Category: Top Dog

My 16 week old Australian shepherd only does this on walks, never at home. He jumps up and grabs onto my jacket or sleeves and plays tug of war. The natural tension in the clothing is fun for him. I try to ignore and stand as still as a tree as others have told me, but the clothing tension is his fun and he will just keep going forever, trying to rip my clothing apart. I try redirecting to a toy, but it amps him up more, and he always ends up abandoning the toy and chomping on my hands or coming back to my clothes. I tried yelping, and it gets him more excited.

He does this first thing in the morning, and throughout the day, so I know it’s not bc he’s tired. He’s an Aussie, and I try my best to wear him out before walks (fetch in the back yard) but he’s just always excited. Even during fetch, he frequently abandons the toy to charge me and swing from my jacket like a tether ball

I notice he does this a lot on walks in new places, especially if people or bikes pass us (even if it’s just one person in 10 min of no one being around). Does this mean he’s attacking me out of overstimulation or overexcitement from people? Is there a way to help this? I currently have 6 wounds bleeding after our afternoon walk 🥲

I have a 3 yr old chihuahua and brought home a new chi pup yesterday. What's the best way to facilitate a friendship between them? The new baby is only 7 weeks old.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a separation anxiety dog trainer in Riverside that comes to your home and works with them in person. I know there is zoom but I honestly rather have someone in person and can’t seem to make a decision so if anyone has any recommendations it’s desperately needed!

Hi everyone! I have a 15 week old pup and he has figured out how to hit the potty bell with his paw after a couple weeks of working on it.. however, he won’t ring it on his own without a command. He only rings the bell if I stand near it, point to it, and say “Outside?”. This is sort of defeating the purpose of him letting me know he has to potty if I have to make the command every time anyway.

Is there a way to teach him to ring the potty bell without being told to ring the potty bell? Or is this something he will figure out on his own in time?

We leave water out for the pup 24 /7, is this a normal thing to do? Can it create potty accidents? Do they need a unlimited water supply? We have a mini Bernadoodle that can put water away, you would think it was leaving in Vegas…….

Hi everyone, not sure how to address this behavioral issue I'm having with our 5month old puppy. We had some initial potty training issues but are definitely over them.

We take him to my step sisters and tie him up in the garage when going over for supper. We do this because it could be a few hours and don't necessarily want to leave him at home alone. This allows us to check on him and take him pee throughout the evening say over a 4 or 5 hour span.

Often though he tinkles on his bed or floor. This evening when going home he was jumping around so I told him to sit on his bed and he did but then started peeing while seated.

Would this be a nervous / abandonment reaction and how can I correct it.

Thanks.

My husband and I adopted a pupper on November 2nd. I am not new to dogs and the expense that comes with them. Growing up we always had at least one family dog and I've personally (and with my hubs) had my own dog(s) since I was 21.

Our older dog (just about to turn 5) had her first year of vet care, her spay and her chip costs rolled into her adoption fee so I didn't see the individual cost breakdown. Before her it had been 9 years since we'd had a dog spayed (2012) and it cost $90 (including microchip) at the vets office.

Yesterday the vet (a different vet as we moved a couple years ago) emailed me the estimate for our new doggo's spay (to be done in late January/early February) and I nearly fell over!!! Almost $700?!?! She has an appointment in 2 weeks for her final round of puppy shots, blood work for her spay, and a couple other things and the estimate given to me for that was a couple bucks shy of $280. Up until this point I'd been paying less than $150.00 for the puppy and some booster vaccines for our older dog.

Obviously I'm going to pay for these things (it's what you sign up for/expect when taking on the responsibility of a wonderful new family member) but what happened?!

I will add that 1. We now live in an area with a slightly higher cost of living than where we'd lived before and 2. The vet we'd been using up until May of this year had lower rates, but they had a fire and are temporarily closed while rebuilding.

This little dog is a chihuahua mix, only weighs 8.8 lbs and is expected to be about 12 lbs when fully grown. How the heck much would it cost if she were an 80 lb German Shepherd Dog or 100 lb. Akita?

Anyway, if you made it this far I appreciate the read and feel free to commiserate if you'd like.

Hi everyone!

My husband and I have a 6 month old male golden retriever puppy. I thought we were finally through the trenches of teething biting (he has lost all of his baby teeth) and in many ways he has gotten better with biting.

However, when we are playing with him, he tends to nip at us when he wants us to play with him, OR he will sometimes drop the toy and start aggressively biting our hands and legs. He also curls his lip and will not stop. He will sometimes bark/growl a bit too. When he does this, I try to get him into a sit/down position and reward him either with treats or by throwing his toy. It works sometimes, but I’m wondering if this is normal puppy play behavior or aggressive behavior? He is still wagging his tail, super excited, but I really want to stop his behavior, and at least know if it’s normal?

Thank you all for the help, and happy holidays 🙂