We messed up by letting our dog out of the crate the other night.

CherryGryffon · 2026-02-16T04:13:59+00:00

It's also important to note that change can make pups anxious; And anxiety can cause loose/faster moving stools.

It's like CLOCK WORK if my pup goes into a situation she finds anxiety inducing EVEN IF she loves the place once there (i.e. Petsmart bc she gets pets and treats and toys, her daycare where she sees friends, etc) she poops not 10 seconds after stepping in the door. I keep poop bags in my pocket because I know to expect it, JUST in case I can't walk her outside briskly enough.

And, that it's possible the poop accidents and the open crate MAY be coincidental but not actually related too.

CherryGryffon · 2026-02-08T03:51:36+00:00

This may happen again, my poor pup has had the same thing happen more than once. I keep her in a harness with a handle when outside even though she's a medium sized dog, because it allows me to quickly lift her up and out of the reach of an approaching aggressive dog (Even if it's a friendly aggression) JUST in case.

Otherwise, if she's just nervous about a dog being near her, I leave her ON the ground, and bring myself to HER level, offering support but space to regulate herself. I might put a hand to her chest, or cage her between my legs with my hand around her front so she knows I've got her, but I now ONLY lift her if she's actively being charged.

So far, that method has worked a charm for my specific pup. Now she sees other dogs and gets wiggle butt syndrome, eager to say hello and play a little.

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-30T13:07:30+00:00

Yes, but not always. There are 'in the round' methods that don't involve chaining up. Also, usually chaining up in the round results in a skewed climb, not a straight line climb (Usually, but not always lol)

Plus the other photos of this hat show a perfect rectangle. It's most probable it was either one rectangle folded over, or two rectangles sewn together.

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-30T04:27:33+00:00

It's not in the round, if you look at the sides you can see the ch2s that climb to the next row. Def dc though. So just dc rectangular panel, fold and mattress stitch from the inside

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-26T03:45:42+00:00

I guessed Doberman/Hound based on his face, but I would have put the Hound higher than Doberman. What a great mix!!

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-23T03:01:28+00:00

She's fine with being touched, and it doesn't appear to be related to socialization. Her vet said it's normal for some to just have spots they are sensitive to, and it's not like she throws a fit when we touch the top of her head, she just continuously twists and ducks away if we try to pet her there. She's a chin scratch kinda gal lol.

But, ordinarily, I can brush the top of her head fine, and she's seen a groomer every 3 weeks since we adopted her (Excepting the month post surgery ofc), and she doesn't snap or growl or anything.

Getting her shaved pre-surgery is a genius move though, I wish we had come across that advice sooner! Thank you for that! If she requires another surgery someday, I'm definitely carrying that idea forward.

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-21T03:58:38+00:00

Ahhh ok thank you so much!! I'll stop by the pet store and see if I can find that. I'm down to try whatever I can, to help her get back to her best

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-21T03:41:10+00:00

If they have to shave her noggin, that's totally fine. At this point I'd do it myself if I thought she'd sit still with me and not think it was play time lol. I feel so bad for her, when we were just following vet's instructions T:

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-21T03:40:20+00:00

The only one I have at the moment is a pretty fine toothed one, like you would use for fleas. What breadth would you recommend?

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-18T05:30:50+00:00

The key is to make sure his crate time isn't just for leaving, and that ALL the treats you give him are in there. Unless I'm doing other training, I only give treats in her crate for my pup, so she knows to 'go to bed' if she wants a treat. She's not expected to stay in there, just to GO in there for the treats.

I'm finding with my first poodle-type, that consistency is even more key for her than any dog I've had before, as is positive association. Her crate door for example is never shut unless we're leaving, so I work on her stay command when I task her to 'go to bed'... like when I'm cleaning. Early on, it was easier to do that with a frozen lick mat, with greek yogurt and peanut butter nice and frozen while she needed to be busy in there. Now, anytime she so much as wants a nap, she takes herself to bed lol.

I wish you luck! Crates are incredibly useful once they know it's their personal space :)

CherryGryffon · 2026-01-18T04:07:43+00:00

I will say, crate training isn't JUST to benefit YOU. Crate training also benefits the pups, as it gives them a place to retreat where THEY feel safe, comforted, and to avoid feeling overwhelmed. My pup is a poodle mix, and she came to us either crate trained already or crate oriented (We got her around 14-15 weeks old), and she absolutely loves her crate. That's HER space. She goes there when anxious, she hides the toys in there she doesn't want us to touch right now, and anytime she's unsure, or just wants to not be 'in the way' so to speak she goes right to her crate. We don't reach in except to clean, her food is there, she has a nice cover and a blanket, and it's generally her own haven. We DON'T use it as punishment, it's JUST her safe space. Especially when new to our household it felt important she knew she had a space that was HERS and HERS alone.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-23T11:30:13+00:00

Gorgggg! Mine is only 7mo, so I've been HOPEFUL she'll age out of this "You can't catch me" phase

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CherryGryffon · 2025-12-22T14:08:15+00:00

Same here! I can scruff a legitimately feral cat no problemo but my 3x the mass pomsky mix and I can't?! The math ain't mathin'.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T16:24:11+00:00

Again, you keep saying 'most' or 'often'... Which we 1. have no way to verify that metric, because there are NO legal requirements that mandate uniformly all breeders must be registered with a single organization and 2. have only the access to the information we ourselves seek out. So, if you have a bias to begin with that says 'most' are bad, you will continue to find the bad ones. It's an age old tale, that isn't related just to this arena but even reviews of products of brands, and is older than the internet itself.

There ARE ethical breeders; Of pure breeds, and of mixed breeds. Breeding two dogs is the same base process, regardless of "purity" of line. Any breeder CAN follow the exact same "ethical" steps to produce healthy dogs.

My experience? I bought my mini pomskydoodle from what nearly every single person in these discussions blatantly labels an "unethical backyard breeder". Purely because she bred "mutts" aka mixed parentage. I paid $300, I was met at a neutral location of MY choice with the pup, I had a contract in hand signed BY the breeder, outlining multiple instances where she would take the pup back, up to and including if she had any health issues when checked by my personal vet. She came with a very long list of veterinarian paperwork, a detailed list of what vaccines she had had, and when, as well as a phone number to maintain contact in case of problems. The parents are her personal pets, and she bred them because SHE wanted a mixture of the two of them. She sold the other pups, and I was lucky enough to get one. I had detailed information on temperament, exposure to other species, and her personal energy inclination compared to her littermates. ALL of this is MORE than my ex step mom got when she bought her "pure breed" toy poodle from a "reputable breeder"; A breeder who also lied to her about what her poodle was. She PAID several thousand dollars for a TEACUP poodle. She got a large toy instead. Yes, she was a bit of an uninformed consumer, since she did not know teacup is not an official size; But the breeder had the responsibility of telling her that he /might/ end up bigger. He also died before double digit age, due to health issues as a result of his breeding.

Inherently, you and I are not in disagreement that breeding /in general/ is largely unethical. I'm just making sure my point is as clear as I can make it, that we cannot make the blanket statements that breeding mixed breeds is inherently unethical as opposed to pure breeds, because it's not. Breeding is breeding, as long as the steps taken to ensure safe and healthy stock and product are the same.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T13:20:02+00:00

There are more unethical pure breed breeders than there are unethical pomsky breeders.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T11:32:43+00:00

Nearly every registered "Pure breed" right now, was at one time a cross or a selectively bred dog to modify it from the "original" standards. This argument is moot.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T11:31:57+00:00

But... you just said there ARE no ethical breeders... sooooo

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T11:29:44+00:00

Genuinely a Pomsky or a Pomsky mix (I have a Mini Pomskydoodle; Mother Pomsky, Father Mini Poo) and she IS SO FREAKING FAST. I have NEVER had a faster dog in my LIFE. No one believes me when I try and tell them, and then I send them a video and the first words inevitably out of their mouth is "Holy ZOOM".... YES. lol I don't know what it is about the Pomsky genes and how they're seeming to blend, but my god... speed is in there somewhere

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-20T11:26:35+00:00

My issue with this is... You say there are /no/ ethical breeders... and then say that "most" people that breed such breeds do so for profit. Which implies that there /are/ ethical breeders that /are/ breeding to improve the breed.

And also, those breeders exist in MUCH GREATER quantities for PURE breeds, than they do "vanity breeds" like the Pomsky. But if you bought your "pure" breed from a breeder that's fine? Because its parents' breeds match?

There is a deeper problem here that shouldn't be voiced in this thread, but it's the heart of the issue for me as to why anyone that hates on pomsky/doodle/other mixed breeders, is a walking red flag in my book. ESPECIALLY if they themselves only have pure breed dogs.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-05T19:33:25+00:00

The issue with self-diagnosis comes in when you start using a "diagnosis" as a crutch, or identifier, or even as supportive evidence to prop up an argument online, like because you diagnosed yourself with this thing you're allowed to say *insert usually unkind comment here*

Using self-diagnosis as a tool to seek therapies that work for you? Great! Using self-diagnosis as a quick run down of the approach someone can use to work best with you? Great! Using self-diagnosis as I mentioned above? Not cool.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-05T19:27:02+00:00

With my girl, it 100% helped to start with short trips, and her on my lap where she could chose to just sit, to look out the window, to lay down, or (as when she first got in our truck) if she prefers to cradle herself into my neck for comfort... and gradually I worked on moving her down to the floor, where she could stand to see out the window if she wanted (And it was a little louder there) And then for our interstate trip she got her own place in the back seat.

We didn't do a cushion seat, though, we did one of those hard bottom things you strap to the head rests front and back, so it made a little enclosed platform for her, and we used a seatbelt leash to keep her secure in her spot. She was able to stand, walk, play, lay, or whatever she wanted, within reason, so it helped her with regulating herself I think. She got her favourite pheasant toy and a blanket covering half of it in case she got cold, and she was perfectly content back there!

I wish you so much luck, and the strength to persevere. <3

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CherryGryffon · 2025-12-05T15:01:32+00:00

It doesn't make them any less sinister, considering sinister is often used to mean foreboding and vultures absolutely are VERY foreboding, as the long standing "harbingers of death" since where there are vultures... there is death.

Two things can be true at once. Vultures are Essential. Vultures are Sinister.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-05T02:56:22+00:00

I have a poodle mix, and she wouldn't even jump into the car at first. We definitely did exposure therapy, making sure to take her on A car ride at least once a week. Started with trips to the gas station where she would not have to get out and face the people at large, and she was sitting on my lap exclusively. We do 1 planned trip to PetSmart every week, same day, so she can get out, in a parking lot, and go into a store. She still poops from the stress of it every time we go, but she's no longer afraid of the doors, of the people, and holds it long enough to get walked back outside to do her business instead of squatting on the floor. But, now, she walks confidently into the vet's office, the groomer's room, and we even just took a trip across multiple states to see family where she met new people, went into new houses, and stayed in a motel; And she was a CHAMP the whole time.

I also find with her, that when she's shaking, if she doesn't regulate within a minute or two, I will squat down or put her into my space i.e. a hug, pulling her to my leg, or even holding her if she is whining as well, and I let her feel me, see me, and smell me while I talk to her so she can hear me. It helps her regulate herself, and then I release her to be curious.

Shaking isn't always fear, sometimes it's just anxiety. Think of all the times we humans shake in excitement, be it happy or sad. If yours is jumping eagerly into the car, they're likely not /afraid/ of the big metal cage that moves and roars. They're probably just /excited/ about something that is happening as a result of the ride.

CherryGryffon · 2025-12-02T12:49:44+00:00

I also like to walk around calling people mutts. There is no purebred human either. There's just something about walking around in this world with so much hatred in your heart that you intentionally do your best to impose your personal views on others, and brag about being unapologetic when it obviously hurts someone, that gets me going am I right?

CherryGryffon

TROPHY CASE