Category: Top Dog

My puppy is three months old and today he will finally get his last vaccine, so we are just about to start walking.

He has left the house in my arms, we have sat next to the nearby street to listen to cars, motorcycles and see different people and animals, but this will be his first time walking outside.

What things can I do to give him a good and fun first experience? How long should the walk last? When do you know it's time to start reinforcing your current commands outside? I guess the first few times he will be super unruly and distracted, so there is no rush.

I appreciate any advice and I hope that no question is stupid, this is my first time with an energetic dog, since my old elderly girl only liked to go out, do her business, smell things and sunbathe lying on the grass, so I don't know much about playing outside or what things serve to drain the little ball of energy that is this puppy.

Im absolutely horrified that im writing this. I've just brought home an 8 almost 9 week puppy. I've been thinking about getting a puppy for years and I that time did so much research. I finally got my own place and over the last 2 months have been researching more and more and looking for one. I do have some health issues but i was in a good place with them and they were almost non existent. And I am very isolated and alone and thought a dog would make great companionship plus would get me out more, plus I fully intended on training so I could meet new people and for the dog to socialise as well.

2 weeks ago I found the most beautiful little chihuahua/ Yorkshire terrier cross. I've been around yorkies a lot before and a family friend has a chihuahua so I felt this was a good match. I went to see the litter and was expecting to pick up one of the males but this little girl won my heart over and I knew. Went back to see her a couple of times and on Sunday committed to getting her.

Almost instantly, id say within the first 3 hours, I regret it. Over the last few days ive been working on potty training and crate training. And while there is progress, it is minimal.

I cant say exactly what it is im regretting. Shes fine. I literally love her and im never mad at her for doing anything wrong. Shes a baby and I understand that. I dont even find her that difficult or hard work. Its not her. Its me. I am panicking at the thought of even having a dog any more. Even though its something ive pictured for years. Im hugely embarrassed that I thought i could manage this and bow I just want rid of her. Ive cried solidly for the last 3 days and im at my wits end.

I talked to my friend who was the one who kind of gave me the final nudge to go ahead and she said she had puppy blues with her dog the first month and her sister also the first 3 months. I dont think ill make it to the end of the week. I read so many things and I dont feel like this is normal. I feel like ive made a decision that I was so confident but still been wrong. I havent eaten anythibg in over 48 hours cause im sick with worry and I cant shower or use the rest room or even sleep.

What I want to know, is this normal puppy blues or am I correct in thinking, ive made a mistake. Please help because im heartbroken and embarrassed.

TLDR; potty trained puppy will not stop pooping on the carpet at work

I have a 6 month old mixed breed pup who has been coming to work with me 3 days a week since August. My girl is completely potty trained at home with the occasional accident when we are taking too long to let her out, but otherwise she has been perfect and can understand that the backyard is where she goes to the bathroom. For context, home and work are not the only indoor places my puppy has been- she has been to indoor daycare multiple times without an accident, visited my boyfriend's mom's house, and been inside a family friend's house with no accidents each time. I know that these instances with no accidents could be due to her feeling nervous- my girl is scared of all new environments right now and will usually hold her bladder when she is uncomfortable. However, she is very comfortable at work and knows her way around the place as she has been coming here with me for so long. My issue is that for the last 3 weeks or so, she has been sneaking away from me while I'm working and taking poops at the back door where i usually let her out. She usually does this without giving me any indication that she needs to go, and often it will be RIGHT after she has already been outside. I am at a loss as to why this is happening, but my top ideas are that she has either not transferred the concept of potty training to this new place, or she is testing boundaries as she has officially entered her teenager stage. There is another dog here so it is possible she is marking as well, but I feel like that isn't likely since we live with another dog at home and she never does this with him. I apologize for the long post, but if anyone has any insight I would love to hear it 🙂

Yesterday I took my 4.5 month old Pomeranian to the puppy park. Usually there’s a gated area where all of the big dogs are off leash and a park area where all of the tiny dogs can meet up and play. She usually has a ton of friends there. When we were walking up there were a bunch of larger poodles off leash and one ran straight towards her, clothes lined the leash and she took off screaming. I had to chase her for a block and 2 of the poodles were also chasing. I held her and calmed her down. Gave her extra treats last night and she’s acting pretty normally. This morning she was scared to walk in the park direction but relaxed when we got there and just sat on the bench with me. Then we saw one of her friends who’s a French bulldog and he got excited and ran up to her. She slipped her harness (hard to find one small enough for her, I’ve tried 4 so far and waiting for an even smaller one to arrive today), ran by a tree and sat and waited for me to come pick her up. What I’m asking for is help for that reactivity and any advice to help her fear. She ran up to this same dog yesterday and played with him after the poodle incident. She’s normally fearless and confident. I just don’t want this to set her back so any advice helps. Thank you!

Hey all, we have an 18-week-old golden retriever puppy. We’ve had him since he was 10 weeks old and as soon as he started feeling comfortable with us, he began barking at other dogs when he’s on the leash.

It’s not that we let him play or greet other dogs on leash, and he hasn’t had any bad experiences. But from the start, whenever he sees another dog, no matter the breed, age or size, he just barks and barks and pulls like crazy.

He’s been to puppy school and the trainers there say it’s just frustration from being on leash. Their tips like distracting him with treats, trying to be more interesting than the other dog, or walking away don’t really help. If we try to walk away he pulls hard into the leash and won’t disengage. We do create distance whenever we can, sometimes even pick him up until he calms down, but it doesn’t really solve the problem.

When he is not on the leash and is allowed to play with dogs (when he is calm) he is very well behaved and not barking.

What frustrates us is that this seems pretty atypical for golden retrievers. It’s not a hormonal thing either since he’s been like this from the beginning. We’re also worried about him learning leash reactivity as a pattern…

We’re not looking for generic training tips since we’ve heard most of them already. We’re more interested in hearing from others who had a dog, maybe also owners with a breed where this is unusual too, that went through the same thing since puppyhood. Did your dog grow out of it? How did you handle it? We’re feeling a bit lost and frustrated … Thanks!!

We just got a 6 month old labradoodle pup from our local shelter. She was surrendered by owners that figured out they didn't have time for a puppy. (Ugh!) Apparently, they did little to no training but at least got her to potty on pads while they were out.

Now that she is with us, we'd like her to go potty outside like our other dog. Some progress was made in that, as I hoped, she will go outside with the other dog or with one of us. She has even started to go out on her own if the doggy door is available. However, now that the weather in Alaska is getting below freezing we can't just leave the doggy door available.

Any advice on how to transition our pup from pads or going inside to telling us when she needs to go out?

I'm looking for a new stroller for my baby puppy. I've been overwhelmed by the choices on various platforms and am having trouble making a decision. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

Hello there, I have a Bernese mountain dog, female, about to be 3. We have had her since she was a pup. We originally had her at one house and then we have been in this current house for over a year. Have not had any issues and it’s been great.

Yesterday, I came home and noticed white flakes on the floor. After looking, I noticed she had scratched at the door and door frame and scratched it up bad. She’s never scratched at the doors like that, ever. We set up a camera yesterday down the hallway to monitor her and see if she does it again.

I checked the cameras today and she did it again! Like I said, we’ve been in the house for over a year, never had this issue. Nothing has changed in our schedule, in her sleep or food schedule, everything has been the same.

I am stumped on why she is all of the sudden, getting in her hind legs, and scratching to get into the bedroom. I have a feeling it’s cause she wants to lay on the bed but she has a couch upstairs and downstairs to lay on, and her dog cot, she has access to all of that and her toy, food and water bowl as well.

Anyone deal with this or might know why? I don’t know how to get her to stop damaging things and scratching. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!