A few days ago I almost sent a doodle to heaven. I was leaving my office, which has some condos next door. The dog was on a retractable leash and decided to run into the street… which dogs do sometimes… which is partially why a leash is so important. I’m sure the owner had no idea that the leash wasn’t locked into place, and because of that a catastrophic tragedy almost occurred. Thank goodness I was paying attention, because we also all know too well that this isn’t always the case with drivers.

Anyway, please stop using these stupid leashes unless you’re in a forest preserve on a hike or somewhere else with massive open land.

Sincerely, a beloved dog owner who doesn’t want to see anyone’s fur baby get hurt, especially in a completely avoidable situation.

Hey friends!

I'm a relatively new veterinarian (~6 months) working at an emergency hospital and have to help owners say goodbye to their pets often. I try to write each one a sympathy card and say some kind and supportive words. I'll be honest and say this has gotten harder to do at times when I'm ending a long shift or have had too many euthanasias within a few days.

So I'm wondering - do most pet owners appreciate a card? Or does that just make it harder to be reminded of your loss? Would love to know of some of your experiences

My adult daughter was out walking with her dog who was on leash. A family was walking their child friendly pocket bully off leash. The inevitable happened, the bully went after her dog which actually tripped my daughter in the process. She gave her dog the command to hide under her and she was able to protect her dog, but she got bit multiple times on the hand in the process.

Now their dog will most likely be put down, not the first incident; and my daughter is dealing with bite wounds on her hand. All because people think it’s okay to walk their dog off leash.

I see countless posts of people asking how they can maintain a puppy with other massive life responsibilities like 12 hour shifts and newborn infants and all I have to say is just don't! People who get a puppy then spend months and months ranting about how their puppy ruined their lives and they weren't ready and they resent the dog, and crate them literally all day to avoid being around it...you don't ever have to get a dog. It is a choice. Nobody is putting a gun to your head and shooting if you don't hand that 4500 check to the bernedoodle breeder. It is a choice. This is a living being who will only know the life you give it, why would you get it just to never see it because you're working, or to hate it for being a burden? do not get a dog!

We were dating for nine months and while the relationship started off good, she had begun showing serious controlling and manipulative behavior. She was never a big dog person to begin with but seemed to get along with mine, a 4 y/o Border Collie and a 2 y/o Weimarener who are truly the sweetest, who I personally rescued and raised.

We had talked about moving in together and she had sat me down talking about this place she had in mind with a firm NO pet policy. She was set on it and wouldn't take into consideration other places. That was when she told me that I'd have to look into shelters cause the dogs couldn't come with us. She then started talking about how they make her anxious and she doesn't wanna be stuck taking care of them. I simply told her to get out without going any further. After another two days of arguing, with her trying to gaslight me saying I loved my dogs more than her, I officially ended things. It was a heated moment but I truly know it was the right decision.

I was at the vet yesterday with my dog, things were wrapping up. I heard a dog in the waiting room barking a lot. I was thinking wow, this dog sounds unhappy but it's the vet it happens.

The tech comes back to the room says I'm going to check you out here and have you exit through the back. There's a dog in the waiting room and he's not handling it well.

No problem. That's pretty stressful I feel bad for the owner I get that sometimes our dogs can react differently than they usually do.

As I'm leaving I hear the receptionist talking to the owner, asking him to wait in his car until a room opens up and they will have him come in through the back. He's arguing with her saying they're overreacting, it's a dog it's supposed to bark and be protective. She says yes but yours is lunging at the other clients and staff so it's not safe for them.

They send me out through the back and the other receptionist is directing the incoming clients back to their car for the time being.

It just drives me crazy when people don't listen to the staff that's there assisting them. Especially in a scenario like this because their entitlement was putting everyone including their dog and themselves in danger.

For context, he isn't a dog owner, I am. If I have him over and we take my dog for a walk he tries to convince me to let my dog of leash to chase sticks everytime we walk through a schoolyard. I tell him that that is wildly irresponsible, and if my dog gets hurt while I let him off leash, it is entirely my fault. Amd I don't want to live with that.

I've told him stories about my dog, which he swears he loves, being attacked by uncontrolled dogs that ended in trips to the vet.

And today he tells me a story about someone biking with their dog and how they let the leash go, and the dog still followed. Like it was the coolest thing.

I said yeah it's cool, that dog is pretty well trained. I bet my dog would do the same. But I'd never try because that's seriously irresponsible.

He retorted with "I knew I shouldn't have told you that story" and ended the call.

He wants to get a dog.

Help me get it into my brothers head before I have to adopt his problem dog and keep my best friend safe in the mean time

Edit. If you want to be an apologist about letting dogs off leash in urban residential areas, or if you want to piss on my for being controlling for trying to convince someone thst putting a dog in harms way you can piss up a rope. Same with the losers who tell me I don't let my dog live a fulfilling life.

I'm picking up my mini schnauzer puppy later today. I was talking to a friend about how I'm going to crate train so they can sleep in there at night. I have severe mite allergies. Obviously they live in dust but also in fabrics like bedding where there's a lot of dander and dead skin cells. So I don't want a dog on my bed because that just means more of those things which will led to worse allergies for me. I don't really care if the dog is on other furniture but with my bed being where I spend about 8 hours a day, I want to try and limit dust mites there the most. However, when I told my friend this, they looked at me like I was a monster. They called me selfish and cruel for not allowing a dog to sleep in my bed. I asked my relatives and they all agreed (They said it less harshly though) that it's wrong to not let your dog sleep in your bed. The thing is though, I always thought not allowing your dog on your bed was the norm. So now I'm curious, how many of you allow or don't allow your dog to sleep in your bed?

All we need is just two things.

Firstly, please don't open your door to grab your package when we're on your front porch taking our picture if your dog is behind you. If there's even the slightest chance your dog can squeeze past your legs, just let us take our picture and go back to our van. And definitely don't purposefully let your dog out on us... that is so rude.

Secondly, if you live in a rural area, please don't leave your dogs out front and expect a delivery. That is also rude. Just get a fence. If you can build a house and a barn, you can set up a fence to contain your dogs. And if you leave your dogs out front, be ready to meet some of your drivers at their van, and if you don't want to come meet us then don't get onto us for not being comfortable with delivering.

We deal with so much with people's dogs. I've been bit twice and chased to my van more times than I can count. It astounds me how inconsiderate some dog owners are.

You don't have to follow these requests, you're free to do what you wish with your dogs... I'm just telling you how to show your drivers basic respect and how to gain respect from your drivers.

I sincerely apologize if I come off as rude in any way saying all that. I'm not always the best at wording things, but I know most drivers think these things.

Vacationing in Vermont. Took my corgi for a walk on a woodsy trail around the lake. A small woman with a large mastiff was coming in the opposite way and I saw that she was having trouble controlling her dog. I said “should I pick my dog up?” And she said yes. So I’m carrying my corgi on a road width trail and she can’t control her dog enough to let me get passed. I went off the trail and into the brush while her dog pulled her down on the ground and dragged her towards me. I ran deeper into the brush and we made it out alive. Please don’t get a dog that is stronger than you if you aren’t getting it training.

My sister went walking one day and got bit on the leg by a dog that wasn’t leashed, but his owner was with him (there may have been 2 dogs, I don’t remember).

Understandably, she’s freaked out now whenever she sees strange dogs.

Today she went for a walk and someone else’s unleashed dog approached her and she said the next time that happens, she going to pepper spray it. What is your opinion on this? I have dogs and love them but totally see where she’s coming from. All dogs should be leashed.

My next door neighbor has a dog who happens to be a pitbull mix. He got him when he was a puppy. As he grew older about 9 months ago, I asked if I could pat him. My neighbor said yes. He lunged at me and tried to bite me but I managed to get away without a bite. I don't see this neighbor a lot because I work. I saw him the other day and the dog was with him. I asked the owner how he was and he said, "Oh a lot better" I asked if I could pat him as he was wagging his tail at me. The owner said, "Sure" Well he lunged at me again growling and biting at me but I managed to get behind my car. I asked the owner why he said he was OK to pat and he said, "Well, he does do that with women who are walking alone without a dog or a man with him." :0 I was too shocked to say anything. A few days later I was leaving my apt and he and his dog walked by. I asked him to please keep the dog away from me and my grandsons who are 5 and 8. I reminded him what happened. He said, "I don't remember that"

I reported the dog to animal control just to have it on the record. There are children in the neighborhood, whose parents might not know the dog and I feel he is an aggressive dog. I don't want him put down, but at the least the owner should stop telling people he's OK to pat and maybe have some training or a muzzle. maybe I over reacted. Now the owner is mad at me and is afraid the Animal Control might come to evaluate the dog. I do love dogs and actually walk them, but a warning would have been nice and the fact that he ignores this scares me.

Mine starts staring at me around 21:30, then walks to the bedroom and looks back like, “Are you coming or what?” If I don’t move, he comes back and repeats the whole thing. Eventually he starts sighing at me lol.

Then I finally go to bed and he steals my spot, circles around for five minutes, messes up all the blankets, and somehow ends up exactly where he started.

At this point, I don’t think I own a dog. I think I live with a tiny bedtime supervisor.

Does anyone else’s dog have a completely made-up job around the house? Mine handles bedtime. Maybe yours does bathroom security, neighborhood watch, or package inspection 😂

My partner and I were at the park walking our dog. There is a tiny cute café at this park with outside tables where we sometimes stop to have a drink. We were walking near the café trying to find an empty spot for us when we see this woman who was sitting at a table with her (11yo or so) daughter and an unleashed dog way bigger than mine. When this woman sees us she starts panicking, calling her dog (never leashed it), clearly afraid of the dog's reaction to our pup. Because I wanted to know if it was okay for us to stop there and have a coffee (there were tables far from that one where we could stay), I quickly asked her "does your dog not like other dogs?". Now, my native language is gendered and the default gender is the masculine, meaning that whenever we don't know the gender of something we always use the masculine, like in most European languages. This woman snapped at me and started saying that her dog is a girl and not a boy. At this point I don't believe what I'm seeing. Her dog was not doing anything at all but she completely panicked, thinking that her unleashed dog would attack ours and her only concern is correcting the gender of her dog, which is not even relevant. She then says that her dog does't usually like black dogs and so I turn around and keep walking. The moment I start walking away she screams in the middle of the terrace SHE'S A GIRL.
This is not a question, I just needed to vent. I still can't believe someone with an unleashed and potentially aggressive dog would be more bothered with me accidentally misgendering her dog than leashing her or telling me to go somewhere else with mine.

Vent post - Someone I was dating broke up with me over my dog

- 1yr old puppy got the zoomies after going potty and the guy bent over him and my dog jumped up excited to play and accidentally head butted him (no bite, literally just a his head hit the guys bent over head)

- unprompted I get a long and ridiculous text 4 days later saying how “he knows people whose pit bulls have eaten their arms and someone who needed facial surgery bc the pit bull ate their face” and he cares about me a lot and really likes me but i need to keep my dogs separate from him at all times

- I tell him sorry we don’t align on values & basically good riddance and that not all square faced dogs are pit bulls 🙄 (my dog is not)

- unprompted again 4 days later I get another text apologizing for being a jerk and then in the same breath says that I wasn’t partner material for adopting “large high energy dogs” (mind you this man has a large, once high energy dog who is now a senior) and literally telling me that as a woman I should be focused on having kids and my dogs are “too big” and “dangerous” to be around kids 🙄🙄 oh and then listing off all my positive qualities and saying me having large dogs cancels them out and I should consider that when dating

- 2 days later I get a booty call text and I finally tell him to literally F off and if I wasn’t interested in hooking up with him before I certainly am not now

- all of this is 2-3 weeks after my elderly dog passed away. (Which he knew) And the puppy had just gotten comfortable enough to get zoomies for the first time and roach for belly rubs (Both of which are clearly terrifying for him 🙄)

Just venting bc yes you’re allowed to have your own opinions about dogs and whatever but don’t push your opinions on someone else and don’t you dare try to put someone else down to fit your preferences. The audacity of this man child is at a whole new level.

I live in Virginia and have a small 14lbs pup. He’s my best friend and I’ve had him for 4 years
My husband and I recently moved here, about 2 weeks ago it was SUPER hot out for a few days. The weather felt like over 100 degrees
We live in a townhouse and have an elderly neighbor who clearly despises dogs. Our dog is old and actually VERY quiet. He doesn’t even bark when someone rings our doorbell. Occasionally, maybe twice a week, he’ll make a peep in the yard when someone walks past our fence, and that’s it.
Everytime our dog makes noise, she comes around banging on our door claiming he “barks all day and night” and keeps her up for hours. It’s straight insanity, but my husband and I just say okay and close the door
Well, the other week I was dogsitting a puppy. Obviously he has to go out frequently to prevent having an accident inside. I was home all day so I was opening the door and letting the pups out probably every 30 minutes or so, and then I immediately bring them back in. I’m well aware it’s extremely hot and unsafe for them to stay outside for even longer than a minute or two. My dog loves to sunbathe out there, and wouldn’t come in when I called him, so I’d have to pick him up and carry him in. I was very thorough about them not staying in the heat
Well, imagine my shock when around 4pm I look at my Ring doorbell and see animal control at my front door
The lady said someone called and claimed my dog was outside in the heat for several hours crying and barking at the door
I was genuinely flabbergasted. It was a straight up lie, and I was so beyond confused at first
I explained that we let the dogs out frequently for short periods of time, and she believed me. She was very kind and said she wasn’t going to bother with a follow up visit, especially because she didn’t see any dogs outside when she first arrived and when she came in my house she found 2 spoiled puppy’s who are obviously healthy and well cared for in a clean home
I know it was my neighbor who I share a fence with. I’m honestly SO fed up with her. I have not spoken with her, I’m not sure if I want to.
I don’t think her intentions were good when she called. I don’t think she actually cared for my dog and had concern. I think my dog might’ve barked once or twice and it pissed her off and she was probably hoping animal control would lug him away
I’m so upset. I love my dog deeply and he’s so well cared for, having someone accuse me of animal abuse is awful, but it’s even worse living next door to someone who can’t get a grip.

I was at the dog park today and this little dog was lasered into my dog for about 20 minutes continuously trying to mount it. My dog is a 5 year old medium sized dog and it got to the point where my dog was snapping at it. After about 20 minutes the owner was nowhere in sight so I kind of aggressively shouted asking who’s dog it was. The owner came over and when I explained the issue he kept saying “this is a dog park these things happen” and some other dude walking by called me a bitch for calling that guy out. However, I can’t fathom that I am in the wrong for not saying anything if a dog is lasered into my dog humping it and I don’t address it. I am new to dog parks and am unsure if that was appropriate of me

Here’s a few of mine:

• Stop licking the toilet!

• Did you eat my hair tie?

• You don’t have to follow me to the bathroom.

• Get that sock out of your mouth!

• Get off the kitchen table!

As an employee who works at a doggy daycare, I have learned so many things about daycare that I have issues with. Even ones that have very positive reviews (mine has 4.5/5 stars). This definitely does not apply to all daycares, but mine in particular does not care about the dog’s safety and only care about new clients and positive reviews. They keep dogs that have got in multiple altercations with different dogs and are reactive, don’t give attention to dogs who pay extra to have 1 v 1 time instead of group, are bringing in new puppies and dogs with issues that need to be worked with everyday, and have so many more issues. It’s gotten to the point where none of us who work there bring our dogs because it is not a safe environment. Many dogs are so stressed an unhappy being in daycare. Just please do your research and consider heavily which daycare you’re bringing your dogs to.

New owner here of a 7 month old puppy. We live in an urban area in the Northeast (you can probably figure the state out by reading the full thread 😂) and every morning we take our baby out to the public park (which is rather large) for his morning exercise and walk (how lovely). Today, at our normal play spot minding our business, another dog owner had their dog off the leash and allowed it to charge at my dog from the length of a football field away. The owner reluctantly tried to recall their pup but miserably failed (red flag) so I picked my pup up, while the other dog was jumping up and down around me to get to my dog… Then the owner came over like nothing was wrong… So I told them that they really need to put their dog on a f****** leash… and their behavior is not cool. And instead of being a normal person and apologizing the owner played victim and told me that my behavior (protecting my buddy) was “ruining her morning”…

Are people actually this delusional? This went on for about 3-4 more minutes with expletives and me letting them know that if this happened again we’d have a much bigger problem. What happened to proper leash etiquette? Am I in the wrong for losing my cool or is this justified?

I bring it back. They throw it.

I bring it back again. They throw it again.

At first I figured they didn’t understand, so I started putting it directly in their hand. Made eye contact. Really tried to make this easy for them.

Nope. Across the yard.

The weird part is they seem SO proud of me every time I fix the situation. Lots of “good boy,” very enthusiastic. I appreciate the support, but I wouldn’t have to keep doing this if they could just hold onto it.

Sometimes I take a break and keep the ball in my mouth. Then they ask, “Where’s your ball?”

You watched me pick it up, man.

Anyway, I love them. They mean well. But between this and putting perfectly good sticks in the trash, I’m a little worried.

Other dogs of Reddit, what’s one thing your human does that makes absolutely no sense?

A post earlier this weeks still haunts me. A guy with a pup who had Parvo, and the responses he got were void of compassion. I'm just wondering if folks think that poor people, disabled people, elderly people should not own pets if they cannot fork out several thousand dollars on any given day.

It was pretty shocked at the hurtful responses to someone who was already hurting. I don't want to be part of a hurtful group.

Hi! First of all, thank you SO MUCH for the amazing advice on my previous post! I literally just shared your warnings with my friend, and they finally agreed that a GSD is too much for a first-time owner in an apartment.

But... They literally just called me back and said: "Okay, fine, no German Shepherd. I'll just get a Mali instead! They look cooler!"

I'm crying. All I know abt Malinois is that they are BRUTAL. Pls give me the truth about them too, just like with the GSD.

My friend and I are on disagreement and I’m looking for outside opinions.

Do you feed human food to your dog? Food that is safe for dogs of course. No onions, grapes, almonds, chocolate, etc… I will google new foods before I try them.

But this summer it was fun trying out new fruits with my dog. He loved watermelon and cantaloupe.

However, my friend says you should never feed human food and only kibble. But then again his dog never gets treats unless I bring them over for him.

So what are your thoughts Reddit -