He was my first dog; I had always wanted one since I was a boy, but I was never able to have one. Then, one day—by which time I was living on my own—I decided to adopt this dog, and he changed my life.

He brought me endless joy and companionship; he led me to new friends and even new girlfriends. He made my life better, asking for nothing in return but affection and love.

Then, after 12 years of companionship, the diagnosis came: tumors throughout his entire body. I managed to extend his life by another three and a half months, using various medications and periodic drainage procedures. He was doing okay, but one night, he suddenly found he could no longer lie down. He couldn’t sleep at all that night, while I sat beside him, weeping and trying to get him to rest his head on my shoulder. Finally he looked into my eyes with a defeated expression and then I made the choice—one of the hardest decisions of my life. I stayed by his side as he was put to sleep, resting my hand on his muzzle so he would know I was there with him.

I buried him, and I cried—I am still crying, and I will continue to cry for a long time to come.

It was the right decision; I have no doubt about that—I just miss him terribly. I see him everywhere and feel his presence; I stilll try to be quiet when walking down the stairs so I don’t wake him at night. I look at his empty bed, half-expecting to see him there. I have two cats, which makes his absence a little less painful, but it still hurts deeply. My wife is there for me, and she is grieving too, even though she only lived with him for four years.

I love him so much, and I only hope that one day I will see him again and be with him forever—in some new reality, or at least in the great nothingness.

For reference my dog is a rescue, around 16/17 years old, and has not been crate trained.

Now, normally, I let her just have free roam of my room all night. But my door got damaged really badly which means she’d have free roam of the entire house. This would not be a problem if she was supervised, but she will pee and poop everywhere if she’s free roaming the entire house since we leave water out for our cats and their feeder is where my dog can get to it unfortunately..

But since I can’t let her roam, I have to put her in a crate. She’s been screaming and wailing the entire time, and it breaks my heart for her to be under so much stress. Does anyone have any tips to help her calm more? Maybe specific foods, sounds, etc? My family is getting upset because she is so loud with her wailing you can hear her from other rooms through the walls and it’s costing us sleep. She only stops crying when she’s exhausted herself to the point of passing out

EDIT: problem has been solved, ended up grabbing an old dog crate from the garage and blocked my doorway with it. It has stopped her from escaping so she can free roam my room once more! Lucy is now sleeping soundly on the floor. Thank you everyone for the kind tips and advice ❤️

Edit 2: guys please don’t say I’m abusing my dog and torturing her. I love her very much and felt horrible. The crate was the first idea I had and was suggested by my family aswell. I assumed she would be upset and then go to sleep, but it was clearly not for her. I have fixed the issue and don’t need anymore comments saying that I’m a horrible owner.

I need to take a long road trip for work. I will be with my dog at all times except for 2 hours during the trip. I want to take him badly. Will he be ok in the car with the AC and car running for that tine period? I hate to leave him at home and have him miss out due that short period. The area I will be in at that time shows temp high for the day at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Also I should add i am abel to lock the car with it running so that will not be an issue. Thank you

Edit: I should add the reason I hesitate for dog daycare is because he has a history of IVDD that can flare up if someone picks him up wrong or if he is in contact with other dogs and gets too rough. My car is a 2025 model with low miles so i dont believe AC failure is likely.

Hey all,

My lovely girl just passed away unexpectedly between 2:30-3am this morning, and I feel awful because I was downstairs cleaning kitty litter boxes at the time.

She had pneumonia but she had seen my vet and we were treating it. She was scheduled for a recheck today, actually. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I went downstairs to do a couple chores (litter boxes, checking water, putting clean dishes away) in the hopes it would make me tired. She wasn’t showing any signs of distress, so I kissed her head and trotted off. Came back upstairs 30-40 minutes later and she was already gone. I feel so awful that I wasn’t there in the room with her.

Yuan was the best Great Dane. Loved kids, other dogs, cats, everyone she had ever met. It’s her fault I became a cat person at all — she befriended a stray who ended up giving birth on my porch. I adopted the whole litter and my dad adopted the stray. Yuan was so chill and so good at de-escalating situations that I trained her to help rehabilitate my friend’s dog who had become reactive because of trauma. Those two got to the point that they would curl up together and snuggle whenever my friend and I hung out together.

Yuan even helped with a litter of kittens who were abandoned by their mom at less than a day old. I was getting up to make bottles every two hours, and she was getting up with me every single feeding, gently licking the kittens clean, and letting them sleep on top of her for the body heat.

Yuan came from an awful puppy mill situation — she had two litters by the time she was two, at which point the authorities shut the place down, and she ended up at a rescue, where I found her. I’ve had her since she was about two and a half. I’m getting a print of her paw so I can have it tattooed.

That dog changed my damn life, and I’ll miss her so very much. Thank you for taking the time to read about my baby girl.

Picture of Yuan with Kitten

Has anyone experienced this?

My dog has always been perfectly comfortable going up and down the stairs. She’s done it her entire life, so this is completely out of character for her.

Recently, she suddenly started refusing to go upstairs (any stairs). She’ll stand at the bottom, crying and waiting for someone to pick her up. She clearly wants to go up, but she seems genuinely scared.

Going downstairs is a little different. Most of the time, she’ll do it normally, although sometimes she hesitates and seems scared or takes a long time to make up her mind.

She’s 9 years old, but we’ve already had her checked by the vet. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, her vision is perfectly fine (she had a recent eye exam), and her tests haven’t shown any arthritis, bone issues, or other problems.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their dog? Could it be anxiety or a sudden fear that developed for some reason, even after years of using the stairs without any problems (that I’m aware of)?

I’d love to hear if anyone has figured out what was causing this in their dog or found a way to help them feel comfortable using the stairs again. I hate seeing her so scared, and I just want to understand what’s going on. ❤️

I've currently got two large breed dogs, 1 cat, and will probably add a fresh puppy into the mix soon.

Regular old school fabric couches: destroyed

Weird synthetic fake suede fabric couch: destroyed

Gigantic modular 6 piece couch: almost destroyed

Has anyone ever found anything that holds up to L/XL breeds that decide the couch is occasionally Thunderdome?

I know there were a few companies that made thick coverings, kind of like moving blankets, but it's there a company that makes extremely durable and easy to clean material?

Does anyone else’s dog just avoid walking when it’s cold or rainy outside? My dog is a little diva, she is a chi/jack Russell for reference.

Especially now it’s getting colder and raining, she just wants to be snuggled up in a blanket 😂

I know this is a reach but we are looking for a lost Italian greyhound in this area who went missing Sunday night and he is still missing. Please forward this to anyone you know who may have seen him thank you! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19gM2ZXjrm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

On Monday I'm picking up a 10 week old miniature pinscher girl and I am so nervous and possibly regretting my decision.

I currently own a 2 year old male min pin and he is an absolute joy, and I know he would love having a canine companion which is the biggest reason I decided to get another. I know people say "don't get a dog for your dog" but we dog-sat for 1.5 months straight and I did notice my dog being calmer having a buddy around.

I guess I'm just dreading the whole "raising a puppy again" which means potty training, socializing, high energy, and zero free time.

Does anyone have good things to say about owning two dogs so I stop feeling like my life is going to end?

My dog’s dying, and I want to give him a good time going out. I’m gonna try and give him a good final day before having to put him down, and I’d also like to give him a good final few weeks. I know I want to give him an indulgent meal for his last, and I’d like to know how soon I could give him junk food like chips and such before he dies. He’s a Chihuahua. I’ve had him for almost 11 years this November, and if anyone has any suggestions and ideas or whatever it may be, then please feel free to chip in.

Both fixed since they were young, cat is M5 and dog is M4.
They’ve lived together since each were 6months. And this just started happening this year.

I’ve caught him in the act a few times and whenever I leave them alone and let them cuddle my dog gets SA. Little red rocket is out, back twitching and cat is biting on him sometimes. Cat will do it anywhere on the dogs body, leg, back, side. My dog, he just lays there staring at me or off to space for someone to remove the cat. Whenever I see it happen I rush over and scold my cat and he just walks away.

Is this normal?

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

Hi all,

I’m planning to move out soon, and it’s very hard to find a place where they would let you rent with a dog. But finally I found one, the condition of moving in is that the dogs (mine and the home owner) gets a long.

I have a little Shih Tzu (6M, 12kg) and home owner have a Gold Retriever (6M). Now the problem is Nugget, he is fine with dogs his size but with dogs that are bigger than him, he sometimes jumps up to be face to face with the bigger dog, and I don’t think any dogs would like that, how could i fix this? Or is this even normal?

He’s recently got neutered and has calmed down a lot but we haven’t been close enough to other dogs for me to tell if the neutering has made him calmer.

I really need this to go well, or else I’m going homeless 😢

Please help

More of a furniture holder question than a dog one, I suppose. My boy is all excited from his walk when we come back, and he pushes against the couch, moving it backwards. The front legs are on a rug and the back have anti skid pads. He's about 45 lbs. Anyone deal with anything similar and found a solution to keep the couch in place?

I’m looking for advice on a dog bed that would maybe work for my dog who doesn’t want to be on them.

She’s a 5 year old rescue, female, spitz type of mutt with double coat and has been with me for a year now.

The reason I want her to use a dog bed is that I see her elbows are starting to chafe and I wanna teach her “place”.

The beds that I’ve tried so far with no success: Elevated bed, regular soft bed, cooling mat, another softer bed.

Crate training is not very popular in my country and she’s a 5 year old rescue so I’d like to avoid that.

She sleeps on our bed or on the couch but mostly prefers the hard floor.

I have a small, shy 3 year old chihuahua mix. He comes from a hoarding situation, so the outside world has always been a little scary (although he is much, much better than when we got him.

My issue is that I don't think he's getting enough exercise, but he acts like he's getting all that he wants.

For regular exercise I take him out twice a day in the park/walking path behind our home for as long as he wants and whatever he wants to do on a long training lead so he can wander. Sometimes we're out for 5 minutes, sometimes for 20, but we never go very far (again, based on his decisions). I just got back from a 15 minute one and I think we went 300 steps. He sniffs around, follows a scent for a bit, turns back, finds another scent turns back again, etc. So, we're almost always in view of our house no matter how long we're out. Beyond that, we have a big back yard and he goes out whenever he signals and stays out (with us) as long as he likes. Mostly that's just lying in the sunshine. He used to zoom a bit - he's the fastest little thing - but he doesn't do that much anymore. Both of those things - his twice daily meanders and his lying outside - are things that relax him and that he really enjoys.

We also take him on walks, but he doesn't love those. Being in the car scares him a little (although he calms down almost immediately) and he's never really at ease although he's well below threshold. On "real" walks he doesn't sniff much and he just keeps up with us. But, again, he doesn't really seem to love them and he's always on the alert. We used to do much more of these but mainly now I just let him meander near home because he seems to enjoy it so much.

In the house he's very calm. He does love to parkour, so if we walk down the hallway he'll race ahead, jump on a chair, and wrestle with us as we go by. And maybe a few times a week he'll decide he wants to play chase with us in the house. Beyond occassionally chasing a treat he doesn't really like dog games - I've tried fetch, those flirt sticks. He doesn't really like any chewing treats.

So, that's his exercise. Again, he's very calm. Every once in a while he'll start barking but that's rare. Generally he doesn't act like he has a lot of pent up energy and he has decent muscle mass, but it doesn't seem like enough exercise for a fit young dog.

I should add that he's at a great weight and his vet says he has appropriate muscle mass.

Between the dog shedding and regular foot traffic, our rugs and hard floors feel dusty again just hours after vacuuming. Dragging out the upright unit every single afternoon is getting pretty exhausting, so I am finally looking into automated options to handle the daily baseline.

Whenever I search for the best robot vacuum for carpet and pet hair, I get buried under conflicting specs and marketing claims. Some people recommend sticking with traditional roomba models, while others mention brands like eufy for quieter runs and better roller maintenance, but it is hard to tell how well these brushes actually deal with longer fur without getting choked constantly.

For those who run one in a busy shedding household, which models hold up best over mo ths of use without requiring you to untangle the roller every two days?? Thanks in advance!

Ich hoffe, dass ich hier mit meinem Anliegen nicht falsch bin.

Folgendes Szenario: Meine Eltern haben sich vor einer Woche einen Welpen gekauft und sofort eine OP Versicherung abgeschlossen. Nun zeigte der Hund letzte Woche ein auffälliges Verhalten und sie mussten in die Notaufnahme fahren. Es stellte sich heraus, dass der Hund ein ganzes Welpenhalsband geschluckt hatte, welches operativ entfernt werden musste. Alle waren natürlich geschockt und überlegt, wie das sein kann. Die Ärztin meinte, dass das Halsband ihrer Meinung nach zu 100% schon länger in dem Hund war, als meine Eltern ihn besitzen und es wäre natürlich auch naheliegend, da es sich um ein uns unbekanntes Welpenhalsband handelte. Die Züchterin meinte, sie hätte wohl keine Halsbänder in der vorgefundenen Farbe (rot). Nun haben meinte Eltern eine Rechnung über 3.5k€ erhalten und wir wissen nicht, was wir machen sollen. Sollen wir die Rechnung bei unser Versicherung einreichen und hoffen, dass es als Unfall gilt und somit sofort übernommen wird ( bei Krankheit übernimmt die Versicherung erst ab einem Monat nach Abschluss)? Oder sollten wir rechtliche Schritte gegen die Züchterin einleiten, was natürlich zu einem größeren Aufwand und langem hin und her führen könnte und es ja auch im Endeffekt kein 100% Beweis gibt? Die Versicherung würde bei der Erkenntnis, dass der Unfall vorher passiert ist ja z.B. auch nicht zahlen, da sie damit dann quasi nichts zu tun haben. Vielleicht hatte jemand ja schonmal einen ähnlichen Vorfall und/ oder kennt sich mit der Thematik aus. Ich wäre für jede Hilfe dankbar🐶

Bit niche, but I’m trying to work out how pet microchip registration holds up once you cross a border inside Europe.

If you moved with a dog/cat, was it obvious what you were supposed to do? Did vets/authorities actually find the right record? Was changing or confirming owner details easy? Did you end up dealing with multiple databases?

Interested in what broke in practice, or if it unexpectedly worked well.

I recently found out the EU wants to revamp the system and make it more connected, I wonder how many of these they get right!

https://www.brusselstimes.com/2102298/new-eu-rules-target-pet-microchips-breeding-bans-and-welfare-overhaul

1. Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have training dogs?

* no, we have a toy poodle who my husband and I have trained. We went to group classes and hired a private trainer.

1. Preference for rescuing for reputable breeder?

* no, either

1. Describe your ideal dog.

• *family oriented, friendly, smart, confident. I’d love a dog that I can cuddle with on the couch but can also take places with me (like a farmers market, etc). I have bad allergies, so it would need to be a poodle mix or low shedding dog.

1. What sort of things would you like to train your dog to do?

* basic commands like sit, down, place, heel, stay, etc. I’d also like to train them to settle well in public places like if we went to a restaurant.

1. Compete with dog in sport?

* no

CARE COMMITTMENTS

1. How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

* Easiest thing would be for me to describe how much time I spend with my current dog, because it would be similar.

I am a homemaker and work very part time (10 hrs) at home, I own my own business. I have a chronic illness that I am recovering from, so my activity level can fluctuate. My husband picks up the slack when I’m not feeling well. I spent about 30-45 min in the morning cuddling with my dog while I have coffee. I do 5-10 min training bouts 4-5x per day. I walk her for 45 min in the morning. I take her out to sniff and explore for enrichment, probably 30 min total a day. I play fetch and chase with her indoors for 3 x 10ish min stints a day. Sometimes during the day she sits on my lap while I work, otherwise she hangs out nearby. I take her with me any chance I can when I do hiking, to a coffee shop, etc. we go to a training or dog play class once a week. At night she cuddles with us while we watch an episode of TV. I brush her coat and teeth daily.

1. How long can you exercise your dog each day on average?

40-60 min walking in neighborhood or nearby park
Intermittent short bouts of play inside (tug, etc)

1. Brushing, grooming, etc?

* I have a toy poodle, so I am ok with a lot of work in this area. I will pay for professional grooming monthly but do daily brushing and clean ears, trim nails, etc as needed

1. What dog size are you looking for?

* medium to small

1. How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

* shedding - very minimal to no due to allergies
* barking and slobber - don’t love either lol. All dogs bark that’s totally fine, but it would drive me crazy to have a breed like a husky that was super vocal.

1. How important is being able to let your dog off leash in an unfenced area?

* not - I would never do this

1. Snuggly dog or one that prefers personal space?

* snuggly

1. Dog that wants to do its own thing or is more eager to please?

* eager to please and very biddable, trainable

1. How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on your door or entering your yard? How would you prefer them to greet strangers or visitors?

* in general, I’d like a very friendly dog. I would train them to go to place when someone comes to the door. If a stranger surprises them, I’d like to be able to redirect and command place or another cue like sit or down

1. Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive do other dogs?

* no. I’d I ended up with a dog like this I’d invest into training to help me figure out what to do, but I really, really do not want this

1. Other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

* constant, yippee barking
* aggression

1. How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

* crate nightly for first year or until we can trust them not to tear stuff up at night lol. After that they’d be able to sleep in our bed

1-2x per day, not usually for super long. When I leave the house to workout or for a doctors appointment. Could be anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 4 depending on how far I have to drive.

1. What are the dog related preferences for people in the house and their involvement in care for the dog?

* one reason we want a friendly dog is because we have a lot of friends with babies and small children that come over. We want a dog that is friendly and would like approach new people for pets
* we will have our own children soon.
* my husband works full time. He is involved in the dog care I explained above, but I do 80% of it. He mainly does the “night shift” of taking the dog out after like 8pm and before he leaves for work. He’ll get up in the middle of the night if they whine to potty. We often do a short walk (20 min) or sniff walk together when he gets home, he rarely does this without me

1. Do you have any other pets, or planning on other pets? What breed are they?

* toy poodle girl. We will not get any additional after this second dog.

Our toy poodle is sweet and friendly, she has never been aggressive. She’s very chill, she is cat like in a lot of ways. She loves to explore and has a will of her own, she’s also not food motivated, so training has been a challenge on the leash. She gets scared easily. She likes dogs, but it takes her a while to feel them out and decide they’re ok. When she gets scared she shakes and tries to hide behind me. She doesn’t bark, bite, or act aggressively. I took her to puppy play classes when she was little, and if a dog was too friendly with her too fast she would just sit down or hide and wait for them to leave. She has slowly become more confident over time as I’ve really worked to socialize her. Part of the reason we think she’s this way is because we got her after the puppy socialization window. She is a Velcro dog and loves doing everything with me.

1. Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

* yes

1. Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your leases?

* yes, will buy a house in about 2 years but renting for now. No restrictions

1. What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws?

* Nashville, TN. Moving to Sedona, AZ next year. No laws

1. Average temperature of summer or winter day where you live?

* Nashville, 85-95 high in Summer, 25-40 in Winter
* Sedona, high of 97 in summer, low of 57 in winter
* when we move to Sedona we would have indoor options for exercise, such as an indoor treadmill. We would also shift the routine to walk early in morning

1. Any additional relevant information?

* I don’t think so! The biggest limiting factors are my allergies. I’d really need a dog either bred with a poodle or a very low shedding dog.

We have 2 dogs and a handicapped daughter (25). We keep the dogs on the first floor because our daughter has 2 cats and one of our dogs is a husky, that will chase anything that moves. We have a stair lift for her. We need a gate that opens easily and closes itself. Her fine motor skills cannot handle fidgeting with a latch. Please help!!!!

**Introduction**

1)Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

No, I have two dogs currently a Pumi and a Mudi mix. They are both rescues and come with their own challenges: barky, herding instinct, low frustration tolerance. They have learned to settle quite well though, the only issue that remains with my girl (Mudi Mix) is dog reactivity, but even that I have learned to manage better over the years.

2)Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a [reputable breeder]


This time around I would like to go through a well researched, reputable breeder.

3)Describe your ideal dog.

Temperament:
    - one (wo-)man velcro dog. I just really love to have a dog that likes to           be near me all the time, loves to cuddle.
    - will to please. This is a trait I have dicovered with my herding girl, she is so easy to train because of that will to please, we have a great connection and I think that plays a big part
    - sensitiviy. My Pumi mix taught me what it is like to have a dog that can just closes his ears when he chooses and I have to be very consistent and apply lots of pressure sometimes, or otherwise he just doesn't care. Things just seem to bounce off him and it can be quite tiring during training. I'd like a dog that cares if I sound displeased and responds well to small corrections, my Mudi girl is like that, it just makes things much easier for me.

Looks:
  - prefer medium sized and medium coat
  - I like pricked ears and a bushy tail
  - I like the look of mixed line BC, wl Aussies. 

4)What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

Herding breeds mostly. I fell in love with their temperament and would like to try and work with them. My mother has sheep and cattle, we also used to have a few sheep (and in the future I hope to have some again).

5)What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

I would like the dog to be an allround companion first and foremost. I'd like him to accompany me on hikes, travels and be able to relax in most environments. It is important the dog to feel comfortable in both rural and urban areas, be neutral towards other dogs and humans.
I would like to do herding (games and sheep), am also interested in obedience and scent work.

6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

I am not looking to compete, but would like to try out herding, obedience and/or scent work, depending on what the dog likes to do. I have done hobby obedience with my dogs (bit of heelwork etc.) and tried herding with my dogs, but they were not suitable for herding work. 

**Care Commitments**

  7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

About 2 hours a day.

8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average?  What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?  

I live in a very small rural community, close to nature (no dog parks). I can provide daily walks, obedience training and some mental stimulation (free shaping, tricks). I also do horse riding, and would love to be able to take the dog with me while out and about.

9)How much regular brushing are you willing to do?  Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home?  If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?

I am willing to do the basic brushing, nail trimming and ear cleaning at home, prefer the dog not to have too much hair (medium coat preferred) since we spend a lot of time in nature the maintanance needs to be a bit wash and go.

**Personal Preferences**

10)What size dog are you looking for?

Medium sized dog: 45-60 cm, 15-25 kg.

11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

Don't mind the shedding, but would like the dog to be less barky than my Pumi. I don't like slobber.

12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?

That would be ideal, as I'd like to take the dog out on horseback rides.

**Dog Personality and Behavior**

13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

Snugly all the way.

14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

I want that will to please

15) How  would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard?  How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?  

* I like an alert bark (is not a must), want it to be able to settle down after greeting the person. I would like the dog to be neutral towards strangers, can be aloof as well.

16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

Nope, been there done that.

17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

Extreme barkyness, strong independent streak, agressive tendencies.

**Lifestyle**

18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

I am a primary school teacher and am at most 5 hours away from home with about 3 months of vacation each summer. 

19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog? 

It's just my husband and I. I am the main dog carer, he feeds them sometimes, cuddles and plays. He is very tolerant of many behaviours, he doesn't like huge dogs and brachys (we agree on that) also prefers a dog that doesn't have super short coat. 

20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets?  What breed or type of animal are they?

Beside my two dogs, we have three cats and two bunnies (in their own enclosure). I would like to get the dog after my oldest has passed though, so not for some years I hope (she is 9).

21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

Not regularly, but once a year my brother and his two children come to visit, but I can easily separate the dog from children if need be.

22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?

No, I own my house and garden.

23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?

I live in rural Romania, not sure about banned breeds (I know certain breeds need to wear a muzzle when in public)

24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

Summer: ~ 20 C
Winter: ~ 2-5 C

**Additional Information and Questions**

25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

I would like to get the dog after my oldest has passed, so not for some years I hope (she is 9). I am considering a female dog.

26) Feel free to ask any questions below.
What breed would you recommend?

Recently it has started, house goes quiet for the night and then the dog starts whining in her kennel. She’s almost 2 now and never done this before. Usually is asleep before us. I take her out to pee she may or may not and just walk back in the house. I give her food thinking she may be hungry, won’t eat it. Water same, may have a couple laps but not dying of thirst. Any ideas? Similar experiences? I don’t want to give her doggy gummies or sleeping meds but at this point I don’t know what to do.

I purchased my puppy through Pawrade and followed the requirements to activate PetPay Health Guarantee. Shortly after we received him we noticed he had an abnormal walk. We consulted our vet who confirmed he has a deformed shoulder from birth. We submitted the required paperwork to Pawrade seeking reimbursement for the vet expense and were told a second opinion from a specialist was required. We paid another $500 for the specialist who confirmed the deformity and submitted the report to Pawrade within the required time frame. The claim was denied. Their explanation was that because the specialist does not recommend surgery due to his size and age and that he does not appear to be in any pain. We were seeking reimbursement for expenses incurred, not the purchaseprice of the puppy which we considered more than fair.

Bottom line is they sold me a deformed puppy that has a limp and issues going down stairs. He may not be in pain now but it is unknown what issues he will have as he becomes an adult and continues to put all of his weight on his other limb.

Pawrade's Health Guarantee is a scam.