u/Bullfinch88

My (f38) hair is naturally curly. I almost always shove it into a ponytail or loose bun and go about my day. I spend a lot of time outside and these mad wee whispy bits always exist! The big one at the front is especially annoying because it's always blowing into my eyes. I use leave-in conditioner after washing and let my hair air dry into its natural curls. Any tips on what I can do to tidy this up? Thank you!

This ended up being longer than I originally intended, but here goes!:

This is Sula, I've shared some pics of him here before. He has just turned eleven months old and is the love of my life. Our household is myself (f38) husband (m38) and our other dog, a flat-coated retriever (f5).

We are finding nighttime a bit of a struggle just now - in fact we've never really found a great place with nighttime. Initially, he was crate trained to sleep downstairs in the kitchen. This was fine to a point, but he would routinely wake up and cry from about 5am.

I was advised that going to him would reward the crying. So we would either let him whinge to himself, or gruffly shush him from the top of the stairs. This was fine for a few months, but we'd find occasionally that he'd pull some of the blanket covering his crate through the bars and eat pieces of it. And one morning I had to take him to the vets to make him sick because he ate a bunch of his actual bed, including the zip! So he's clearly not been happy, which is fair.

The advice I was given next was to crate him with no bedding. Naked, but safe. But a bit crap for him tbh! We did this for a while and it seemed to break the habit. Ultimately, we want him to be able to sleep in the living room with our other dog, who chills on the couch all night. Happy as a clam. So we started leaving his crate open at night and he would go and lie with his sister, we could see them together on the camera we have in that room and check them before going to sleep ourselves.

However, recently, he has started going nibbling again. A corner of a rug. A cushion. However, last week, he ate a lot of a towel and then a bunch of a bed sheet of the spare bed. Really dangerous!! So another vet trip to make him sick and vigilance to ensure no blockage.

Recently, for his own safety, he now sleeps in our bedroom on a soft bed. And he creeps in to bed with us at about 5am. Which is fine because I love him so bloody much, but ideally I prefer no dogs in the bedroom. Not only for my own sleep, but to ensure the dogs learn how to cope and settle when left on their own.

This morning, I spent a half day in the office and left the dogs after their morning walk. I ended up coming home an hour early because he was unsettled on the camera and had another go at the rug. I am worried that letting him sleep with us is eroding his independence. He is very, very attached to me, and I him. But I need him to be okay by himself.

I think I need to know where we go from here. I want to be able to trust him to spend the night away from me, either crated or un-crated. However, currently, he can't be trusted in either scenario. Crated, he will eat the bed. Crated with no bed, he will cry. Un-crated, he will eat something harmful. Un-crated with us, he is okay. But it's not what I want from him long-term and I need him to be independent.

Any words of wisdom would be very much appreciated! And happy to answer any questions about our routine which may help.

A few other things to note:

- He is well exercised throughout the day, with a minimum of two 45 minute walks on a regular weekday and longer at the weekends

- On top of this, I am training him up as a competitive agility dog; We train multiple times a week both on and off kit, indoors and outdoors and in all weathers. Training very clearly physically and mentally tires him out and he is excelling at it. I am super proud of him.

- Most evenings, he comes to bed with me for a cuddle for an hour before husband comes to bed. Then he would be (up until recently) turfed out of the bedroom. But as of this week turfed off our bed and into his own bed in our room. He doesn't ever chew in our bedroom.

- Sula and our other dog, Meg, are the best of friends and very well bonded to one another.

Collie (Sula) is 10 months and un-neutered, terrier (Dougal) is 9yo and neutered. Dougal is being boarded at Sula's home while his family are on a trip.

They each take turns to pin the other down, then back off and ask if it's okay to continue. Nice loose bodies and very polite, with a wee play now from Sula after D gets distracted by a sound.

Could watch them all day!

Sula will be nine months old tomorrow. The day after, we are heading abroad on holiday for a week. This will be the first time we've been apart for more than a few hours. I know he will be well looked after by our friends and he will have another doggy friend to play with too. Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to spending a few days away... but man I am going to miss this wee face so much.

Seeing him when we get home will make the end of our holidays much more bearable!! I'll try and get a video of our reunion to post on r/masterreturns

He's becoming quite the dashing young man, I love him so much 💖