Category: Top Dog

I’ve had my 7-month-old Sheltie for 5 months now. Ever since we got her, she has been very vocal and barks a lot. She doesn’t bark much at the usual things like people ringing the doorbell, loud noises, etc., but she barks excessively to get attention. She wants something to be happening all the time—either training or play.

My partner and I have tried ignoring her when she barks for attention, but we’ve been doing that for 5 months now and we’re starting to feel desperate. We’ve also tried putting her in another room, but that doesn’t help either. If she gets mental stimulation, she starts barking again as soon as the activity is over because she wants more. She has a very hard time just lying down and relaxing. If we move around the house, she follows us everywhere, even if she was lying down sleeping.

It’s taking a toll on our mental health that she barks so much. Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do?

Heya!

Kota my 9 monts old australian shepherd is starting to get very reactive to humans,

For the past weeks hes been getting more vocal to people when he dont trust them. to the point today we walked by (in the dark tho) our neighbour, a elder female who he almost jumped on and barket very angry and loud. this does not seem normal nor friendly. i dont know if he would bite. but i dont want to figuire this out.. How he acted now to our neighbour kinda scared me cause im really sure actually he would have bite here

sometime's i bring him to my work and he barks to people, but yesterday aswell he started to bark and act like he might bite someone.

I am atm looking for a training who specialise in this kind of stuff. but i dont know how long this will take. Mabye someone can help me out with some tips or what i can do or try

Weird thing is when im outside in the city with lots of people its fine, he dont bark to any of them. yet at random time or people he does.

Would love your opinion about this.

Every time i tried to interact with my pup it was constantly trying to bite me, it wasnt super hurtful as i know he’s teething. I always tried to redirect but sometimes it was impossible (specially during witching hours). I was getting pretty upset with my “no”s being ignored and had the brilliant idea to blow on its face as I shouted “no”. The biting stopped completely….. for one day. The next day all my “no”s were ignored and i feel him much more aggressive with the biting and barking.

Im feeling such a shitty parent and really thinking i caused damage to our relationship… any thoughts on how i can repair and make things better? Will he hate me and not respect me at all? 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Note: he’s almost 13 weeks old and cant leave the house yet

yes, your social life is gonna go down the drain for awhile. instead of going out, try having people over to your own place! let them know any annoying behaviors your puppy may have before they come. it won’t always be like this but it is for right now

no your puppy is not being aggressive. they bite, and they bite *hard* when they’re playing they will lunge at your face with their mouth open because.. i don’t know Why ok? but they do. it’s weird but they aren’t trying to hurt you or anyone else! they just haven’t learned proper play etiquette or really anything yet.

you don’t have to be so scared of owning a puppy because of what everyone on here says. i’d say it’s good to have some fear because that means you want to take good care of your puppy, but not everyone will be sobbing on the floor nightly and hating their dog.

you WILL get annoyed, angry, upset, whatever you want to call it at your puppy. puppies are so cute but they are very annoying! my puppy is trying to leap at me for my food right now so trust me i’m well aware it can be obnoxious. but again, this isn’t something that will last, at least not to the extent that it is in the beginning.

please please please understand that there is a difference between a smaller vs a bigger dog. we fostered a medium sized dog and it was hell on earth but with our smaller dog things are 10x easier for us. before committing to a specific dog and/or breed, think about how big they will be as an adult. weigh the pros and cons of their breed and your lifestyle as i really think it makes all the difference

most importantly, don’t worry if you’re not a huge fan of your puppy sometimes. even if you’re super prepared for a dog it can bring up a lot of emotions when they’re *actually* in your care. puppies are stressful, and it’s okay to feel like you need a break from them, have someone in your house watch them while you have at least 30 minutes to yourself, put some wet food/some sort of spreadable treat on a lick mat and put it in the freezer to have when they’re being extra obnoxious and you just need a few minutes.

so many emotions go into owning a puppy and it’s ok to feel every single one of them that come up. again, it’s not always going to be like this. your dog will eventually become your best friend and you’ll be glad you stuck with them

I have a 6 month old pitbull who is 50 pounds. She just got spayed. She was getting 3 and 3/4 cups of food a day. Vet said to cut back as her metabolism will slow and they tend to gain weight after spay. She said 2 cups a day, but that seems low. She gets purina pro plan puppy large breed food. On the back of the bag it has a range between 3 and 4 ish for 6 months and her weight at maturity. The purina pro plan app also says around the same. That’s pretty significant difference from 2 cups a day.

The dog I rescued 2 years ago got sick but I have nothing to do 😭 The dog I just helped along the way that I never thought I would love so much is about to be lost to me 😭😭😭 what should I do?

Hi. I think my dog ate a small piece of metal off the end of a soft measuring tape that’s about one square centimeter. This happened probably 30min to an hour ago. I’m not 100% sure she ate it, but I can’t find the other piece anywhere. I gave her some food and she happily ate it. Doesn’t seem to be acting any differently right now. Is this an emergency?

TL;DR – dog not eating only on days favourite human goes to work and other human is in house. Doesn't happen when both humans are out of house. Any tips?

We got a rescue dog, coming up on 3 months ago, approx 4yrs old, small yorkie. She has settled in well, couple of nervous wobbles along the way but generally is happy, energetic, and relaxed. She has a crate to sleep in, and during the day when she is alone, we fence off that area so she has more space to move around. We initially did this as she seemed to not be toilet trained, but that has since gotten much better and so the plan is to soon allow free roaming downstairs. It also helped develop a good routine when we go to work, to bed, and when we are out of the house – when it's time, she happily bounds over to the area and sleeps in her crate. I WFH the majority of the time, and so she is let out of the area every couple of hours for a play/walk/cuddle etc, until the workday is over. My other half works in the office 2 days per week.

Despite me being with her the most, and the chief meal giver, my other half is her favourite human and I am the spare. Having said that, she still shows me lots of affection, trust, and will cuddle up with me if we're alone. However if both humans are in the house, she is a velcro dog with her chosen one. She is a very quiet dog; we have never heard her cry or whimper, and the odd single bark she has done, she looks more surprised about it than us. So her communication style is very subtle.

The issue is, the 2 days her favourite human is in the office, she totally goes off her food, won't even accept a favourite treat. Her belly sounds upset and bubbly, and she looks to eat grass on walks. She therefore is also lethargic during that day. She will also dramatically shiver. at times. From observing her, sometimes it seems like she doesn't recognise the different feeling of an empty (hungry) belly vs. a sick one, so just doesn't eat. This generally starts before her human leaves the house. During the day, she will still interact with me and play ball (her absolute favourite) but if that stops, she just sadly retreats to her crate. Of course, by evening time, she starts to perk up and will eventually eat food later into the evening when her favourite human is back.

What is odd is that there is one day in the week when both of us will be out of the house for a few hours, and there is no issue. We have a camera, and she pretty much sleeps the whole time and eats her food with no issue, no bubbly belly, no shivers.

We're just wondering if there is anything we can do for her to stop this, quite specific, anxiety? She is a very small dog, and when she lets her belly go empty, it can start a bit of a cycle of her feeling sick, not eating, feeling worse etc. We pretty much keep the same routine every day. She gets walks, play, toys, sleep, every day so there is stimulation and distraction (ie. she isn't bored). I will say, she does have a slight flair for the dramatics, so is she just playing me for the fool when we're alone? It doesn't seem to be a GI issue because monitoring the routine, it only ever happens when the favourite human has to work from the office.

Any suggestions, tips or tricks we can try?

My dog (2.5 yr old black lab/ boarder collie mix) has been struggling with fleas for months now. I noticed it starting around September/ October and immediately started treatment. Now we’re in January and it’s the worst it’s ever been. We’ve bug bombed the apartment, vaccum every single day, bath every day. Flea killer and preventative but nothing seems to work. Help please.

Which pet insurance is best for you? Are there any that may cover your dog's current treatment? Did your dog get injured during the waiting period and want to know if you're covered?

Here's the place to ask.

Do know we cannot help you here with medical concerns, and lying or not disclosing things to the insurance company is illegal so we don't allow that either.