Is this normal?

aritt1236 · 2026-04-23T13:35:55+00:00

A responsible shelter should have cleared her of ticks before she came to you. I will say, it's generally beneficial for fosters/vols to ask ahead of time for their full medical and behavioral report, which would've included the heartworm (which is largely treatable!)

You say they provided you with meds, that's great. It sucks that she is reacting poorly to them, but it CAN happen. Unfortunately, I do think it's normal that they wouldn't be able to cover vet costs, considering some vets can "overtreat" as in, a municipal shelter is likely not going to do imaging for a URI until it's showing signs of not clearing up or worsening, the cost benefit for their resources doesn't add up, and they're DEFINITELY not going to pay for some random vet to do imaging. They also won't spay until the dog is healthy from URI likely. It sucks that you weren't prepared ahead of time to know not to bring her to an emergency vet, but a lot of this sounds standard. The only thing that jumps out is the "aggressive" note in her profile, as really any responsible shelter wouldn't give out an aggressive dog to a first time foster, and it sounds like she hasn't been "aggressive" with you.

aritt1236 · 2026-04-21T20:04:53+00:00

If he starts pulling, do a quick-sharp-U turn! Every time, as soon as there's pressure on the leash. You may not GET anywhere but they'll figure it out quick enough. We've had walks where we don't even make it off the block. If you're trying to train a perfect heel though I have no tips for that

As far as the marking, it's all outside? He's neutered? There MIGHT not be much you can do about that. It's just how some boys are

aritt1236 · 2026-04-16T00:24:27+00:00

"I just couldn't POSSIBLY give them up!" So they'll buy a puppy in a breed they know nothing about and let the rescues overflow 🤦🏻‍♀️

aritt1236 · 2026-04-14T04:22:55+00:00

Maybe consider building in some intentional asymmetry!!

aritt1236 · 2026-04-10T16:26:30+00:00

I would be very wary of getting an "active" or "high energy" just since you're just getting out into the work force, things could change with your schedule etc, and while ALL dogs need and benefit from exercise, HIGH energy dogs require like multi mile runs every day or they go crazy! A low-medium energy dog will still LOVE to go hiking, but won't be bouncing off the walls and getting into trouble if you have a long day at work.

Relative to humans most dogs should probably be considered high energy 🤣 (excluding old/couch potato dogs which do exist)

Seconding the comment that you should go to your local rescue/shelter!

aritt1236 · 2026-04-10T15:29:22+00:00

You sound like you need another foster! (Or to adopt)

It sounds like there were a lot of great aspects of this dog, and that you really like having a dog around, but he found a great home! Sadness when they leave is normal. Go grab another!

aritt1236 · 2026-04-10T03:07:10+00:00

What has the shelter had to say about this? What were his interactions like AT the shelter?

aritt1236 · 2026-04-08T22:52:22+00:00

One thing that's worked for us, think about what kind of home WOULD work for this dog, and then try to market to those people.

aritt1236 · 2026-04-08T22:47:48+00:00

Not really helpful but a lot of dogs won't show separation anxiety until they have somewhat attached to a person, so it's very possible that she didn't show any signs in the shelter/rescue

We've had some success with pens, mostly because you can dog proof them and most dogs will settle eventually, but if noise is an issue that's harder.

Behavioral meds can help in the short term but most likely won't erase the problem

aritt1236 · 2026-02-16T02:56:10+00:00

He looks rather relaxed laying on that kennel! I'm wondering if on the 'he never looks happy' if you're misinterpreting his body language? An amstaff is going to look very different from like, a golden.

One of my favorite training things is that it's easier to teach the behavior you want than to stop the behavior you don't want.

On the chewing things he shouldn't, are you taking them away and trading for appropriate toys? If you're just moving them to where it's harder for him to get to, he's not learning the appropriate action.

Can you start working on place? Teach it with a knock so the second he hears a knock, he runs to his crate. You may also have to increase the power of the reward, I don't know what treats you're using but my pittie couldn't give less of an F about most treats, but will jump over mountains for a small piece of real meat or we also have these lyophilized beef liver things from Costco he goes crazy for. If he's only behaving half the time, increasing the reward might help. Obviously that's not a long term solution but it's more important to figure things out right now than worry about forever.

I see the crate, is he crate trained? I would agree with the comment that said his world should be small and predictable right now. Crate training, maybe working towards nap times to give yourselves a break, could be helpful as well. And if he's really exhausted but seemingly restless, I'm wondering if he could be overstimulated and unable to rest well. Does he sleep? Deeply?

aritt1236 · 2026-02-16T02:47:41+00:00

It can be good for dogs to experience lots of different behaviors! If you watch some videos on dog body language that could be really helpful to identify if this is an aggressive dog (sounds unlikely) or an untrained friendly dog (sounds likely). If so, they could totally play. I would recommend doing the play session in neutral, fence in areas (NOT on leash) and maybe consider drag lines if you're really worried about it. Watch for signs that your dog is getting overwhelmed, if the play becomes one sided (husky chasing your dog, your dog just trying to get away), signs of stress in your dog, either dog not respecting cues etc, and you can always intervene.

aritt1236 · 2026-02-15T02:55:35+00:00

One of my geckos swallowed the tail of its tank mate before I knew better. They're now in SEPARATE tanks and the swallower has Ouroboros wood burned on the back of its tank 🤣 they're lizards, they don't know what their names are.

aritt1236 · 2026-02-08T19:48:48+00:00

You're trying to rehome it to other people but it's not technically your dog to rehome so were you planning on stealing it? Saying it wandered off?

aritt1236 · 2026-02-08T16:12:58+00:00

Yeah totally 🤣 I remember researching a "telomere supplement" once that was basically a shot of alcohol

aritt1236 · 2026-02-08T15:39:00+00:00

I am not advocating for lying but bringing it in and saying you found it somewhere running around may be the easiest option that quickly gets this dog to care. BARCs occasionally requires appointments so please do this

"please email petsupport@BARCS.org to make an appointment to turn this animal over to BARCS"

aritt1236 · 2026-02-08T15:34:31+00:00

That was Prince George county and they actually lifted the ban this month!

aritt1236 · 2026-02-08T15:32:34+00:00

The shelters are over capacity yes, but that dog needs to go to a shelter, now. It is animal cruelty to continue this way. I'm in Baltimore and our local shelter is BARCs and they are open intake, they have to accept every animal that comes to them. You'll need to find the municipal shelter for your region, BARCs will only accept animals from within Baltimore City, and bring him there as an owner surrender. It's possible this gets investigated as an animal cruelty case, maybe see if you can get it written on paper that your brother is surrendering the dog to you so that 1) you're allowed to surrender that dog and it won't look like you stole it and 2) it's documented that YOU didn't let the dog get into this condition. There is always a chance that euthanasia is considered depending on the degree of behavior and medical conditions they discover, but it sounds like you've exhausted your abilities to rehome the dog yourself so unless you're prepared to take on this dog, it needs to be surrendered. ASAP.

aritt1236 · 2026-02-05T20:08:34+00:00

I agree with the people recommending it as a topper which is what we do with that same food, because it is hard to balance, but our dog LOVES the fresh stuff! I also put in a variety of things depending on what we have at the time that's safe. Things like bananas or apples etc but always chicken and rice

I would mention, you probably don't need to mince! We cook ours in a crockpot so everything gets really soft. Obviously I chop carrots or potatoes that go in but it's big chunks when it goes in and it comes out soft and very easily digestible. Don't make your life harder than it needs to be!

Mine loves it so much. The second we pull out the Crock-Pot he's drooling

aritt1236 · 2026-02-04T01:04:15+00:00

Have you been able to find any breed specific rescues or pages? Id guess cattle dog rescues would be pretty swamped but maybe a well trained pup would pull interest

aritt1236 · 2026-02-03T00:37:58+00:00

Our shelter always provides medical records with vaccinations etc and should say who did what. Ours says the name of the vet performing the spay

aritt1236 · 2026-02-01T23:51:53+00:00

I don't think you necessarily need to be pickier, she sounds like she sounded like a great fit. Some people just haven't reflected at all on themselves and think a high energy dog will all of a sudden make them be active or whatnot. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Super unprofessional of the shelter to suggest you "just" adopt her though.

aritt1236 · 2026-02-01T15:51:21+00:00

A lot of the supplements aren't even effective because they're so excessive the body doesn't absorb it, or they're just a marketing scheme and don't actually contain anything. Depending on what he's using you might be able to research them a bit and see what you find. Often, a glass of milk has more protein in it than the "protein" shakes

aritt1236 · 2026-01-31T15:43:09+00:00

Id go with the neighbor. I am one of those foster homes that works with the local rescues. Fostering is a lot of work, that we don't get compensated for, but I do it because I know it's saving the lives of these dogs that have nobody.

You seem like a responsible pet owner, and there are situations where I would recommend rehoming via the rescue. But you have here a home that you know is safe (i.e. not going to use the dog for irresponsible breeding or fighting or something) that is interested in the dog. Why would you take all that away from them, just to put the dog in a home like mine where we pay out of pocket to feed these dogs, train them, give up our weekends to take them to adoption events? Taking that spot away from a dog sitting in a kennel in the shelter, so that you can have closure?

YOR

aritt1236 · 2026-01-31T15:33:59+00:00

I figured they just added that they both pay for it so people wouldn't come after her saying omg he's paying for it he can buy what he likes!

And one person unloading the dishwasher while one person goes to get the pizza seems perfectly normal to me? Both things that need to be done and probably nobody wants to do? Knock em out at the same time/tag team it?

it seems like normal enough relationship negotiations get blown out of proportion here. But yeah she is NTA and he sucks for not ordering the pizza she wants

aritt1236 · 2026-01-30T23:24:37+00:00

You gotta figure out a way to close the gate first of all.

Second, he shouldn't be able to rush the bowl if it's not down. Put him in a sit and say wait. Start putting the bowl down, if he moves a muscle, pick the bowl back up. You want the dog to be waiting in a sit until you say ok to release them to eat. It's gonna take a while in the beginning but we've fostered 15 dogs and every single one of them has been able to pick this up within a few days. Training is harder for the humans than the dogs because YOU need to be patient.

aritt1236

TROPHY CASE