Category: Forum

I have a 1 y.o toypoo, spayed. I rarely took her out walking since it was very difficult to walk her. She’s excessively sniffs to the point she’s not walking but just sniffing. She’s also very scared to other dogs and hates bath + grooming time.

We socialized her, took her on playdates with our cousins’ dog. Yet she never outgrew this habit. Thankfully we have big back yard for her to unleash her energy. But just curious with her excessive sniffing since my previous dog loves walking, fearless, loves grooming.

Our almost 1 year old field lab just got his hormon chip yesterday which will most likely end in castration. Vet already warned us that he will get most likely get heavier due to slowed metabolism. I am going jogging with him when the temperature allows and don’t want to hurt him or his joints, in case he would get too big. How can I prevent him from getting too heavy? At the moment he’s in perfect shape (and I mean PERFECT, tons of compliments and just looking at him he has beautiful curves where they’re supposed to be) and I’d prefer to keep it that way.

We’re currently switching from puppy food to tails.com food, where I applied the filter for castrated dog along with his current weight and breed. Anything else I should watch out for/keep in mind? Thx!

I have a dog that is reactive when meeting other dogs. We are working on it every chance we get. I keep wondering what the best way to adress his behaviour.

Example: We are walking down the road and out of nowhere a dog turns the corner and my dog starts barking.

What would be the best way to address this situation? Thanks!

She was a tough puppy to house train, but she’s had a dog door for a while now and hasn’t had accidents inside for 8 months.

Now she’s taken to peeing on our couches. She only does it when we don’t see her, so we’ve never been able to catch her in the act.

I assume it’s her, unless my wife has picked up some very strange nocturnal habits and just blames it on the pup.

Any ideas as to why she’s doing this and how to stop it?

This morning at around 5am my 1 year old dog had a sudden seizure, followed by around 5 more in the time between then and when we arrived at the emergency vet. They said he probably has epilepsy and he is staying overnight – the drugs they gave weren’t strong enough to stop the fits so he basically had to be knocked out.

I cannot see him until tomorrow and they warned me of brain damage. I am very scared and missing him a lot. A few months ago he had a tiny seizure but it was written off and he was back to normal within the hour, nothing to this extreme.

Does anybody have any personal experiences with dog epilepsy/seizures? He’s so little still and this can’t be the end? Thanks!

It has recently been revealed that I am an asshole for how I walk my dog. I am not fishing for reassurance that I’m an ok dog owner – I willingly take whatever criticism and feedback is given to me. I simply want clarification on appropriate dog walking etiquette so that I can do better in the future. (Just FYI I do loose leash walking and allow sniffing for mental stimulation.)

It’s my understanding that the verge (land between road and sidewalk) is fair game for dog walking and toileting. It’s technically city property, but it is not uncommon for it to be landscaped with flowers, etc by the people who live there. I keep my dog from walking on those landscaped areas but I do let him sniff the plants. It has been my understanding that it’s ok for dogs to step off the sidewalk into people’s lawns. I do not let my dog go to the bathroom on people’s lawns. One person told me they consider it ok to let their dog go one or two paces into the grass next to a sidewalk, another told me three feet. Many others have said this is unacceptable on private property. Many others say that if my dog isn’t heeled next to me during my walk that is not proper. I will also allow my dog to sniff plants (bushes, flowers) next to the sidewalk but not pee on them (which was what got me in trouble with a neighbor initially).

Is the verge free game?? Is it ok to let my dog sniff landscaped plants on the verge? Is it unacceptable to let my dog wander off the sidewalk (a pace or two) into people’s lawns occasionally? Is it ok to let him sniff plants on the private property side of the sidewalk? (It is fairly common to have flowerbeds & landscaping right up against the sidewalk in my neighborhood.) I want to be a responsible dog owner and am genuinely looking for the information to make that possible.

And perhaps there is no consensus on this, and in that case it’s better just to be safe than sorry! I wanted to ask more dog owners so I better know where to appropriately draw lines for me and my dog.

I have a neighbor that lets his two dogs out at 4:45am every morning and they bark until they are let back in. We’re friendly with him and we’ve kindly asked a few times that he wait until 7am, but that only lasted about a week. These dogs are not trained at all and they don’t get walked—they are only allowed to roam free in the yard.

We live in a tight little valley and the barking literally sounds amplified. It wakes my husband and I and it also makes my dog growl, if not bark, in our bedroom. I’m expecting a baby in December and I’m mortified that these dogs will affect the baby’s sleep schedule.

I’m getting past the point of being nice about this, so before I text him links to dog trainers and bark collars, what do you think is a reasonable time in the morning to let your dogs bark? Any tips on how to handle this situation?

Ps. This neighbor is retired and isn’t just letting the dogs out before going to work.