Category: Top Dog

Hi all, I own two wonderful dogs. The younger we have had since 2 months old. He is now 6 and a half months old. Despite acclimating him to everything we could, exercising him and training he is an incredibly loud and anxious dog at home.

He just had his neuter earlier this week. He is on gabapentin and trazodone for after neuter. It’s been night and day. I hadn’t realized just how loud the house was constantly from constant barking. He‘s still a puppy with puppy energy, but he feels like a puppy now, not an unmanageable and chronically unhappy destructive force.

I want to bring up medication after post-neuter meds end but I feel guilty and unsure. He’s six months and part of me says to keep just gritting my teeth and getting through it…but he seems so much more content and happy now. I’m looking for experiences from others who have medicated their dogs at younger ages, and reassurance. If he was older I don’t think I would be feeling like such a failure and overreacting to puppy behavior. At the same time this is so outside the realm of usual puppy crazy behavior that it feels unsustainable for him and us. Am I doing the right thing? Is he too young and I should hold off?

I’m looking for recommendations/advice for emergency signage for dogs while traveling in car. I’m a professional dog trainer who frequently travels with my own pups as well as client’s pups. They always ride in secured travel crates but I’m terrified of what could happen in the event of a car accident and I’m incapacitated.

I’ve seen the placards for homes like “if emergency or fire please save our pets”, but can’t find one for cars/travel. Does anyone have experience in emergency response and could give advice on how to make one myself? Like specific format, what info to include, and best location to “post” it within the car? Are there any other supplies (leash/collar, treats, etc?) that I should store near or on the travel crates so that emergency responders can easily access them?

I’d also love to hear what other emergency preparedness measures y’all take when traveling with your dog. I have 2 first aid kits (1 for humans and 1 for dogs), emergency water/food, a car emergency kit (safety triangles, high vis vest, jumper cables, air compressor, flashlight, etc.). Thanks in advance for your input and helping me keep our pups as safe as possible!

Hello everyone! New pet owner here, looking for advice on what food brands are the best and what kind of enrichment/set up I need to ensure his best life. For more information, he is a full breed Shih Tzu and 1 year old. Please and Thank You! :)) Happy Thursday.

Located in Northwest Ga anyone recommend a good agency to help me find a place find a more suitable environment for a dog?

My dog vomited on the carpet and it is making the whole house smell. I cleaned it in the morning (picked up solid pieces, used a shop vac over the area and sprayed nature's miracle advanced enzyme cleaner on it). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My 13 year old dog has been peeing in the house once or twice a week for the past few weeks. It has happened a couple of times right before I’m going to take him out, and also just at random times. He has times of the day when he normally goes out, but will also let me know if he has to go out. I’m not sure if he’s forgetting to let me know or if he’s just sometimes incontinent. Any thoughts?

Anyone have any leads as to where I can find storage containers that will fit 44lbs bags of Purina One dog food?

I have the vault right now, but i can’t fit the bag in with the food—i have to dump the food into the container which i prefer not to do

My dog is a 15 year old Jack Russell mix named Milo. We've had him for the last 10 years and he's always been a snuggler. He's developed a habit that I've only noticed recently. When I go to get in bed, he'll follow me to my side of the bed, wait for me to get settled in, and then jump up at the foot of the bed to come cuddle. Just found it really endearing and wanted to share with other dog people!

Last week we had to take our dog for another vet visit. Normally, my wife does it, and she would be on top of what to look out for, and what needs to be done after the visit. She repeatedly told me to make sure I remember everything that was said, and if necessary, to put her on speaker.

But you know how it goes, vet explains 12 different things in 10 minutes and youre trying to remember dosages, follow-ups, food change, etc.

I was literally looking for a pen and a scrap of paper in my glovebox when I remembered I had those workplace smartglasses my company assigned me. We use it for internal meeting notes taking. Neat. Took a bit of time to get used to.

It occurred to me that this is kinda like a meeting. I coulda used my phone but holding it up the whole time felt wierd. I asked if it was ok to record our conversation with the glasses, which they were nice enough to agree. And i did just that.

The whole thing transcribed into bulletpoint notes really quick. Diagnosis, meds and dosages, diet stuff, what to watch for, when to come back, all of which i could just copy and paste and text it to my wife.

It was honestly the first time I didnt butcher the explanation. Thought it was an interesting experience.

Not trying to be futuristic or anything, just genuinely helpful when your brain turns to mush mid-appointment.

My pup is 1 yo and a ACD/border collie mix with some other fun breeds.

Shes 60 lbs, strong as hell and still pulling on our walks.

We’ve been using 5 main methods:

1. Stopping immediately when she pulls

2. Using the 1-2-3 game to get her focused on me

3. Kong hand (constantly distributing treats to lure)

4. Always rewarding when she looks at me

5. Avoiding situations that will get her over threshold

These are things we learned in puppy class ( I’m also a big fan of happy hound training on YouTube as it feels like a refresher of the classes).

My girl however is becoming a yo-yo on our walks and I think I’m reinforcing it.

See we’ll do the 1-2-3 game and the moment she gets the treat at 3 she’s already on her way to the end of the leash. I’ll stop when she starts pulling, she’ll come back to receive the treat and then instantly take off again. So I think I’m just reinforcing her to come back and take off. I can’t get her interested in receiving another treat for some reason. Sometimes she’ll reject the treat when she comes back and then take off.

Any suggestions or video recommendations to help with this?