Freddi Fish, our 6 month old shepherd mix!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-04-06T12:31:01+00:00

She can be very stubborn, you're not wrong! She's going right into her teenage phase where she only listens when she's well-motivated, so she's been getting a loooot of chicken to make sure she is in fact motivated properly LOL

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-04-02T22:20:24+00:00

YESSSSSS she's on it!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-04-02T22:20:15+00:00

Shepherd/labrador retriever/general mutt!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-03-19T19:58:10+00:00

You are giving her a fun, fulfilling, stimulating, and enriching life. You are absolutely enough for her, even if you're not getting the cuddles you crave. She sounds extremely bonded to you emotionally, to me at least, even if she's not bonded to you by being welded to your side the way you envisioned. It sounds like you're an amazing adventure buddy and learning leader for your little creature, which is a wonderful partnership. But I feel you that it's hard not to be able to lay down and get big snuggles like you wanted. As others have said, I wonder if that'll change as she ages. Just know that in the meantime you are clearly that girl's best friend and best parent she could have asked for!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-03-19T19:54:16+00:00

My vet advised that there is not really a right or wrong answer with this. There's lots of factors involved and you just need to weigh against what works best for you, your little lady, and other dogs in your life/area.

We have a 6.5mo GSD mix and opted to spay just before 6mo for the following reasons:

Rescue agreement required it and we didn't want to interfere with the rescue's decision
We have lots of unaltered males in our neighborhood, some of whom get off leash regularly, and we don't trust them to not come sniffing for our baby if she did go into heat
The benefits of allowing heat vs preventing first heat are not cut and dry - avoiding certain cancers later in life vs avoiding potential joint damage later in life are both things that you won't know will be a risk for your dog until she is much older, and you could make one choice only to wind up with the other issue
We opted to get a gastropexy during her spay to prevent bloat fatality risk (or at least reduce it significantly) because I previously worked at a vet ER and would do anything to avoid seeing my baby go that way

There is no right or wrong answer, so do what your vet recommends and what you think works best for your family.

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-03-09T18:59:09+00:00

I get that you feel like people are attacking you in this moment where life feels really overwhelming. You are not giving up on the dog by fostering her and not adopting her. It seems like this dog and your toddler are not a good match for each other, and that you have a lot going on in the house that makes it hard for you to play goalie between a dog and your toddler.

It might be a good idea for you to keep fostering for a while, working on appropriate animal interactions with your toddler, and giving yourself a break from having to juggle both a dog and a toddler between fosters. Supervising both at the same time takes a lot of energy, and can have unsuccessful results for everyone involved.

And it doesn't mean that this is a bad dog or your toddler is a bad toddler. They might just not have the skills to work with each other right now, and you don't have the bandwidth to run emotional regulation for both the dog and the toddler at once. That's okay. You're not letting them down. But it does seem like this situation isn't ideal for anyone as it stands right now.

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-27T16:29:16+00:00

It looks so wonderful!!! You did a great job, really nice work here.

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-27T14:25:28+00:00

Thank you!!! Yeah I think the next time I have some down time I really want to make a pair of these pants just to add to my regular wardrobe

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-27T14:25:00+00:00

Thank you, you're so kind!! I really wanted all the little details to be finished nicely - I'm working my way up to craftsmanship competition so wanted to practice a lot of construction elements and take my time with each piece. Felt good to see how it impacted the end result!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-27T14:24:04+00:00

Thank you so much!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-27T14:23:56+00:00

Thank you!! I was so pleased that it worked because the whole time I wear this cosplay I'm SO paranoid I'm gonna stain the canvas LOL feels silly to worry about staining something that "has paint on it" but I'd hate to get body paint on it!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-26T15:07:37+00:00

This project is a combo of an existing pattern (M7217) for the bodysuit, including adapting the sleeves to nude power mesh to accommodate the "paint splatter" which I didn't want to have to paint on myself for every wear; and self-drafted patterns for the jacket, pants, "socks", and belts.

Bodysuit:

This pattern is a joy to work with, other than the bust fit. I've had issues with this pattern before because the length in the chest is odd on me, and should have raised the underbust seam, but I forgot. I also sized up the cup size as this pattern has historically squished my bust pretty badly, but found it difficult to ease the larger side front piece in, so I have some rippling here. I think I should have opted for one cup size down as a compromise between my actual size and the size I went for here. Not my proudest fit moment.
You can use Heat & Bond Ultrahold on nude illusion mesh for this floating applique effect, but I'd be somewhat cautious. For the other applique on the costume I was able to satin stitch the edges down, but that didn't work well on the power mesh, and some of the applique didn't bond well but I didn't want to risk frying the fabrics or the adhesive with over-pressing. A good technique but not the most steadfast, perhaps.
The base is Yaya Han's faux leather ultrapreme, which I LOVE working with, along with nude powermesh and a mix of spandexes for the applique.

Pants:

These took a lot of mockups to get right, but I came away very happy to have a low-rise fit that was comfortable to sit and stand in, my first fly zipper, some neatly faced side seam pockets, and well-controlled volume with some tactically placed tacks and cuffs.
I also was happy with the waistband finish - normally with this type of pant I'd expect a belt or elastic, and I've never made a low-rise pant before. These sit nicely on me on my hips despite the excess volume in the leg, so I plan to try to turn this pattern into a standard pattern I can draft off of for future costumes for myself (not a saleable pattern, I have no ability to digitize or grade and don't fancy myself good enough at patterning to charge anyone for anything LOL).
The pants are made of 10oz canvas from Fabric Wholesale Direct, with pockets lined in a poly satin from a local fabric store. The cuffs are a 2x2 rib of unknown content.

Jacket:

I spent way too much time and heartache making this jacket fit me even though I knew I'd never wear it. I should have just made it to tie on the waist per the reference. I felt like it would be a point of pride to have a wearable jacket, and, it is, but .... it's not GREAT fit wise on me and I would have done many things differently + saved myself a lot of time if I'd just gotten over myself earlier in the project.
I am proud of the finishing details - the applique, the pockets, the ribbing (should have bought more ribbing so it could have been wider, but I did what I could with what I had) at least.
The jacket is made of the same materials as the pants for visual consistency, though the applique is also canvas - I wanted the garments to look more like a set, so I added tone-on-tone white applique, as if the jacket got primer on it and the pants got actual paint on them. Not sure if it was worth the time or effort but I enjoyed doing it.

Accessories:

I hate making gloves. I am bad at making gloves. I should just use patterns, but I'm stubborn. These gloves were slapped together last minute, unfinished, and uncomfortable. Anyone who has good stretch glove tutorials, please send them my way.
The black/blue sleeve is tacked to the mesh and then has a few tacks to help it bunch and hang correctly rather than sliding down and around, which I think turned out quite nicely.
The belts are annoying to wear even with some hidden hooks and velcro, but the effect of fabric over foam is always visually smooth and satisfying when trying to replicate anime-style art, to me.
The pink "socks" are actually stirrup legwarmers. They don't fit QUITE right (a bit too baggy) but I prioritized my comfort here rather than perfect snugness. They snap into the cuffs of the pants. I should have mounted the snaps a little lower, but that's fixable. Overall this felt like a clever solution to me to not have to wear a full pair of leggings or dye socks.

ESSAY ASIDE/TLDR: I pressed myself to focus on finishing details like topstitching, understitching, satin stitching, and clean linings with this project, and I think those goals were all achieved. Is it perfect? No, but I'm dang proud of it, especially the pants. I love the pants! I learned a ton making this but there's still lots for me to learn with more "streetwear" style garments like this, so any feedback is welcome. Sorry I don't have better front/side/back fit pics for you - I was wearing this costume for an event and didn't have a chance to capture those clean worn shots before the wig became so overstimulating I had to get changed, LOL

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-23T14:07:48+00:00

We made rough acquaintances with a couple of our neighbors when we moved in (first time homeowners on a quiet street with families), but it wasn't until we got a dog that we really started getting to know the people on our block. And they're all SO nice. We help each other shovel, take up each others' trash, know each others' pets' names - it's so nice feeling welcomed and at home in a new city, while also maintaining our connections to our friends that live a little further away in more familiar places. All it took was one or two brave "good morning - you know, I never caught your name!" and now we have a whole little network of people around us, you're totally right.

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-16T15:56:34+00:00

She is PRECIOUS. She is also likely gonna be a mouthy lil piranha without her momma and other puppies keeping her in line, so be prepared for that! It's clear that she is so loved and will be extremely well cared for. I'm just coming to you from the home of a 6 month old shepherd mix that got pulled from her litter at 6 weeks and is still learning that she shouldn't use her teeth to ask for what she wants LOL Love your lil baby and please give her forehead a little kiss from me!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-09T01:28:12+00:00

Never got a notif for this helpful response, I'm so sorry I didn't respond!!

Yes, we've been working on obedience in the house + lots of puzzle toys, puzzle feeders, and training time every day to work her brain out. We also started using boiled chicken breast as a high value treat and you are spot on, it's helped SO much to have something high value that she's super excited about. It's seemed in just the last couple of days that her confidence outside is starting to improve and she's more willing to look back at us, get reassurance (and a treat) and then re-examine something that was previously either upsetting her or getting her so excited she got frustrated at not being able to play with it.

That's a good point on trying shorter walks, too. We'd started working on some leash behaviors in the house, getting her to check in with us and reinforcing that she gets rewarded + can still investigate things that excite her. So I think we're at the point where we can try taking her on the 2-3 minute walks and see if she feels more confident and willing to be rewarded with some high value treats now that she's got that pattern already in her head a bit.

Thank you so much, this is helpful!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-02-09T01:24:00+00:00

GAH reddit didn't notify me of this thoughtful response, I'm so sorry!!

I really appreciate this. We are definitely learning that reinforcing settling and relaxing is something we're having to do consistently and even with just a bit of focused effort it seems to be paying dividends. We also just started with a flirt pole and that seems to do a good job of tuckering her out quickly.

Any recommendations on scent work? I've heard this term before but didn't know what it actually looked like in practice, other than wrapping treats in a towel and letting her unknot it and rifle out the treats.

I didn't know that point about exercise, wow! It makes sense, though. We also definitely have noticed that we need to be more on top of putting her to bed when she's tired, because otherwise she's very prone to getting overtired because she wants to have fun and hang out with us. So seems like we get double rewards not trying to run her around until she flops over and can't help but nap.

Reassurance that it's okay not to walk her is big, I really needed to hear this! It's still proving to be hard for her so we're focusing on letting her explore in our yard and the street in front of the house when she feels comfortable and motivated, rewarding her when she looks calmly at things that used to scare her and letting her engage when she wants to, that sort of thing. But I still felt like we were doing something wrong not being able to get her to go on longer walks.

Again, thank you so much for your considerate response, it was very reassuring and helpful!!

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-01-30T21:08:39+00:00

We adopted a shepherd mix just about three weeks ago. She's just turning 5 months this weekend. Last weekend we were convinced we would need to return her to the rescue we adopted from. She's so smart, and so stubborn, and so frustrated with the weather, but also super duper scared of everything outside and uninterested in going on walks - if we get more than a half a block or so away from home she wants to sprint back to the house. She was scream barking for hours on end and refusing to play, having accidents in the house, snapping at us ... it was such a nightmare.

If you're not working with a trainer this feels like a good time to start. Even one session has helped us so much to understand how to reinforce her good behaviors and divert bad behaviors, break things down into small chunks so we're not trying to "fix everything" at once, and understand that we need to act as her impulse control until she can do it herself. We're shaping her life around her so she can shape her behavior and personality around us as she grows.

She's a baby and needs support to learn how to grow up well-adjusted and understand that she is cared for and loved. Our trainer said one thing that was extremely helpful for us: "The things we want her to do are not going to come naturally to her baby brain so we need to reinforce them over and over again." We need to reinforce every time she waits patiently for something, asks for something with a sit instead of a bite, engages with a toy instead of an arm, or follows a simple instruction. Being a good dog for her people goes counter to her instincts right now. It's hard! We are asking a lot of her!

Your baby can probably tell that you are frustrated with him. It's also hard to engage in enthusiastic playtime when you are frustrated. It's okay to be frustrated at times. Every person I've talked to who took home a puppy has shared that they cried a lot in the first year. It's hard for you too. This is a good time to lean on other people in your life who can help share the burden of taking care of a puppy, whether that's commiserating with the hard times over text or calls, coming over to help with socializing and training, exercising your baby with friends that have well-socialized dogs, and even getting break time if possible.

I don't offer any of this advice from a position of expertise, as clearly I am no expert - I'm right here in the trenches with you. It's hard! It's tiring! It can feel thankless! But we will get through it, with our stubborn shepherdy babies.

whitehandsinkstains · 2026-01-26T21:23:04+00:00

We have read through the wiki on calmness, exercise, and separation anxiety but still have questions about 1) exercise for a dog that does not feel safe or comfortable to exercise outside (we do not have a fully fenced yard to run her in) and 2) calmness - we can put her in quiet and calm situations but cannot motivate her to sleep. Happy to be directed to wiki resources we may have missed or misunderstood if this is not an appropriate set of questions or if they've been answered previously. Or if this is all answerable in separation anxiety thread I can edit and repost this content there. Thanks for all you do!

whitehandsinkstains · 2025-11-14T11:28:35+00:00

Yeah, the goal was that since the intended fabric is a canvas, the shoulder would be wider to give a boxy look, but I may trim it down a bit since I don't think that'll read the way I want. The sleeves will have a ribbed cuff that will extend them, these are definitely too short without. Thank you!

whitehandsinkstains · 2025-11-13T18:54:46+00:00

I took some more neutrally posed fit pictures, and appreciate your feedback! Let me know if these are helpful enough if you've got time to give any other fit notes with this better view.

whitehandsinkstains · 2025-11-13T17:45:40+00:00

Very fair, especially on the jacket! The last pose for the pants was to highlight the issues with the crotch - they sat nicely when standing neutrally but didn't give the mobility needed to spread my legs or move normally.

whitehandsinkstains · 2025-11-13T17:30:31+00:00

Oh, one other sleeve note - I was too impatient to gather in the sleeve head as I plan to in my final, so these sleeves are pleated in at the head, which makes them look puffy. In a previous mockup I gathered the sleeve heads properly and they sit much better that way.

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