u/tiptreetimes

I've had my dog for three months. He has been attacked three times now: Twice by dogs off-leash, and once - today- by a dog on the leash. My dog is always leashed.

My dog is a 10kg Pomchi/German spitz (we don't know which yet). The other dog was a daschund. We turned a corner and they were there, right in front of us, I quickly asked if her dog was good to say hello and the owner said 'He doesn't always like big dogs but he'll be fine with yours,' and two seconds later the dog had snapped and ripped chunks of hair out of my dog. (Hard lesson learnt - if your dog doesn't like some dogs, they shouldn't meet any, and I don't believe that all owners know if their dog will be reactive or not. I basically now don't trust anything other than an absolute 'Yes.')

Every walk, I'd say half the dogs we pass are lunging and/or barking. We spend a lot of our walk crossing over to avoid.

I live in a village in England. There are a lot of dogs, so maybe my experience is not the norm. But he is my first dog and I have been really surprised at how many reactive dogs there are. I thought they were the rarity, but apparently not.

My dog is a 1yo rescue, he was found in a 1 bed flat with 21 other dogs - we were told that, because of this, he is very well socialised and friendly with other dogs...and he is. He loves to meet other dogs, and I don't want to completely stop him from doing so.

But, it's starting to become an issue. I'm starting to dread it. I've tried walking him at all different times and different routes but it makes no difference and almost feels like one of these interactions is inevitable.

There are a few dogs he is now friends with, and I'm glad he can safely meet them, but I can feel myself becoming that over protective owner who doesn't even want to go out because whenever this happens I feel guilty af because it is my responsibility to keep my dog safe and I have stupidly believed that a dog is ok to meet just because the owner said so, then it goes horribly wrong. In that moment, I have let my dog down. And that really, really hurts.

Also, I'm really focussed on training my dog. He will walk-on past another dog, he sits, he listens to me, his recall is improving. I'm worried that these experiences are going to undo his progress or even make him reactive.

It also seems like everyone tiptoes around reactive dogs and their owners, because they are stressed dogs and the owners struggle. I get it. But no one seems to talk about the calm dog getting constantly bitten/barked at/lunged at, who are being made more fearful. And I do believe that if you have a dog that you know can be reactive - even if only sometimes - it's your responsibility to cross over and keep it away, because people aren't mind readers.Half the time there doesn't seem to be any attempt at training going on either, just a dog being reactive and an owner being reactive to their dog. And the second that woman saw my dog today she should have pulled ilher dog aside and warned me, rather than saying they'd be OK to meet.

Sorry to vent. It's just making the morning walk, which should be enjoyable, really unpleasant. .

Is this just my bad luck to live in an area with tons of reactive dogs? Or is this just normal? I'd like to hear other people's experiences, to get some perspective. Like I said, he's my first dog, so I'm learning a ton, and this has been an eye opener.

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I've had Kino for 9 weeks now. He's a 1yo rescue Pomchi and my total love and joy 😊

He had been at the shelter for 5 months and had no training. Most of it came pretty easily to him - he had the basics like Sit, Stay etc nailed in the first couple of weeks, and would still listen fairly well outdoors. Not perfect but, you know, a work in progress!

He has always been excitable when he saw other dogs. He was rescued with 21 other dogs and the shelter told us he is very friendly because of this - he wanted to greet every dog he saw. No barking, but lunging, tugging, generally very distracted. Not people, just dogs.

I was training him to 'walk on', and sometimes sit to let dogs pass, from day one. Then a few weeks ago he was attacked by a dog off leash and was understandably more hesitant afterwards. Then two other dogs off leash bounded up to him in a friendly way and he panicked.

Training continued. My main focus has been to get him to look to me when we see another dog rather than instantly react, I'll guide him/reassure from there. This works fairly well when I see a dog approaching but surprises are a different matter.

Then, this morning, two springer spaniels, off leash, appeared around the corner, their owner about 10 feet behind. It was so sudden I didn't have time to say or do anything - they were just suddenly there.

I instantly felt that 'what is about to happen?' panic when Kino looked at them, then just sat, and looked up at me. The dogs bounded around a bit, they and their owner passed, and we all continued on our ways.

Honestly I could have cried.

I don't for a moment think Kino will never lunge or tug again but it does seem like, after 2 months of training, the penny is starting to drop. You know when you start to notice things are changing.

He is my first dog and I'm only just realising the different lengths of time it takes for various aspects of training. Who knows, in another six months he might just keep walking. But I'll take today as a win.

My husband and I got together because of a Talkie Toaster joke when we met, working in a kitchen, 9 years ago. It has always been sort of the background of our relationship (this morning, going out to walk the dog at 5am, i said 'It's cold outside'... You know what followed). And every night we take turns to pick the episode to fall asleep to.

It varies but my husband's favourite for this purpose is The End, mine is Backwards. I think these are both relatively quiet episodes, maybe that's why. These are not our favourite episodes to actually watch, which I think is part of the reasoning (I can never sleep to Timeslides for example, because I absolutely have to see Rimmers 'I ask myself, who is the rich man?' speech, still cracks me up.)

Interested to know if other people are doing this and what their choices are!

From reading Reddit it sounds like I'm alone on this. Monthly visits to a dog groomer are apparently the norm. But I'm sure ( I am 43f) that 'back in the day' there weren't dog groomers everywhere. I didn't know anyone who took their dog to a groomer.

We have a 9kg Pomchi - he has a lot of hair! He gets brushed twice a day, a bath once a fortnight, nails trimmed, all the usual. Does he look professionally styled? No. He looks like how he naturally is (gorgeous :). His 'knickers' etc are kept smart and areas that need to be wiped get wiped. The vet told us on his last visit that is he very clean and healthy. But I still feel a bit guilty not taking him to a professional groomer because it's almost seen as an essential part of dog care now. Like, you're being neglectful if you don't.

Grooming him myself has given us such a great bond and means I always feel pretty clued up on his health. It also obviously saves a lot of money. Am I missing something though?

I genuinely thought that we'd get a dog, there'd be a period of adjustment, and our old life would return, now with a dog in it. It has been two months and I'm just seeing that the old life is gone, and what we have is an entirely new, different life.

Our boy is a rescue Pomchi. We got him from a shelter when he was 10 months old. He'd been at the shelter for 5 months. We'd wanted a dog for years. But, also, we already had a very happy life. Just me (43f) and my husband (37). We'd had cats before, but found ourselves pet-less in January this year. Life had a good balance of work, exercise, social.

We met and fell in love with Kino and brought him home. I wfh, my husband is a chef, so immediately it was Kino and me, alone most of the time.

I honestly thought that once he was settled in our old/normal life would reappear, just with Kino in it. I found the first month really hard - he had no training, and I had never trained a dog. It felt like there was a stranger in the house with me. I felt so much pressure and responsibility to not mess up, to make him happy, comfy. I suddenly was doing none of my 'normal.' All I did for that first month, was look after Kino, 24/7. He has only just, at 2 months, got to 4 hours home alone - in the first month, to reduce any chance of separation anxiety, I was either with him, or going out for minutes at a time, during which all I thought about was him. And by with him, I mean he sits by me in the bathroom.

I definitely missed my normal. I loved Kino but was so stressed and anxious. The funny thing is he's the most chill dog ever lol. Non reactive, happy, affectionate, intelligent, fun. It wasn't him - I just felt like something in me was off.

Then something started to change. I stopped expecting the old life to return. I started to see the magic in the new life. Instead of worrying about when I'd ever have time to go running again, I saw how much exercise I was getting on his walks AND how much I absolutely loved them! They weren't getting in the way of my life - they were my life. I used to love my alone time - now I have a different kind of peace, with a dozing dog beside me. I used to think he was staring at me and I was stupid because I didn't know what he wanted - know he stares at me and I soft-stare back, and that is all it is, it is beautiful. Life has bloomed with this new love in it, and I wouldn't swap it back if you paid me.

We got our 1yo rescue Pomchi 7 weeks ago. He has settled in brilliantly, as if he's always been with us - I utterly adore this little dude! His training is going well and he learns quickly...although, being 1yo, and new to us, and naturally excitable, he does have days/times when he 'forgets' lol.

I always wanted a well trained dog, and one thing I have never liked is dogs that jump when they greet. So we started teaching him to sit as a greeting, and then he gets a fuss. It worked...kind of 🤣

Thing is, he is always SO excited to see me, he pops up to standing on his hind legs...his 'dancing bear'. No jumping, just this paws-in-the-air, which I take in my hands and usually sing a little song for like 10 seconds and we dance. Then, he Sits, I kneel down, and we have big cuddles.

I have never seen him greet a stranger like this...all four paws are on the floor with strangers.

Should I stop this? I would kind of hate to because honestly it is joyful. But it does kind of go against what we are training and I don't want to confuse him.

I have a 1yo rescue Pomchi (may be German Spitz, we are waiting to find out, he's 9kg so Pomchi seems unlikely!). I've only had him for 7 weeks. Before that, he was in the shelter for 5 months due to a legal battle - he was rescued from a 1 bedroom flat along with 21 other dogs and cats.

So far, his behaviour and temperament have been wonderful. We were told how friendly he was, and he is. Great on walks, friendly but no lunging, confident yet chill, good on the leash. All training going well - will Sit, Stay, Down, and recall getting better by the day. He has made lots of friends (human and dog!) on our walks. Sleeps straight through. Affectionate, playful, loves to nap, is non-reactive - doesn't even lift his head when the post comes. I wfh but he's also home alone regularly for a few hours which we built up to gradually and he has been fine.

But there is this one behavioural quirk - he growls a little bit at new guests. By a little bit, I mean he sort of walks around and grumbles and growls quite quietly. He will also take treats from those same guests, accept pets from them, and wags his tail. These aren't teeth-baring growls - more like short, quiet stints of disgruntled growling.

We have done introductions in the garden, on his leash, then moved into the house. We have done greetings in the house, on leash, with treats. We have done ignoring him. We have held him.

We have a guest round atm. He stopped growling after a few minutes then settled down and after a while it's like the guest has always been here all is fine.

Is this just a sign that he's a bit unsure, then is ok?

BTW no we don't have a crate and he is not crate trained and considering that everything else is going so well we don't want to do that. He has safe spaces, and sleeps in his bed, in our bedroom, door shut, no issues. I really don't want to introduce a crate - or any other sort of small enclosure or confinement - after seeing where he was kept enclosed for 5 months in the shelter. I think the growling is territorial discomfort as he gets used to guests (??) and allowing him to meet guests at a pace and in a way that both he and the guest are comfortable with is best, rather than shutting (punishing) him somewhere? Especially considering that it passes and he then seems fine.

I live in Essex, it has been hot and dry in what feels like forever. I don't have the money to go to a gym. I have always been a road runner, done at-home yoga, and lifted weights in our little micro gym that we built during covid in our tiny spare room (has a squat rack etc). It's always served me well and earlier this year, at 43(f), I was running three times a week (hills, long, 5k), weights three times, did chin ups and push ups daily, and was feeling pretty good, fit, and strong.

I haven't worked out in a month now.

We have a dog, he is walked at approx 7am and 7pm, about an hour each time, and that's the majority of my exercise. Many days he's walked at 5am because we do boot sales up to 4 times a week, so then I'm up at 4.30.

Our house is like an oven. Any exercise in the house is like there's zero oxygen. And the dog walking occurs when I would otherwise run (I'm usually a midday sort of runner...obviously not atm). I don't have time to walk him and run. I naturally prefer exercising in cold temperatures - I'll happily run in rain, snow, cold - but I have zero energy in this heat. Not to mention poor sleep adding to that zapped energy.

I have gone from feeling bad about this, to trying to see it as a break 🤣 One day it will be cold again! But it also is kind of rubbish.

Anyone else feeling this?

(Edited to better explain dog walking times)

I've had my rescue Pomchi for 5 weeks now and, oh my god, I have never felt anything like it. He's my first dog. I'm 43f, married, no kids. We talked about getting a dog for 7 years until the time was right, and now here he is, in our lives.

I literally cannot describe how much I love this dog. Like I genuinely well up. Tears of love. I never thought I would bond with a dog like this (I've only ever had cats) and it has honestly blown me away.

Then my brain decided to imagine what life will be like when he is no longer with us, and I found myself thinking, I could never love another dog like this. Maybe it's the 'soul dog' thing, I don't know. But does it happen, that subsequent pets/dog are never quite as...like this? Obviously it's always different, but I mean in terms of pure connection, a deep love. I feel like this couldn't possibly happen again, surely. It's like he's a God-given gift.

And how do you cope if you have had this, and then get another pet, and don't feel it?

My next door neighbour has two cats. They are indoor-only cats. She is a self proclaimed animal lover who works as a dog groomer and also keeps ferrets. Her dog grooming business has been being set up in her conservatory since she moved in (about 2 months ago) and I've never seen a dog go in, but anyway she says because of this the cats must live in her bedroom.

We are in Essex. It has been so hot, for weeks now. Her window is, of course, always closed.

She invited me in to meet them (before having my dog, I always had cats, and love them to bits). We are terraced houses of 2 up 2 down - very small.

The smell in her room nearly made me gag. The litter trays looked clean but in a small, hot room, the smell is unavoidable. The cats (two of them) looked healthy enough - not over or unde fed, healthy coats etc but they went nuts when they saw me, in that way bored animals do.

When I'm in the garden with my dog, I see them watching from the window and clawing up the glass.

This is not an argument about indoor vs outdoor cats. She has told me before that she thinks it's irresponsible to let cats out (mine always went out lol) so she is obviously keeping them in because she thinks it's the right thing to do, not out of any sense of cruelty. It's more a question of is it not cruel to keep two cats in one small room (as opposed to the whole house)?

Because it's so hot, the room stinks, the cats are in a room that fits a double bed and chest of drawers and not much else. I just wondered what people think, because it seems cruel to me, even if unintentionally so. But they are fed, and safe, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

edited to add: Just to answer a few queries in the comments - I know she keeps them permanently in her room because she told me. A few weeks ago she mentioned harnesses for them, but I've never seen them out. I wfh so I'm vaguely aware of people's comings, as you tend to be when you're home all the time.

I haven't spoken to her about it because I'm not sure what I could say that isn't just my own personal opinion, which is - as someone rightly said - none of my business. The cats are safe, fed, watered. My opinion that it's unfair, unpleasant, and unhealthy for them, is just that...my opinion. I was - and am - just very interested if others feel the same as me or if I am worrying about her cats wellbeing unduly. I don't think the rspca would be interested.

In terms of why...I have no idea. She comes from a family big on animals - horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, you name it. They just seem to be people that like to have a lot of animals. It's weird but I can only liken it to a collector mindset.

And it is nothing to do with the dog grooming. As I said, I've yet to see a dog come or go. As far as I'm aware the business is still in the setup stage. The cats are in the bedroom because...that's where she keeps them. There doesn't seem to be more to it than that. But she must feel some low level guilt or she wouldn't mention harnesses?

Re a catio, her bedroom is upstairs. And also she has made it clear that she thinks I was cruel for letting my cats out (lots of comments about cars and how she'd never risk hers etc We live down a cul-de-sac btw, not a main road, for context) so I feel offering any advice or suggestions would be met with defensiveness.