Category: Top Dog

I’ll hopefully be getting a show ECS soon and they will be 9 weeks when I get them. They are from a very reputable breeder and i’ve been on their waitlist for 2 years so very excited to finally be getting a puppy.

For context, I currently own a ECS and my whole family has Cockers and I grew up with a Cocker so I’m very familiar with the breed.

The breeder uses puppy pads for potty training the puppies, as they’re about 6 weeks old right now. My current dog and dogs i’ve raised before never had puppy pad training like this and it was fairly easy to train them to go potty outdoors.

I don’t plan to use puppy pads when I get my puppy so my question is should I give in and use them for a week or 2 after getting them or has anyone had good experiences with not using them and going straight to outdoor training? I’m fine with cleaning up accidents but I also don’t want to make things harder than they need to be.

I do plan to talk to my breeder about this and get their thoughts but I also wanted to hear from peoples experiences with this kind of transition. Thank you!

Our beautiful Golden Retriever, Amber, is 15 and a half months now. We're in this weird in-between stage where I'm not sure if to tell people she's "still a puppy" or now that she's considered a teen she's no longer a pup?

What do you think? Does it depend on the breed perhaps, as I've heard some breeds mature quicker than others?

I have a 7 month old puppy, when I'm home I've given him full free roaming privileges to living room and office in my apartment since he was 5 months old. When leaving the house I let him have free roaming in the living room if I was gone <1.5 hours otherwise would put him in his playpen for up to 4-5 hours.

Overall he's done great, no issues at all when I'm home and also had no issues when out until this week. I tried to extend his freedom during time alone and so left him in the living room outside of the pen for 2 hours. I came back to my a small portion of a baseboard chewed up.

It was a bad call in hindsight, he was really tired after a long walk so I'm sure that weighed on his behavior. Either way it was surprising to see this. Prior to this we've had no destructive instances, even in the peak of teething, he is really good about sticking just to his toys. He also usually just sleeps on the couch 90% of the time I'm gone when he has freedom.

How should I approach this? First, is there a good way to train that baseboard chewing isn't allowed? I sprayed some lime juice to repel him which seems to have worked. How do I introduce free roaming while I'm gone? Or should I scrap it entirely? Long term I would like my dog to have more room than the playpen while I'm gone but maybe have to just wait until he's older?

My pup is a 4.5 month old maltese. She's eating well ans has learnt basic training commands.we spend about a hour a day playing with her but the rest of the rime she either plays by herslef or just follows us round the house like a shadow. We do have an older dog who she is also attached.to but does not play. How long per day do you play eith your pup? Is it ok for them to play alone and learn how to manage boredom Thanks in advance

My 11-month-old puppy was recently rehomed to my parents and me, and she’s been with us for almost 3 weeks. I’ve been trying to keep the 3-3-3 rule in mind while she adjusts.

She came from a rural area and now lives with us in NYC, so she’s still very nervous on walks, especially around loud noises. She also struggles with being alone. In her previous home she was around other dogs and seemed fine, but with us she hasn’t really shown interest in approaching dogs.

I don’t want to overwhelm her while she’s still settling in, but I also don’t want to wait too long to start helping her.

When is the right time to begin training?

I adopted my 8 month old GSD about four months ago. She is a WONDERFUL dog. Very smart and very driven. But I am feeling hopeless. I have been training her since I got her. The work is not a huge problem for me. I have a ton of fun working with her. The problem is she does not meet the key reason why I wanted a dog in the first place. I feel bad for even saying this because she really is a great dog, but she is much more independent than I would have hoped for. At first, I respected that and figured that as the months go on, we will bond better. The thing is, I can tell she has bonded more with me these last few months, but she just is not really cuddly. She also mainly follows me with her eyes, not her legs. Basically, she has bonded with me but is not showing it in a way I hoped for. It stings. We do a LOT together. Agility, obedience training, regular walks, hand-feeding, regular play, place work, the works. But she just seems so disinterested in me. What am I doing wrong?

Even if she does have a more independent temperament, I do not think it is a good idea to rehome her. I just needed a place to vent about this hopeless feeling and see if anyone else here is going through the same thing.

My puppy is 6-month-old poodle. I play with him daily, we do commands and hygiene trainings. But i always feel like it is not enough. How much time should i give to my puppy daily?

Hello! It's been a week since we got our 2 month old lagotto romagnolo. I've read a lot about puppy blues and I know it's natural and okay to feel this way. Before saying more, I also wanr to make it clear that I am a high school student, I turned 18 last month and still, obviously, live with my parents. So, we got our lagotto, Archie, last week as 'a birthday gift for me', and my mental health went downhill after that. I am so grateful that everyone is spending time with him and not just me because I think I'd lose my mind. I feel anxious, stressed and cried once (and he comforted me when that happened which was so sweet). I am more anxious about what might come in the future. So far, he has been good when left home alone – we leave him downstairs in the living room and he pretty much naps. He has been playful, hes learning commands such as sit, lie down and stuff, and he sleeps so good at night. Hes not fully crate trained – last night he slept so nicely in his open crate, but hes not used to it being closed yet and my parents discourage the idea of it because they see no point in him being closed when hes not home alone. I've been reading so many subreddits about how naughty he might get. I'm terrified that he'll become restless at night (because he sleeps in my bedroom) and I'm wondering if I'd be happier if he didnt join our family. I've been so unmotivated to do things I enjoy despite him being so good so far and despite not being the only one caring for him. I know this is all temporary and will pass soon, which I'm so excited for, I just really needed an outlet and hopefully to read some of other's experiences. Thank you for reading!

Posted on here a while ago about struggling to bond with my pup when he was 2mo. Now he’s 6mo and it’s still not massively improved.

Logically… he’s great. House trained, sleeps in the night and through the day, good on a lead. Good off the lead (for now… hello adolescence). Knows loads of tricks, gets all the enrichment and I spend most of my free time lingering this subreddit and thinking about his training etc. I’ve got one dog trainer for general stuff, and another one for his gundog training, positive only.

But despite this all, I just can’t love him. I just can’t. I like him of course. But he feels more like a project to me, to train and look after and to raise him right. Emotionally I’m just detached.

My soul dog died almost two years ago very suddenly from a brain tumour at the age of seven. He knew recall and sit, and that’s pretty much it. But my god he was everything to me. My entire soul and life. The dog I spent every waking and sleeping moment with. The dog whose death ripped me to pieces and I’ve never quite recovered. I hoped that I’d be able to bond with another dog after him, but I just haven’t. My pup just… isn’t my soul dog.

Give it time I know. Stop comparing them. But it’s so hard. And I feel like I’ll never feel that kind of love I had for my old dog again 🙁