Category: Top Dog

So we got a 6 week old lab/pit mix from the animal shelter. Obviously way too young to be taken from his mom but he was there and we took him in. We have a 3 year old girl who is our soul dog. The first week I bawled my eyes out almost every night and seriously considered taking him back because we felt like we messed up our big girl’s life. We were so unprepared for everything that comes with a tiny puppy that young. (We got our older dog when she was 3 months old)

He growled, he barked, he bit, he charged. He terrorized our older girl constantly. He peed everywhere. He pooped everywhere. The first month with him was an absolute nightmare. Absolutely no retention of training besides some basic commands (sit, stay, come)

Fast forward to him now being 3 months old. All the hard work we put in over the past 6 weeks has paid off. We finally had our first “no accident inside” day. Our older dog was a pushover so we worked hard to create boundaries: separate play time, monitored play time together, intervention when he was too rough. They now choose to play with toys together without him barking and growling.

I guess I’m posting this for those that have older dogs and little puppies and are stressed about a healthy relationship. If you put the effort and training and attention in, it will work out. I know he has the adolescent stage ahead, but we finally got over the serious puppy blues slump and I promise: it really really does get better.

Like when I’m trying to teach her my having treats in one hand and closing my fist like the YouTube video told me to and the video said to wait until the dog looks at you to give a treat but the thing is my dog doesn’t look at me

My puppy is a year old and we’ve had him since he was 14 weeks old. From the get go, he was already an anxious dog— peeing out of fear, shaking whenever anyone would hold him, and excessive drooling and shaking during car rides. He has always been a very timid dog and I’ve just accepted it.

Recently we had him stay at his trainers house for 2 weeks for a board and train due to his destructive behavior, stubbornness, and persistent potty accidents inside the house. He came home perfectly trained and I was pleasantly surprised. However, to maintain what he has learned, the trainer insists that I establish the same schedule my pup had at the trainer’s at home, and this included crating him at home. At the trainers, he was perfectly crate trained but when we transitioned to establishing crate training at home, it has been a handful.

I crate him from 8 AM – 5 PM with potty and play breaks every 3-4 hours. With this however, I’ve noticed he has become extremely anxious inside his crate. He is panting excessively, refusing food and water when the crate door is closed, biting and yanking the gate, and just destroying everything inside. He doesn’t sleep or take naps in his crate either. When I do let him out, I notice that he drinks A LOT of water and has accidents in the house because of how much water he’s drank. The accidents are in the middle of the night or when I’m not looking and this concerns me because he has never woken up from his sleep to potty INSIDE the room before. At night, he sleeps with me on the bed and I’ve noticed since crating him, he’s become really lethargic during bed time. I don’t know what to do!

I’ve been consistently positively reinforcing his relationship with the crate by feeding him inside with the door open. I throw treats inside and he’s able to go in and out without a problem. He is able to stay occupied and calm in his crate when I’m around. However, the minute I close the gate and leave, his destructive and anxious behavior starts to happen. Most of the time I’m seeing this through my doggy camera I have that is facing his crate.

I am a pretty anxious and helicopter pet parent and I only want what is best for my boy. But crating him is the safest thing for him because without it, he’d be chewing, peeing, and pooping on everything. I’m hoping that crate training him will lead to him being fully house trained but with how things are going, I don’t know what to do anymore. It kills me to see him so anxious in his crate and just feeling not like himself. It’s only been a week with this schedule at home, should I see it through? Please, I’m open to any solutions or tips. He’s starting to concern me with his excessive thirst, potty accidents, and excessive panting…

I just got an 8-week-old chocolate lab puppy! I work from home, so I’m able to take him out frequently and he’s rarely alone during the day.

Right now he sleeps a lot (obviously), but the second I’m in a meeting is when he decides he needs attention 😂

I’m looking for toys or enrichment ideas that will actually keep him occupied for more than a few minutes. He loved the Playology raccoon for a bit, but got bored of it pretty quickly (and my older lab destroyed it anyway).

What has worked for you guys especially for labs or high energy puppies? Open to anything: toys, chews, DIY ideas, etc!!!

** Bonus points if it’s something I can use during meetings and doesn’t require constant supervision! **