u/nmar5

I have a slicker brush and a comb that I have been trying to get my 7 month puppy to tolerate since she came home at 10 weeks old. At first it seemed like she thought they were a game. And I’m still certain that sometimes she thinks that. But I can’t comb or brush her without her constantly trying to run away and trying to eat the comb/brush. There’s no aggression in her response. I took her to a behavioral groomer because her first groomer said she was aggressive and the behavioral one said she saw no aggression but did see what the other groomer was likely talking about. As our current groomer put it, “she has no patience and would rather cut her tongue on scissors than sit still long enough to be groomed.” Even with tons of high value treats I can’t get her to let me brush her. I’ve tried meaty bones, spray cheese, freeze dried goodies, chicken, all kinds of things.

Does anyone have advice? This is going to be the rest of her life and I would have thought she’d just resign herself to putting up with it at minimum by now. The only time she seems to want the slicker is when my cat wants brushed with it and even then it is very brief.

I’m 34 and was diagnosed this summer with a restrictive eating disorder. My medical team insisted I work with an ED therapist and dietician and they all think that this is a bigger issue than I think it is. Today I was given a heads up by one of my providers that they are scheduling a conference call with my entire care team to discuss next steps in my care.

Right now I’m scared they are going to be discussing hospitalization. I was told that 2 of them were going to speak and discuss IOP’s and they did but decided on that call that they wanted the rest of my care team to help make a decision I guess. I’ve been hospitalized before. I can’t do it again. I’m recently divorced and alone in a state and area that I know absolutely no one outside of work that my ex doesn’t also know or isn’t related to. My family and family of choice are in other states. But I have 2 pets that can’t be alone for an unknown amount of time and no one to take them. Not to mention that I need to work to afford rent, keep my insurance, and I can’t afford a large medical bill right now.

I don’t even know, posting feels silly but no one in my life knows and I can’t talk through this anxiety with anyone but my therapist who I already saw this week.

I have a 6 month old standard who is incredibly smart. She potty trained quickly and learned basic commands quickly. However, I’m having a tough time with a couple of specific things. She absolutely loves my cat but he is not a fan of her barking in his face. So I worked with a trainer to teach her leave it and she knows the command now. You can set treats down and she’ll leave them when told or she’ll leave things she finds on walks. But with the cat it is entirely different.

She will bark in his face then run to me and poke the treat pouch before I even say ‘leave it’ some days. And when I do say ‘leave it’ first she just goes right back to him after getting the treat. We’re having a similar issue with counter surfing. She jumps up, makes eye contact, then runs and taps the treat pouch. It seems like she figured out what she should do and has concluded that doing what she isn’t supposed to do then immediately self-correcting means a treat. And maybe that’s not the case. But if I dial back on the treats she completely ignores me in regard to those 2 specific things.

I have absolutely no idea what to do next and unfortunately my work schedule is causing issues with my being able to find time when the trainer is available. I could keep redirecting but my cat is 11 years old and I really don’t want her stressing him out. Right now I’m looking for other trainers who might have time when I’m available but while I do, does anyone have any advice? She did attend a puppy class and starts the intermediate class next month.

I’m posting here hoping someone has a recommendation.

I’ve recently moved to Brunswick and need a pet sitter the last 2 days of July and first week of August for a cat and a dog. My vet gave me a list of pet sitters clients have recommended to them but all of them are for the Portland area. Even the ones not listed as Portland and more up this way have responded saying they are no longer working in this area. I did try Rover and was surprised by the number of sitters who haven’t updated their availability calendars but made sure to tell me to book at least 3 months in advance, even though their own calendars show them as available…

This is kind of a long shot but I haven’t found a similar community on reddit for Brunswick. I have to travel out of state for a family thing and am worried about running out of time to find a sitter.