Category: Top Dog

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! **

I have a 5 month old puppy who loves eating everything on the ground. I’ve taken so many trips to the vet due to that.

I want to begin off leash training for him but I’m worried that he will eat something when I’m not there so the trainer we go to suggested getting him a muzzle until he grows out of eating everything. If any of yall use muzzles which one do you use? Any other advice will be greatly appreciated!

If anyone of my family members leave the room even if someone is there he starts to bark and cry. If I close the door to use restroom he cry and bark. We go downstairs he barks. At night he barks but not as much. It does not matter that there is 3 of us still in the room he cries. What can we do i know prob because he just came from the pound but it never stops I have never had a puppy like this i have had a lot of dogs

Hi I have a toy Cavoodle puppy, around 5 months old and 3.5kg currently. He eats the Royal Canin puppy dry food, as this was the one he had with the breeder too, and up until he started teething/growing adult teeth around a month ago he was loving it!

The last week or so he really hasn’t been eating much, and when he does he tends to rub his face on the couch/floor afterwards (seems like itching?) – is this a normal thing with teething or an indication of an allergy perhaps?

Any insight or advice would be much appreciated!!

sadie is a 6 month (omg i can’t believe she’s 6 months already) old english cocker spaniel. she’s crazy and loving and all the things a puppy is. she’s crazy bitey, has accidents sometimes still, ya know the normal puppy behavior.

HOWEVER. i live in an apartment and we brought sadie home dec 2025 so she’s had a solid 3 months to get used to the apartment and surroundings outside. now it’s march 2026 and our apartment just put down fresh pine straw and it’s all fluffy and not what she’s used to. i’ve noticed in maybe the past few days or so, she isn’t pooping as easily outside and comes inside and immediately poops in the house even after being outside for like 10-15 mins. is it because of the pine straw or am i crazy? could be the teenage phase creeping in where shes testing her boundaries or maybe she just isn’t as fully potty trained as i thought. but am i making excuses for her by saying “oh she’ll grow out of it and be used to the new pine straw in a week or so” or am i crazy lol

My dog’s absolute favorite toy is the 10 inch lambchop. She has some of the tiny ones too, but she loves the medium size. Shes had two so far, and both of them have had their faces torn into within a week, because they are knitted and easier to pull apart. I know the small and large lambchops have a regular fabric face, but are there any medium ones like that??

Hi everyone! I am on the hunt for a leather dog collar thats raised and fancy stitched preferably wide. I have a dalmation so he’s a bigger guy nothing for a small dog. But I don’t want padding underneath it. I was wondering if anyone has found anything similar or has someone who works with leather that could customize the collar! The one I love is a Butet but its $220 without CA sales tax and my dog adventures a lot so I have a hard time justifying that price for something I know will see salt water, mud, etc. Unfortunately I can’t post a picture of the collar I like but if anyone has any leads TIA!

My buddy is 10+ years old. He's a very good boy, but was never the most engaging or brightest boy.

I've tried playing with him in so many ways, but he doesn't really play.

He used to love long hikes and walks, but with a bad hip he now can't walk more than a quarter mile. Most times I take him out for walks now (off leash in the country) he doesn't want to go past the driveway. He just pees and goes back inside.

He used to love riding with me in the truck and still does, but now he shakes with discomfort and can't quite get his leg to sit right underneath him.

He used to sit next to me on the couch, but now he can't get up here.

He lays around a lot, loves his biscuits and chews, and I give him love when I can.

I'm giving him lots of jerky and what not, but I see the boredom creeping in.

He absolutely LOVES rolling in the snow and it's been a great winter for that, but now that's gone for the year.

He's an old dog. Poor sight, a little deaf, can't move around a ton, but internal organs are all fine.

Does anyone have any suggestions I'm not thinking of to keep him entertained or stimulated in these twilight years (months?) that he has left?

I love him and really want to help him enjoy life while he's still with me.

Been browsing online but I'm having a difficult time finding decent reviews. My girl is about 95 lbs and we are probably going to be traveling on rides that are around 8 miles One way (12 Kilometers).