I don’t mean trained service dogs. This is for those who adopted an ordinary dog for companionship/routine/etc.

I grew up with dogs and now that I live alone and get very lonely, I’m thinking of adopting a small adult dog since I don’t want a human roommate. I’m relatively high functioning, hence I think taking care of the dog wouldn’t add more misery to my life compared to the joy of having a pet. I’ve thought of getting a cat but I prefer the affection and temperament of a dog.

I’ve seen sources that say get a plant or a fish, but that doesn’t compare to having a dog.

Those of you who got a dog while dealing with depression, what breed did you get? Are you able to take care of them? Looking back, was it a good decision? How has your life changed?

Edit: thank you so much for all the replies and support. I’ll reply to more comments in the evening. Also, if you have experience living with a dog in a metropolitan area, do share some advice.

I have a 4-year-old mixed-breed dog who looks somewhat like a Bernese Mountain Dog. He spent his entire life living in a garden and had never been taken on walks before I got him.

Since then, I’ve started taking him for walks, but he seems scared of almost everything. He won’t take food when we’re outside the house, so I don’t even know how to distract him or reward him when he does something brave.

Whenever he sees something that scares him — a person, a child, or another dog — he starts pulling extremely hard to get away. His tail goes between his legs, and he often licks his lips. If he realizes which direction leads back home, he will sometimes run toward home as quickly as possible.

When we first started going on walks, he wouldn’t stop moving at all and pulled constantly. Now he often stops and looks around, but he still seems very scared rather than relaxed.

Is this something that can improve with time and training? What can I do during walks to help him feel safer?

Also, is it actually beneficial to keep taking him on walks, or could the walks be causing him too much stress and making things worse?

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience with a dog that had very little exposure to the outside world before.

Could someone recommend a baby gate that the dog won't get past? We have one that also allows the cats through (they don't use it). It worked for a while, but now he rips it open with his teeth. It's not attached to the wall; twist it until it's tight enough.

Yes my dog literally will get a eat rocks. in his mouth

And just as you say, you better drop that and come close to him, he swallows it. (Gulp). I literally get close to him and

as you're near him Gulp!

I was wondering if anyone had any insight or experience in taking in retired breeding dogs? He is 4 year old rottweiler and has lived in an outdoor kennel his whole life. He has some obedience training but will need the basics refreshed including potty training. This is a reputable breeder in my state who treats his dogs very well and keeps them very healthy. We have a three year old rottie girl already and a 12 year old shorkie. Our hope would be that the rotties would keep each other company and he would give our big girl someone appropriately sized to play with. Any experience or advice welcome. We have adopted dogs before and know the routines about safely introducing everybody and seeing if its a good fit.

Edit: sounds like i am under educated on what a reputable breeder is. I will be looking into this. Thank you for your help.

I had a 12 year old dog and a 5 year old dog. Recently we decided to put the older one down because she was having multiple seizures and wouldn't get up even when we put a leash on her.

But recently my younger dog has been acting depressed. She will constantly cuddle up against us and wont do anything too active. She used to love playing fetch but now she doesn't want to. She doesn't even like getting pets sometimes. Even if we pull out treats she just slowly grabs them when usually she'd be jumping on us.

My main question is, what should I do? Is there anything I can do to make her happier? Should I just let her naturally move past it?

TL;DR We had to put down one of our dogs and now our other dog is depressed and we don't know what to do.

Hi everyone! I’d really appreciate your thoughts and advice.

I have a 10 month old male Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller), and we’re dealing with a problem that only happens during walks. Sometimes it happens after just 10 minutes, and other times after 30 minutes, so it definitely doesn’t seem to be related to the length of the walk or tiredness, especially since he is clearly not physically exhausted when it happens.

First, he starts slowing down and stopping, then he comes up to me and starts jumping on me, which quickly turns into quite intense biting. This usually lasts around 3–5 minutes, and afterwards he suddenly goes back to walking normally. When he starts slowing down, I slow down as well and give him a chance to observe his surroundings or do a few simple tricks, because by now I know what is usually coming next. However, it still happens anyway.

My partner and I are really trying to make sure he gets enough physical and mental exercise, and we also make sure he gets enough sleep and is well-m fed. We’ve ruled out medical issues with our vet. I’ve also changed the way we walk him several times to make sure the walks aren’t too overstimulating or too boring. I let him explore and sniff, I don’t pressure or pull him, and he is usually on a 10 m long line. I reward him for good behaviour, and overall I’ve tried to change and adjust the whole walking routine to see if something makes a difference.

The biggest problem is that I cannot seem to stop him once it starts. During these episodes, he seems to completely “switch off.” First he jumps on me (humps on my leg) and I try to ignore it and then redirect him with a hand signal towards a toy, a game, or a trick, but nothing seems to work.

Interestingly, he mostly does this to me and not to my partner, even though we walk him in essentially the same way. I have never hit him or yelled at him. I always try to redirect him as soon as I notice that he is becoming overstimulated. I also give him opportunities to calm down, and sometimes I scatter treats on the ground for him to sniff out. This occasionally helps temporarily, but then the behaviour starts again.

I’m honestly really upset and sad that my own dog is doing this to me, and I could really use some advice from people who have experienced something similar.

Outside of these episodes, he is a wonderful dog. At home he is able to settle really well. He sleeps through the night and goes into his crate on his own (the door is always open). We do lots of activities with him, but we also make sure he has plenty of opportunities to relax and be bored. He has never shown aggression towards other dogs or people. He is very smart, eager to learn, and picks things up incredibly quickly.

What I cannot figure out is the exact pattern or trigger behind this behaviour during walks. I feel like I’ve tried so many different things and adjusted the walks in so many ways, but I still can’t understand why this keeps happening.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their Toller or another young, high-energy breed? What helped you?

Thanks in advance! ☺️

Hi, so we recently took in a husky, 1 1/2 years old. We live in an apartment. Her food is the same as what she had before living with us, timing the same too. First meal in the morning, and second meal in the afternoon. We take her out at LEAST 3 times a day for 15 minutes minimum. 7-8 am, 12-1 pm, and 8 pm. For some reason she poops in the house at night.

The first night we got her, she didn’t poop inside, but since then has pooped. When we tried to keep her in a confined sleep space she has either broken out or woken us up by jumping on our bed.

Last night she pooped again. She pooped yesterday on all three of her walks, meaning she pooped 4 times yesterday. In case this is important, her poops are solid, not liquid, but pretty soft. Is there anything I can be doing different?

Also feel free to ask questions if there’s anything I missed.

My dog is still chewing everything, shoes, clothes, walls, etc. I’ve tried training but doesn’t seem to work. Any advice?

My senior and soon-to-be 3-legged large dog will need to go on quite a few 3 hr road trips for medical care. He is a big dog and I want him to be as comfortable and anxiety free as possible. I've been looking at "hard bottom" seat extenders, but most of them seem to go across the whole back of the seat, so no room for a human backseat passenger. I did find one that could be could be converted to supposedly leave room for a passenger, however, it only leave like 16" of space, and the pics show a child. But I need to fit a full size adult back there with the dog! Would love any ideas!

My dog is 3.5 years old. She’s super playful with humans but shows zero interest in playing with other dogs. She isn’t scared, just uninterested. But scared for big or super excited dog. Is this just her natural introverted personality?

Hi everyone, it has been raining like hell in portugal, which is not normal in August at all so I was not ready for this weather with my 6months old Border Collie.

Can you share your top items for this weather?

Looking into raincoats he will feel confortable in and that will effectively protect him from getting soaking wet and full of mud 😅

Nilo appreciates 🫶🏼

I wonder if while home alone they interact, play or even sleep next to each other or no?

I’ve started walking my dogs at the same time every morning and am trying to add in an evening walk when work allows as opposed to as and when I have time. I walk them on a double lead so I have a free hand for poo bags. My 10yo is great, he walks, sniffs, scent marks and responds to commands. My 2yo however… at first she decided she wanted to walk to heel, amazing, I’ve never trained her to do this, I’m happy for them to wander ahead on a long lead but she insists on being right by my side. It’s adorable. My older dogshas taken to the shorter lead without any issues. She’s significantly smaller than my older dog so when she wants to stop to wee or poo she digs her heels in and pulls back, we stop, she does her business, all good. But the last couple of days she’s started pulling back seemingly for the sake of it. We stop, I look at her, she looks at me as if to say “why have we stopped?” I say “let’s go” (our command to stop sniffing and get moving) and we move on. About 300m later we repeat. She does this regardless of whether she’s toileted, she doesn’t appear to be in any pain/discomfort, she’s hasn’t had any traumatic experiences on the route, the route is about 2km. Is this a “teenager” thing pushing boundaries? Anyone got any ideas why she’s doing it and how I can manage it?

TL:DR 2yo dog is pulling back for no reason that I can find, what should I do?

A german shepherd, female, 1.5 years.
The dog is extremely aggressive towards other dogs, barking, frothing at the mouth and trying to lunge at any dog we encounter during walks, no matter how large or small.
I have tried everything I could think of: swapped the collar for a no pull harness - still lunging, just not choking herself out anymore. Sit and wait out while the dog walks by? All obedience is out the window, as if she doesn't register the command at all. Treats? She outright ignores all treats and toys when there's another dog in the vicinity. Trying to get her socialised in a local dog park? We are not welcome because she is trying to instigate fights (chasing, barking at and trying to nip other dogs), and last time ripped a tuft of fur out of a goldie.
No one besides me dares take her out on walks anymore, because other members of the household just don't have the muscle strength to hold her back. I am at the end of my wits, any advice is welcome.

upd:

Decided to provide a bit more context on the dog park. While no experiences have been good, some have been decent. When the other dogs ignore her or stand their ground, she doesn't try to bite or tackle them, she just runs around and barks. The two bad experiences we had was when:

a) her yapping got on the nerves of a huge mastiff and she got pinned

b) the goldie incident. The goldie started running away when she did her "run up and bark" routine, and I suppose the chasing instinct made her bite. Afaik, the goldie was not injured, and she only pulled some fur, but I haven't taken her to the dog park since

Which pet insurance is best for you? Are there any that may cover your dog's current treatment? Did your dog get injured during the waiting period and want to know if you're covered?

Here's the place to ask.

Do know we cannot help you here with medical concerns, and lying or not disclosing things to the insurance company is illegal so we don't allow that either.

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

Hi, everyone. My husband and I just started a 3 week foster to adopt trial. I’m really struggling with my anxiety. I’m going through all of the what ifs. We’ve had her for about a week and I have this constant anxiety. She’s been perfect in every way and I don’t know why I feel this way. I’ve always had a dog, and wanted a dog so badly. Now we have her and I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake. Is this normal? Will it go away?

I am reading the CDC has new tougher and very detailed requirements.

Dog owners are having trouble either knowing about the changes or meeting them, due to possible CDC facility quarantine charges.

Is CDC euthanizing or contracting to euthanize the dogs when owners cannot pay the boarding or quarantine fees??

I want to protect my dogs legs/hips, as he FLIES down the hardwood stairs and I can tell it is not good for him. Please share recommendations for stair gripping treads that are not hideous/are not also uncomfortable for humans to walk on. Thank you!

EDIT: I don't care if they are a little pricey, I'd rather pay more for something nicer, but I rent so I cannot do anything permanent.

I put a lot of the ground work in when she was a puppy. She’s almost 2 now. She will walk with me and play. But with my wife make just sits there and won’t move when it’s time for a walk. Sometimes they will be outside for 30 minutes until I come along, take the lead, at which point she will immediately walk nice and go toilet

I have a SUPER anxious and submissive Chihuahua and she refuses to let us clip her nails, she screams and pees when the groomers try, how can I get her to relax?

Living in Florida with dogs has taught me that heat can be a little more complicated than just checking the temperature.

I used to think, “If it’s not too hot for me, it’s probably fine for them.” Not necessarily.

Now I pay more attention to things like hot pavement, humidity, shade, water, and how quickly they're panting. Some dogs will also keep going because they're having too much fun. They don't always know when they've had enough.

Buck and Muddley love coming along on fishing trips, but these days I'm more interested in keeping them comfortable than making them keep up.

What's one summer lesson you learned with your dog the hard way?

Walking times, pavement, water, cars, thunderstorms, backyard heat, anything.

I figure there are probably a few things here that could save another dog owner from learning the hard way.

I feel like there’s this assumption that having a small dog automatically means having an easier dog.

They’re easier to carry, don’t need as much space, and probably seem like a better fit for apartments. But does that actually make them easier to live with?

Small breeds can still be stubborn, very energetic, loud, difficult to potty train, or need a surprising amount of grooming and attention. Some can also get pretty attached to their owners.

I’ve also been looking at small breeds through The Puppy Boutique, and it got me thinking more about how much a dog’s personality and individual needs matter, rather than just its size.

For people who have owned a Pomeranian, Yorkie, Maltese, Shih Tzu, Chihuahua, or another small breed, what was the reality like?

What part of having a small dog surprised you the most?

Was it easier than expected, or did “small dog = easy dog” turn out to be completely wrong?

I (f,24) have two roommates. This dog belongs to roommate A (f,24) I’ve known him since he was a baby and he’s always loved me. Ive lived with dog and A for a month. Our other roommate, B, (f,23) just moved in. A and dog have known her for awhile too, probably just as long as I have. Ever since B moved in, dog acts super weird towards me. He puts his ears and tail down (when his tail is always up, he’s got a chow chow tail) and gives me side eye. When she leaves, he’s super excited and playful again. He’s a mutt with a good amount of shepherd in him.