Category: Top Dog

Hiya! I’ve got a 5 month old English Cocker Spaniel puppy. He’s doing really well in his crate and sleeping and mostly sleeps through the night (only exception is, is when he refuses to poop right before sleep). I’ve got a knee injury and can barely walk up the stairs, and I struggle even more carrying him upstairs and downstairs every night and morning. He’s good at being alone, and I’ve let him free roam downstairs while showering or cleaning, and he’s had no issue with it. There have been times where he would be in the pen downstairs alone and he’d whine a bit, but than again if I leave the house and he’s in the pen he’s completely fine. I’ve heard that for some people, it helps just immediately doing it — no transition or anything, just change it up randomly and keep him in there and see. But I’ve also heard that a transition period is needed where I could put him in the hallway and see how he does there. The only issue I’ve got with that, is that my cats roam around and often are more active at night. He doesn’t care abt the sound of them scratching the litter trays, but they knock stuff over that does wake him up.

I don’t really know how to approach it, but it’s getting more and more difficult for me to carry him down the stairs (they’re very narrow and slippery and I’m scared of falling cause I already have nearly fallen down them with him in my arms before). I also think he’d sleep better without any distractions / any movement around him. He wakes up really easily in the morning when he hears me wake up. I always get really uncertain introducing something new to him, maybe even more nervous than he is to experience it. I don’t really know how to approach it. I wanna do right by him, that’s what my priority is. He does sleep like 7/8h next to my bed in a crate, but I really do wanna have him sleeping downstairs in his pen as the end goal.

Does anyone have any experience with this particular situation ? I would really appreciate some opinions / what helped for other people. Thank you in advance!

I’m massively confused on this lol. I keep watching tons of videos about enrichment and I see that people are putting kibble in water and freezing it , things like that. But is that in replacement of a full meal, or in addition to their full breakfast and dinner?

My girl is 5 1/2 months old and there are some days i’m at work for 8-10 hours (I have someone let her out half way through my shift) but I have a camera on her. Every time I check it she’s sleeping. Not complaining at all but is this normal that she is sleeping all day long and if yours did this also, did it always stay this way?

My mom has a 5 month old puppy (pitbull) and no matter what she barks around the clock every single day mostly in the morning, she can be very stand offish sometimes, sometimes she’ll look you directly in the face and bark directly at you and another thing I’m concerned about is she stands up with a straight tail and bark excessively, is this signs of aggression or possibly separation anxiety or ? If it helps any her parents were very aggressive the dad bit the lady that we got the pups from and had to be put to sleep, the mother dog bit me (28f) unprovoked like 2/3 months ago was walking home from buying some things and she had got loose as they had her out front tied to a tree and she just went at me , I deal with the dogs 2 days out of the week by myself for at least 9-10 hours, what advice can you give me to help my mom as far as training i guess

I’ve seen harnesses that have built in retractable leashes so if you let go the leash it winds up onto harness. Is there any contraption like this that I could attach to existing harness?

This is not a discuss on whether or not retractable lines are good or bad, or general discussion about retractable leashes…. My only question is….

>>>> Is there any contraption like this that I could attach to existing harness?

TIA

my dog is getting older and is sensitive to heat, which makes her get in and out of her bed all night when she's hot but finds the floor uncomfortable. is it worth getting her a cooling mat? I'm 99% sure she will only pick the cooling mat if it's as cool as the tiles or cooler.

(also yes I keep the aircon on for her but the sound will usually make her leave the room and if it doesn't she still overheats)

So for reasons that all happened to coincide together, I have 5 dogs. One is a 30 pound brown mutt and the other 4 are a mixture of little white dogs, 2 boys and 3 girls. My oldest is 18 yo male who is surprisingly spry still but I suspect he’s getting a bit of dementia because he has been peeing/pooping indoors. We try to catch him but he’s sneaky so I think he remembers he’s not supposed to but forgot how to ask to go outside.

What has happened: my other boy was a true street dog and experienced some bad things at some point. When my granny was alive, she didn’t do a great job of potty training and she had them for 3 years. He WILL NOT stop marking my house. Part of it is from living with my granny and I suspect the other part is trying to cover up the old man’s accidents. It’s gotten so bad he has to wear a belly band.

Any suggestions? The girls don’t normally have accidents unless it’s raining (prissy but adorable). I’m losing my mind.

Two year old golden retriever will get his first shot in a few weeks. We’ve been told to “keep him calm” for 8 weeks. Should he be kenneled 24/7? Can he walk up and down our stairs? Can he walk around the house some? I know he can’t go outside and do zoomies but outside of that, I’m really not sure what each day should look like. Hoping to hear from some of you who have been thru it.

Looking to buy a Cavalier King Charles from a breeder. I’ve researched the breeder and spoken to her. She seems very reputable. She asked if we had a preference for gender and coat (4 options) and recommended putting a deposit.

Our main priority is getting a dog early June (or as close to that as possible) because my husband is a teacher. He and the kids will be home for 2 months, and I think that would great for puppy training and bonding. Our next priority is temperament. We are looking for a calm, quiet, obedient, loving dog. I know that there will be lots of energy during the puppy stage- but if we could pick from the litter- we would pick the one that exhibits these qualities the most. My concern is that if I put down a deposit with no specifications, only temperament- I worry that the breeder will fulfill the coat and gender preferences of those she has a deposit for first and then we would get whichever puppies are left (which I am sure will still be wonderful).

Any breeders have any feedback?

Its currently below freezing and snowing pretty hard, so i tried to bring them inside, but they instantly start barking and asking to be let out. They do have insulated kennels, a pet door, and can also open the front door by themselves if they wanted to come inside. They are a mixed breed, our best guess is lab/golden retriever