Category: Top Dog

I have a 8 year old shepherd/great Dane mix that is a rescue, I've had him almost six years now. I also have an 18 month old little girl who is obsessed with him. I wouldn't say that my dog particularly adores her, more like he tolerates her existence. He let's her pull him hair, squish his face and sit on him while he's lying down so he's an all around angel and I consider myself very lucky. That being said this evening he did something odd. He has never been allowed in our child's bed (he sheds like crazy) and when I got done with bath time he was curled up in her bed and did NOT want to leave. We finally coaxed him out of her bed but I'm wondering if I should be concerned about this behavior being so out of place for him. I know that dogs can sort of sense the weather and we do have a big winter storm coming in tomorrow so I'm wondering if maybe it has something to do with that or if I should be worried about something else? (Maybe he was apologizing for eating her beef jerky earlier 🤣). Anybody else have something similar happen? ​

Hi! I have a 4 month old GSD male. He is very good in play and cuddling with me, my boyfriend, and his sister, an 11 montb old golden retriever.

However, I was socializing him yesterday by taking him to various stores. He does AMAZING with new people. Doesn't jump and loves affection. However, he met another dog for the first time. His tackles raised, ears alert and gave a woof before going in for rough play (I assume) immediately. Its hard to say if it was play or posturing, I didnt let him get too close. Just enough to touch noses and sniff. He kept trying to jump and tackle.

It made me really uncomfortable and nervous. I cant have a 100lb dog doing that.

What best can I do to resolve this? Please help </3

Hi folks, our Shetland Sheepdog pup is nearly 17 weeks old. He's steadily getting there with toilet training. We're down to pretty irregular indoor accidents and, when they do happen, it's usually because we've let our guard down a little.

One area in which we seem to be making no progress, however, is getting him to toilet anywhere other than our home – e.g. on walks, when we visit family for the day, or even at his doggy daycare. He pees and poops at home and nowhere else.

We give him every opportunity and try to use his cue word (which always gets marked and rewarded with a treat), but he just holds it and holds it. When we get home, he'll go straight away in our garden.

Has anybody had experience with getting your pup to toilet away from their 'usual' location?

Hi all,

So I have an 8 year old German shepherd mix. In the past he’s been so great with going out to the bathroom or alerting when he needs to go. Recently (maybe the last 6 or so months) at every little noise my mom, who lives with us, is convinced he needs to go out. His schedule used to be 6:30am, 5pm and then 10pm almost on the dot. This gradually got moved to 5am, 12pm, 5pm and 10pm -_- he’s now going to the bathroom occasionally in the house whenever we are not home. I’m wondering if all of these new bathroom trips are causing him to lose how to hold his bladder.

He has a current clean bill of health from the vet so I’m not too concerned about it being an underlying issue.

Really just looking for advice on how to get him back to his schedule, or is there a shift as they get older (I didn’t think 8 was that old but he’s my first “my dog my responsibility” dog lol)

I have recently got my older dog some pet steps and at first we had to put her on them to use them, but she’s started getting on them with just verbal prompts lately. However she will not get on them on her own with no prompts, I think she thinks she can’t? I’m not sure why. I don’t mind promoting her but I want her to get on the couch when no one’s home (she has a dog bed she lays in which is fine too but I want her to have the option). Is there something I can do so she’ll start using them without prompting?

Okay so I have a 1,2yo awesome poodle boy. We know how to walk on a loose leash, he comes when called unless he is super distracted by some smell but we're working on it. What i need help right now with is his reactivity when other dogs are in sight. whenever he sees a dog he gets very fixated on it, mostly standing still just staring at that dog, sometimes he will lunge towards them and he likes to whine in these situations. i have a vague idea on how to work on it, but we live in an area where there's no dog parks and such, so no place where we can calmly work on the behaviour. it's just rare encounters with other dog owners and stray dogs. what i noticed is there is a friendly (i hope so at least, it's just my understanding) stray dog that we encounter often. that dog with always come close to us, start sniffing and attempt to play with my boy. today i tried commanding sit near him and my dog does it perfectly but he keeps whining. when we started walking home the stray was following us, sniffing and trying to play, my dog kept on lunging trying to keep up with me and staring/trying to play back. so what I'd like to ask is is there any way i can use such encounters with that stray?

First, please don't attack me by saying you don't know this breed, you need to rehome her, or spend thousands on a trainer. She is a pure-bred and AKC registered Mal. I knew what I was getting. She has been trained. She exercises, walks, and plays daily. I am looking for reasons for a behavior change. Why would she do these things?

Over the last six months or so, she has started nipping/biting visitors and family not in our house. This is a new thing. If someone visits our house, she greets them fine. We have no aggression issues. Once they are inside and settled, she sticks to them like glue. She mostly wants attention/pets. If they move, she is on their hip. Then, out of nowhere, they move the 'wrong' way and BAM. She nips or bites, usually the hand, leg, or butt. We have started leashing her when visitors come.

The most recent event occurred at a family member's house. She has been there several times with no issue. This family member has a lot of acreage. She was out running free for a long time. Coming and going as she pleased. She would come in the shop where they were working, check out things, and go out again. At one point, she came in and was just standing there close to the property owner and my child who were working. The property owner just stood up from being bent over, and she bit them on the leg. The owner made no movement toward her, made no sounds, did nothing, had no idea she was even there.

I am at a loss at this change. Is she herding, resource guarding, fear/defense? Again, I am seeking reasons why she would be doing this. I know I can get a muzzle. However, I would like to find the root cause and correct it, not just keep her from opening her mouth. I will admit that if I can't identify the problem and correct it, I will likely be looking at having to do something with her. We love this dog, but we can't have this unpredictability/liability. I appreciate any insight.