Category: Top Dog

So, first visit, second car ride. He did WONDERFULLY! He handled the harness well, walked from the car to the apartment at heel. 14.6 pounds of 8 week old GSD. Vet said he looks good, only a small umbilical hernia which should be fine as he gets older.

He sat on command, didn't bite once, no whimper with the shot and the vet tech had to take him back to show everyone the baby lol. Training is, apparently, doing something!

One proud owner!

I have a year old dog and we are still training and learning. He is generally a great dog, and when I leave I put him in my sunroom with his kennel open and a baby gate enclosing the doorway (there’s no door). I’ve done this since he was a baby and we’ve never had an issue.

Today I went to the store and he was in there, when I came home he had burst through the gate and gone into my closet. He was eating a pair of my favorite shoes that can’t be replaced.

I yelled at him. I’ve never raised my voice or hurt him or scared him. I’ve always used positive reinforcement. Today I screamed “NO! BAD BOY! YOU ARE BAD!” He crouched and was scared and immediately I felt awful and tried to apologize but he didn’t even want to look at me or lick my hand.

How can I fix this? Will he ever love me again? I feel so horrible and ashamed.

Edit: HE LICKED MY HAND! I’m so excited!! You all were right. He forgave me. I’ll never ever do that again. I felt so ashamed of myself. But he licked my hand and I think he might snuggle me tonight if I apologize again and show him I mean it. Thank you all!

I’m loosing my mind. My puppy is making me question my choice.

I brought home a 9 week old American Cocker Spaniel puppy last week on Tuesday, and I feel like I’m loosing my mind.

We immediately got to outdoor training, and crate training him. He had that down well for the first two days, then last night he started peeing in the house (even after we’d take him out) as well as pooping indoors. He also seems to resist sleeping in the crate when we’re home but will willfully go into it and sleep while we are working. If we’re home and he can’t physically see us he barks, the whole damn time.

I couldn’t take a shower today without just putting him into the shower with me, because he just wouldn’t stop barking the whole time. My other pets seem ok with him now, but still standoffish.

When I enforce naps he barks for 40 min. He’ll only sleep during the daytime but is so resistant to any naps from dinner to bedtime.

I know I already have the puppy blues, but I feel like I’m doing everything wrong. I try to figure out answers online and immediately feel like I’m causing my puppy to have separation anxiety, or regress on his toilet training because he isn’t doing as well as the dogs trainers on Instagram say they should be.

I’m doing everything I’m told I should. He go for car rides, he’s been in the stores in the buggy to socialize him. He plays independently, and can sleep for almost 3 hr stretches (usually it’s no more than an hour and a half at a time though). We do enrichment and training and we’re signing him up for puppy classes.

People have had dogs for centuries and yet I don’t feel like they felt this way, or as much thought was put into their dogs!

His only saving grace is he only gets up twice during the night. And he is very smart and has picked up things quickly. He’s just suffocating me right now. Is this normal?

We’re bringing home our golden retriever in a few weeks and have a decent drive with them ~4 hours. They’ll be about 9 weeks. After a lot of research, we’ll be using a crate for the journey. However, I’ve seen a lot about keeping the crate as a safe space / creating positive environment with crate. I.e letting them get in and out on their own at first etc. I might be overthinking, but how can I prevent puppy from being scared of crate out of the gate since I’ll be putting him in one for car ride? I plan to try and warm them up to it before leaving, but other than that, any tips?

Hello! I have a 15 week staffy pup that I has lived with me for a week now.

She was separated from her mother at 6 hours old and raised by a veterinarian. Her first three weeks she spent in an incubator. She has a cleft lip which the breeders felt was a waste to raise.

We are having problems with her lack of boundaries and social cues around our other dogs. She has a lack of bite inhibition and her desperation for food has meant she needs to be fed in a different room and has to be in her pen while we eat so she doesn’t create tension with the other dogs and is in a safe place.

We have tried to teach her basic commands and hand feeding. Unfortunately her lack of bite inhibition means hand feeding is also very difficult since she never got to experience a mother. These are very common issues we’ve found in puppies who are separated early. Are there any specific training methods for puppies like her?

Also to add she is only 10 pounds and extremely tiny for her breed so we worry development wise she might be behind others of her age

I've got a 11 week old Shiba girl I brought home at 8 weeks old. She's been a joy (and gremlin in equal measure) to have around and I wouldn't change it for the world. I've got her in puppy preschool for basic commands and socialization and she's making good progress in her vaccinations. The puppy blues have sucked but my village of friends who have dogs have helped keep me grounded to the reality that she's a baby, that I'm doing everything right and she's doing fantastic which has helped immensely with my anxiety about messing this up. She's my first puppy without family assistance with raising them and the first fully in my name.

So to the issue at hand. I've been doing my research on the breed for forever but one thing I've never really been able to nail down is spay timing. I've seen just as many people saying before her first heat cycle as after. This has even come down to the breeder I got her from who recommended waiting until after her first cycle and my vet who recommends just before her first cycle at around the 6 month mark. From what I've gathered doing it before reduces mammary cancer chance but doing after slightly increases that chance but reduces UTI and bone density issues. I guess my question is, does anyone have other things to add that might help me on this front? I know I'm probably over thinking it but I've had multiple dogs pass in my life from cancer so the lower risk by doing it before feels like the better option since UTIs can be treated and bone density I'd imagine we can help with supplements.

So if anyone has any other thoughts/sources to add I'd be ever so grateful cuz I want to do right by my little girl. I really appreciate it. <3