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Hi everyone –

We have a 8.5-week old golden female retriever that we brought home 4 days ago. I'm asking a question about crate training because we're not sure what our next step would be in this case. Sorry if it comes across as a repeat question!

She is doing pretty well with the crate. Most of the time with the crate door open, she is happy to go and eat her food, lie down to nap, etc. However, when we want her to self-soothe to calm down and nap, she will sit there for a bit but start whining, wanting to get out. I don't think she's stressed. I think she's just bored and wants to play with us.

We have toys and food, and we take her out before we try to put her in the crate—lot of the times, we can successfully get her to walk in by herself. If we put a collagen stick in with her, she can stay calm very consistently, but I am not sure if we should always rely on that. Currently, we only do that when she becomes way overstimulated.

In this situation, what should be our next step? We don't want to let her whine and turn the crate into a negative place, but we also want her to be able to self-soothe in the crate, but I am not sure what the best next step would be in this scenario. Most posts and videos talk about how to create the initial positive associations or treat severe crying and barking. I feel like we are in a bit of a middle ground.

I'm not impatient about this, but we simply just don't know what the next step to do would be. Thank you so much for your advice!

I’m not sure if my 5 month old puppy is tired or bored or disinterested. Today he didn’t really seem interested in his walk, we walked maybe 20 minutes and he decided to lay down and just people watch. We live in an apartment complex so I took him to the garden so he can relax and I can sit next to him and he did the same thing. He just laid down even though I tried to play with him. He seemed to pull on the grass and chew on it. After a while,I had some of his treats with me and I had him sniff them out in the grass which he was doing since he’s very food motivated. Later in the day I tried again to take him out for a walk and I we ended up walking to the dog park. He played and he seemed to enjoy his time there.

Every time I try to get him to walk out of the apartment he makes it out of the door and just sits in the hallway so I’m not sure if he’s tired of his routine or bored of doing it consistently. He’s also been sleeping 8 hrs at night with 2-3 naps that last around 2 hours on my days off. He goes to daycare twice a day and stays with my parents 3 times a week since he can run around their yard while I work. On my days off we usually go on sniff walks every 2-3 hours and during meals I either train or have him sit and chase his food while I throw it. I’m not sure if I’m being boring with him or how else to add enrichment. I am planning to buy a flirt pole since he has a high prey drive and we’re going to see a trainer on Wednesday so hopefully I can be better for him. Any advice would be appreciated.

My 7-month-old Maltipoo has just started showing some signs of adolescence / reactivity. He was never an aggressive puppy. He barely bit during teething, if anything he would bite his own paws. He has loved people and dogs since the start, though he would be timid with new people and warm up to them eventually. He had never even barked until he turned 6-months-old.

Recently, he has been barking and growling at anything that moves (especially people and dogs), and he is also way more sensitive to random sounds than before. I think it's based off fear, but I also have no idea what he's thinking. He has always had a bit of separation anxiety, so wondering if anxiety in general plays a part in this. He also just got neutered, if that matters.

When did adolescence end for you?! I'm seeing posts about it being 18-24 months (oh hell no), and I am kind of freaking out. Also, if you have tips of adolenscent reactivity, please feel free to share.

Bringing home my first puppy ever. I have no idea where to start. I have had many dogs but they were always 3-4 years old when we got them. I have been reading up on puppy schedules and I know enough from experience that you do not give them full rein of the house but to keep them limited to a room and that they must always be supervised.

The puppy is a little over 3 months old. I have other dogs in the house that are 6 years old and 10. I have so many questions but will focus on these:

1. is it even possible to crate train the puppy if the adult dog is not crated and has free rein of the house?

2. The puppy spent all of her 3 months with a littermate 24/7. How do I deal with that kind of separation anxiety?

3. I feel embarrassed asking this one. How do I leave the house? It’s going to take time to crate train, right? If I put her in a smaller room, she’s never really been alone and I’m sure will make a fuss.

Yeah, I do feel like I bit off more than I can chew and should have done more to prepare.