u/leftmar

Me and these shears have such a toxic relationship. She treats me so bad but I can't stop going back to her.......

But seriously. I have these zolitta shears and they are terrible quality. But I don't have any other shears that can do what they can do, so I just keep using them. They are also way too expensive, I bought them at an expo for $60 a few years ago and I feel like I overpaid.

Here are the things I like about them:

• They have a very thin angled blades. I can scissor a dog's feet with these without them lifting their foot off the table. This is the main thing I like about them.

• They have micro serrated edge so they pick up thin hair.

• They are small and lightweight. I feel like I can use these on teenie tiny dogs.

• They remind me of my Harzly VG10 shears in the best way. Harzly has a small curved shear but they're $350 and just dropped so I'm not sure if they're even good.

If anyone has any dupes for these let me know. I feel embarrassed even giving these to my sharpener because they are such horrible quality.

I have a five year old retired racing greyhound who I adopted almost three years ago. Right from the very beginning, she has always been obsessed with me. When I first brought her home, she followed me from room to room which I figured is normal for a dog when they're new to a home.

Unfortunately, she still gets stressed being apart from me if she can see me or knows I'm in the house. She doesn't always need to be in the same room as me. Sometimes she'll take naps in her crate (with the door open) while I'm in another room.

But generally she wants to be in the same room with me all the time. If I'm in a room with the door closed she will bark until I let her in. If I'm outside and she's inside, she'll bark even if she doesn't want to go outside. She doesn't do stairs, so if I'm in the basement or upstairs too long she also gets stressed and barks. If guests are over, it's even worse.

When I leave home, she gets upset and sometimes barks for the first five minutes or so but then will settle down and relax. She doesn't like when I put on my shoes or grab my keys to leave. She will try to force me to pet her instead. I try to ignore this behavior because I know she'll calm down once I'm gone.

I recently realized that I have been enabling this behavior. I have been accommodated her anxiety instead of working on it. I don't want her to start barking so I make sure she's in the room with me before I close the door. (She does not come into the bathroom with me though. I do have some boundaries.) I feel very guilty that I have let this go on for so long.

But I have no idea where to start with training her for this. We've done some crate training. She does well if she has a lick mat or a chew but otherwise will bark and get upset. How do I get her to relax when I am away from her but still at home?

Thank you if you read this far. Any advice is appreciated. I'm hoping to eventually work with a trainer, but it is not something I can currently afford. I will have to save up for it. Is working on crate training the main thing I should do?

Does anyone know of a nicer version of these zolitta shears?