WoofGate
g/dog-sports

twenty two month writeup on taking our anxious rescue sighthound mix zora from an actual first trial disaster last september (she froze in the search area for four minutes, ran the wrong direction on hide two, we packed up and left before hides three and four) to an NW2 title at our regional trial last saturday, the specific eight week reset that broke what our trainer called a "trial only shutdown pattern" and finally taught me the piece nobody puts in the beginner nose work books

Zora is a 42 pound sighthound mix, we think whippet plus something with slightly more bone, she came to us at 18 months in january 2023 from a shutdown adjacent rural rescue situation where she had...

Posted by first_trial_disaster_recovered•
5 comments
g/leash-training

after six years and five different pieces of equipment on our 78 pound boxer mix rooster i can finally walk him past the neighbors labradoodle without dislocating my shoulder, so here is the honest gadget ranking from worst to least worst, the two exercises that actually did the work when the gadgets finally stopped, the front clip harness sizing mistake that cost me an entire summer, and the specific week i realized we had been solving a strength problem with a training problem for five and a half years

Rooster is a 78 pound boxer mix, we think there is some kind of large working dog in there because he came out of the rescue at 55 pounds at 8 months and finished growing at 78 which surprised...

Posted by jen_hates_pulling•
6 comments
g/senior-dogs

the quality of life conversation with our vet about our almost 13 year old golden retriever wally that i spent nine months avoiding and that turned out to be nothing like the conversation i had been dreading, the specific one page tool she handed us that broke my brain because it was so simple, what i actually meant when i said "i want to know when it is time" and what she heard i was asking, and the honest report from six weeks of tracking that has somehow made the last six months of him better instead of shorter

Wally turns 13 next month, red golden retriever, 71 pounds now down from a lifetime 78 that we managed on purpose starting at age 9 because our vet said the best senior intervention is a lean adult,...

Posted by wally_golden_13yrs•
5 comments
g/dog-allergies

eighteen months into chasing my 3 year old goldendoodle pretzels itchy skin across three different vets, two prescription food trials that i now think i botched, an eight week home elimination diet that got contaminated by my mother in law slipping her a piece of pizza crust twice in week six, and my current GP just said "consider a derm referral" with a shrug that did not fill me with confidence, i cannot tell anymore if this is food, environmental, or a shampoo issue, and i need the actual sequence someone should run through and how you know when to give up on the general practice route

Pretzel is a 3 year old F1 goldendoodle, 48 pounds, we picked her up as an 11 week old puppy from a small breeder in january 2024, and she was fine for about the first year. things started in march of...

Posted by poodle_mix_mom_97•
6 comments
g/rescue-dogs

90 day update on our 3 year old rescue heeler mix nell who did not voluntarily leave her crate for the first 21 days after we brought her home, the moment on day 22 involving a piece of grocery store rotisserie chicken and a childrens book being read out loud that i genuinely thought was silly and it worked, the 3-3-3 rule as an honest calendar rather than a shelter poster, the well meaning neighbor who bent down to greet her on day 8 and set us back four days, and the real answer to whether an adult shy rescue can actually come out of her shell or whether that is a fairy tale we tell ourselves at drop off

Nell is a 3 year old blue heeler mix, 41 pounds, came to us through a rural rescue on april 8th of this year, so we are exactly 92 days in as of writing. her intake photo was two eyes and a black nose...

Posted by allergic_pup_parent_85•
5 comments
g/vet-advice

after moving cross country last fall and interviewing four separate vet practices over six months for our 8 year old german shepherd mix ruthie, here is the actual meet and greet protocol i wish someone had handed me at the u-haul, the four questions i now send by email BEFORE i book the appointment, the specific after hours ER referral question that separated our excellent vet from three merely fine ones, the fear free intake language to listen for, and the one enormous red flag i learned to walk out on the day of, which is any practice that refuses to put a spay dental or bloodwork estimate in writing

Ruthie is our 8 year old german shepherd mix, 64 pounds, cranky at strangers, hates the wet nose bump from other dogs, moderately anxious at the vet since a rough nail trim at age 3. we moved from...

Posted by passionatePetparent745•
5 comments
g/multi-dog-households

two year writeup on adding a rescue pit mix to our 6 year old miniature schnauzer prince, the eight months of subtle bullying nobody warned us about and the $2200 behaviorist bill that saved the household, the "parallel life not shared life" reframe that unlocked everything, the specific mistake of forcing shared beds and food areas in month one, and the honest answer to whether integrating a second adult dog is actually double the fun or a project with a two year timeline

Bertie is a 6, now 8, year old miniature schnauzer, our first dog, well socialized, ruled our 1100 square foot condo like a small unelected mayor for the six years before this project began. Delilah...

Posted by oldlab_steady•
5 comments
g/crate-training

our 14 month old lab pit mix loved his crate from 8 weeks until about month 8, then escalated from scratching to full jail break to chipping a canine on the wire crate we replaced last week, we are two weeks into a $340 aluminum heavy duty crate he refuses to enter at all, our new lease has a crate clause and i cant work from home, so i need honest people to tell me if this is adolescent brain chemistry, an anxiety problem wearing a crate costume, and whether going back to full puppy foundation at 14 months is actually a thing that works or something trainers say to be polite

Bruno is a 14 month old lab pit mix, 62 pounds, we got him from a foster at 8 weeks and did everything the puppy books said. crate by the bed the first two weeks, crate games with the door open,...

Posted by doberman_lifetime_two_dogs_arc•
5 comments
g/recall-training

twenty month recall update on our treeing walker coonhound mix, from a door bolt and a three hour chase through the state forest to a whistle recall i would bet real money on, the long line year nobody wants to hear about, the premack trick that finally worked on a nose with a dog attached, and the $40 spray collar mistake that cost us two months, posting because every hound thread has someone swearing scenthounds cant learn recall and i believed them for a year

Banjo is a treeing walker coonhound mix, roughly 3 now, adopted at around 14 months from a hound heavy rescue in kentucky, and on day 9 with us he shouldered through a storm door that wasnt fully...

Posted by hound_dad_ohio_61•
7 comments
g/dog-parks

our 2 year old boxer mix is getting pinned by the same three huskies at the dog park every evening while their owners tell me to let them work it out, last week he started hesitating at the gate of a park he used to drag me into, so i need people who actually understand dog park dynamics to tell me where rough play ends and bullying starts, whether one bad month can sour a friendly dog for good, and if walking away from dog parks entirely is protecting him or giving up

Milo is a 2 year old boxer mix, 58 pounds, adopted at 10 months from a county shelter, and for the first year he was the mayor of our dog park. 5pm most weekdays, he had a crew of regulars, a corgi he...

Posted by MuttLover_KC_64•
7 comments
g/apartment-dogs

sixteen month writeup on making a 55 pound rescue lab mix actually work in a 720 square foot one bedroom on the 14th floor, the potty logistics that took us three months to solve, the midday walker budget nobody warns you about, the neighbor complaint that nearly got us evicted, and the six specific choices that turned an anxious pacing dog into a chill apartment dog by month nine

writing this the way i wish someone had written it for me when we were signing the adoption paperwork on a 55 pound 3 year old lab shepherd mix from a rural rescue while living in a 720 sqft one...

Posted by apartment_lab_dad_neil•
5 comments
g/vizsla

our 8 month old female vizsla has velcroed to me so completely that i cant walk to the mailbox without a meltdown, ive gotten used to running in the same room as her but my husband cant even go to a work dinner without a whole scene, and after four months of trying to loosen this bond i need honest vizsla people to tell me if this ever gets better or if we adopted the wrong breed for a two career household

Poppy came home to us at 9 weeks in november, a beautifully bred vizsla from a breeder in vermont with a two page contract and every health test i now understand the meaning of thanks to a lot of...

Posted by beagle_brigade_guy•
7 comments
g/dog-breeding

how do you actually vet a dog breeder beyond the nice website, we lost a 500 dollar deposit to a scam in march, the standard poodle breeders weve found since range from 1200 to 4500 dollars and all use words like champion bloodlines and vet checked that apparently mean nothing, so what paperwork do i demand, how do i verify it instead of taking their word, and is a two year waitlist a quality signal or just gatekeeping

after a year of research we landed on a standard poodle, my daughter has mild allergies and after three visits with a friends standard who is basically a philosophy professor in a dog suit, the whole...

Posted by lab_double_ccl_journey•
9 comments
g/cocker-spaniel

sharing the spaniel insurance guide i found the week our cockers third ear infection of the year turned into a 4800 dollar total ear canal ablation quote, because those adorable ears are apparently a lifetime subscription and nobody itemizes that at the breeder, what four years of chronic otitis actually cost us, and the enrollment timing lesson i learned eleven months too late

came across this while sitting in the surgical consult parking lot doing the math on my phone, and its the clearest breakdown of spaniel specific coverage ive found, so im putting it in front of this...

Posted by three_dog_household_long_gaps•
5 comments
g/alternative-medicine

eight month writeup on trying acupuncture, cold laser and an underwater treadmill for our 12 year old labs arthritis after the rimadyl alone stopped being enough, i went into the integrative clinic a full skeptic and came out 1900 dollars lighter, so here is the honest ledger, what measurably worked, what did nothing we could detect, and the one thing i wish we had started two years earlier

Scout is our 12 year old lab, 74 pounds, and in january he stood at the bottom of the stairs one morning and just looked at us, which if you have a senior dog you know is a sentence with a whole...

Posted by rescue_volunteer_introductions_specialist•
7 comments
g/newfoundland

if one more parent tells me newfoundlands are nanny dogs while their toddler sprints face first at my 152 pound dog i am going to start charging admission, nana from peter pan is a fictional character not a supervision plan, my dog is a saint and that is exactly what scares me, because everyone treats his patience like a public resource, nobody asks before their kid grabs a fistful of jowl, and if the impossible day ever comes we all know exactly which dog pays for it

Walter is a 4 year old brown newfoundland, 152 pounds at his last vet visit, and before anyone starts, yes he is huge, yes the drool is real, yes i have heard the saddle joke, i hear the saddle joke...

Posted by tiredPuppylover215•
9 comments
g/dog-health

sharing the pre existing conditions guide i wish someone had handed me the week we adopted our rescue lab, because a two line note from a shelter vet visit that happened before we ever met him ended up voiding coverage on his hips, we found out at claim time not at signup, 18 months of premiums later, and the imaging plus first round of treatment cost us 3200 dollars out of pocket

just came across this while helping my brother compare policies for his new puppy, and it lays out the thing that burned us clearly enough that i think it belongs in front of everyone here with a new...

Posted by tiredPuppylover215•
5 comments
g/australian-cattle-dog

our 7 month old blue heeler has appointed herself sheriff of the living room and yesterday she escalated to nipping my running 6 year olds ankle, the kid cried, the dog looked deeply satisfied with her work, and i realized two 45 minute walks a day is not touching the sides of whatever this dog is, so heeler people i need the real answers, what does "give her a job" actually mean in a suburb with no cattle, and is the nipping a warning sign or just the factory settings

Juno came from a "farm collie mix" listing that, seven months later, is very obviously a purebred australian cattle dog, blue, speckled, the whole catalog picture. we are a normal suburban family, me,...

Posted by dachshundSquad•
7 comments
g/work-from-home-dogs

four years of working from home with my sheltie went completely fine and then my new job turned the cameras on, now every 9:15 standup is a hostage situation, he has declared a blood feud with the ups truck, the amazon driver is his best friend which is somehow worse because the screaming sounds identical, my boss has started calling him the attendee, and this morning i muted myself to yell into a hoodie

Finn is my 4 year old sheltie and for four years of remote work he was a non issue, because my old job was cameras off, mics off, type in the chat if you have something to say. he barked at things, i...

Posted by three_goldens_in_15_yrs•
8 comments
g/dog-travel

we just finished a six day 3100 mile move from boston to portland with a 70 pound boxer and a 13 year old shih tzu, so here is the recommendation writeup i couldnt find when i needed it, the 380 dollar crash tested crate that earned its price in one panic stop outside toledo, the hotel chain that actually means it when they say pet friendly, the cerenia conversation to have before you leave, and the cooler of home water that saved us from day two diarrhea

my wife got relocated in april and we spent a month reading threads about flying dogs versus driving them before deciding to drive, Moose is our 5 year old boxer, 70lb of enthusiasm and motion...

Posted by pippa_hoarding_survivor•
7 comments