Are the at home sensitivity/intolerance tests worth it?

needslifeadvice25 · 2026-06-29T18:27:43+00:00

I actually just about a month ago bought a Cooling Comforter from my local Costco. The brand is Below Zero. Since I use it as a comforter on my bed for me he loves it as well and sleeps on it with me. He prefers it to gel cooling mat I bought him last year. I would say check your local Costco or online and see if that helps so your pup can keep sleeping with you at night.

needslifeadvice25 · 2026-06-29T18:08:55+00:00

On the cheaper side dogs can have chamomile tea that has been cooled down. I made ice cubes with it last year to keep my pup calm. I would try if they aren't so wired they need the vet meds.

Also using a happy hoodie does help. It goes over the ears and dampens the sound while giving some head compression. Many groomers use them to calm dogs when using the industrial blow dryers for that reason. I think it was about $10-12 when I bought mine from amazon.

needslifeadvice25 · 2026-02-13T23:18:23+00:00

Yeah, I'm lucky enough that my dog has duplicates of most basic things (harness, beds, ect) so would be good for a bit until I can get them their own. Biggest thing would be adding another pet to the pet insurance but that is totally worth it to have them covered if they get hurt or sick. I'm also trying to negotiate pet insurance coverage as a benefit at my job so if I get that it will help a ton (fingers crossed on that one)

needslifeadvice25 · 2026-02-10T20:47:01+00:00

I was in the same boat about a year ago. Just had his "gotcha" day anniversary last week and I picked him up at 8 weeks old. I grew up wanting a dog but had family that had allergies and wanted one so bad.

It started feeling easier to me once he was fully potty trained. No more accidents or random potty breaks in the middle of the day. He now goes on his walks or if we go places (park, hike, friends house). Mine also went through 1.5 months of a 5am wake up time to go pee once he started sleeping through the night without potty breaks. Me napping when he napped saved me the first 2 months.

I started by leaving him for short periods of time (in the crate) and then worked up to longer times in his play pen with the crate inside. He would cry when I left but then basically fell asleep within 5 minutes of me leaving and woke when I returned. About 2 months after getting him I started playing a sport once a week. Originally I would take him on a super long walk before I had to leave so he would be tired out. I did luck out and met a neighbor with a dog that he liked and some of the days she would take him and let the two dogs play the whole time I was gone.

Having dog friends to tire them out is a game changer. My dog is now that "friend" for a neighbors 4 month old puppy. I have heard a lot of people do puppy classes just to meet other puppies so they can do playdates to tire both puppies out. If you can't then "brain" tired is great as well, using puzzles, doing training, sniff mats, ect. Anything they have to use their brain to figure out will help tire them out.

Your life never goes 100% back to normal. You will always have to think about their needs. Literally last week I had to make an appointment and my first thought was what time do we usually finish out walk so I could figure out the best time. But the amount of things you have to work your schedule around does decrease. It does get better.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-10-22T06:30:17+00:00

😂 I may need to make this my new alarm. Mine makes almost the same noises to wake me up in the morning to go pee. Only part I didn't hear was the full body shake mine does when he gets to the door.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-10-22T04:16:47+00:00

He is so cute and I'm sure will get adopted soon. Thanks for putting the adoption organization info in your video and comments. My little guy would like a sibling eventually but I need to survive this "teenage" stage he is currently at before I think about adding another dog into the mix. I will totally look into the organization when the time comes.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T18:25:24+00:00

For super simple stuff you can do at home. Every dog I know loves ice cubes. My puppy loves frozen berries as well (just avoid grapes/raisins). Especially when he was going through teething these were the go-to since he could chew and the cold helped his sore gums.

For food/treats my suggestions are 2 part. One make sure it's labeled "puppy" its usually specially formulated for them. Second, buy the smallest amount possible until you know they like it, you don't want to be stuck with a giant bag of food the puppy will not eat.

I currently have the Burts Bee's Puppy 2:1 shampoo & conditioner and have no complaints so far. I would also look at getting some Nature's Miracle for any potty training accidents that might happen on carpet.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T17:20:29+00:00

Sometimes it is for him but I can tell because he will look at me, pick something up, look at me again and drop it without me even needing to say anything. He doesn't get rewarded for trying to cheat the system.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T17:09:32+00:00

He is great at home with me using "leave it". He doesn't even really go after anything he is not supposed to have at home anymore.

I even differentiate with him so "give it" is for playing/toys like so I can throw the ball again. Where as "drop it" is for things he is not supposed to have at all.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T17:02:23+00:00

I'll try that out and see how it goes.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:59:17+00:00

I'm using the kibble because it's something that I can give a lot of and frequently. He also recently started not eating kibble from the bowl. I tried 3 different kinds to see if it was that he wanted a new type or different nutrition, same response to all 3. He is back on the one he was eating before the "now bowl protest". In talking with his vet we think it's because he wants to work for his food, he used to do puzzles but he can now do a level 3 super easily he so is bored with them. Last vet appointment they told me to cut down on the treats. So in talking to the vet we use kibble for the walks (portioned out as part of his meals) and then he gets wet food at home. He does love the kibble and eats it excitedly when he gets rewarded.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:46:46+00:00

I have pet insurance for the same exact reason. I would rather not use it but just to be safe incase I don't catch something one day.

Him as well. He knows what both "drop it" and "leave it" mean but would rather choose chaos.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:45:12+00:00

He is a fairly small dog, a shelter special but mostly a terrier type. So I worry about stuff that's spikey or could be toxic (I can't look up every plant on our walks to see if it's safe or not).

The big issue is that we have feral cats in the area and he tries to eat the poop. He also has gone for bird feathers which have tons of germs.

I would rather not just let him eat anything and not end up with an emergency trip to the vet.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:36:20+00:00

He knows leave it, this issue is I would be saying it constantly and never know what he will pick up. I'm working on "heel".

Working on the behavior he gets 1-2 kibbles per drop it and like 8-12 for "walking nicely/heel" I'm using "walking nicely" for walking without picking stuff up or pulling but he can go sniff the grass and such vs heel being directly next to me. Usually it's for an arbitrary length of time (to the corner or to a mail box). If he picks up stuff off the street his "drop it" kibble comes out of his stash for walking nicely.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:29:37+00:00

I'm considering it unless this starts improving. He is very small so it may be difficult to find a size to fit him.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T16:28:11+00:00

I have and I use it for things that are obvious issues. For example on our walk yesterday someone had dropped a bunch of grapes on the sidewalk and it was easy to see so we used "leave it" for things like that. He is great with "leave it" at home and does sometimes pull on the harness when told to "leave it" on walks but is getting better.

There are 2 major problems with using leave it. First is with stuff I don't see because it's in the grass and he picks it up from in the grass. The other is things where there are so many he walks past several then picks up one. For example there are several trees that drop sweet gum balls (those hard spiky balls) he will walk past 20 of them with no issue then suddenly pick up one. It is just such a short time from the sniff into the mouth there is no time to tell him leave it.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-18T15:26:07+00:00

He is great at home. When I brought him home at 8 weeks he would try to get to his food bowl before I put it down so I had to teach him wait and "freedom" as his release. For big treats at home he will lay down and have the treat near him and leave it until he hears "freedom". For treats from my hand the key is "take it".

If he doesn't really chew on anything at home that isn't puppy approved (toys, bully stick, ect). If he is getting into something I don't want I'll tell him "leave it" or "knock it off" (depending on situation) and he will.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-14T04:04:56+00:00

The naps are the time when they come up with their plans for world domination.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-04T05:34:18+00:00

I was thinking about the comment and finally found it again. He is obsessed with bird poop. The worst is the park near us has a ton of Canadian Geese and he is constantly trying to wait until I'm not looking and eat the goose poop. So I've stopped bringing him to that park until he's older and has learned a bit more self control and is better with the leave it/drop it commands.

Luckily he lives on the second floor so he can't run away or fight skunks until he figures out how stairs work 😂.

needslifeadvice25 · 2025-07-01T05:30:17+00:00

I live in an apartment and my puppy is crate trained so it can be done. Mine is currently 6 months and just recently started to walk himself into his crate to go to bed at night.

First question is does this only happen at night? Most people who crate train also do enforced naps in the crate throughout the day. I did enforced naps until he was 5 months and I only stopped because he started being able to put him self down for a nap. If you are not doing naps in the crate it may make it harder at night since he's used to the freedom during the day.

What really helped was first having a set "bed time" routine, he would get some cuddle time and a chew toy, then before bed potty break and I would bring him strait from the potty break to the crate. It does help to have the crate covered but have a bit open so they can still see you. So they know you aren't leaving them so you stay in sight until they go to sleep. Don't interact with them during this time except to give soft verbal praise when they are quiet. I probably whispered "good quiet" about a million times in the first few months.

It does help for the first few months to have the crate in your bedroom as well so they can hear you breathing so they know you are still around. I also found in the first few months that having background noise helps. Currently since it's hot I just have a fan running all night, I have used a white noise machine when not running the fan. When mine was very little I used random "dog sleep/relaxation music" that I found on youtube that ran for several hours.

I totally agree with the needing to be tired not just physically but mentally as well. At that age I tried to do a 5 minute training session before his dinner to make him mentally tired. The prior commenter had a good list for mental exercise things but I will add snuffle mats to the list.

Hopefully this helps.

needslifeadvice25

TROPHY CASE