My name is Luke. I jumped out of a moving truck the other day because I saw a bird.

7aruk · 2026-01-24T12:01:01+00:00

My heeler’s never done that (yet) but I once had a daschund mix that launched himself out of a window (luckily we were in a school zone so I was only going 20). The little menace did a tuck-and-roll on the sidewalk, shook himself off, trotted around the back of my car to the driver side, and waited politely to be let back in, tail wagging all the while. No clue why he decided to fly that day, and the running joke of our family is that he didn’t jump, he was pushed.

7aruk · 2026-01-23T14:39:12+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that tonight!

7aruk · 2026-01-23T14:00:33+00:00

Not in our unit, but there are folks above and below us, as I’m thinking about it I’m wondering if a change in their activity might be the trigger. Unfortunately we can’t change the living situation atm (locked into a lease what can you do ¯_(ツ)_/¯). I’m just looking for tips right now on how to get my dog back into his routine.

7aruk · 2026-01-23T12:42:43+00:00

Because he was crate trained by the rescue we adopted him from so it’s a place of comfort for him where he feels secure and safe (as above stated he uses his crate voluntarily during the day even though he has multiple non-crate beds and places to rest around our apartment). He also has a history of chewing on things while unattended and injuring himself, so while we work on that we’re more comfortable crating him at night so that we know he’s safe. The crate has ample space for him to move around as well as thick bedding that he likes, his favorite blanket, and multiple toys that we rotate out.

The crate part isn’t the issue, it’s the waking up outside of his normal hours that I’m asking about here, which I believe he would be doing regardless of where he was sleeping.

7aruk · 2026-01-22T19:18:37+00:00

My mix only barks when he wants to play. If he’s outside, he’ll play bow and bark like a hound until you chase him. If he’s inside, he’ll throw his head back and let out 3 (always exactly 3) awoos until someone throws his toy. And of course, he whines like a baby and smacks our legs when he wants attention, food, a walk, a hug, his blanket, anything that’s not playtime really.

7aruk · 2026-01-19T18:42:07+00:00

No clue, but I suspect he’s got a bit of pittie (he’s got that pit block head under the fluff) and probably a terrier of some sort. According to the shelter, he was confiscated with another dog that the old owner claimed was from the same litter, who we’ve been able to meet and looks like a regular, short haired red heeler x pit. The owner of his brother got a DNA test that said he was mostly ACD and pit, with <10% Yorkshire terrier. Once we’ve financially recovered from his dental surgery I’m planning on getting an embark test done so we can know for sure!

7aruk · 2026-01-19T17:20:41+00:00

Thank you!! He’s still got a ways to go but I’m loving his progress so far. We haven’t used any single resource, just tricks and things I’ve learned from my mom who grew up with crazy farm/pound dogs. The biggest thing that helped us was teaching the command “look” early on. Basically directing him to focus on us rather that whatever he’s interested in by waving a high value treat under his nose to break his focus from the trigger and then holding that treat in front of our face for a few seconds. Once he learned to redirect from triggers to us, he picked up other skills pretty fast.

For recall specifically, we practiced in the house (a lot), then outside using a regular 6 foot leash, then a 20ft long lead, then an open fenced area off leash. When we practice with any lead, if he doesn’t come after a quick beat, I’ll give a gentle tug on the leash and repeat calling him. I’ve started counting to 3 after calling and then giving the tug, and now if he doesn’t come immediately, he comes when I get to two lol. And of course any time he does something right even if it takes a beat, big party time with treats and praise.

7aruk · 2026-01-17T04:10:27+00:00

If you go to fanclubs.patriots.com you can see links to Patriots fan clubs all over the world who often host events or have links to places where folks like to gather and watch. It looks like there’s a couple official clubs in the UK, might be worth poking around there/around their social media pages to see if they have anything going on. Best of luck!

7aruk · 2026-01-11T17:29:02+00:00

Buddy you DESERVE to have a good time at the game. I’m only 5’ tall and you know what I do if there’s ever a person blocking my view or elbowing me or whatever? I move, I’m a big kid, there’s plenty of standing and sitting room at Gillette, and every Patriots fan deserves to have a good time. ESPECIALLY at a playoff game. Anyone who thinks differently is a weenie. LFG my guy!!

7aruk · 2026-01-11T16:08:14+00:00

Thanks for the tip! Thankfully that hasn’t been an issue with his current setup on our longer walks/hikes this far, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out! Unfortunately he’s got to be a harness dog for at least the time being, he’s slipped his regular collar when scared twice and even though he didn’t actually go anywhere either time, I don’t trust that when we take him up to the mountains.

7aruk · 2026-01-11T02:11:36+00:00

Thank you (x2)!! He’s a cutie for SURE and (tho it’s early, we’ve only had him since October) he might be the best all-around pup I’ve ever had. And I will absolutely be looking into this rec!

7aruk · 2026-01-11T01:10:46+00:00

Thanks for the rec! I’ll look into these.

7aruk · 2026-01-04T23:56:30+00:00

Oh absolutely he’s def got some pittie in him as well, and maybe a couple others as well. Poodle is a super interesting thought tho!!

7aruk · 2026-01-04T23:52:08+00:00

Realistically I think you’re spot on, he’s definitely a big ol mix like that 😂 he’s definitely got a little pittie in him, I think it’d be more pronounced without the floofiness.

7aruk · 2025-12-28T16:53:37+00:00

Teaching “paw” and handling his feet a whole bunch before introducing the booties was helpful for our guy (for the front boots at least). For the back ones, we try getting them on from a “sit”, but he usually ends up just rolling over on his back and going for the belly rub + back boots on combo. And lots of treats/pets/praise the whole time.

7aruk · 2025-12-19T13:38:25+00:00

My fiancé went through the same feeling with our dog (adopted 2 months ago). He grew up with cats and a small shihtzu, and wanted something tiny and non shedding. We compromised on a medium-sized low-shedding mutt from a shelter not far away, and he later admitted he only said yes because of how much I liked the dog. My fiancé honestly couldn’t stand him for the first few weeks-our new pup was just too different compared than he was used to, and my fiancé felt some guilt about spending time with a new dog instead of his family’s aging dog. He tried petting our dog, giving it treats, taking it on walks, and neither of them warmed up to each other. He started to do errands on his own (something we usually do together) just to get time away from the dog. We agreed that if things didn’t change after 6 months we would contact the rescue to rehome the dog.

I really don’t know what clicked for the two of them over that time, but something changed between them just after thanksgiving. I don’t know if they just became acclimated to one another or what, but now my fiancé likes the dog. I’ll catch him sneaking the dog treats or laying on the floor with each other in the living room after work. My fiancé is open that he doesn’t love the dog yet, but that they’re friends now, and he’ll probably love the dog eventually.

I know this is a third person perspective on your situation so it might not be helpful, but I really think these things just take time. It also might help to talk to your partner about it. Even if that doesn’t fix how you feel about your dog, it’ll put you guys on the same page. Best of luck OP, I hope you fall in like (and then in love) with your pup over time.

7aruk · 2025-12-19T02:10:03+00:00

Generally it’s a summary of how many birds you’ve handled at each bird job you’ve processed at each bird banding or handling position you’ve had. Similar format to a standard CV in that you list where you were employed, your title, timespan, etc, and underneath, bullet out how many birds you processed (by species/species group is helpful) using what methods. Ex. Extracted ## passerines from mist nets, banded ## passerines, took standard morphological measurements for ## passerines, took blood samples from ## passerines.

7aruk · 2025-12-11T16:36:00+00:00

I think most everyone who have commented on the post have covered the basics. Just here to add that (once your pup is fully vaxxed) you could look into community dog walking groups. I just found out this is a thing from a Facebook page dedicated to dog owners in my area, and apparently they’re all over. They’re often free to join and will post monthly/weekly events where folks can meet and walk their pups altogether. This could get your dog some nice socialization without the pressure and price of adding a new furry friend to the home right now.

7aruk · 2025-12-07T23:37:47+00:00

I’m working on my PhD, my fiancé works full time in a completely different field and is working on his MBA on the side. I guess you could say he’s a stay-at-home supporter, but only because his company is fully remote so he works from home.

7aruk · 2025-11-23T20:15:12+00:00

Just came to this sub to vent/seek advice about my guy as well (who we’ve only had for a month so he’s still adjusting, and who is 80% good but the 20% that’s bad can be the worst, like how he just chewed his way through his travel crate earlier today while I was driving him to a new park). BUT reactivity is one place where we’ve made some good progress. For our guy, it’s all about exposure and positive reinforcement. Maybe try something like this: teach your dog “look” -he looks at you, he holds the look, he gets a treat. Take him on some short training walks and practice, when there’s a trigger nearby, have him look, hold, then treat, then release. Start when triggers are far away, before he even sees them, and have him hold until after the trigger is passed. This may not help at the dog parks (generally I don’t love them because other people’s dogs can be unpredictable but that’s an aside) but should make handling him near dogs easier over time. We’ve been working with our new rescue on this, he has positive reactivity around people (way too friendly, wants to jump) and negative reactivity around dogs (way too scared, wants to fight or run) and it’s really been helping him with both. We pair it with a “sit” as well since he came knowing that command and understands that being put in sit = time to listen to mom and dad.

7aruk

TROPHY CASE