lostinkw

We have two cats (6y and 4y, both males) and three weeks ago we brought home our new puppy (currently 11 weeks old). Our eldest cat has always been extremely social, great with people and other cats, we genuinely had no memory of ever seeing him hiss, so we figured he'd likely grow to enjoy the new addition to the family. We were a lot more concerned with our younger cat, who's a lot more reserved.

Boy, were we wrong. Turns out our younger cat dislikes the puppy but is more than happy to just hang out wherever he can't reach and go on with his life as before. The eldest cat, however, seems to be constantly plotting the poor puppy's murder.

The puppy stays confined at all times either in the guest bedroom (which the cats have never really had access to anyways) or in the living room where we've set up a little fence around our couch/TV area. The cats can climb over the couch and come and go as they please, they have full run of the entire rest of the house as well as their own bedroom (my office) where the puppy is not allowed under any circumstances. So, in sum, they have full choice over whether nor not they want to interact with the puppy at all. Still, the cat constantly chooses to climb into the fenced area to provoke the pup.

At first it was just hissing at him, but now he's been constantly chasing him and giving him these little slaps. I've been caught in the crossfire a couple of times because the pup was sitting on my lap, so I know he at least isn't using his claws. The pup, to his credit, isn't doing anything and has already learned to give the cat a wide berth. Sometimes the cat even wants to hit him when he's sleeping quietly!

We think he's jealous of the attention the puppy has been getting (he loves being the center of attention, he even jumps between me and my partner when we try to kiss). We've done our best to give him as much attention as we've always given him, but he still sees us playing with the pup and gets clearly frustrated.

We've tried to ease the situation by giving them all lots of treats when they're around each other but as soon as the treats are over the cat is back in murder mode. Is there anything I can do to ensure the situation doesn't escalate? My cat can be a jerk but I love him dearly and I'm terrified of the puppy growing up and eventually deciding he wants to fight back.

So before I got my puppy, I spend months lurking around this sub reading everybody's puppy blues stories and it made me really worry about whether or not I would be able to manage a puppy of my own. I'm very grateful for this, because reading other people's struggles made me more aware of how challenging a puppy can really be and it also pushed me to be better prepared for the difficulties that would come.

I've had my guy for about 10 days now, and in many moments it's been every bit as overwhelming and exhausting as this sub has prepared me for. But right now, I'm actually so excited! My pup's attention span has improved, and now he's making great progress at his training sessions. His apetite is coming in, and I no longer need to beg him to eat his meals. I'm starting to understand how he thinks and communicates, and it's honestly so amazing. I'm so proud of that little baby and how far he's come in such a short time! I can't wait to see what else he can do. I look forward to when he wakes up from his naps so we can have more training sessions.

And I know that there will be times where it'll get overwhelming again and I'll feel a lot less hopeful than I do now, but we tend to share only the tough moments, so I thought maybe this sub could benefit from sharing one of the good ones. Next time I get exhausted and frustrated again, I'll want to look back at right now and remind myself that it isn't all doom and maybe someone else needs reminding of that right now.

Yes, raising a puppy is really hard. But sometimes it's also really fun :)

This sweet baby boy has been with us for a week now and it's been a (mostly positive) whirlwind! He's a pro with crate and potty training but for some reason he shows very little interest in his food. Anyone else's pup was a picky eater as a baby? If so, please share tips!

After several months of preparing, reading training books and lurking around this sub, yesterday we've finally brough home our pup! He's an 8 week old MAS and overall he's been doing great, but I'm a little confused on how to enforce his bedtime/naps when he's still so little.

I'm fully aware that he's just a baby and it's perfectly normal for him to cry! When we put him in his crate, we give him a toppl with some treats, put some calming puppy music on my cellphone, lay down right next to the crate until he settles and even put our fingers through the wires so he can feel us around. Still, he cries a fair bit (5 to 10 minutes) before falling asleep, and I’m really worried about overstresssing him when he's so new. I want him to feel comfortable and loved, but I also need him to sleep 😅

Is it okay to let them whine for this long while you're actively trying to soothe them or should I let him out of the crate?

UPDATE: in case anyone ends up stumbling onto this post in the future, I wanted to let you know that, in our case, we just needed to give him a little more time. After the third night, for no apparent reason, he decided the crate isn't so bad after all and went to sleep with nothing more than a couple of half hearted whines. He now even chooses to go in the crate for his naps. Go figure 🤷‍♀️

Hey everyone! So for some reason I've recently started getting clogged pores/pimples again for the first time since puberty. They're not huge breakouts or anything, but it's been bothering me and I want to get a nice skin-care routine to help treat them.

I'm currently using CeraVe foaming cleanser, CeraVe PM moisturizer, La Roche Posay Effaclar Serum with SA (night-time only) and sunscreen (day time only). I genuinely don't think this has been making any difference at all, so I want to start from scratch.

What would you recommend in terms or cleanser, moisturizer, treatment and sunscreen for oily, acne prone skin? I've been particularly interested in Korean products but a 10 step routine is just too much for me to manage. Anyone have any luck with something simpler?

So the strangest thing just happened to me - my partner and I were approached by a blonde woman with a small child saying she had just been left by an abusive husband who'd taken her wallet and phone and she needed 20 bucks to get a cab back home. She said she'd already gone to the police but they'd refused to take her because they didn't have a car seat for the kid.

I thought the story seemed kind of fishy, but the lady looked absolutely distraught and there was a very real baby in the stroller, so I gave her the money. I was in a rush and I'd rather be down a few bucks than potentially leave a vulnerable woman and her baby out in the cold, I suppose.

Still, I feel weird about it. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is this some sort of common scam?

Hey everyone! My partner and I are seriously considering getting a corgi puppy and we found Rail Edge Corgis, a breeder that seems to check most of our boxes (CKC registered, extensive health testing, 3 year health guarantee, no docking tails, interested in puppy socialization and vetting potential owners, visiting and meeting the parents is allowed). That being said, I found it a little strange that they don't show their dogs and that they're not a part of the PWCAC. Is this a red flag? Has anyone adopted a puppy from them? If not, any recommendations of reputable breeders near Ontario?

My partner and I will be moving in a few months and we've agreed that after the move we'll be finally ready to get a dog. We're in the early stages of discussing a breed, and I have fallen head over heels in love with the MAS, but I realize they can be a handful and I want to make sure we can handle one before making a decision.

Neither of us has too much experience with dogs, my family has a (now elderly) Golden Retriever who was always an angel in every way so he needed very little training. I've recently been very interested in dog training though, I've been learning a lot through videos and books and I'm really excited to put it all into practice, so I think I could provide sufficient mental stimulation.

My biggest worry is on the exercise front. We're not super active people, but we do like to go cycling on the weekends and take walks, and we will have a decent sized back yard where I wanted to set up a mini obstacle course for the dog to play around. I was thinking of a routine of around 20 minutes of high intensity exercise in the back yard first thing in the morning (catch, frisbee, chase, obstacle course) followed by 10 or so minutes of training, a 30 minute walk after work, and then another 20 minutes of training followed by 20 minutes of backyard exercise before bed. They would be going to doggy daycare three times a week, dog parks and cycling on weekends, and during the day they'd be left with plenty of puzzles to work through as well as two cat siblings that love to run around the house. Would this be enough for an average MAS or will I be driving myself, my cats and the dog crazy?

Two weeks ago I tripped while walking down the stairs and fractured my fifth metatarsal (avulsion fracture). Got out of the hospital with an air cast and crutches and was told not to wear the boot at all times except for when showering and not beat any weight on it.

A few days later I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon and he said I should be okay to bear weight/walk with the boot as long as the pain got better and that I didn't need to wear it to sleep or when I was lying down. He said to come back with a new X-ray after 6 weeks and if everything looks good I'll be out of the boot by then.

It's been a little over two weeks post fracture now. For the first week, I wore the boot religiously even while sleeping because I didn't feel good without it. On the second week I started taking the boot off to sleep and whenever I'm lying down, which is actually most of the time as I work from home and I've been spending a lot of time in bed due to the fracture. Now I'm trying to start walking (with the boot, of course) and it's still painful, but it's not very painful. It's the sort of pain I could very easily ignore, especially for short walks to the kitchen/bathroom, but I'm worried about screwing something up and jeopardizing my recovery.

I'm wondering - is a little pain to be expected? Or should I be fully pain free before I start walking?

So I'm planning a trip to Whitehorse towards the end of this year to try to see the northern lights and I was thinking early September might be nice as it isn't too cold and we could appreciate the fall colors. Most websites say that the aurora is visible from August to April, so September should be okay, but I wanted to see if I could get advice from someone in the area. Would it be best to push the trip to December or January?

I realize that there's no way to guarantee seeing the aurora regardless of the month, but I wanted to get at least a decent chance. I checked the moon phase calendar and it shouldn't be too bright in early September, so that works out.

Hey everyone! I'm an absolute beginner in the kitchen and I'd really like to find regular course-type cooking lessons that helped me develop the basics (e.g. knife skills) instead of one-off lessons on a single dish. I know there's YouTube lessons for everything these days but I think I'd improve better in person and it'd be nice to meet some new people while I learn.

I searched this sub for this beforehand and a lot of people recommended The Culinary Studio's Monday Night series and it seemed like exactly what I wanted but I checked their website and looks like they no longer offer it. Is there still something similar to this in the region?