dogs are gross sometimes lol

Okay on mobile so please forgive my grammar. I had 9 year corgi that passed away. he was very close to my other 6 year corgi. my farther bought a 13 week puppy home and the 6 year old doesn't like it. she a covid dog so very antisocial. im just wondering how long till she just tolerate him.

Hi!

My roommate was fostering a puppy and I ended up falling in love with him, and decided to adopt him. He is now 6 months old, and I feel like I’ve fallen behind a lot on his training because I keep getting stuck on one thing: he knows his name, but he will not listen or come to me for the most part. He is insanely treat motivated, however of course easily distracted, and I have no idea what to do. He also is stubborn which could just be an age thing.

If you were to start training a puppy almost from scratch at 6 months old, what would be your best advice? He knows sit, paw, wait and occasionally lay down. How do I make him listen to me all the time? And how can I better work with him to train him? I want to raise him to the best of my ability, and hope it’s not too late.. any advice is appreciated!!

My dog is about 10 now and I’ve noticed she’s become more hesitant around other dogs. She used to greet them normally, but lately she hangs back, stays close to me, and doesn’t seem as interested in saying hello.

Nothing else has really changed - she’s eating fine, acting normal at home, and still enjoys walks. It’s more like she’s just less confident or more cautious.

I’m not sure if this is just an age thing, or if I should be looking into possible vision/hearing changes or discomfort.

Has anyone else noticed this with their dog as they got older? Did you just give them more space, or did anything help?

We have 2 SUPER shredders in a small home, and I've had beagles and Pyranese all my life and we've always managed as adults to try and vacuum every couple days or off-limits a room but ugh its extra bad this year.

Lint rollers take multiple sheets for a pair of black pants.

I'd have to buy stock in 3M if I tried the tape and stick method

Anyone here have a clothes brush to recommend or system that works???

Hi everyone, looking for a pulse check on where I am at with my dog...

She is a rescue adopted at four months old and estimated birthday was a little over two weeks ago. She is a super mutt mixed breed but a lot of pitt, some german shepherd, husky, lab... she has a lot going on LOL

She is high energy and something I can confidently say is that she struggles with regulation. For example, when she is playing with other dogs, there is no pausing or stopping, just go go go. Side note, this is especially hard when with dogs who don't correct/she isn't being called out in the second for doing things she shouldn't be. We are also struggling with recall, specifically when outside if there are birds or squirrels around or people walking by.

Besides the energy issues, she is honestly a very good dog; smart, a fast learner, and loves people and life in general! Training has not been too tricky and she picks up on things quickly and responds very well to commands, especially when food or treats are involved. On the other side of that, her personality in itself is stubborn af and she can be a massive diva LOL Never anything crazy, but major side eye, attitude, or dead weighting and planting herself firmly where she is are pretty standard when she is told to do things she clearly doesn't want to do (like get in the car).

I have dealt with major puppy blues, and don't have to explain how tough puppies can be. In conversation, most people attribute her behavior and actions to puppy energy but now that I am reaching one year and nothing has changed, I am started to get worried... I see a lot of other posts on this sub of people saying to hold out to a year and things get so much better but I just don't know! Should I be worried and doing more? What else can I be doing? Or should I just try to be patient and keep on the same path?

ETA: Also wondering when forced naps should stop. She has outbursts and zoomies occasionally and when they do, she is put in her crate, hits a HARD nap, and is always better afterward. So with that said, she still benefits from them, but is that normal at this age?

hey everyone,

summer’s coming and my pup has been panting way more than usual 😅 so i’m thinking about getting a cooling mat to help him stay comfy outside/inside. i’ve seen a bunch online but honestly have no idea which ones are actually worth the money vs just gimmicks.

what i’m hoping for:

• actually stays cool without ice packs forever
• big enough for a medium dog
• doesn’t smell or get gross easily
• not super expensive

my budget is probably around $30–$80, but i can stretch it if it’s actually worth it.

what cooling mats do you guys use that you’d actually buy again? anything to avoid or tips for summer comfort?

thanks 🙏

I have had a rescue dog for approx 48hrs now, and he has peed only once. When he did, there was nothing to indicate a medical issue (auto-mod requested I edit out why). As a result, I think this is a stress-based reaction and he is holding his pee as a result. I feel horribly for him! I do understand he's still decompressing, but holding his pee for so long must be terribly uncomfortable. He's clearly quite anxious, as he pants and pants and is scared of pretty much everything.

What can I do to help this dog relax enough for normal urination?