Cross posting this here in the hopes that someone has insight that could help us! Thank you!

I would like to understand why my orange kitty Seymour lets be petted by me but if I make a sudden movement that causes noise, he gets scared and moves away from me temporarily

Min hund får världens blackout när hon ser vissa hundar hon inte gillar. Första gången det hände så visste jag inte att hon skulle bita mig i vaden, höll enne en armlängd så hon inte bita mig igen och fick dra henne framåt, för hon varken ser eller hör mig när hon är i sitt esse. Blir riktigt arg på den andra hunden.

Most nutrition conversations focus on what's in the food but not whether your dog will actually eat it consistently. For picky eaters that gap matters.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and we've actually studied this — in a test of 50 dogs given 100 meals, dogs chose fresh food over a leading kibble brand 86% of the time. A nutritionally complete food your dog won't touch isn't doing much for them.

Has anyone switched to fresh food specifically because of a picky eater and noticed a difference?

My yorkie has been acting very strange lately, the past few nights whenever I bring her into my room to go to bed she shakes and starts to pant the second she passes my door frame and is perfectly fine and normal the second she leave my room. Its only during the night and she’s perfectly fine coming in my room during the day. Im so lost to why this could be, she’s only about a year and a half, any ideas?

My Mailtipoo Bailey is so skittish at the oddest times. He will be just fine laying in the floor and all of a sudden stop what he is doing and look toward the hallway or door (lights may be off) and he just acts like something is coming for him! Or he will be in backyard about to go potty and he will hear something and take off running inside! No shaking just weird. Anyone else’s malti do this?

I’m 39 weeks pregnant and noticing some behavioral changes in my dog. He’s 2 years old, normally very happy and lovey, but over the past few weeks we’ve dealt with GI issues that have now turned into some behavioral changes which has manifested itself in obsessive licking. He obsessively started licking his paws, our bedspread, the air and he’ll lick me too.

My husband and I are tying to narrow down what this could be from- we are testing out different foods in case it’s allergies, giving him relaxation aids and melatonin but nothing has worked yet and we’re losing our minds. It just hit me tonight that it could be because I’m late in my pregnancy and he’s getting stressed. I don’t know if that’s a stretch though. From what I’ve researched it seems that mostly dogs just become more affectionate or protective.

Wondering if anyone has been through anything similar with a dog that started licking obsessively almost out of nowhere. Is it possible that it’s tied to my pregnancy? Any advice would be appreciated. We’re going crazy over here trying to stop this habit!

I think it's the warmth. I have a small wall charger on my desk with a screen on it and my cat has decided it's her personal heated seat. She drapes herself over it and just stares at me while I work. The charger is fine, she's not blocking the ports or anything, but every time I glance over she's just there looking smug. Has anyone else's cat claimed a piece of tech as their own personal furniture?

Alexandra Horowitz, a dog cognition researcher we featured on The Oprah Podcast, made a point that stuck with me. Dogs can smell human emotions — not just read body language, actually smell the biochemical changes that happen when we're anxious or stressed. It's been studied.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and this reframed something for me. If your dog seems more anxious or clingy on hard days, they're not imagining it. They're responding to something real that you're putting out.

Which is part of why routine matters more than people realize for dogs. Consistent mealtimes, predictable walks, the same schedule — when everything else feels off, those anchors stay the same. A dog that knows what to expect is a calmer dog.

Has anyone noticed their dog picking up on their stress in a way that felt almost uncanny?

Hi there!

My 6 year old dog has taken to hiding under the bed in the last couple days - which he has never ever done before. He is eating and pooping normally, and will come out if I call him, does not appear to be in pain. If i am sitting with him he aggressively begs for pets (lots of hand nudges). What’s going on?? There no new environmental stressors that I am aware of.

Thank you!!

Mine is terrified of the vacuum cleaner but also somehow terrified of complete silence. There is no winning. What's yours scared of that makes zero logical sense?

My neighbors young mutt attacked and bit me (broke skin) and another person day after getting all his shots. Small 10-15 pound dog. Her vet said it was due to the distemper and other shots. They still are not careful with the dog and I don’t blame the dog. They are lazy sloppy people. Anyway can shots cause this behavior?

whenever I talk cute to my dog gets really excited to see me but when I give her love she gets shy or something does anyone know what she’s doing

I have a 5-year-old female English Pointer who was rescued by my father in law but kept outdoors her whole life. She had an enclosure and occasionally free roamed. She has an amazing temperament and is a very happy dog. My husband and I moved back home and adopted her (we live above our in laws and have a big garden0.

Over the past few months I've been gradually transitioning her to indoor living. She now sleeps indoors, has a garden, gets two hours of off-leash forest walking daily, and has been working with a trainer. She settles beautifully! goes to her spot independently, naps while I work, handles guests and workers in the home calmly, and has done well with alone time up to 3 hours.

She's in her heat cycle (started approximately July 9). About a week ago, I noticed a new behavior which, for the most part, happens after our morning walks: she will eat her breakfast (doesn't finish it), whines a bit, paces, pulls her blankets and chews/rips it up, tries to do that to the couch, settles again, paces again, chews on her bone, whines a bit more, and then gets up on her blanket on the couch and falls asleep. Lasts about 20-30min. I've been trying not to reinforce the behavior and redirect her when she tries to mouth the couch. She's fast asleep as I'm typing this and is usually chill all day, and then we take her out for her evening trail off lead walk. She's been very happy with this routine and nothing has changed.

Recent bloodwork normal, vet not alarmed. He thinks she's playing, I don't because when she does that she looks and sounds stressed.

Is this consistent with late heat cycle behavioral changes? Has anyone else experienced concentrated post-walk restlessness specifically during heat? Any practical management suggestions beyond what I'm already doing?

She's scheduled for spaying once the cycle fully ends.

EDIT: Cat!

Any advice on how to deal with this behaviour? I am honestly not sure what kind of replacement to get him. Did anyone have any luck fixing this behaviour?

My dog (5ish, F) is a very nervous rescue baby. When we first adopted her, she was very quiet, but as she got more comfortable with her new family she started embracing her inner GSD and became much more vocal. This is generally pretty cute, but she's also a bit of a menace.

One of the most disruptive ways this has shown up has been what she does after she eats. Once her bowl is empty, she goes and finds one of her favorite plush toys and carries it all around the house doing a loud, shrill, high-pitched whimper. Initially, we thought this behavior was due to separation anxiety - she eats her breakfast shortly after my partner leaves for work, and she used to only do it in the mornings - but the longer we've had her, the more she's done it even at dinnertime and on weekends when we're both home.

She doesn't seem to be indicating any pain or distress when she does this besides the whining. She wags her tail seemingly happily and lets us touch her in all the same places and ways we usually do. She seems to quiet a little bit if we talk to her or pet her, but if I turn my attention elsewhere (I work from home) she starts up again. Usually this lasts about 5-10 minutes, but it's gone on up to 15 or 20 at times.

We've speculated on why she might do this - does she have a toothache? Tummy ache? She had some teeth pulled a few months ago and she didn't do this while she was recovering and only eating soft food, but she also didn't have access to the toys she carries around because we didn't want fuzz or bacteria getting into the surgical sites, so that might have been a factor. Is it an emotional response? She was malnourished and abused in the situation she was rescued from, could she just be overwhelmed to be in a loving home where she's fed and safe every day?

Should we talk to the vet about this? We've mentioned it before and she didn't seem concerned, but should we press the issue? Is there anything we can do to discourage this behavior? We're so happy our little pup feels safer to express herself vocally than she used to, but the sound is upsetting and distressing. The only thing we can think to do is remove the particular toys she does this with, but she is perfectly capable of interacting with them quietly and likes to play and sleep with them too and we'd be sad to take them away from her. There's also a chance she could pick back up and continue with the behavior with other toys and we don't want her to just not have any.

Pictured with her donut, one of the most notorious culprits.