I noticed as soon as I woke up this morning that something was off. She didn't do her normal morning greeting of rubbing all over the side of the bed and her bed like a lunatic, she didn't want to go out into the yard, when I walked out with her she barely moved and hunkered down. Her walking was tentative, she was standing... My lazy girl never stands when she can sit or lay. She didn't want to eat her breakfast. When I leashed her to see if she was scared of something in the yard, she was actually pretty bouncy in her walk! Maybe something stung her out back last night and now she's tender and scared of the yard... Then she gently whined when she tried to sit down and she was always so hunched, so uncomfortable looking.
I got her into an urgent care appt, we did a full workup with x-rays, and while we're waiting for a second test to confirm, it's very likely that it's pancreatitis. I'm very lucky, she had not had diarrhea or vomiting yet, but I also have since learned I missed earlier signs like irregular panting and shaking breaths.
She got pain meds injected and is hospitalized overnight with fluids to flush her system. I am freaking out. I can't believe I almost didn't take her in because it seemed silly to say something just seemed "off" about her demeanor and posture.
It's not clear what caused it, because pancreatitis doesn't follow a 'schedule' it may have been her eating my cat's food for a few days a month ago without my petsitters noticing, or it may have been her sneaking a meaty sandwich from the sitters 2 weeks ago. Or it may be a genetic predisposition or even something more random. It's not clear whether I need to be worried about specialty diets in the future. Apparently Black Friday is also known for an uptick in emergency pancreatitis cases in dogs being fed scraps of Thanksgiving dinner, so it can happen as soon as the next day.
Keep an eye out, being extra cautious could save your pup a lot of pain, and even their life. Spare a thought for my Rhubarb, who hopefully is on the mend right now and may never forgive me for dropping her off at an unfamiliar vet's office for 30 hours.

All you really need to make any sort of Dal is an Insta pot and a few spices, and Onions and Tomatoes.

1. Wash the Legume or Bean of choice. Some of them need to sit in water for a while.
   
2. Cut an onion and two tomatoes into pieces for every cup of the legume/bean you are using.
   
3. Prepare Cumin Seeds, Coriander powder, Red Chili Powder, and Turmeric for putting.
   
4. Set the instapot to “Sauté”. Dump some oil and wait for it to heat.
   
5. Add the Cumin Seeds and the cut onion pieces and sauté them until they’re translucent.
   
6. For every cup of Legume, add 1/4 tsp of Turmeric, 1/2 tsp of chili powder (more for extra spice), and 1/2 tsp of Coriander powder. Mix and you should be getting a red mixture with the onions.
   
7. Dump the Tomatoes and mix.
   
8. Dump the Legume/Bean (without water).
   
9. For every cup of Legume/Bean, add 2.5 cups of Water.
   
10. Pressure Cook. Different Legumes/beans require different times. Generally you can tell based on the size of the legume/bean in question (chickpeas and kidney beans take 50 minutes while lentils and pigeon peas take 20 or 30).
    
11. Serve with Rice.
    

It’s a simple process, but it’s amazing how many different dishes you can make with it. My favorite is with Kidney Beans, Rajma is easily a favorite.

This is a long story. These events happened over the span of a year and there's also a lot of build up before we get into the drama. Bear with me, but context is needed for some of these incidents.
When I was 22 my sister's house got flooded from a hurricane. She, her husband, and our family all pitched in to fix it up. It was a beautiful, but expensive, remodel. Just before the remodel was complete my sister and her husband decided that they were going to move to florida because her husband received a job opportunity. I was crushed, especially since my nephew had just turned 1 and they were pregnant with their second. Since the remodel cost so much money they were hoping to make a little extra money every month by renting it out. They first asked if I would be interested in renting it. I jumped at the opportunity and was really thankful that they trusted me. I found the first 2 roomates pretty swiftly, they were students in the same college as me and we were pretty good friends already. We'll call them Nick and Sarah. Since it was a 4 bedroom 2 bath house we still needed one more roommate but most of our mutual friends weren't in a position to move out. Enter Britney. Britney was a graduate from the same major just a year or so prior. We knew her enough to think she was a good candidate as a roommate. She seemed nice and responsible and given that she was a couple years older we thought she would be flowing with maturity. There was no indication that she would end up being a complete piece of shit.
It was understood from the beginning that I would take the master bedroom since I was essentially "head of the house". I would be the one in contact with the landlords and making sure we were keeping up with the house. Nobody had an issue with this. We all contributed to the house furnishings. I brought a love seat and kitchen stuff from home, sarah brought a reclining couch, Nick brought a dining table and chairs, and Britney brought the fucking audacity. Everything else we needed we bought together and split the costs.
Because I had the primary bedroom I also had a private bathroom. I made it very clear that they could use the bathroom at any point, even if i wasn't home. My only ask was that if I was home or in my room that they would first ask/knock on the door. but if I wasn't home, it was fair game. I trusted my roommates completely and it would've been unfair if I made 3 people share one bathroom.
We moved in in February. The first month or so went well. There were no hiccups, we all seemed to be getting along great. To make things easier and more organized I created a chore chart that evenly divided the chores between the 4 of us. This was going to ensure everyone was doing their part to keep the house clean. I also made magnets with our initials on them to use for laundry days. If you wanted to do laundry, you'd have to take your magnet and place it on the day you want to do laundry. You would have that whole day to do laundry. Chores were color coded and if your name was written in a color that would be your chore for that day. It was incredibly detailed, and some may say I am really controlling for this system but it's what I thought would be the best way to delegate and make sure everything was fair. Nobody really complained about it either.
In April Britney said she was interested in gardening and having a few house plants. We were all for it, even I wanted to have a few plants. She had three small herb plants on the windowsill above the sink and it never would've been an issued if she knew how to take care of them. Unfortunately, after a while she started to over water them and gnats became a problem in the house. I told her that her plants were attracting gnats in the house and that she needed to find a way to plant them outside. I suggested she buy one of those tin tubs and start a garden in it that she could have outside. She got super pissed and offended that I would tell her how to spend her money. She even refused to accept that her plants were causing the gnats and blamed it on the trash. I even asked her to move the plants into her room if she didn't want to plant them outside and she blatantly said no. I didn't want to make a bigger deal about it so I just let it go. Eventually she stopped over watering the plants and the gnats went away.
In May chores began falling behind. It wasn't one person's fault, it was everyone's. We were all guilty of not doing what we were supposed to do. I called for a house meeting and I thought i was being empathetic and kind about the situation, since I myself was also falling behind. I wasn't trying to single anybody out and said we all needed to get back on top of our chores. Britney threw a fit and screamed that she had been doing chores and that she didn't need to be part of this meeting. She called us all dirty pigs and singled Sarah out for being the first one to ignore her kitchen night. It was incredibly rude and factually incorrect. At this point i began to realize Britney would never take accountability. I'd also like to say that the kitchen chore consisted of unloading the dishwasher in the morning and making sure it was loaded and started before bed. It was up to each person using the kitchen to clean up after themselves.
Jump to July. July I threw a party, which was approved by everyone else. It was for 4th of july and we invited friends from school. Since the majority of our guests were mutual friends between me, nick and Sarah we told Britney she could invite her own friends. She thanked us but ultimately had to work that night anyway. Since she wasn't going to be there we didn't require her to pitch in for the party. We bought stuff for burgers, hot dogs, popsicles, a few different alcoholic beverages and stuff to make various dips. We encouraged our guests to bring they're own alcohol or desserts. It was a good party. Halfway through Britney came home earlier than expected and even brought friends to the party. We hadn't anticipated or planned for them but weren't going to turn them away. They drank other people's beer without asking, helped themselves to chips and dip and leftover hot dogs. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it weren't for them drinking other people's beer. the next morning Me, Sarah and Nick were cleaning up and we all thought that since Britney and her friends came to the party that she should chip in for both the clean up and the cost. She pretty much told us to fuck off and that her friends didn't eat anything from the party....Yeah. There's that audacity.
September: this story is actually kinda funny but still a testament to how shitty she was. I was at home in the dining room doing a project for a class. I needed a wide table space so I was using the dining table. Britney brings her boyfriend over, we exchange a few hello's and they go to her room. Her door is only 10 feet away. They start playing loud country music from her room and I literally am just like "Jesus, how inconsiderate can you be. It doesn't need to be that loud" Well 5 minutes later I find out why they're playing loud ass music. I start hearing her bed hitting against the wall as well as my roommates moans. I'm sitting there in the dining room, gluing magazine pictures to a poster board, and involuntarily listening to my roommate get railed. I am dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. Gobsmacked! And suddenly I just hear a loud crisp *SMACK*. At this point I am mortified. And I have no idea how she wasn't. when they finally emerged from her bedroom 10 minutes later I couldn't even look her in the eye.
In October Britney decided to host her own party, a halloween costume party. We were all game for it and she said we could invite a few of our own friends but that ultimately it was her party and she wanted it to be mostly her friends. We understood, we had our own party in july, she can have hers and we'll just invite our closer friends. We even pitched in for the alcohol and snacks. But there was one rule. No weed on property. That's a stipulation in our lease. No weed. But of course, in true Britney fashion, she completely disregards the rules and brought weed to the party anyway. Even if she didn't bring it, it was her responsibility to tell her guest to put it away. I didn't say anything to my sister, I let it slide because as much as we were beginning to hate Britney we also needed that 4th roommate. But it certainly came in handy later on.
In November me and Sarah bought a gold fish. The lease did say no pets but I don't really view a gold fish as a pet since...it literally doesn't do anything or bring any harm to the house. The fish died a few days later anyway so no harm done except to our hearts. RIP Sushi. A few days later Britney comes home with a whole ass baby bearded dragon. They are cool and since I had a fish I let this slide. Afterall. how much damage could a bearded dragon do? WELL!!!! LET ME TELL YOU! I was sitting in the living room one day watching tv and out of the corner of my eye i see a bit of movement on one of our baseboards. I get a closer look and I see it's a small baby grasshopper. I kill it and as I'm walking to the trash i see another. then another, and another and so on. Our house is INFESTED with these tiny baby grasshoppers that I know are used as food for bearded dragons. I know because the kid I nanny also has a bearded dragon. I remember finding these baby grasshoppers all over the fucking house, some dead but most were alive. In our rooms, in the common areas, the bathrooms, EVERYWHERE. I sent pictures of the dozens of piles i swept up of these grasshoppers and I sent them to Britney and said "Just so you know, your bearded dragons grasshoppers somehow got out". And you would think that a logical response from a decent human being would be "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I don't know how that happened. I'll come home ASAP to help clean up" but no. This bitch is a narcissist incapable of doing anything wrong and she responds with "Those are from outside. They're too big to be for my bearded dragon" I literally laughed outloud to myself. This was it. This was the straw that broke the horses back. Sweet and docile me broke and said "I'm not fucking stupid. They are tiny and I know they are for your pet. The boy I nanny has these for his dragon too. Come home and help clean this bullshit up"
Britney was also notorious for leaving her laundry in the washers and dryer past her laundry day. And it seemed to always effect Nick's laundry day because he would be nice and let her finish. But he had enough. So at exactly midnight he went to the laundry room, pulled her damp clothes out of the dryer and dropped them at her door in the hallway on the floor. I'm sorry but i was dying of laughter at his pettiness. We had all been tired of her antics and bullshit and it was fun having a little bit of payback. However, I will say Nick took it a step too far and banged on her door and shouted "Not your laundry day anymore bitch!" Britney's boyfriend came out and he and Nick started yelling at each other. I swear I thought a fight was seriously going to break out. I broke it up, told Britney she needed to adhere to the rules of laundry day just like the rest of us and Nick apologized for startling her. Everyone went to bed. THE NEXT MORNING, tensions are high between Nick, Britney and her boyfriend. The boyfriend, we'll call him Dick for funsies, got up in Nick's face for no reason at all. Nick was livid and asked me to reach out to to my brother in-law. My brother-in-law banned Britney from having her boyfriend over since he was creating a hostile environment and it wasn't fair to Nick since he was the one paying to live there. And if she didn't like it she could leave. She didn't and she adhered to the rule, for a time.
In December my sister and her husband came to town to do some work on the house to get it ready to be sold. We had known for a few weeks now that they were selling so we were working with them and the realtors to keep the place neat and tidy for house tours. It wasn't ideal but we understood. I'm in the living room playing with my new niece while my BIL is working on the A/C unit and who walks in? Britney and her boyfriend. Oh the joy that spread across my face in that moment. Britney and Dick went to her room and I looked at my BIL and said "that's her boyfriend". in that moment she and dick started to leave and my BIL walked out after them and gave her her official eviction notice. OH SWEET SWEET JUSTICE! Or so we thought. Britney's mommy called my BIL and begged him not to kick her out. her reason? She didn't want her to come back home. LMFAO. My BIL gave her one more chance to clean up her act but the rest of us weren't having it. We didn't care that holidays were coming, we wanted her gone. So I told him about her october party and the weed and he finally put his foot down and evicted her for real.
Unfortunately things didn't get better overnight. Britney was given a week to move her stuff out and turn in her key. One of the first things she took? Believe it or not, the outdoor trashcan (Which we all paid for) and in our city, the garbage collectors won't pick up trash unless it's in a bin. So for TWO WEEKS the city didn't pick up our trash and we had to verbally fight with Britney to get the trashcan back. It was absolute bullshit and I never wanted to strangle someone before. Not only that, but the plants she had sitting on the windowsill above the sink had papertowels sitting underneath them to absorb access water. When she removed them I saw how fucked up and bubbled the window sill had become from water damage. But at least the demon had finally been cast out and we were able to enjoy our last month in the house without her.
We never spoke or heard from Britney again...thank God.

So the household I'm in has 4 (all muts) dogs. The alpha dog is a large male, but overall pretty chill (also fixed), and doesn't necessarily lead the pack of 4, just does things like hoard the food, stuff like that. Smaller big dog (small boxer sized) might have Autism, she's sweet, but once hurt the smaller dog to get her to submit, but otherwise okay n okays with smallest dog she's around a year, and not fixed yet.
The 3rd smallest (spaded) is mostly the calmest, but the other dogs never let her have fun. She's obsessed with the kittens n smaller animals, but doesn't show any aggression. She guards them, but does not attack, she almost has a surrogate mother vibe, but comes off too strong. She mostly just stares without any other body language.
Smallest dog (not spaded) is a little hunter, and a Datsun/Chihuahua (maybe Pom) mix. She kills mice in the house, kills snails, and even killed a pet hamster that escaped. She sleeps in my niece's room, and is super attached to niece. She worries me the most while she's bigger than kittens, but I think they'll be fine provided they can get bigger than her.
The 2 kittens (I have no real say in the matter in the household) are currently isolated in my niece's room. When her dog is out, the kittens are in the kennel, and vice versa when they are out (or the dog will be locked out of the room.
The adults of the house were advised by the vet to bring kittens downstairs in kennel once a day to have dogs interact with them. My niece is stubborn, and acts like a know-it-all without doing any research herself. However, the adults of the house (mainly just one of them equally stubborn and ignorant) might rush things too fast.
Either way, I have two ignorant people butting heads, acting like each one of them is right. I don't want the kittens to be mailed to death, and both those people can be careless as well. I'd like to know the right way to do things in order to save these kittens.
The big male dog (rest are female) doesn't seem to care about them one way or the other (so far) and the second biggest seems more influence by the actions of the others, if one signals anything, she follows. They get jealous of each other as well. I find (2 of the 4 of us) humans of the house harder to deal with honestly. Is there anyway we can salvage this pet dynamic?

Amazon Brand - Wag Dry Dog Food Turkey & Lentil Recipe, 4 lb. Bag
Turkey & Lentil Recipe INGREDIENTS:
TURKEY, TURKEY MEAL , LENTILS, PEA PROTEIN , PEAS, CHICKEN FAT (PRESERVED WITH MIXED TOCOPHEROLS ), DRIED YEA ST, DRIED PLAIN BEET PULP, FLAXSEED, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALMON OIL, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, TAURINE, DRIED CHICORY ROOT, YUCCA SCHIDIGERA EXTRACT, DRIED LACTOBACILLUS PLANTARUM FERMENTATION PRODUCT, DRIED BACILLUSSUBTILIS FERMENTATION PRODUCT, DRIED LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS FERMENTATION PRODUCT, DRIED ENTEROCOCCUS FAECIUM FERMENTATION PRODUCT, DRIED BIFIDOBACTERIUM ANIMALIS FERMENTATION PRODUCT, VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENT, IRON PROTEINATE, ZINC PROTEINATE , COPPER PROTEINATE, FERROUS SULFATE, ZINC SULFATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, MANGANESE PROTEINATE, ASCORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVE), VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, BIOTIN, NIACIN, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE , SODIUM SELENITE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT, RIBOFLAVIN, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, FOLIC ACID.

GET NOW

I manage a dog grooming salon and there have been some issues with stolen food and occasional stolen cash. One of the employees set up their phone and it recorded one of the other people going through bags and lockers but not taking anything. HR won't use the video to do anything since it was obtained without consent. Everyone has seen the video except for the thief. I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. Do I tell the person what someone caught her doing? Do I look for other reasons to terminate her?

For context I am 16 F and my mother is 43F for some background my dad borrowed some money from my mother we will call her kat he probably borrowed about 1900 or less she is saying he borrowed about 3,000. I'm going to clarify I don't know the exact amount but she saying that he still owes her in total maybe 1,000 but my dad we will call him Gabe probably only owes her 300 or more. Additional information she owes me about 300 or more dollars she's constantly harassing him to give her.Her money when everytime she asks for money my dad gives knowing he has to pay for bills his bills right now is about 3,000 dollars.she technically lives here but she had to take care of her mother and she owes her 400 dollars never gave it back.But is bothering my dad about it she's basically saying she's going to sue him and mess up not only his credit but items bc he isn't "paying" not to mention she took money out of his account and got mad when he reported it. She's being unreasonable when she spent up all my money on the casino and barley feeds me she gets food stamps for me about 600 and I only get 100. when I ask for more I barley get it my dad has to buy me food and she gets mad and says I'm spending up her money when I'm not. It's only eggs and barely any water in the house that my dad bought she doesn't have any food stamps bc they denied her. bc she makes to much and now she's saying shes going to reopen child support and get his money from that. she already pawned in his rings and yet is still threatening him and he's trying there's no one else in the house to help him.they are constantly stressing me out when I tell my mom that he is being a father she gets mad and said he never did sh*t for us when he literally got this house for us.without this house we would have been homeless and this is the part I might be TA bc I called her jealous of Gabe bc she acts like he does nothing and is also taking care of me I don't favorite any of them yet she has a problem with everything he does and doesn't acknowledge what he does she got mad and hung up in my face. I don't even know if we will have enough money for some dog food for the dog. she constantly doesn't care that I tell her how high the bills are and he's trying to pay for everything by himself.she said she had to do it herself before and my dad paid 200 and more she gets section 8.so they already pay for half her bills all she has to do is pay for the lights and she complained about not paying it and was paying for my grandmas bills while we was struggling.my dad has to pay rent,gas, insurance,phone bill,Seward,smart house fee,water,and combination fee which is 35 which my mom never had to pay that AITA.

Has anyone had to deal with food aggression?
My 4 year old beagle has never gone without, but from day one had always eaten every meal like he's starving. And when I would approach him to try and slow him down as a puppy and even now, he just inhales faster.
But my problem now is that since getting a second dog he will now growl and become aggressive if I try to take him away or stop him from strealing the other pups treat or food.
I'm just looking for some insight as I want to deal with this negative behavior in the best way right from the start. As I know beagles have a great memory and I don't want to make the issue worse.

Howdy y'all!
Next week, my dog (Margaux) and I will set sail from Echo Lake to Bend, Oregon along the PCT. While we've been training in Southern California for the last few months, this will be our longest trip to date. We chose this section because we'll still get the beauty of the top of the Sierra's without the snow conundrum...not to mention that the pooch wouldn't be allowed through most of the Sierra's.
For those concerned about my dog, Margaux is a 55lbs Golden Retriever, we've gotten sign off from our vet with all her updated shots, and has been training with her saddle bags and boots. We've been doing 10-15 mile hikes 3x a week in preparation. She'll only be carrying 10-15% of her weight in her bag (mostly her dehydrated food and little things that take room, but aren't heavy). I'll be using her as a barometer of when we need to stop for the day. We plan to keep it between 15-20 miles/day.
That being said, I still have some questions about our adventure...because of the snowpack this year, I'm curious about the snow conditions in Desolation Forest through Donner Pass. I haven't been able to track much down. Admittedly, I'm new to the FarOut app and don't know how to navigate the interface well. I'll have crampons, but i'm hoping to avoid bringing an ice axe.
TLDR questions: Has anyone else had any experience bringing their dog on part of the hike and can provide some learnings? Any thoughts on the snow conditions in Northern California? We'll be looking to get a ride from Reno to Echo Lake - does anyone know a service that provides besides uber? Just some questions that have been running through my brain as we pack up our gear.
Either way, we're beyond stoked to be joining the community and seeing some of your faces on the trail!

TLDR: my dog never had any aggression until after a stressful year, she got into a fight with our other dog, they’ve since been separated but she still shows signs of anxiety and reactivity when around new dogs. How do I go about socializing/training so we can adopt a new friend for her?
So, my female dog (jade) had never shown any type of aggression, ever. She lived with our other dog Atticus for about 5 years with no issues other than a little jealousy, but nothing that ever caused conflict because he was very passive and had no jealousy issues, and she was always “polite” about it. And I mean she was in LOVE with him, she’d spend hours cleaning him head to toe, and they slept together every night. Unfortunately, he was very reactive around other dogs, so due to random circumstances she ended up seeing him get into a couple fights on different occasions. She took on some of those behaviors. After a very stressful year of moving into an apartment and people coming in and out of their lives she snapped and got into a nasty fight with him over food. We split them up immediately and jade moved in with myself and my boyfriend. Since then she hasn’t been the same, she’s very iffy around other dogs, hasn’t attacked but will nip and assert dominance. We’ve been able to have a few “play dates” with dogs she wasn’t familiar with that went ok, but not amazing. We’ve had Atticus over for multiple sleepovers and everything was fine but you could tell she still had her guard up the whole time. It’s clear she likes to have dog friends, and we’d like to adopt another dog so she can have a companion but it’s so hard because I’m terrified she might snap again. My question is, do y’all think this is something we can handle without a behavioralist? Should we just work on socializing her more and see what happens? How do I go about this situation?

I'm in the process of charting out a balanced diet for an older dog. Using Balanceit's recipe maker, it's recommending nearly a 1:1 ratio of chicken meat to chicken liver, plus the vegetables and carbs. Does this seem right? I only ever heard of offering organ meats sparingly. Recipe below...
67g Chicken, broilers or fryers, thigh, meat and skin, cooked, stewed 78g Pate, chicken liver, canned 1.29g Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet Liquid 5g Oil, corn, industrial and retail, all purpose salad or cooking 59g Rice, white, long-grain, regular, cooked (BalanceIT.com) 7g Carrots, raw 9g Corn, sweet, yellow, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt 10g Peas, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt 1.88g Morton Iodized Salt 5.31g Balance IT® Canine (2.5 g/tsp)

Context: 2 dogs, 30ish lbs and 53 lbs.
Dog 1 has a chicken sensitivity that results in GI issues.
Dog 2…has a TBD sensitivity. Started with red skin on groin and sensitive, red paw pads because of licking. Got better when switched off of Kirkland Nature’s Domain, better with Iams Sensitive Skin/Stomach, and now after a month on Purina Pro Plan Lamb/Oat it is AWFUL (has gotten progressively worse). After looking at ingredients, I’m thinking Pea/Pea Protein is the cause (or canola oil+meal).
So I’m looking for a chicken free, pea free food. Ideally lower in yeast due to Dog #2’s predisposition for urate bladder stones.
If you had to choose between these foods (or if there’s another chicken free, pea free food you recommend I’m all ears!), what would you choose? I’m mainly concerned about brand reputation/safety/quality.
Options:
Instinct: Be Natural Salmon/Brown Rice
American Natural: Legume Free, Chicken Free, duck w butternut squash
Natural Balance: limited ingredient Salmon & Brown Rice
Taste of the Wild: Ancient Mountain w Ancient Grains

Hello! Basically a first time dog owner here.
It’s been over ten years since I’ve owned a dog so I’m a little out of practice. I’m looking for some advice and tips on how to introduce a dog to a cat and vice versa.
My boyfriend and I have been wanting a dog for quite some time. We recently came across a very sweet 5 year old German shepherd mix. We’re not sure what she’s mixed with, but she’s definitely smaller than other female German shepherds I’ve met. We are currently fostering her for a week before we finalize (or not) the adoption. It’s been 3 1/2 days since we’ve brought her home.
I adopted a cat 4 years ago. She is now 13 years old and quite a grumpy (but sweet) old lady. She 100% does not get along with other cats, but has lived with a Pomeranian before and had no issues. She is quite used to being the spoiled rotten, only child. I had a friend who needed a place to stay for just one night and she has a purebred German shepherd and Doberman. My cat did not get a whole lot of interaction with them, but was not super scared or angry towards them. So I have the feeling she wouldn’t mind dogs as long as they don’t mind her.
Currently, we have a very tall baby gate on our bedroom door. Over the past couple of days I’ve draped a blanket over it and raised it by a few inches every day. The cat stays in the bedroom most of the day with her food and litter box. I open the cat door on the baby gate when the dog is napping in a closed room just to let her have some freedom. At night, the dog sleeps in a kennel in the bedroom. I leave the baby gate completely open so that the cat can come and go as it pleases all throughout the night. The cat seems to be very brave and curious when the dog is sleeping and/or in the kennel.
After the first night, we opened the kennel to leash and let the dog out. We failed to find and secure the cat before doing so. The cat was actually standing just outside the baby gate. The cat and dog made eye contact, the dog came a little closer to the cat, and the cat ran. A slight chase ensued. No one was hurt, but the cat was shaken up. The dog definitely felt guilty. That all happened within two seconds, I swear.
We’ve been very diligent about keeping track of the cat and making sure the dog can see, but cannot get to the cat ever since. I’ve purchased another cat tree and created another hiding place in a closet in another room for the cat as well. I do not want the cat to feel cornered or trapped. If another chase occurs, I want her to be able to get away from the dog.
We have not seen any signs that the dog has predatory tendencies. She is just very curious. We took her on a walk past a friends house the other day and their cat happened to be outside. The dog did the same thing, but backed off quickly after the cat hissed and did not seem interested after that. We’ve also been sitting down with one animal on either side of the gate (dog leashed) and practicing distracting from one another a couple of times a day.
I’m looking for any more tips or advice on how to make this process as seamless as possible. Everyone else I’ve spoken to just seems to believe, “That’s just what cats and dogs do.” Did we blow it after the first night? Does it sound unlikely so far?
We’ve really fallen in love with this dog. We understand a week is not nearly enough time for animals to adjust to each other. But I do not want to go through with this without the tiniest kernel of hope that our household can be civil one day.
A little more background info - my boyfriend had a dog before he met me that actually caught and unfortunately killed his neighbors cat. The dog was put down. That was about 6 years ago. I’m afraid his PTSD from that occurrence is hindering this process. Also, we both work from home so we have been home and one of us will be home 24/7 for the foreseeable future.
Sorry for the info dump. Please ask for more details if needed.
TIA!!

My parents have a 15 (soon to be 16) springer spaniel. This dog is their baby. The dog has a difficult time getting up. Falls frequently. Cannot get up or down the stairs without being carried. Pants continously esp at night. Shifts frequently. She does enjoy food brought to her but cannot go and stand at her bowl for water or drinks so they bring them to her. She cant even squat to poop, it just comes out. They made an appointment at a vet office that they have been going to for 45 years to have her euthanized. They were taken to a room for such. The vet came in and listened to her heart asked my parents some questions and told them they couldnt have the euthenasia because their wasnt a reason for it. Im floored. She was with the dog for all of 10 min. She said said that the dog was just in pain and that she needed some sedatives and aspirin. I saw their dog a month ago and i told them to put her down then but they refused because they love her so much. Now they are ready and they refused?! I was told it was the vets decision not my parents when i called to complain. I understand if you wish not to take a life but they should of been told that when they made the appointment. My dad was in tears. Is this normal?!

I couldn’t help but feel a tingle of relief and excitement when seeing this screen. Clothes, armor, a guide. I wasn’t going to be walking around clueless for long.
I stroked my chin at these selections. While armor looked tempting, I couldn’t afford it. Same with the 24 hour guide. A thorough immersive guide right now would leave me broke and naked.
Well, this choice was already set in stone for me, wasn’t it?
“One temporary guide, please,” I said a bit nervously. Though nothing happened. I pivoted my head to and fro, but nothing. Where the heck was my guide?
“Whoah! Full moon! Hello!” I heard a strong Italian Brooklyn accent over my head, realizing that I wasn’t alone. He was a metal orb with hummingbird wings, covered in etched lines and cybernetic crevices all over his metal plates.
I should have picked the clothes first!
I crouched over to cover my unmentionables and cried, “Simple gear, simple gear!” Immediately, I was given a wardrobe. Even had the entire Sailor Moon glowing light as I was dressed up head to toe: A dark cloak with a hood lined with fur, pants, gauntlets, a padded leather top, high leather boots, and a bag over my belt.
“Heh, kid, you don’t have to call out your selections. Not that I mind. That high pitched squeal was unpredictably hilarious.”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “Heh, sorry about that. This is all very new to me.”
He zip-lined right in front of me, the sound of his wings buzzing making my eyes grow wider. He zoomed in on my face as if he was analyzing me features, then suddenly, a red dot appeared on him, and I fell on my ass.
The first thought that crossed my mind was a laser sight, and that was exactly what it looked like before a red scanning beam traced me left to right.
He chuckled. “Heh, you’re pretty skittish for a guy with those level 1 stats. Well, allow me to introduce myself, hero. My name is Devicho. That’s D-E-V-I-C-H-O. And I am your temporary guide, here to answer all of your questions!”
I got up off my ass and nodded. “My name is Silas.”
“Yeah, I got that from your stats.”
“Oh, right. Well, crap, where do I start?”
“I got ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes!?”
“Yeah, I know. But them’s the rules. It’s all the boss is allowing me.”
“The boss?”
“The dungeon core. Alzera-Kar. We call this hidden gem mother, as she is the creator of all things in the country of Thalian.”
“Wait, a dungeon core created all of this?”
“Oh boy, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Thalian is made up of five nations: Marviel, land of the fae, Dradersi, land of the dragons, Guedmar, land of the orcs, Dokumbe, land of the goblins, and finally, Senterra, the fallen land of the humans.”
“Fallen?”
His voice dipped. “Hey, listen kid, I’m not gonna sugar coat anything for you here. Senterra is gone. A barren wasteland from what I could tell. If there are any humans left, they are most likely in hiding, so the other races can’t find them. A little history lesson for ya since we are tight on time: long long ago, these five nations lived in harmony as one. That harmony was doomed to fall, as the dungeon core, our great mother, created more and more resources. Now you see, the dragons were selfish bastards. They thrived off of money, greed, and pride. They started the racial divide, and these five species segregated themselves. Walls separate some regions, while big bodies of water separated others. Now, with the way things were rolling, the dragons were on the top of the food chain, and the humans were on the very bottom of it. As expected, all the races started to take advantage of the weaker race, bullying them to no end. Wars broke and Senterra crumbled. I’m talkin’ mass genocide, kid. The savagery, the bloodshed. Oh, it was horrible. Alzera-Kar saw this and was very upset. To help these deprived and enslaved humans, she created cyber sense.”
“You mean that purple evil Kirby that I killed? That was one of them?”
“No, well, yeah, but that was a defective cyber sense. And I’ll explain how. Originally, cyber sense was a mechanism solely for humans. They are particles in the air, nano feeds that respond to humans around its perimeter. They are everywhere, essentially dominating all of Thalian. Now what they do is shape themselves into cyber gear to improve the biological functions of human beings. This gave humans the edge that they needed, but after the humans broke the shackles of the other Thalian nations, they became the bullies. More war, more bloodshed. At this point mother Alzera-Kar was stressed. Her creations were dying. Her creations were killing themselves off. She didn’t know how to contain this ceaseless war and divide. Under this intense strain and tension, her crystal structure shattered, breaking off in three pieces. Without this protection, her core is vulnerable, and open for influence. These three pieces were scattered all over Thalian, but as of late, three nations have those pieces, and kid, they are protecting them with their lives! Dradersi has one, Guedmar has the other, and Marviel has one, too. These three nations are in constant strife! When one nation has all three parts, they can locate Alzera-Kar, and make her do anything they want.”
I was speechless…
“In this vulnerability, the cyber sense that was enhancing humans through cyber gear started to create evil fleshy beings. I’m talkin’ monsters. Of all sizes! They are only detectable by humans, which is why most nations made sense out of keeping humans as detectors. Remember what I said about them practically squattin’ everywhere? Well, that didn’t change. These hideous freaks lurk around, and materialize at any given moment. They became sentient. The upside though is when you kill the stronger ones, you get a full blown cyber gear. Some lesser creatures drop some precious loot too, parts to build a full-fledged cyber gear. It is good to note that cyber gear only operates for humans.”
“I think I’m getting some of the pieces to this puzzle together, here. Was I sent here to restore Senterra?”
“You bet!”
“And find the three shards to help Alzera-Ker?”
“Boy, you caught on quick, didn’cha?”
“But I don’t understand. Why not snatch the shards herself? She is all powerful, right? She’s pretty much the god in this country.”
“Not when she’s unprotected. If mother could become defective when vulnerable, imagine how much harder it’d be for her to get those shards?”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Not only that, but those kingdoms who have her shards are keeping it on lock down. Warded I imagine. It won’t be easy.”
“Why me?” I asked honestly. “I understand her humans here are suffering, and she went out somewhere else to find a hero. I don’t know why she wouldn’t pick someone locally. So I have to ask, why a foreigner? And why me?”
“I guess she saw something special in you that she couldn’t find in her natives. But don’t feel too overwhelmed. You’re not the only hero she went out of her way to find.”
“You mean there are others?”
“Of course! This is an entire nation we are talking about, after all.”
“How can you be so sure? A girl and her titan hound hunted me down back in my home town.”
He paused and then asked me sternly. “What did this girl look like?”
“White hair, real model type bod. A few inches shorter than me. And her titan, a big brawny dude in armor, had a skull for a face.”
“That ain’t sound good.”
“You know her? Her name is Lucyna.”
He sighed. “She’s from, Dradersi, daughter of King Orelus. Usually, dragon-kins have horns on their heads, sometimes along their jaws too. And some scales on their skin. They can materialize wings for flight at will, and are physically strong by nature. Lucyna probably used a spell to disguise herself as a human to remove those features on Earth. What’s more bothersome than that though was she found a way to open a gate to your world, and managed to track you down…”
“Not only track me down, she killed me.”
“I don’t understand. How the heck are you here if she killed you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I’d died and came back to life, isekai’d to this crazy fantasy RPG world.”
“You think this is wacky? You should hear what she thinks about people from Earth! Every race here was inspired by a planet from different galaxies. The plan was to make a cornucopia of races, but things started to get messy quick.”
“This mother seems to appreciate variety.”
“It has its goods and bads, as I’ve already mentioned. Which brings me back to Lucyna. This whole death business, it’s unsettling. And if she has access to Earth the same way mother does, you may very well be the only hero. Mother hadn’t started the recruiting process yet. She is still on the selection stage.”
“Then how did someone like Lucyna even know what she was planning?”
“Could be a precautionary step? Not sure. Lucyna is very smart. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a few steps ahead of her maker.”
“She’s on my hit list,” I said seriously. “Her and her dog.”
“Hey kid, slow down. You’re nowhere near her league! That dragon-kin is an elite, a royal one at that.”
“Then I’ll level up! Whatever it takes!”
“Kid…”
I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand. It’s not just a vendetta. All of my life I was invisible. I love my mom, but things changed when she started focusing on her career. She was hardly ever there. Dad was never around, either. He taught me to never take shit from anyone, use my fists when I have to, and never give up. That’s it. I was alone, in my own mind, in my own world. I became detached from everything, losing myself in my hobbies, finding fulfillment in playing games. That’s where I belonged. That’s where I felt like I was achieving something, where I was somebody. Still, it would have been nice to feel that out in the real world.
I wanted my life to mean something. Then she came around and snuffed my chances out. But then the dungeon core brought me back and gave me my chance.
"This is an opportunity to start over, to start fresh. I will do right by Alzera-Kar, but not because she gave me this gift. I want to help these tormented humans of Thalian because it’s the right thing to do. A voice for the voiceless, and power for the powerless. She brought me here to become a hero, and I’ll do just that. As for my own personal agenda, that’s secondary. I want that psycho to know what having everything taken away from you feels like! My life wasn’t the best life, but it was my life!”
“You sound motivated! Thadda’ boy!”
“I’m going to raise Senterra up from the grave, and I need you to tell me everything there is to know about getting stronger to do it.”
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I was using Nutri Source dog food but in a pinch I am deciding to try Instinct raw kibble blend. It’s the real lamb and oatmeal recipe. My question is, I normally add Kirkland wet food (Turkey and pea stew), can I still do this or does the Instinct brand basically encompass both? I don’t want to over feed her.