Category: Top Dog

We brought home our wonderful pup a little over a week ago and are smitten! She’s a pittie mix, almost 4 months old and was in a foster with other dogs before coming to us. Yes, she’s a puppy doing puppy things, but it’s been mostly expected and fun and we still get to snuggle at the end of the day.

For that whole first week, she didn’t have a single accident in the house. Morning routine has been to pee outside first thing, then breakfast, then out again for poo about a half hour later. The past two mornings, though, she’s gone pee outside first thing as usual, and has then pooped inside right after. We are going to try and actually walk first thing instead of just out in the yard, but does anyone have other insight?

Hi everyone! Looking for some advice/reassurance from people who have been through the very early puppy stage. My husband and I brought home our 8 week old boxer puppy a few days ago and she’s adjusting really well overall.

We’re currently trying to work on potty training and crate training at the same time. For daytime crate training we’re working on trying to build positive associations with the crate. We’ve been feeding her in crate, doing crate training sessions with treats, rewarding her when she chooses to be in the crate, etc. During the day she does take naps in her crate and will choose to go in there on her own. We usually leave the door open and she stays in there comfortably. She’s also okay being left alone for a few minutes at a time while she’s in the crate (in another room). I’m a stay-at-home mom though, so she hasn’t actually been left completely alone yet.

However, she is really struggling with the crate at night right now and becomes very distressed… screaming, howling, etc. To set the crate up, I got a breathable crate cover, a comfy bed, and one of those heartbeat stuffed animals. We’ve also been trying to help her get comfortable with the crate by sitting near her so she doesn’t feel completely alone, but without making a big deal out of it so she has the chance to settle herself. We’ve also tried giving her opportunities to self-soothe before intervening, and we’ve also played calming dog “anti-anxiety” music on the TV to help create a relaxing environment.

The first couple of nights my husband and I ended up taking shifts with her on the couch because we didn’t want her to be alone and screaming or crying all night while she’s still adjusting to a brand new environment away from her litter. Tonight we decided to let her sleep in the bed with us she settled almost immediately and fell asleep curled up between us.

My husband and I are both fine with her sleeping in the bed with us. We honestly figured it would probably happen at some point anyway. Our bedroom is “puppy-proofed” so there isn’t anything on the floor she could get into, eat, or tear up other than possibly the legs of the furniture. I also have waterproof blankets on the bed in case she has an accident while she’s still learning.

However we still wanted to work on crate training so she’s comfortable in it for times when she does need to be home alone, emergencies, etc. My main question is whether allowing her to sleep in the bed at night will interfere with training her to be comfortable in the crate during the day when we leave the house?

Hello,

I have a 10-month-old mixed breed dog who came live with me last September. I love him so much and we already have a strong bond, but our daily routine is still a struggle.

I have anxiety, and sometimes his energy is just too much for me. Mornings are pure caos. He wakes up full of energy and jumps all over me, but I'm slow to wake up and really need some quiet time before I can start the day. He is also quite aanoying during breakfast. He usually gets a walk mid-morning, and after that he's calm and quiet until mid-afternoon. Then he' full of energy again. He gets another long walk after I finish work.

The balcony is another big problem. He barks a lot from the balcony, and sometimes he just can't stop wanting to go out there. He scratches at the door over and over asking to go out again. (what kind of training would work for this?)

Crate training didn't work for us, so I'm looking for tips and routines without using a crate. Right now he sleeps with me, and honestly I'm sleeping better this way for now. In the future I'd like him to sleep in his own bed, but maybe when he's more mature.

I'm thinking about hiring someone to walk him in the mornings when I start work, so he could get a good hour-long walk and hopefully be calmer after. Not sure if I can afford it though.

For enrichment, most things only work for a little while. I give him pâté in a lickimat and sometimes something to chew. Pork ears keep him busy the longest, but I know I shouldn't give them too often.

I know a lot of this is probably just his age and it'll get better with time. But right now, I'd really love any tips, routines, or ideas for managing his energy and the balcony barking.

My partner (31M) and I (28F) have a 20-month-old Boston Terrier. As first-time dog owners we tried very hard to do everything “right” from the beginning, including training him to be comfortable being home alone.

Around 6 months old he started showing signs of separation anxiety and one day completely panicked when we tried to leave. We then began working with an amazing trainer and basically started our training all from scratch: We had also unknowingly been overstimulating him a lot with obedience training and activities, which she helped us dial way back and practice calmness instead.

After about a year of training calmness and careful routines, things are now much better. For the past ~3 months he’s been able to stay home alone for a full workday (6–7 hours), 5 days a week without any issues. He mostly just sleeps all day (we monitor him still) and we’re just so happy that it worked out.

However, here’s our new struggle:

Though he is cool with us leaving him to be by himself all day, he gets extremely stressed when we have other people watch him – e.g. if we have to go to a wedding or something where we will be coming home late and can’t bring him along.

Because his separation anxiety was so difficult, we never really practiced leaving him with others. We’re also both pretty introverted and don’t have people over very often, so he’s mostly used to just being around the two of us.

When family or friends watch him, this is usually what happens:

– We arrive at their place (or they come to stay at our place), and he seems happy and is often very excited to see them

– We sit down to talk a little while, and he usually settles

– They take him on a walk without us (which he doesn’t mind)

– We leave while they’re out so he doesn’t see us go

We’re told that he seems fine when they get back, but is often a bit hyped. The issue is that he almost never calms down again and just cannot seem to relax at all. He often won’t sleep and only lay down for very short periods of time.

Then, of course, he ends up being overly tired. We usually tell people to sit down and do something else so he can calm down on his own (since attention often makes it harder for him when he is all worked up), but either way it often escalates into more and more frustration → seeking attention → jumping → biting furniture → barking → sometimes even grabbing/biting their clothes or even arms/hands.

Personally I interpret this behavior as frustration from not being able to settle + confusion about the new setting and lack of routine = a self-regulation issue rather than seperation anxiety.

(I’d love to hear what any of you think, though!)

An example: Yesterday I dropped him off at my dad’s in the afternoon and picked him up today, and he told me that he didn’t really settle at all from around 3 pm and until 10 pm, when they all went to bed, and he finally gave in, after my dad had ended up physically holding him down onto his bed – which I don’t know how I feel about to be honest.

Our dog has been prone to doing something similar when we have had guests over in the past, where he just wouldn’t leave them alone. But now that we’ve trained calmness so much, he usually ends up settling on his own when everyone has sat down and we ignore him – and if not, we have a few method that usually help him (limiting him by wearing a leash indoors, sending him to his bed, giving him a stuffed Kong etc).

We’ve tried explaining these methods to friends/family watching him, and even writing down instructions for them to follow if he did end up acting like that. But since we’re not there, we obviously don’t know if it is because they don’t do it completely right, or if it is because it only works when we do it. I also feel that people will take my advice very lightly and saying stuff like “he’s just a teenager” or “we’ll manage, don’t worry”. They seem to be thinking that I’m overprotective, when what I’m really worried about is that them taking it so lightly ends up making it worse, making it a bad experience for both them and my pup.

So I’m wondering:

Has anyone else had a dog that

– is totally fine being home alone,

– but becomes overstimulated or stressed when being watched by other people?

What did you do to train it specifically?

I’m also curious if our lifestyle might play a role. We’re both pretty introverted and rarely have guests over.

Has anyone noticed their dog struggling more with visitors because they simply weren’t exposed to people that often?

And how did you manage without changing your lifestyle into something you don’t want?

I’m a bit worried that the solution might be something like “just start having friends over a few times a week and gradually practice leaving for short periods” etc., because the thought of having guests over that often is honestly overwhelming for me. I’m autistic and already struggle to keep up with everything in a normal week, so it will probably be difficult for me to sustain such ways of training long term. I really want to do whatever is necessary to help him feel safe and not anxious, but I’m worried that a solution like that might end up overstimulating me instead.

TL;DR:

We’re introverts and our teenage dog used to have separation anxiety but can now stay home alone all day without issues – he just can’t settle when he is being looked after by our friends/family. What should we do to train it?

I have a 11 week old puppy, he just got his second booster, I was wondering if it’s okay to take him to my front yard or back yard to potty, I live in an area where there isn’t much dogs and in a pretty alone area so I was wondering if that’s okay I’m scared of him getting parvo I took him out 2 times but I feel bad and I’m scared.

hi all! i’ve been a lurker here since i adopted my boy two months ago. he’s 19 weeks and a mountain cur/border collie/coonhound mix. he was found with his litter and mama running around the railroad!

all in all, i think im really lucky. he’s a very good, very smart, generally well-behaved boy. he sleeps through the night with no accidents, lets me know he needs to potty by barking or going to the door, and knows “no” when he wants to.

anyway, here’s what i do everyday:

three meals a day of large breed puppy food, one cup each. he was using a snuffle mat i made but he tore it up so he’s eating out of a bowl or scatter feeding right now. i switch between the two. the vet recommended large breed food.

two walks a day. i think you might call them sniff walks, because i let him lead and sniff the whole time. both walks are a little less than a mile, so probably 1.5~ miles a day, 1-1.5 hours a day. he pulls but not too bad and isn’t a maniac normally. sometimes if he knows he has the room he will run in circles around me, which is silly and i love it.

we play every time he comes out the crate, about every two hours or when he starts barking incessantly—but i wait til he’s quiet to let him out tho idk if that’s working haha. he’s out of the crate between 30-60minutes each time, and we do tug, fetch, or light wrestling/running around together.

i also let him chill on his own, with a ball or chew. he seems kinda bored with that sometimes, or like he can’t pick a toy.

we also train nearly every time he’s out of the crate. he’s very good at Sit and Paw and will lie down but only if you put the treat on the ground.

when he bites or destructs we redirect to a toy or a chew, but his bitey-ness has been getting better and i’ve been giving him cardboard to destroy (which helps my recycling fit in the bin). i saw a comment about frozen carrots helping with teething and biting so i put some in the freezer this morning, too!

i guess… i just feel like i’m not doing something right. like he’s in the crate too often or i don’t train him enough or correctly. his recall is weak but he’s barely been alive so i guess i can’t have expectations like that? i want him to have more enrichment but i don’t have a lot of ideas for what to do. i saw a tiktok of dogs bobbing for fruit, is that okay? and also how do you measure treats vs food and calories and whatever? i just feel like i know nothing and am absolutely flying by the seat of my pants and im afraid ill have a frantic, untrained, hard to handle dog as a result of my personal failings.

he’s my first dog and i know i probably just have anxiety and some weird type of imposter syndrome, but maybe you guys could tell me what else i could be doing or doing differently?

My puppy has her adult teeth now (a little over 6 months) and is absolutely ripping through puppy safe chew toys since she’s so chewy still as they set! What do you use for your pup that lasts and is safe? So far we’ve been doing ice cubes (but worried they could be too hard), flexi strength nubby Nylabones (she’s been able to get a few nubs off of those), and pet stages dogwood chew (this seems to be the best one so far assuming it’s safe – she’s only gotten off teeny shreds). Ideally would like non smelly recs as she seems to be plenty happy chewing non smelly items 🙂

It’s a pet telehealth service somehow included in my lease, so I’m wondering if it’s worth trying. Would love to hear from anyone who’s had experience with it. Appreciate any input!

Hi, I'm 16. I'm starting to walk dogs as a part-time job. Does anyone have tips on how to break up a dog fight safely and just stuff for beginners in general?

I am looking for advice as a potential first time dog owner.

I have been together with my partner for 7 years and I’ve always known him as a huge dog lover. He always gets excited when he sees a dog and he’s owned several dogs in the past, which I don’t know all the breeds of, but one or two were Rottweilers. I have never owned a dog; we had a cat at home growing up.

My partner moved countries and that’s how we met and we’ve been living in a rental apartment so getting a dog was never a serious option but my partner has always talked about it.

Now, we’re moving into our first real home with a tiny backyard and all he wants is to get a puppy. We’ll be living by the beach and he can’t wait to frolic with the dog, which I can totally see and I think getting a dog is great, but here’s my issue:

When we move, I’ll be 4.5 months pregnant with our first baby. Also, we currently both work fulltime, and after the baby comes we’ll each work 4 days/week and no-one will be home 3 days/week. My partner is thinking about us getting a dog like a Toller, Aussie shepherd or Retriever. However, from what I can read online these dogs (and most dogs really) aren’t compatible with our working life schedule and we’d have to make arrangements for them for the daytime, which idk if we can manage financially with the baby on the way. Ive expressed these concerns repeatedly and my partner says he has vast experience with dogs, even in small apartments, and they will be fine staying alone from 8am to 6pm especially if they can go out to the garden, and that he’s had no issues with this in the past. To me, this seems impossible, and when I press the matter, he gets disappointed and looks so defeated thinking we’ll never have a dog (it’s still a shared decision we’re making).

I’m looking for any advice you can give me to navigate this, I want to make my partner happy and finally get a dog he’s longed for so long, but I also want to make responsible choices and not potentially mistreat a future puppy.

Edit: TLDR: partner (dog lover) and I (dog novice) want to get a dog when we move to our first house, but I’m worried about the time investment