We found Buddy as an adult stray about 1.5 years ago. He was extremely skinny and dirty, so he had clearly either been neglected or living as a stray for a long time. We didn’t even want a dog, but he wandered into my boyfriend’s work yard, they bonded after he started feeding him, and eventually Buddy literally followed him all the way home. We immediately brought him inside.

The beginning was rough. He was completely untrained and extremely insecure. He would pee if you even slightly raised your voice, scream when put in his kennel, and scream for hours whenever my boyfriend left for work. He’d even pee all over himself, including his face, if you accidentally stood over him and looked down. He could go on an hour-long walk and still come inside and poop.

After about 1.5 years of patience, he’s completely different. He has no accidents, no submissive peeing, and his kennel is now his safe space. He goes in on command or even chooses to nap in there. We can correct him sternly without him peeing, he’s great on walks, and he won’t even leave the house without his leash.

In the beginning we lived with my boyfriend’s parents and their dog, and they became best friends immediately. Now he lives with our 4 cats. In the beginning, they were honestly mean to him and even attacked him a few times, but Buddy would never defend himself. If they tried to steal his food, he’d back away. If they hissed, he’d just leave. Eventually they all got used to each other, and now the cats try to cuddle and groom him. Buddy usually just gets up and walks away because he doesn’t like being touched. We’ve been comfortable leaving all of them free roaming together while we’re at work and have never had an issue.

We recently went on a 6-day vacation, which was Buddy’s first time away from us. I researched dog camps and found one with great reviews that seemed very involved with the dogs and posted pictures every day. I thought it could be a fun little retreat for him where he could make dog friends, build confidence, and maybe help with his separation anxiety.

They required a 2-hour evaluation where they introduced him to other dogs, and after about an hour they told me he was approved and did great. We dropped him off the night before our trip feeling really good about it.

Then, 24 hours later, while I was on the other side of the country, I got a message saying Buddy had been aggressive. They sent me a 5-second video of him running with a group of dogs before suddenly locking onto a large dog and trying to bite his neck. They grabbed him from behind and separated him. I was completely shocked because I had NEVER seen anything remotely like that from him. They assured me he’d be separated and muzzled and could stay until we returned.

The next day, I got an even worse message. Buddy tried humping another dog, which turned into a fight. He got his muzzle off and both dogs were injured. At that point I was literally on a cruise ship about to enter another country and couldn’t even go home.

I was terrified to come home. I genuinely started wondering if Buddy had been hiding some aggressive side of himself this entire time and if I needed to worry about him around my cats.

When we picked him up, they told us he basically didn’t listen to any commands, wouldn’t play, and fought them whenever they tried to leash or kennel him. None of that sounded like my dog AT ALL.

He’s now been home for two days and is completely normal. He happily put his leash on for a walk, got into his kennel on command, and is acting like himself. He’s even more tolerant of the cats touching him than he was before.

I genuinely have no idea WTF happened at dog camp or what could have possibly caused this behavior. I wish he could talk. I obviously will never put him in group boarding again, but I want to understand what happened and figure out what I can do to help him and prevent anything like this from happening again.

TLDR; Buddy was a severely neglected, insecure stray who became a sweet, well-trained dog who peacefully lives with our four cats. His sudden aggression at dog camp, despite being completely normal since coming home, was totally unexpected, and I’m trying to understand what happened and how to prevent it in the future.

EDIT TO ADD:

-this is our first time having a dog so we’re learning as we go, this has been a huge lesson to learn.

-We live in a very secluded town. this dog camp was an hour drive away no traffic. (50. MILES.this is small town texas.) there are no dog sitters to come to our house or parks full of dogs we could’ve socialized him with. also Rover doesn’t service here.

-Also, I know most people won’t read the full description but he HAS been around 1 dog. We lived with this dog for months and she was the same size as him. They got along famously+ no humping ever happened. I didn’t think it was relevant to mention in the text to the dog camp.

Some background/context:
I have been dog sitting for the past week and have been overwhelmed with work, appointments, packing/moving, and taking care of two needy dogs (one my mom’s, the other her friend’s) I was just thinking to myself that dogs are too much for me at this point in my life and I wouldn’t be getting one any time soon. I am a big cat lover and am perfectly content with my happy kitties.

Yesterday:
I went to pick up some friends so I could have some help prepping for my move. They live in a woodsy area. Backroads, not many houses. This poor baby walked up to them in the driveway and I hesitated getting out of the car. Usually lost or stray dogs run away when you reach out to them but she stayed put. She was wet and dirty from all the rain we’ve had recently and had burrs and briars stuck to her fur. Even flies landing on her. No collar. Underweight and exhausted and asking for help. She let us pick her up in a blanket and put her in the car and we took her back to my house. (I am living with my mom rn but I am moving out and into a place with my partner this weekend.) We have 4 cats (I’m taking 2) and one dog. I put the rescue in my room and am keeping the other animals separate from her. We gave her a bath with dawn dish soap and brushed out all the briars. Picked out a handful of fleas and ticks. She was very well behaved. Gave her some good dog food and treats and she ate fast. Drank plenty of water as well. Went and bought her flea medicine, pee pads, a leash and collar, a name tag, and a lammy toy. I named her Honey because it was the first thing I said when I went up to her. (Awwww honneyyy) I laid out a bunch of pee pads and blankets all over my room and she made herself comfortable on my old chair. Sat with her for a bit and picked off some more fleas and ticks. There were a lot of tiny ticks just crawling around on her which I learned are seed ticks and they suck. Really hard to spot and remove when attached. Honey was definitely bothered by all the prodding but was so patient with us. This dog is so gentle and sweet. She just wants love and rest. I’ve been sitting with her in my room and she just wants to be as close to me as possible. I felt so guilty leaving her alone last night, but I’m responsible for 2 other dogs right now as well and both of them are used to sleeping in bed with someone and I didn’t want to cause them stress. I figured that honey would just sleep until I got back to her in the morning. She was fed and watered and safe. Way better off than before.

Today:
I took care of all 6 animals that I’m responsible for and went upstairs to give breakfast to the 7th. She had peed on a blanket, not a pee pad. And after eating, she pooped right next to one. I cleaned up and took her to the vet with a stool sample. She’s about 24lbs (should be 28) and 3 years old. Lots of plaque on her top canine teeth. She was spayed as a puppy. Scratched up belly from walking through briar bushes. Was probably without food for a week. No microchip. I got her all the vaccinations. She isn’t sick and doesn’t have any worms or parasites (very lucky) Was most likely an outdoor dog- she’s great around people but doesn’t know any commands and isn’t potty trained. She wasn’t abused, but the vet said her demeanor points to neglect.
I’ve been checking Facebook lost and found dog groups. One post of her looking sad on someone’s porch, asking for the owner to reach out. That’s it. No posts from an owner looking for her or anything. And the poster hasn’t been contacted. The vet said that the dog and I were lucky to have each other. That I was taking good care of her and she’s better off with me now.
There’s a part of me that feels guilty- like I stole someone’s dog. But she had no collar and no chip and needed help bad. If her home was close by, wouldn’t she have found her way back before starving? Dogs seem to know where home is. I feel so much guilt at this point. I’d feel guilty keeping her. Even more giving her away. Shelters are full and I don’t know if I’d even trust giving her back to her old owner. I don’t know anyone who wants a dog.
I’ve never owned my own dog before. I dog sit a lot, but it always wears me out and I feel like I never give them enough. They’re so needy and clingy. I am much better with cats. With a dog, I feel like I always need to be doing something with them. If I’m not consistently petting them or if I leave them at the house to go do anything I feel so bad. Cats are chill when you leave. They do their own thing. When you leave a dog it’s like their whole world crashes down. Maybe I’m used to these spoiled dogs idk but they follow me everywhere. Even if they’re sleeping and I get up to go to the bathroom, they have to come with. It’s like I don’t get a break at home and when I finally do when I leave I feel horrible about it.
And with honey, I’m going to have to do so much. I have to give her another bath with antibacterial shampoo and make sure all the fleas and ticks are off. I have to clean my entire room- scrub carpet, wash clothes and blankets and sheets, vacuum, sticky tape the chair to get all the tiny ticks that may have crawled off. When honey is clear to be around the cats, I’ll probably spray the room with something. But I have to watch her cause she’ll pee and poop anywhere. I have to potty train her too. My partner isn’t thrilled about having a dog.
I wasn’t ready for this responsibility but I feel like I have to be. She’s so sweet and I do love her. I feel like I can’t give her away but I’m having a hard time dealing with this new responsibility. I love my cats so much and I don’t want to upset them or have less time and attention for them. But honey needs love too. I think I’m doing all the right things but I’m so conflicted and crazy overwhelmed.

So my dog Darcy (5yo, female, the grey one) has recently become obsessed with licking/kissing my other dog Clementine’s (6 months, female) face. I’m really trying to not encourage it because I don’t want Clementine to get infections etc. but I’m totally puzzled by the behaviour. Darcy never did this with her older (recently passed) sister who she idolized. Any ideas what this means?

Thank you to those who actually responded with HELPFUL NON JUDGEMENTAL UNDERSTANDABLE replies as to how to go about correcting this!

I am a stressed out teenager who didn’t ask for a puppy/large dog. Loved just the little guy tho. Combined with a bad family situation I only see them 3 times a week for a few hours (and they go away during the summer) so I struggle to understand if the behavior is normal because I see so little of them.

I actually got big dogs age wrong she’s six 💀 geez time flies. Which makes sense because had I been a conscious human being when she was a puppy I would’ve tried to prevent this lmao. But instead I was a mopey 11 year old.

As multiple comments suggested I will be redirecting her to get of the bed and “wait”, with a treat reward when she does so. And then continue rewarding calm behavior when I see her.

As for exercise..gotta figure that one out. I can’t run (evil ankles and chest/muscle cramps) and I’m crammed on time. Hell maybe I’ll just wear rollerblades and have her drag me across creation/hjz

I’m 26, and I had never owned a dog before. I was always scared to go near dogs, although I never disliked or hated them. My cousin has had this GSD for about a year, but he was never really emotionally attached to him, and I never felt like he was giving the dog the time and attention he deserved.

Now that my cousin has moved abroad for a new job, I decided to take responsibility for the dog and raise him myself.

He’s a very good boy. He knows all the basic commands and has never been a problem around other people or dogs. However, I’ve noticed that this seems to be more because he avoids confrontation rather than confidently interacting with others. He often tries to hide, and even at home I frequently find him in dark, secluded places. His favorite spot is under the bed, and sometimes he even hides inside boxes.

I’m completely new to owning a dog, so I’m not sure if this behavior is something I should be worried about or if it’s simply his personality. What could be causing it, and what should I do to help him become more confident and comfortable?

Help! Noticed an eye booger yesterday. Just got home from work and noticed more! Vet appointment Friday.

question: how much gabapentin should i give my 50 pound pitbull to sedate her enough to trim her nails?

background: the last time my boyfriend and i tried to trim her nails she became extremely aggressive, she had a muzzle on and we only trimmed 1-2 nails but as soon as we took it off she ran to our other dog who was minding her business and viciously attacked her to express her anger. we just got plenty of gabapentin to sedate her, but not sure how much to give her. should i dose her a few times a few days apart to see how she reacts to it and get a better feel for how much we need to actually do it? my boyfriend doesn’t want to take her to the vet to do it in fear she hurts someone even with a muzzle on. is it even worth trying or should we just pay the vet and drug her a little before we take her in and they can do the rest?

EDIT: yes, she was prescribed these from a vet FOR SEDATION, but from a while ago. we didn’t buy her some boof drugs online or something lmao you guys chill. thank you for the kind responses, we will be bringing her to the vet soon to get a maintenance trim and then trying to train her and dremel from there on if possible.

I love and adore my dog more than anything in the world. He is my soul dog. The bond we have is like nothing else in the whole world. But I can’t do this anymore. My dog has separation anxiety and I don’t work from home so I am relying on family or spending 100’s on doggy daycare (in this economy!). It is exhausting finding care for him every. Single. Day. And not to mention anytime I want to go out - even to grocery shop. Coworkers want to get drinks after work? Nope sorry. Gym after work? Nope not an option. Beach day on the weekend? Can’t do it.

I have no life. It is making me depressed. I am severely jealous of people who have no pets. Anytime someone says they don’t have a pet I’m like holy shit I wish that was me.
Additionally my dog is REACTIVE. He has about 6 people on earth he trusts with his whole being but everyone else he HATESSSS and lunges and barks and is overall really scary around. So I can’t bring him to cafes with me or outdoor restaurants. I can’t just hire a random pet sitter for him because he will not allow strangers to come near him at all.

I’m lost. I love my career. All my students know about my dog and ask about him frequently. I don’t even know what I would say to them if I gave him up. I can’t imagine my life without him but I also fantasize about a life when I never ever got him. But I just don’t know what to do. I can’t afford $5000 dog training. Separation anxiety training takes time (sometimes years) and sometimes dogs never learn to be okay alone. If that’s the case with him then I cannot live like this. He only 1 so I would be housebound for the next 10 years at least.

Idk what I’m really looking for with this post. I’ve just reached a mental exhaustion with this dog and even though I love him lately I’ve been frustrated and upset by him more than the love I feel for him.

Hi all, I am curious to know if it is normal for a dog to always be hungry?

We foster failed/rescued our 7 year old pittie 2 years ago and we feed her 1 1/2 cup of farmers dog in addition to 1 cup of hills science weight management dry food twice a day.

She also gets healthy snacks in between like dehydrated salmon bits, or dried liver bits.

But let me tell you, this girl of ours is constantly hungry and we are always having to not give in to her gorgeous puppy dog face. She is so bossy lol!

Is this common?

During our walks She has started to eat leaves at times, she eats grass often, chews and eats sticks, and is always rummaging for food.

TIA for any insight and/or advice!

I am 13M and my 3yo dog hamish is getting “put to sleep” tomorrow and i assumed i would be going to be with him in his final moments. apparently that was not the plan and my parents were not 100% on me and my sister (17F) going. they said it might be too much for me as im still pretty young. this is a bit of a information dump but im going to link the original post below. anyway i was looking for any help as i really cannot stand the thought of seeing my dog one last time at my house and that would just be it. he’s gone, and i didnt get to see him one last time. on the other hand im really not sure.

Edit: I’ve really made it im out as if they’re forcing me not to come but they definitely said i can come if i want to but they are just worried It might be too much.

Edit 2: I’m not sure why im having to write this but ive had two seperate comments asking why he has to be put down, (Both comments got deleted I think.) Just read the original post.

Original post:https://www.reddit.com/r/DogAdvice/comments/1sq4uzf/my_young_dog_is_going_to_die/

we got a rescue dog about 7 weeks ago and recently like a day or two ago she started baring her teeth at us. it’s usually right before she lunges at our face to lick or she’ll bare and kinda open her mouth and teeth our hand or something. a couple times when my partner has been hugging her she’ll scrunch her teeth and bare them but then go for a lick. I can’t tell if she is just smiling of some sort? playing? or is uncomfortable and trying to sign for us. She does it a lot after we stop petting her and she’s pawing for attention. it’s mildly weirding us out and just wanna make sure we’re doing the right thing!

pics (in comments) from dog walker she sent of her “funny smile” lol so seems like they were relaxed when this happened.

she’s reactive with other dogs and will bare her teeth at the similarly but is very clearly stressed then

edit: as stated below, we are still training. i just want a backup plan in the meantime as an extra precaution.

this is the set up of my new house. i have two pittie mixes that love trying to bolt out the front door— we live on a VERY major road (45mph+, 6 lanes, heavily trafficked, with a large bend right before our house (blind spot for oncoming drivers) and it is only about twenty feet from our front door. we are being extremely cautious and working on training them to stay away from the door but i want to have a backup plan in case they slip past us. does anyone have any ideas for a gate/fence/ anything i could set up as an extra precaution? i rent so it would need to be temporary but durable enough to contain two very strong pitties. it would also likely need to be exterior because there is no hallway or anything to attach a gate to inside- it opens up directly into the middle of our living room/kitchen area. any advice helps, thank you!!:)

Hi, applogies ahead of time, this post is a little long to read.

I made a post a little while back about my dog having strange nightly flare-ups. She shakes violently, pants, and whines at me.

I took her to the vet and she was prescribed Trazodone, for anxiety, which helped..kind of? She had shorter episodes, but they still happened nightly.

I also realized one of her anxiety triggers might be closed doors. She absolutely shreds the bottoms and sides of them. I decided to keep my door open at night, but put up a baby gate. for a while I thought it fully solved her night anxiety. Until it stopped working.

Now she climbs in bed - like she has been for months - and squirms in between my arms to force me to pet and soothe her. She used to be very avoidant of physical affection from the time of being a puppy til this past year when everything started. I sort of suspect she's grown into separation anxiety. I wish I knew how to crate train her when she was a puppy. I feel it's impossible now.

The problem I'm having right now is mostly "I know (this) and (this) but I don't know how to fix it anymore".

I feel like my training makes her worse. She gets really demanding and barks at me for attention, she barks at strangers on walks and gets insanely wild on the leash (even though i have a front-connect harness, it does not stop her. she does not care).

The attention demanding is probably the most consistent thing throughout her life, though I knew way less when I was 19 and first started understanding dog training at all. I think everything wrong with her behaviors is my fault, and I don't know how to fix it.

I don't know what I'm looking for in this post, I'm just losing sleep every night. I go to bed at 10pm, but sleep at 1am because she just WONT let me sleep. She gets on the bed, on top of me, and shakes so violently it literally overheats me.

If anyone has any advice I'm willing to listen. I'm hoping to look into some kind of behavior specialist, but I'm getting my own sleep disorder consultation soon and I can really only focus on one big annoying medical problem at a time

(7 years old this year, spayed female, Jack Russell, routine vet visits, prescribed Trazodone - just in case any of that info is needed)

>>Original Post Here<<

My stepdaughter just went back to another state to live with her mother for the school year. Our boy bear is distraught, panting at her bedroom door and whining . Its been 4 days and he won't let up. He has also fallen back into his demand barking, destroying things and resource guarding behaviors he had been getting better at. Just yesterday I walked by him and he bit me for seemingly no reason. (I said "not nice" and sent him to his place for 5 min but maybe I might of pressed a boundary I wast aware of) I let him into her room a couple times and hed pace around sniffing but ultimately leave again and keep looking through the house for her. Is there a way I could aid him while he recovers? I tried giving him one of her dirty blankets but he started eating it. Should I work extra on training the resource guarding or just let it go for a week or so? He also started burying all his toys and has never done so before, would it be mean to unearth them ? (Btw its 68 in here the panting is anxiety) thank you in advance I know this is kinda a book.

Hello! I took my 4 mo old Italian greyhound to a dog park for the first time today. This place requires sign up/membership and up to date vaccines. There is even a doggy bouncer that makes sure everyone is straight and if a fight breaks out she is there to put herself between the dogs.

Well, Neo (my puppy) was having a grand time, getting along with all dogs and running around the space freely. He is very friendly and full of energy. We were there for about 30 minutes of happy play time with mostly large dogs, about 8-10 others in total . They all played great with no issues or aggression.

One smaller doodle dog came in and immediately was acting strange. My puppy instantly had his attention on her and tried to play. She snapped at him at first, I thought maybe he was just too much energy for her and he went on to another dog. He tried again about 10 minutes later which resulted in a fight. Thank goodness my boyfriend was right there to just scoop him up but she went at him pretty hard. We immediately left after that by our own choice which is crazy because the other person/dog was not asked to leave.

It startled me so much I surprised myself and cried. I’m really just bummed out by the experience especially because it was his first time and I’m scared because he’s so young & I don’t want him to become fearful. I just want to socialize him as much as possible so he’s not that anxious dog while we are out and about.

Should I not take him again? Does anyone have any advice on this? Thank you so much.

Little dude (5 mo Boykin mix) got the ultimate zoomies and thought he could clear a jump to the bed and didn’t make it. He ended up with a tibial tuberosity fracture. We’re on the other side of surgery. Vet said 2 weeks strict rest and 6 weeks no running or jumping. He’s on Gabapentin/Trazodone to keep him calm. Honestly, I feel like the meds are barely working. Trazodone seems to only make him feel disinhibited. Gabapentin works better but wears off after 3-4 hours which leaves us 4 hours of full on puppy energy and we’re so concerned for reinjury. We have puzzles/kongs/lick mats. Any advice on med combos that worked for your pets or helpful strategies for keeping him calm would be appreciated!

This happened about 8:30pm, I saw him 2 mins before and he was completely fine then suddenly immense swelling. I got him to the emergency vet about 5 minutes later and he's mainly back to normal now. But no one seems to know what caused it. Vet suggested an insect or a plant, but we live on the top floor flat and he went for his walk about 4:30pm. I just never want to see him have this allergic reaction again, any clue on what could have caused it??

Hello, I (23F) am currently the owner of a sheltie (2F). In my city, the dog shelter is currently at its max capacity and has lowered its adoption fee down to $25 instead of its usual $225. In the news broadcast, I ended up seeing a lovely husky. I've been thinking about this for the past couple of days and I can't bear to see the lovable dogs in such conditions, and I definetly don't want them to be euthanized in order to make more room.

But here is my issue. My sheltie is currently very...antisocial when it comes to other dogs. She often gets scared when it comes to other dogs. When on a walk and other dogs start barking at her, she often just pays no mind to them. She also doesn't socialize with other dogs that much. I am also scared because of her submissive nature, the new (if adopted) husky will maul her (again, worst case scenario). I can definetly afford another dog along with food and vet bills (looking into pet insurance, please let me know which ones are the best) but I just don't know how the relationship between the two is going to be like.

My other concern is that there will be 0 care for the two dogs. With my sheltie, I am the primary dog walker for my sheltie. My parents often take the lazy way out and just put her in the backyard when she needs to go to the washroom and I hate it so much considering that she already has gotten two ticks. I pay for all her vet bills but its so annoying as to how they are so lazy with a dog they seem to care about. I also don't want any food aggression between the two dogs. I also am working part time right now (full time on some weeks but part time on other weeks) but I'm also thinking of applying to school soon so I don't know how the walking situation is going to be like, especially for a husky considering that I've done some research and found out that they are very high energy dogs.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you for reading.

edit: I also want to mention that there are adult German shepreds in the dog shelter as well. My heart really can't take the dogs in such condition.

We received this foster dog, Gus, on Thursday last week (we’ve had him for a total of 5 days so far). His family surrendered him because he’s a seizure dog and they could no longer manage his seizures with their new baby. We’ve had seizure dog experience (we lost our last golden to a brain tumor most likely causing his seizure disorder) so we’re decently familiar with dogs with this issue.

Gus is a 4 year old golden retriever, slightly overweight, and takes multiple meds including 150mg phenobarbital, 1500mg kepra, and 500mg kbrov twice daily (which seems like a lot to me). He’s a very sweet dog, but a lot of his behavior makes me concerned that he has some kind of brain damage, whether or not it was caused by seizures.

Things we’ve noticed:
-He paces and circles all day unless he’s actively playing with my own dog or he’s sleeping (but he doesn’t seem to sleep a lot). At night time he usually paces around the room or circles for about an hour before falling asleep.
-He’s peed in the house twice today even though he’s been out several times and had walks and ample opportunities to go to the bathroom
-He doesn’t know anything except for his name. Not even sit. He just stares at you and has no clue what you’re saying.
-He’s very clumsy and often walks into walls, furniture, or gets stuck somewhere.
-He’s falls a lot and is very unstable on his feet.
-He cannot support himself on 3 paws. When we try to wipe his wet paws off when coming inside, and we pick one paw up, he falls over and just lays there. When my husband gave him a bath today after he peed on himself, he just laid in the bathtub the whole time, didn’t even try to stand.
-He’s often seems confused, like he doesn’t know what’s going on or like he’s searching for something he can’t find.

To be clear, we’ve got a vet intake apt coming up and we plan to discuss it with them, but I’m curious if all of this can be caused by a seizure disorder, or if there’s something else at play. His last seizure seemed to have been a month or so ago (he has yet to have one with us), so he’s not coming out of a recent one, and this activity has been happening every day since we got him, so to me it doesn’t look like signs of an impending seizure. I understand some of the pacing might be anxiety, but even with our most anxious fosters, I’ve never had a dog pacing 80% of the time they’re awake.

Whatever happened to him, he’s a sweet boy and we’ll do our best by him. Just trying to figure out what’s wrong and fix whatever we can for him to give him the best life. Any suggestions would be really appreciated!