Blog

I’ve posted repeatedly about our eight month old puppy’s crate issues but last night we had a bad night – I think she may have heard something like my older dog moving around and woke up barking at 3 in the morning. We ignored it for a little bit and then took her out to go to the bathroom since it was one of those weird days where she didn’t poop after dinner. No poop, just a quick pee and right back up. She barked and cried again in the crate after. I think she’s being a teenager and pushing her boundaries now that she’s more attached to us and has been here for 2.5 months. Did everyone go back to basics with crate training when they hit a teenage regression? We never slept with her crate in our bedroom, she’s always been in the guest room with the door shut and a sound machine on. In the first week or so, we would lay in the room with her for a few minutes until she settled and fell asleep and then quietly left, and she would sleep through the night perfectly from there. Unfortunately we also really want to try switching up her crate situation so that she can sleep in the same room as us or sleep in a soft sided travel crate because we want to go visit my parents soon, but any switch up to this routine also seems to cause problems. Not sure if anyone has any advice or if this is more of a vent lol

Is this normal?! My puppy pants lots after metal stimulation such as training or “find it” games! I’ve read mental stimulation is equivalent to more than physical exercise, so it makes sense.. just wanted to see if your puppies do this too?

My pup is an (almost) 6 month old BC mix.

Hi,

I bought my puppy at the beginning of February, a blue Staffy girl. I’ve brought her home 3 days ago.

However, my mother was convinced she needed a puppy too and so 3 weeks after I bought mine, she bought her own English Bulldog puppy girl. She’s 1 month older than mine.

I am incredibly frustrated by this because I’ve heard really bad things about Littermate Syndrome, I’ve wanted a dog for years and I have my chance and now it’s potentially ruined.

We keep them fairly separated. Mine sleeps in my room, they eat in different rooms, I also train mine separately. I let them play together at random times throughout the day and that’s the only interaction they really have but even that, it seems quite aggressive playing. Biting each others faces, pining each other and sometimes it escalates into snarling and barking. It’s always supervised and we seperate them when we think it’s too much.

Is there anything else I can do to avoid littermate syndrome?

Looking for recommendations for the best travel/collapsible/durable crate for my large breed puppy.

Context: My 4 month old puppy is going to be staying at my parents (her grandparents lol) house for 5 days while I travel for work.

Puppy is already about 25-26 lbs and is going to be a big dog, so we have an XL crate at home with a divider that we use through the night right now. This crate DOES NOT fit in my car. I drive a mid-size SUV and there's no way to get it in my car unless we fully take it apart and then reassemble which I don't want to do every time we take her to stay somewhere.

Instead, I'm looking for a durable and comfortable travel crate that I can have in my car and bring to my parents for short trips like this. She does pretty well in the crate, especially overnight, but I need something that's decent sized and not just going to fall over if she puts any weight into it.

Also, if you have any recommendations for helping her keep her routine while at grandparents house I welcome them! They have an older pup that she can play with, but I want to make sure she's still sleeping and has time to decompress.

Thanks in advance!!