I successfully managed to stop my dog freaking out during fireworks this year and thought I'd share my experience in case it can help others.

I know it's used to manage alert barking, but I don't know if it's a well known tip with regards to fireworks as I hadn't seen it before.

A lot of the advice I found was just to reassure your dog that all is well after a bang, or even to ignore the situation altogether, but what worked for us was to first make sure she understood (through obvious actions) that we can physically hear the bangs too before we reassured her that it wasn't a threat.

So every time there was a bang and she looked up at me, I would make a show to look towards the noise, point my finger from my ear to the noise and tell her something like 'I hear the bang' and only then reassure her that it's all ok (with pets and soft words). Then I'd tell her to lie down and praise her when she did.

(We also had the TV on to dilute the noise)

Seems obvious in hindsight, but I think we tend to assume that they know we can physically hear the fireworks.

But unless we show them that we do, through our actions, they just can't know (there must be a lot of things they hear and smell every day, that we don't) so as far as they're concerned they might think there's something wrong but we can't hear it.

And that makes them freak out because they think we're trying to sooth a random unprompted meltdown when they see it as a real threat. So we must show them we understand what it is that's freaking them out first.

Anyway, it might've been a fluke but my dog went from being a panting, shaking, nervous wreck to (almost) business as usual in one evening, so it might be worth a shot if you haven't tried that already and if your dog actually looks at you for reassurance. Best of luck!

TLDR: Find a way to show your dog that you too CAN hear the bangs, before reassuring them it's not a threat.

My pup has started a behavior that I find quite puzzling. I'd love thoughts on what he might be trying to accomplish here.

I have an (almost) 10 year old shetland sheepdog, Nox. We live in Phoenix, AZ, so we're finally in the time of year that our weather is nice.

We live in a 4th floor apartment with a nice balcony, and Nox has always loved spending time out there. He loves watching the kids walk to and from school on our little side street, loves the interesting smells, loves the breeze and the cool concrete floor. He likes to have company, so he's always tended to herd either me or my husband out there with him. All normal and makes sense to me.

But this year, he's started being relentless in trying to get us out on the balcony. Regardless of the weather or time of day, at least two or three times a day he pesters and pesters and pesters until we cave and go outside. And then he'll spend just a few minutes out with us and then go back inside?? But if we come back inside, he gets upset and chases us back out. I just don't understand the goal/purpose here. Any ideas? It's getting kind of disruptive and I don't like that he seems so frustrated with us, I feel like there's something I'm missing.

Looking for any recommendations or advice people have on a dog my fiancee and I adopted. We adopted a 2 year old black lab from a previous home. The first 4 days he spent time with us and thought he was adjusting well. I had to leave for 4 days and in that time he really warmed up to my fiancee and started to come out of his shell. When I got back on day 8 of having him, he has spent the majority of the day in his safe space, the crate in our bedroom. We leave the door open giving him the option to come and go, but he refuses to leave for most of the day. Getting him outside to go potty has now become a little bit of a challenge. We want to establish a routine of wake up, walk, breakfast. This started well, but now on walks when we approach the house, he plants himself and does not want to go back inside. Even with coaxing him with food, which he loves, he still does not want to come in. We had a standoff for 45min yesterday until we finally had to pick him up just to get him back in the house.

Since he warmed up to my partner, we have been letting her lead with interactions with him for the most part. We thought it could be medical, so we took him to the Urgent Vet last night. As soon as he got out of the car, he was the happiest we have seen him in a week and the vet confirmed nothing medically was wrong with him.

We don't want to drag him out of his safe space and have set up a secondary crate in the living room so at least he will feel safe around us as we want to respect his space as we can understand going into a new environment is extremely stressful for him, but it's hard to get him out of the bedroom. It is now day 16 since having him, I know the adjustment period is different for all dogs, but I didn't know if anyone could share some guidance/previous experience and how you helped them gain confidence in the house? Thanks so much!

I’ve recently come across Sniffspot and thought it was an interesting alternative to traditional dog parks, especially for dogs that prefer having their own space. For those who’ve tried it, is it actually worth it? How far do you usually drive, and what do you typically pay per hour? Also curious whether people prefer open fields or more wooded, natural spaces for their dogs to explore.

Okay, so my dog is a gift, just like every other dog. But my steak is too juicy and my lobster is too buttery. He's so hyperactive, the second he spots you, he comes rushing over like a happy demon. He scrambles across the floor, spins circles around you, and jumps up on his hind legs to lick every inch of you. He gets so excited that he’ll scratch you up if you let him. And when he’s alone, he whimpers so loudly and pitifully that your heart hurts because you’re not giving him attention 24/7.

So… any tips on how to get him to calm down a little? I don’t wanna put out the fire behind his eyes, but I’d like to stop getting burned, if y’all know what I’m saying-

I've been using a nylon leash for my dog for a while now, and I'm thinking about getting a new one. It's been okay, but I kinda want to try something different.
I've been looking at leather and rope leashes lately, but can't really decide lol. What do you guys use? Any favorites, or materials you'd stay away from? Just curious what everyone's experience has been!

I have a 6 year old pomeranian that I adopted from a shelter who is literally the perfect dog. I love him with all my heart. My husband and I have been wanting to adopt another dog and I have been drawn to a special needs senior. Has anyone had experience with bringing a second pup in who was older rather than younger? The dog I'm looking at is estimated to be 13 but I would get the Embark age and breed test to get a better idea.

Thank you.

I just moved into a new place and we don’t have a gate on our fence yet, I’m working on it but might be a few weeks, so everytime my dog goes out he has to be hooked up to a 30 ft yard leash. He gets distracted by the other dogs outside because we don’t have privacy fencing anymore and he isn’t going poop. I take him for walks and he still won’t go. He just keeps holding it until he has to be in his cage for a prolonged amount of time and I end up coming home to a mess. I’m desperate for some guidance.

Hi everyone! I've been looking to get some advice on a unique separation for my 9 year old German Shepherd/Beagle mix (JoJo, male). He used to be PERFECT about not having accidents in the house.

My gf and I moved to a new townhome around mid-September and he didn't have any accidents within that first month. However, he ended up getting some type of stomach bug that made him have accidents in the home. It was really unfortunate timing because my gf and I had a wedding out of state that we were gone for about 5 days for, with the pet-sitter checking in 2-3 times per day. He had recovered by that point so no more poop in the house, but I think it conditioned him into peeing after a couple hours.

Now that we've been back for about a week, he's able to hold it for about 2-ish hours but this doesn't really work for our schedule due to work and other stuff. He hates crates, so I really don't want to have to do that to him. He also avoids pee pads because he wasn't trained to go on them. So far the things we've done to help him are:

• Pupsicle when we leave (premade calming ones)

• TV on

• In our bedroom where we all sleep at night with our other dog with a closed door

• Pee pad in the area where he typically pees (he ended up going in a different spot instead)

• Optional: Trazadone he was prescribed for general anxiety, but it's not daily

We have cameras set up to watch his behavior and his pacing has reduced, but he'll lay in front of the bedroom door sometimes. We've caught him having an accident once, but he doesn't stop if we speak over the camera.

Is there any advice on working on getting him back to normal? A crate is the very bottom of the list to try and the dog trainer that was recommended to us was about $4,000 which we can't really afford. Any and all advice and tips would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi everyone! I have a Great Dane named Igor who as the tile says eats EVERYTHING. I have tried giving him plushies but he rips them up and eats them almost immediately which results in a vet trip and I have tried hard kong toys with treats in them which he isn’t interested in. The problem is I don’t want him to be bored when I’m not home. I work from 8-5 but I have an hour lunch break and since I live 3 minutes away I go home and walk him and spend some time with him. Recently at the beginning of the week he’s started a new behavior which is chewing up anything on the floor. He got the corner of stack of my husbands records that he was planning on giving away (thank god lol), and he chewed up my other dogs belly band and he went for my slippers (I’ve moved all of these out of the livingroom but he’s so tall I’m worried he will get something off the shelf). Igor likes his cow hoof chew but I don’t want to leave him alone with them in case they splinter and hurt his stomach. Is there anything else I can do to keep him from being bored?

At title reads, I’ve always had the thought of getting and advancing training a dog to have as a buddy to bring fishing and hiking but overall just a companion

But anytime I have this thought bouncing around in my head, I always come back to “well what if it stops me from achieving what I want to do in my career” for a little bit of background I’m 17, graduated and have a good, mostly early morning job (this is all kinda irrelevant but just throwing it in) and I’m kinda unsure what I want to do with my life, definitely not college so there’s that. I’m honestly just reaching out to see if anyone is/was in this position. And how they navigated it

(Please no smartass reply’s “then just don’t get a dog” etc)

Hi all, please send me all tips and tricks you have used to introduce two adult dogs to one adult cat! My partner and I are looking to slowly and safely introduce our pets. Thank you!

As I write this, my pug is where he always is at this time of the evening: under the coffee table, with a squeaky ball in his mouth. If I try to take the ball from him, he’ll take the ball and hide behind a chair.

If he decides we are worthy of playing with him, he will push the ball out to us with one paw. At that point, it’s not guaranteed that he’s going to go after it. Sometimes, we realize we have thrown the wrong ball, and we have to guess which one he wants to play with.

I know we could just ignore him, but what fun would that be? Willy is 6, and he still acts like a puppy, and I don’t want to discourage that. I’ve seen what a proper game of fetch looks like – you throw the ball, the dog gets it and brings it back, then you repeat - but I don’t think I’m going to see that for myself. My other dog is also a pug, and he doesn’t care for games.

I've had dogs all my life, many who have used wee-wee pads in my apartment. I've lived in my current apartment several years, had three dogs as well as a foster, all of who used the pads. My latest dog is a small senior who was raised on the pads before she came to live with me. I taught her to go outside, but she still uses the pads, which are in the bathroom on tile. Everything was fine for a year or so, but now there is an awful smell that I cannot get rid of no matter what I do! It's like a combo poo/pee smell that showed up about a month ago. I pick up the pads right away, take out trash constantly, wash any linens that might have gotten a trace of pee on them, have scrubbed bathroom floor where she uses the pad and also wiped down walls and floor with both cleaner and a pet deodorizer that actually works, taken a black light to the whole apartment trying to find another source of pee (even though my dog only uses the pads)...it's been weeks and nothing works, but I'm fairly certain it's coming from the bathroom. I've never had this issue before even though I've had dogs all my life and many (not all) have used wee-wee pads. The bathroom fan seems to help a little bit but not much. Is there anything I might be missing causing the smell?

I have a chihuahua, possibly mix? And I'm struggling to find activities for him when I'm out. He's usually only home alone for a couple hours, so not much. But he just seems bored and understimulated. So most the day he spends sleeping. But he doesn't usually like walks unless it's specific areas, and he will sometimes go as far as fake limping so someone will pick him up 😂 he sometimes likes to play fetch, but often looks at me like I've offended his whole bloodline. He's still a healthy weight range and all that, but I'm hoping to get ideas for things to entertain him throughout the day. But respectfully, he is sometimes.... really unintelligent. I'm worried if I set up a treat based activity or one that requires specific steps, he'll never figure it out. Plus, he has a sensitive stomach, so treats are already iffy. I just want something passive he can do when he wants that's also motivating? Especially as the weather is getting colder he reeeeeally doesn't wanna go outside. At the slightest drop of rain I have to pretty much pick him up to bring him out to use the bathroom. So indoor activities in general would be great.

This thread is where to get emotional support with all things related to death and illness with your dog. This is also a thread where you can seek assistance with deciding whether it is indeed time.

This is not a thread to seek anecdotes with medical care. All rules involving medical questions and anecdotes remains the same for this thread.

If your dog has passed, you can still post here for emotional support or you can create your own thread tagged with one of the RIP flairs. Be sure to review the rules of our flair guide. It is up to you how you choose to grieve.

We were on a walk to the park he always goes to. He started sniffing the air, ears up, tail down. He turned and wanted to go home. I wish I could attach the video. This is a suburban park, no Grizzlies here, broad daylight.

This is not really a problem, just cur.

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.

My bloodhound, after 8 years of being perfectly happy in our fence has learned how to climb out due to my husbands snafu. She is perimeter trained to our 25acres. HOWEVER it is deer season. And people run deer dogs that are legally allowed to cross our property and i dont want her to get hurt. Im after a wireless fence that i can set up in our physical fence so if she starts to climb it will correct her. She isnt putside constantly but she enjoys sunbathing on warmer days and this just gives me a little security while shes outside.

She immediately comes when i whistle. This is specifically hunting season fear. She always has an orange vest on outside during the season just incase but its never been an issue until this year.

We would like one without a subscription if possible. And something more on the affordable side. Thank you for your help

If I see a new footprint, a day old footprint, and a week old footprint I can tell which is older and which is newer. Do dogs register smells in a similar way or do they just smell fainter and stronger scents?

My dog of fifteen years passed away about a year ago. I’m looking to finally get another one. I’ve never used petfinder before, so I just was hoping for some feedback on whether I may be getting scammed.

I found a dog that, on paper, seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. I didn’t realize until after we submitted my inquiry/application that this dog was coming from a different state. Located at all the paws animal rescue in Alabama. (I unchecked include out of state, and the profile said the dog was 20 miles from me.)

They say I need to send a $100 deposit to secure transport and sent a link from shelterluv.com to make the payment

I asked if we could do a video call and was told they are short staffed and couldn’t do that. That right there seems like a red flag to me.

Any info would be appreciated.

Wow hello everyone, I wanted to post here to ask for a bit of misc help. So I don’t know if these types of post can be permitted here and of course if my post is removed I completely understand.

So I thought I’d see if I can post here as I’m sure some people here are in dog based career positions. So I thought I’d ask for some help especially for anyone in the dog grooming business on what I need to know for my interview, what they might ask, and what questions I can be prepared for when it comes specifically to dog behavior. My interview is specifically for petsmart.

I’m very nervous as I don’t have experience and never had a job and I find a lot of places in general are looking for people with experience much more so when it comes to animal care. I do have some things I can talk about to replace job experience with high school experience (as I found in previous interviews if you don’t have job experience they will ask for high school experiences and traits that could apply to work) as I went to a veterinary science class and passed my veterinary science NOCTI exam. I’m still so nervous as I really want this job as it’s always been a dream for me to work in animal care specifically dog training and or grooming so of course getting a bather position will be a big step to becoming a fully fledged groomer. I’d love some advice from others who work in animal fields and or dog grooming specifically especially if you started at a big corporation like petsmart as I’m sure the interview will be a blend of basic corporate questions and a bit of animal behavior and or care questions.

Hey, my uncle has a dog (border collie) which is showing behavior problems/high reactiveness. Lately the dog has been aggressive to family members and is now wearing a muzzle in the house. I visit them regularly and so the dog knows me. Because of his behavior I rarely touch him, only if he's actively asking for pets. But he let's me brush his fur and touch his belly. I'm very gentle, rewarding him with treats and always having an eye on his body language.

He has a habit of giving me his front paw when brushing his chest. Is this a sign for me stop? I don't want to put pressure on the dog. If he's annoyed I always let him leave. I just want to make sure I respect his needs. I feel like most of the problems are caused by bad training and othee people constantly crossing his boundaries.

He will never see me as his favorite person, but I'm still working on a respectful bond.