and he takes his job very seriously. not sure if he loves doing it, but he’s very good at his job

All my life I’ve seen, mostly “older people”, with a dog that they treated like a human child.
Well here we are. My wife and I are empty nesters. A few months back we acquired “River” she’s an ACD and she was 6 weeks old. On the way to pick her up my wife says “this is going to be YOUR dog”, “YOU are going to be responsible for her”, etc. River slept in our bed that night at my wife’s insistence.
So now, as River is 6 days from turning 6 months old, my wife refers to herself as “momma” when speaking to River. River jumps into the shower with my wife who bathes her, we keep a steady supply of snacks on hand (in the house, in the vehicles and in the camper), we’ve turned into the middle-aged couple with a dog that we treat like a human child.
I got River for the purpose of having a companion while fly fishing in the mountains. River has turned out to be so much more, she’s our baby, a family member!
Something I didn’t expect but wouldn’t change for anything.

Edit: River, like a couple of her litter mates, was born without a tail.

Yesterday was Diesel's long-awaited annual wellness visit. He was scheduled for three vaccines and a blood draw. On his last visit in April, he tried to bite the vet tech, nearly choked himself, and thrashed all over. Since then, we've been doing a lot of work: muzzle training, regular happy visits, finding the right drugs, getting him used to being hug-restrained and palpated.

And we did it! A vet tech and I held him and reassured him; I bribed him with hot dogs and whipped cream; and another vet tech and the vet did their thing. It took about an hour, with all four of us on the floor. By the time it was finished, there was fur and whipped cream everywhere, but we were all still friends.

I'm so grateful to have a vet who's willing to work with us on this. In addition to vet phobia, Diesel has separation anxiety, so he totally loses it when they try to take him "in back" at the vet. Letting me hold him in the exam room made it possible. And Diesel didn't even try to run out when it was time to go. He wanted to greet everyone and let them congratulate him on how well he did, even though he made it all much harder than it needed to be.

He so cuteee but he so evil

Loves to chomp my feet at 1 am every night lol

Cookie and I recently moved to a new place, with a lot of our neighbors having dogs of their own. Whenever we come across them during walks, I find that Cookie will be curious and calm with people, just smelling them up close is enough. But other dogs? She just can't stand them.

There's unfortunately been quite a few interactions like this, and observing them closely, Cookie is always the one to show her fangs and attempt to lunge at them (I always make sure to have a firm hold on her harness). After these interactions, however short they may be, she suddenly becomes aggravated and will bark even at passing cars (something she never does normally) and it takes a little while for her to calm down.

I'm seriously considering a muzzle for her, and I'm wondering if this is something only a trainer would be able to address. For further context, Cookie is around 5 to 6 years old (we adopted her back in early 2021) and unneutered.

Long video, but Rune (3yo) had a tooth pulled a few months ago and now she LOVES things that crunch.

I've tried multiple different brands of shoes/boots. However they are either too small to fit his feet in because most dog boots go by length and width and he had quite tall but small paws so they fit his paw pad but not the height of his paws Or much too large and they end up being too loose on his paws and moving about which isnt ideal. Hes very sensitive to prickles and also im in Australia so dont want him burning his paws on hot days. I use Mushers secret but its currently not helping with the prickles.

Picture of the best fitting ones so far. But slightly too big for his paws and an effort to squeeze his paws in. His paws are 5.5cms wide and 6cms long but about 4cms high at the knuckles

Asher knows how to roll off the couch now so Athena made herself a barrier (side note this was a 3 second photo for all the Karen’s typing 🙄 he’s never on the couch like this, they are always strictly supervised, and you can clearly see my leg in the pic while I was eating my chicken bacon ranch pasta for 5 seconds).

This is her youngest baby she has - there’s also 2 toddlers. I’m always amazed because she knows to be gentle with him but more playful with the big boys.
She turns 1 next month!!

Supposedly he is full heeler, (mom was red, dad was blue, so purple heeler?). A local family got him then had to move into smaller place, and then my family got him. I don' know how much I trust the people I got him from or the people they had gotten him from, but a recent post got me curious. He is ~35 lbs and 3 years old.

All the mental descriptions check all the boxes. He certainly is brilliant, tireless, a little too intense and a bit of a jerk. I've had Aussies and German shepherds, but he is in his own category of back talk and brilliance.

So what is he?!?

What do y'all do in the winter when it's cold and possibly snowy? Do your pups wear coats or boots or just brave it if it's above a certain temperature? And what are your go-tos for indoor entertainment so we both don't go crazy!

I bought an 8” Jolly Ball soccer ball. I had high hopes, but tonight, 19 days later, it’s absolutely shredded. I suppose I could buy a new one every month. Does anyone have any recommendations for a tougher ball that can be kicked around and caught by the dog? Thanks!