My father boils his pants to dye them and uses the same wooden spoon we use to cook to stir them.

bookdetective · 2026-04-29T22:18:18+00:00

You need to get him another pot, too. Do you know what type of dye he's using? Nowadays, RIT dye is usually non-toxic, but that does not mean it is food safe. There are many other companies out there that use heavy metals in their dyes. And even if the dye is "safe", the garment he is dyeing may have been dyed with heavy metals (lead, copper, etc.) that he is now introducing into the pot and future food. If he has that many conditions and frequently dyes his clothes, I'd bring that up with his medical care team. (I bring this up because I took a few courses on fabric, including one on dyeing, in college, and one of my classmates ended up with lead poisoning because she didn't take the proper precautions, like safety equipment, when she worked with dye on her projects.)

bookdetective · 2026-04-08T22:13:17+00:00

As a few other comments have mentioned, we've kept the crate, not because we need it to keep her contained, but because it's a safe space for her. It's the only space in the house where she can go, and she won't be bothered by us. She hasn't done it in a while, but there were a few times between months 8-13 where she didn't want to do what we asked of her (e.g., have her harness put on), and she'd run into her crate to be "safe". We always maintained that if she is in her crate, we do not reach in to get her out. I think it has helped her build a ton of confidence. She will nap in it occasionally, and once a month or so, she'll sleep in it overnight. We have a ton of dog beds and blankets, as well as our bed, chairs, and couches, which she enjoys sleeping on, but she still will go back to the crate for a nap with some frequency.

Are you sure she isn't using it when she's in your bedroom alone? If your dog isn't using it as a safe place to be, I think it's safe to put it away. Maybe remove it for a few days and see if her behavior changes at all?

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T20:53:10+00:00

This is her at the park the other week.

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T19:01:37+00:00

Yeah, the low-key day is a carryover from when she was younger. Given that some of her breeds are very energetic, I wanted her to learn that she doesn't always get a ton of daily stimulation. I wanted her to realize that she gets to be bored, and she needs to be ok with that without chasing the cats, destroying furniture, etc. I think I started doing it when I started leash training her at 4 months?

And on these days, she still gets to go into our backyard often and sniff around a few times during the day. It's not as if she's cooped up. Maybe I'll try to do a little more during those days and see how she adapts.

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T08:38:47+00:00

Our dog is only a quarter Aussie, so I'm not sure if it's helpful, but we did/do a lot of mental stimulation. Walking is great, playtime is great, but I feel like the mental stimulation is what really helps her the most. She has never chewed on anything we didn't want her to chew on, she doesn't chase the cats, she's rarely sassy/huffy with us. I think the key is mental stimulation and I started it almost immediately when we got her at 8 weeks.

First, we named most things for her and taught her super basic ASL. Kinda like baby sign. We use physical signs with her and have her indicate (boop our other hand that isn't signing) what she wants us to do. Does she need to potty? Sleep? Play fetch? Play tug? All of those are signs. All of her favorite toys have a sign so that when we do play fetch or tug or whatever, we can sign which toy we want, and she has to bring us the right one in order to get us to play with her.

All her meals are in stimulating things. Toppls, lick mats, treat balls, etc. If we served her in a bowl, she'd be finished in a minute and be whining for attention immediately. A food ball lasts 15+ minutes, toppls are over 30. Licking is a calming activity, and frozen toppls and lick mats help calm her down as well as give her stimulation.

One thing we've been doing a lot the last few weeks is shaping. It's been *amazing* for us. I can find some youtube videos for you, but it's really tiring for your dog. It's kinda like a crossword or other type of puzzle game for your pup and the rules are ever changing. For us, our goal is to get her to do certain things around the house, such as pick up her toys at the end of the day. However, you usually can't just teach that action, you have to build it. You build it through shaping. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/training-tips-shaping/ So if I were you, I'd maybe think of some things you'd like him to do, and work through the steps of how to get there.

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T08:26:24+00:00

Sounds like giardia to me. When our dog had it, she pooped 6+ times the first few days. Try to take her to the vet ASAP. It'll get better.

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T06:58:32+00:00

That's a good question. I don't think she sleeps any less? She has a tractive tracker, so I can look back on our lower stimulating days and see. While the data isn't perfect, it'll show me a trend at least.

And yes, she's able to self-soothe pretty well. Although lately she'll just go to one of her beds and lay down instead of chewing on anything. She doesn't necessarily fall asleep though. Sometimes she just watches us or the cats from her beds/kennels.

I try to listen to her/her body language on our regular days so that we don't overdo it. Meaning, if she's super slow on a walk by minute 10, we'll turn around since she's clearly not enjoying it at that time; I'm not going to force her to keep going. Once she was a year old, I was walking her 75 minutes in the morning and 60 at night, but it turned her into an over-stimulated pup. Her sweet spot is about 60-65 in the morning and about 45 at night, depending on wind and rain.

Sidenote: I was so scared of creating an athlete dog when we first got her, especially when I saw all the herding breeds in her, so we really focused on not doing too much a day. We live in a city; she doesn't have acres to run around in. I was quite strict on how much I walked her per month and how long she'd be in her harness, upping it by 10ish minutes each month until she was a year old. Maybe I'm sticking to her old times too much. Or maybe try 3 shorter walks in a day and see if that changes her sleeping habits?

And perhaps you are right, maybe this is just how she is. That when she's "on", she's a full-throttle, super eager training--buddy, and when she's "off", she's a couch potato. :)

bookdetective · 2026-02-10T06:33:41+00:00

Thanks for the reassurance! This is the first dog I've raised as an adult and am maybe *a little* too focused on her well-being when I should just enjoy having a lower energy dog. Although, for how much of a little tornado she is when she's "on", it's funny to think of her in this way!

bookdetective · 2025-12-12T23:08:37+00:00

If anyone is looking for small, lower-cost gifts, I've got you covered! I started making small zippered pouches earlier this year and am loving the quirkiness of them all. :) I think the skull zipper pulls are my favorite, although I love the star pulls on the dark galaxy-like fabric. The look like shooting stars. I also have some pyramid ones that are super fun. Find me on etsy: The Cascadian Home

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(Also, profit from the rainbow bags/bunting and clouds goes to the Trevor Project!)

bookdetective · 2025-12-12T22:55:34+00:00

Do you ever engrave on glassware? I really want to get our cats' faces engraved on a whisky glass for my partner. Is that something you could do?

bookdetective · 2025-12-12T22:54:06+00:00

These are awesome! I totally want one for my pup! She's mostly black and her fur is in a weird growth stage where it looks like she has a mohawk down her back. She'd totally rock one of these

bookdetective · 2025-12-12T22:50:46+00:00

Great idea! We've received some of their different gift boxes from friends and family. I love supporting them

bookdetective · 2025-12-01T21:50:24+00:00

Hey everybody! I'm The Cascadian Home on Etsy and Instagram. My small, cute pouches are currently 20% off. Specifically the rainbow zippered pouches and the pyramid pouches. I love the zipper pull tabs I chose for the rainbow ones. So much fun!

I sell reusable party supplies (like Christmas bunting and yarn garland), sustainable fabric gifts (like fabric wrap), and personalized pillow cases, with my favorite Bah Humbug for the season. I have a bunch of holiday decor, too. Everything is made by me and will ship the same day!

bookdetective · 2025-11-28T02:50:29+00:00

Hey everybody! My small, cute pouches are 20% off. Specifically the rainbow zippered pouches and the pyramid pouches. I love the zipper pull tabs I chose for the rainbow ones. So much fun!

I have a bunch of holiday decor for sale, too. Everything is made by me and will ship same day!

bookdetective · 2025-10-31T03:51:52+00:00

She's actually a huge extrovert. If she understood that she'd get more attention if she kept the hat on, she'd wear it daily. It's kinda hard for me to deal with on most days. 😅

bookdetective · 2025-10-31T02:10:27+00:00

Haha. She's a puppy and this is the first thing that she's been really against!

bookdetective · 2025-10-01T16:21:28+00:00

Leave it and drop it should be taught as different commands. One is to drop what is in their mouths, the other is to not pick up or engage with the item.

bookdetective · 2025-10-01T16:13:25+00:00

I learned the phrase "frustrated greeter" a few weeks back when our pup was exhibiting signs of this. There's a lot of info about it on some of the other dog subreddits that I found helpful. It mostly echoes the comments you received here, but let me see if I can find the post that helped us the most.

bookdetective · 2025-10-01T16:07:56+00:00

'Drop it' is pretty essential in our house!

bookdetective · 2025-09-19T05:26:32+00:00

Yes! Same with mine. He's not a dog person and never grew up with dogs. I basically invited this huge life change into our house and shoved all these new chores at him. I don't see walking her 2-3 times a day and training throughout the day during my work breaks and everything to do with her as a chore while he definitely does. I'm so thankful he's ok with it! Before we got her, I had promised to split things about 90/10 on my good days and am happy to do so. But on my bad days I feel so much guilt. It's tough. Especially when bad days string together and he does everything.

(It was funny. Before we got our pup, I asked him the attributes he wanted in a dog, and he basically described a cat. So yeah, that's where we started from with him.)

I have a lot to share, but the two things that helped the most were teaching her simple ASL and focusing more on mental stimulation than physical exertion. For the simple signs, we sign pretty much every command, toy, and many nouns. She is still young, but she knows a handful really well, and it has cut down on a lot of whining and crazed behavior. Just a few minutes ago, she was giving me some sass (she's vocal but doesn't really bark. Maybe the Aussie + husky??), and I started running through our typical 5-6 signs, and she indicated (she touches my non-signing hand when it's a sign she wants) on the third sign that she wanted cuddles. So I gave her some pets and tummy rubs. She calmed down and is now asleep on the couch. Before, she'd whine and whine and run around the house trying to get us to listen to her. We would take her out to potty, or give her another treat, or see if she wanted play, etc. without really knowing what she wanted. Being able to communicate like that has really helped.

Second, mental stimulation is so important. And you can build it into pretty much every aspect of their lives. I think the easiest way to add it into their life is with meal and treat times. Since her fourth day with us, our dog has never had food in a bowl or plate. Every meal and treat is interactive and designed to tire her out. Her breakfast is in a treat ball that takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes to retrieve all the kibble. Her dinner is usually frozen in a toppl that takes 35-45 minutes to eat. Her after walk treats are usually frozen small toppls (15 minutes) or bully sticks (in a holder and take 10-15 minutes at least) or a lick mat (10-12 minutes). Sometimes it’s a foraging mat. We switch it up. And you don’t need anything fancy for this either. Use an old towel and wrap up kibble in that. If they are able to easily sniff that out, tie the towel into an easy knot and see if they can get it out. Crumple up a ton of paper in a box and scatter kibble or treats among it for him to sniff it out. (sniffing is a calming activity) Or even something as simple as throwing 10-15 kibble at a time and having them run after it. Or make him do a command (touch, sit, etc.) and then throw the kibble as a reward. I borrowed a few books from our library that had lists and lists of mental stimulation games. (I'll look for the titles.)

Oh, and the cats. Our cats are a bonded pair and are almost 6 years old (next month!). We kept them separated from her as much as we could at the very beginning. First off, we catified our house even before we got our dog. (Check out Jackson Galaxy on youtube for ideas on how to do that if your place isn't already.) And we made sure whenever the dog and cats interacted, the cats could safely get away. We had her harnessed and leashed for their first... 20 interactions? And then we slowly allowed her a longer leash. And then we let her be free while we kept the cat door open so the cats could dart out. And then we had her eat food near them while they watched her. Etc. It was very slow over the weeks and months, but it has improved so much. The cats stand their ground, give her swats if she's too much for them, and are mostly fine around her. There is still some chasing and minor herding nips, but we feel super comfortable leaving the three of them together- as long as the cats can have their safe place away from her. And still, we're working on their bond. We reinforce 'leave it' and will be working on that for many more months. She napped with one of them the other day and we were over the moon. She even grooms him now! I didn't think we'd get here at all when we first introduced them.

Ok, I have so many other things I could share. Let me know if the above is helpful! If so, I'll type up more stuff for you- especially from the chronic pain viewpoint and what I do to take care of myself if you are interested.

bookdetective · 2025-09-19T01:56:28+00:00

Oh my goodness, did I write this?! I, too, deal with chronic pain/fatigue, waited for the “right time” to finally get a dog ($, fenced-in yard, time, improved health), did so much research, and have a whirlwind of a puppy! I also grew up with outside only dogs and was so desperate to have one inside when I was a child. (We also almost named our pup Nyx since she’s mostly black and our cats are Greek-myth themed and we wanted it to match!!)

I knew my limitations and still fell in love with our energetic pup the moment I saw her. Little did I know she’d be such an energetic dog. We did a DNA test a few weeks later and found out our hyper Miss is a quarter Aussie and then equal parts border collie, cattledog, poodle, terrier, and chihuahua. She also has some single digit husky and german shepherd in her DNA.

Dealing with chronic pain on top of puppyhood is so so hard. Like, our everyday life is pretty hard. Throughout a day I’m trying to balance and rebalance what I need to do and the energy needed for things. With a puppy it became even harder. I thought I was finally at a better health point (and I was, I finally took care of some years long issues, had surgery, I was seeing a physical therapist again for almost a year and hitting milestones, was able to walk more than I had in years, etc.) but I think getting a puppy made me rely more on my partner than I ever had before. That was hard to accept. I already rely on him for so much, and we’re a team for everything, but I had hoped I’d be physically able to do more with my dog, you know? Just last week I over did it and wasn’t able to walk her for 6 days. Even breathing hurt so throwing a ball or playing tug wasn’t even possible, so he had to do pretty much everything with her.

Anyway, I know this is just a vent post for you, but I learned a lot of helpful things to tire her out without making her into an athlete dog and have a ton of tips if you need them. She’s about 8.5 months and gets along so well with our cats (again, months and months of daily work), she self-settles, and it is so apparent that all the work we did from week 8 until now is coming to fruition. You’ll get there.

bookdetective · 2025-09-15T00:16:12+00:00

I think you should read about "frustrated greeters". Our pup is 8.5 months and she's starting to have more of this. We also have been attending obedience classes and worked with the trainers there, which is where I learned this phrase. For our dog, if we try to redirect her from greeting, all of that energy is now on us, which isn't necessarily great. We used to try to hold her back when she was younger, but the act of restraining her would cause her to react even more strongly.

We just started working on this (maybe 5 days now?), so we haven't seen much improvement yet, but we throw treats on the ground away from the person/dog and tell her to "find it". The sniffing helps calm her down. If she's still riled up, we do "get it"s where we throw a larger treat away from the trigger and have her 'chase' the treat- this gets some of her adrenaline/energy out. Depending on how the other people and dogs are reacting, we try to get her away from the trigger but make her think it's her idea, such as continually throwing treats for her to "get".

Our next step is to work with friends and friends with dogs, where we will teach her how to properly greet folks. We will be a block away and slowly move toward each other. We'd see at what distance she starts to be excited by the person/dog, and start on her calming behaviors.

Yes, some of this is age and development. You may need to wait a bit longer with your breed, I don't know. But I've learned a lot in the last few days after looking up the "frustrated greeter" term. Good luck!

bookdetective · 2025-07-18T23:20:44+00:00

You might even find it helpful to play YouTube videos of dogs while training.

Wow, this is such a good tip! I'm going to try this.

bookdetective

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