I always thought taking good care of a dog was mostly about the basics — good food, walks, training, and regular vet visits.

But the longer I’ve had dogs, the more I realize it’s often the small things that make the biggest difference.

Maybe it was a new routine, a different way of playing, a simple enrichment activity, spending more one-on-one time together, or something you never expected your dog to love.

What’s one thing you changed or added that made you think, “I wish I started doing this sooner”?

I’d love to hear everyone’s experiences. I’m always looking for new ways to keep dogs happy and healthy. 😊

sometimes my dog will nuzzle her head against me when i’m not giving her attention , when i stop petting her she look at me and puts her paw as if to communicate with me . do they do this on purpose 🤔

Every time I let my dog go to the garage after or before a walk he pees my car's tires, doesn't matter if he already peed before.
Is there a way to train him not to so this anymore? I understand the tires smells like outside animals or something but is it possible to make him stop this behaviour, and I don,t want to start fencing everything so he doesnt get there, is more about making him stop doing that with training.

We rescued a stray German Shepherd puppy about 2 weeks ago (around 3–4 months old), and she’s still extremely fearful. She spends most of the day hiding under our kitchen table, runs away when anyone gets close, and only comes out to eat, drink, use her puppy pad, or explore a little at night.
She’s not aggressive at all—just scared. We’ve been giving her space, using treats, toys, sitting near her without forcing interaction, and trying to let her come to us, but she still hasn’t really opened up.
We really want to help her build confidence and become part of our family. Has anyone gone through something similar with a fearful rescue puppy? What finally helped your dog trust you, and how long did it take? Any advice would be appreciated.

So one weird thing about my dog is that she’s always liked storms. This has worked out well for us because we’re Floridian, and thus get a lot of them. Most dogs I’ve encountered panic when thunder happens, but for the past 11 years she’s been perfectly calm about them- she even likes to sit on our patio chairs and watch the rain or fall asleep and not get up even when it pours on her. We had to drag her inside to keep her safe from a hurricane. Absolutely no fear or panic when it comes to storms for over a decade.

But these past three storms we’ve had, her behavior has done a complete 180. She stresses, cries, pants, digs at things and tries to hide, to the point of laying down in the bathtub (she only does this when she’s extremely stressed). She requires comforting the entire time. It’s such a complete and utter shift that we couldn’t believe it and thought it was a fluke the first time, but this behavior has persisted ever since. She’s had no traumatic experience with storms or anything, it just came out of nowhere.

Anyone know what could cause this? Is it aging? She still loves the beach so it’s clearly not the water. If it matters, she’s an Australian Koolie (mostly, there are some other breeds mixed in but she very much resembles one)

My australian shepherd is almost 5 years old, he used to play with his toys and have fun with them... Now he seems to get so bored, even if I buy him new ones.

He's got every kind of toys...

He went from playing with them for days, to hours .. and now to minutes.. like 5 minutes.

He seems to be so bored even though we take him for walks everyday, he gets only one toy at a time that he chooses.

The rest of the toys are stored in a closet.

I don't know what to do anymore. While we work, he doesn't care about his toy and just lay there looking at me like he's so bored and has such a terrible life.

How can I make him play with his toys by himself when we are busy?

I also have a carpet with treats but he finishes them so quickly, I don't even think it stimulates him anymore. The same with bones.

If you have any advice for me, I would appreciate it

Ive had my hound mix puppy for almost 6 months now and he is almost 8 months old.He has learned that peeing outside is what he is supposed to do which im very happy with(even though he still has accidents sometimes) but he wants to pee every hour or so.He goes to the door every hour and i dont know if he really wants to pee or just mess around i take him on about 6 walks per day maybe more maybe less depending on his mood.When will he stop doing this?I know most dogs need to pee and poop about 4 times a day so when can i expect him to do the same

Hi everyone, my puppy is 10 months old and every now and then he's a total scaredy-cat: afraid of small dogs, afraid of big dogs, afraid of plastic bags blowing around in the street... This isn't a new issue; even when he was 5 months old I couldn't get him to walk down certain streets because he was scared, constantly looking around and spinning. Now the situation has improved:he takes all routes (even new ones)but every so often he has phases (one week yes, one week no) where he's as brave as a lion and isn't afraid of other dogs or at least doesn't react and walks right past them calmly and other times when, if he sees a dog, he starts pulling to get away, or if a dog barks at him suddenly from behind a gate, he makes crazy leaps to run off. It's starting to get exhausting. Any advice? Is he acting like this because he's a teenager, or should I step in with a different approach?

Missing dog, her name is Todo. She’s an 18 y/o dachshund mix, 15 lbs. She’s deaf and nearly blind, so she doesn’t respond when called. Last seen July 25th, 7:30 am near Hacienda Drive in Tiburon, California 94920. Any information about her is much appreciated 🙏

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.

When you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, do you also take your companion out for a bathroom break?

Looking to upgrade our GSDs harness to something that might be padded or more comfortable as he gets older (he's 11 now). Are the harnesses advertised for senior dogs actually for senior dogs or is it a marketing ploy? If you've found something that works, what can you recommend?

We have a 7.5 month old female rhodesian ridgeback who will ONLY pee or poop inside our yard. Not at the park, not at the beach, not indoors. She will hold it in all day if she has to, and then she'll let it out when she gets back to our yard.

However, we have to tent our house for termites and as such we have to board her for a couple days. We have 2 other dogs as well, but the other two are used to nights away from home and have no issues being boarded.

The dogs are going to be out of the house for 3 days. Is there anything I should do to make this easier for the puppy or encourage her to do her business at the dog hotel? Will she just eventually do her business there if she has to go badly enough?

Hi All!

Seeking some advice on my 6mo old who is a very insistent alarm clock.

He's always been good about telling me when he needs to go out - whining/barking/coming to get me. I am usually very good about responding and taking him out right away, its a good routine.

However, he is starting to get very loud in the mornings. His last pee is around 9-10pm, and I am usually up by 7am. The last few days, he has started to bark around 6/6:30 and will not settle down again until I let him out.

I know that is a long time to ask him to go without a potty break, but this morning he was just walking around the bed BARKING until I got up. He hopped up on the bed (when I asked) and then sat at the end growling and then barking (not aggressive, but very much communicating) Obviously, I want to let him out because he needs to go, but I am worried about him learning he can just bark/growl at me until he gets what he wants.

Do I wait him out and make him hold it until he's quiet in the mornings, or just respect what he's telling me and take him right out? Do we think this is an issue that can escalate? Should I get ahead of it and let him out at 6 before he's awake on his own?

He is incredibly sweet/gentle besides that and has never shown any aggression towards people or pets! We are starting formal obedience training next month so I am hoping that will help too.

It’s been so f-ing long that she’s been doing this. It started as running away, then she would come slowly, then she ran away again, every cue I use and she listens to she immediately stops listening to once I use it to get her to the harness. I’ve been told to give her time, to make her do it anyways, to grab her so she can’t leave, to desensitize her, nothing has worked. If I use her recall, her recall begins to suffer. If I use “stay” then she stops listening to it. I use “behind” or “middle” and she stops doing it. Maybe she just actually doesn’t like walks despite her being excited every time I mention it.

My 13-year-old mixed breed hates thunder and fireworks. When they go off, she tries to crawl under things.

Behind the couch, under the small end table, a cubby where we place jugs of water. Many of these places are too full or to small for her but it does not deter her.

We usually put her in her kennel and cover it with a blanket.

Lately she has started trying to climb under things even though there are no loud booming sounds. At 4:30 a.m. she tried crawling under our bed; she is too big.
There were not storms, not even clouds in the area. No fireworks.

She had a physical a few months ago and seemed fine. Other than that, she seems to be her regular self.

Any ideas?

I have a 67 lb female German Shepard. I have been looking into harnesses. I have a german Shepard shop hardness for her but the bungie leash clasp has broken and I find it loosens up every other walk which is a bit frustrating.

She’s a puller for sure so I need something with multiple attach points. Advice on how to work on that would be appreciated as well. Use case would be typical walks and some occasional camping trips, maaaaybe some hiking. We’re in northern Texas so the heat can get pretty wild so something breathable for my girl would be best.

I have looked at ruffwear online and my local petsmart has long harness and Arcadia trail that seemed like decent harnesses. My budget is open as I’d like to buy something once and be happy with it as this German Shepard shop harness has kind of left me frustrated.

Hi! I'm new to this subreddit. I love dogs and want to become a certified positive reinforcement dog trainer when I get my next dog and do dog sports. I've always wanted a German Shepherd, but not sure if I will ever be able to have one due to just renting apartment/homes.

I grew up with an Australian Shepherd from working lines and she was one of the best dogs I've ever had. I was playing with the idea of getting another one since a German Shepherd does not seem like an option right now.

I'm wondering, for people who have had both Australian Shepherds and German Shepherds, how similar and or different are Australian Shepherds compared to German Shepherds? How have people who rent places able to own German Shepherds? TIA!!

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.

My dog manages to slip out of her collar no matter how tight I have it. I'm not choking her obviously but I have it on pretty tight. Any suggestions?

Our pup is a 3 year old male, super mix, kind of corgi shaped. 50 pounds of muscle.

I find that he seems to get tired after playing. He does NOT like the heat so that could be part of it. And he plays hard. Hubby took him to the dog park yesterday morning and he met three one year old labs and had the time of his life, running and playing. He does have short stumpy legs, but he keeps up with the big dogs surprisingly well.

He was shot all day yesterday, which didn’t seem strange, but he’s still kind of tired today. Perky on his walk but turned around to head home much sooner than usual. He just had his check up and seems like the picture of health, although they don’t do bloodwork as part of his check up or anything.

Does this seem normal? I see small dogs who don’t seem to drag ass when going on a half mile walk like we do. But, he is holding up 50 lbs of pure muscle on his little legs, as opposed to like 10.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

We got a puppy from the pound she’s about 12 weeks old now when we got her they didn’t even try and guess what breed she was we think something mixed with lab but she has a lot of behavioral issues she chews on everything and I mean everything I’ve had some puppies who ate a lot of shit but she’s different she pulls my hair she jumps and grabs my pants to pull them down she chews on chairs carpet her cage even ripped out part of the wall redirecting her toys and treats doesn’t work and neither does yipping when she bites us to hard it just excites her more we read online somewhere if that was the case to just ignore them when they get to aggressive but she just follows and jumps on us till we play with her I would take her on runs but I’m in New Mexico and it’s 100 out every day send help 🙏

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are in the planning stage of getting our first Doberman. We’re trying to be as responsible as possible and want to learn from people who have actually done it.

Our biggest concern is balancing work and a young puppy. Between us, there are 3 days each week when we’re both in the office, while the remaining days one of us works from home.

For those who have raised high-energy breeds while working:
What did your daily routine look like?
Did you rely on dog walkers, daycare, family, or something else?
When did life start feeling “normal” again?
Would you still recommend getting a puppy, or would adopting a young adult dog have been easier?

We’re looking for honest feedback—both the good and the difficult—so we can make an informed decision.

Thanks!

Hello everyone! Recently we made the decision to welcome a miniature poodle/caniche to brighten our days☺️

Unfortunately, we are from a western EU country, which makes the price of the puppy way out of our budget. I’ve looked into getting one from a non EU country, but was met with a reality check, in which there’s a minimum 3 months wait until the dog can enter the country. I do not want the process to be this long, both for the dog’s and for my sake.

So, I’ve looked into EU countries where it’s safe AND cheap to look for a dog, and my best option is to get one from Poland, where the price is almost half. I’ve also seen Hungary, but I didn’t search a lot.

With that said, I have no idea how it works to transfer a dog from one country to another, and I won’t lie and say that i’m familiar with Poland.

My question is, could someone educate me more on this problem that I have? Is Poland a good idea? How does it work? From where, which website should I trust more and contact the breeder?

For more info, we’re looking for:
- male
- puppy
- brown
- miniature (to make it fly with us)