Category: Top Dog

A new route is starting from DC (HEF airport) to Seattle this year and I’m trying to figure out around how much it may cost. I’ve been wanting to do a long roadtrip in the PNW for years and haven’t because I can’t take my dog who is too big for being in cabin. But he’s under 40 lbs so Retriev Air is perfect if the cost is not as much as Bark, etc. The website doesn’t show anything though yet even if you select both destinations. Anyone have an idea?

Hello trainers. I have a 4 year old male English bulldog. We have experienced this behavior twice now and are stumped. He found a toy yesterday that was a Christmas gift. We were going to donate it to the shelter because it’s not something that is durable enough for him. I “traded” him for the toy but he spent the next 16 hours whining, pacing and looking for the toy. This has happened one other time before. Both times with rubber toys, which we have not intentionally let him have since the first incident. He is clearly stressed and I don’t know what to do. We spoke to the vet after this happened the first time and he said he has never heard anything like that before. Our dog is also on .5mg Xanax nightly because he experienced refusing to sleep at night for months at a time. We want him to be happy and comfortable and not stressed. We are unsure if we should approach this in training or with a vet behaviorist. Any advice is very much appreciated.

Ozzy is a 2 year old collie, an unwanted farm dog adopted from the shelter 8 months ago.

He isn’t aggressive, just excitable and distracted. The type to explode off the couch if he thinks something is happening, usually knocking things over, but also a big lazy cuddler.

He does the collie stare when people and dogs are walking towards us but we’ve been making good progress using ‘look at this’ and treats. Sometimes he just stands and stares at ‘nothing’ and doesn’t respond. He whines in the house when he can hear dogs barking. I spend a lot of time rewarding him for eye contact when I say his name. Can’t let him off the lead or he would run straight to another dog, especially if they’re playing and running. He loves other dogs and just wants to greet and play.

I’m feeling overwhelmed, like I’m not getting anywhere. I’ve been trying loose leash walking to stop him from pulling straight ahead, but as soon as he’s rewarded he’s off out front again. His walks are constant training and it’s very tiring. I don’t feel 100% in control. He has some separation anxiety too but we’re making good progress with regular practice. He is on fluoxetine.

Should I be worrying about walking distance at all or should I just be doing leash/attention training sessions?

We are owners of a 12 year old West Highland White Terrier. We crate trained him as a puppy, but we shifted to allowing him to sleep in our bed, which he has done now for many years.

As he has gotten older, he is more prone to startle in the night when one of us moves. For his sake and ours we think we’d do better if we can retrain him to sleep in his own bed or crate. We are happy to keep his sleep area in our bedroom and suspect it is better for his adjustment if he is near us, just in his own space.

We are experienced with training fundamentals but interested in whether any fellow pet parents or trainers have experience or advice.

So we found two beautiful labs abandoned on the road. One an older black lab and the other a puppy chocolate lab. Prey drive is great on the choco girl. She returns when called, does basic commands well already and it’s been 3 days.

My goal? I want her to be a dove and shed hunting dog. My buddies got duck dogs galore and I just want one for what me and my kids enjoy.

I’ve ordered water dogs and dog psychology by Leon Whitney to start as recommended by my buddies. They’re K9 handlers but I don’t want to bug them with all my novice questions.

https://imgur.com/a/NkVwlxq for picture of the beautiful girl.

I have a one year old possible hound/collie mix named Arlo (intact), possible super mutt. I only know hound because I know the mom but she came back pregnant after getting loose. The other dog is a 9 year old retriever mix, Louie (fixed).

So there’s no actual aggression. But my dogs a bit hyper since he’s a puppy and every time he gets near Louie he’s a bit jumpy and Louie does a small lunge growl, but no raised hackles or no snapping.

I rented a spot on Sniffspot and let them off lead and they mostly paid each other no mind. Sometimes arlo would run towards Louie but then past him to sniff something.

Louie’s owners are overly worried doggy parents and I don’t blame them so we haven’t tried off leash in the house but I’m desperate to make this work since I live here now.

Feel free to ask any questions you might need, and thanks in advance for any advice

Oh and my dog is completely dog friendly, he’s just playful and barks but that’s it

To be clear, the issue here is not recall, or dropping. My dog (a 5yo golden retriever) is quite good at coming back when called, and she is also good at dropping toys when asked.

The problem I'm having is that, when playing fetch, she will eagerly chase the ball to where it lands, pick it up, and then lay down and start chewing on it. Then, when I call her back, she will come back without much trouble, but she will drop the ball and leave it behind. It's like she completely forgets the ball exists as soon as I give her something else to focus on.

She is honestly quite good at learning stuff, but I just genuinely have no idea how to teach this concept to her. As soon as I give her any kind of reward (like treats, or another ball), she immediately forgets about the one she's holding and drops it on the spot.

Which, like, it's good that she isn't possessive of her toys, but this means that I constantly have to walk back and forth while playing fetch to pick up the toys she leaves behind. I really wish she would bring the ball back to me, and THEN drop it, but I can't figure out how to teach her that concept. I can't even reward her for doing it sometimes, because she literally never does it, she always leaves the ball behind every single time. What should I do? She loves to fetch, it's her favorite game. It's just like she never learned to do the "retrieving" part of her breed name, lol, just the chasing part.