Category: Top Dog

I have two puppies that are my entire world, they're both almost 1 and have never been dogs to bark a lot. Usually, one of my family members is always home and sorts out the issue that is making them bark – no water, holes, etc. Just today I've received a letter from the council informing me someone filed a complaint of the barking being a nuisance.

For context the puppies are both in bed by 9pm, and do not bark at night. They bark sometimes when playing with each other (hard to stop), and when excited which quickly calms down. No neighbour has come to my door asking in any way to keep the dogs from barking. No one has sent a letter, left a note, nothing.

I have no idea which neighbour complained, or what exactly prompted them to send the complaint since I've not gotten one since I've had them. I'm worried that I'll lose the pups because this person quickly escalated to council complaint without even confronting me first. There are multiple dogs on my street that also bark, even a house that blasts music late into the night.

Any advice? These pups are my world and mental support, I really can't lose them. (I'm willing to sort it out with the complainer, but I don't know who it is or why they complained specifically since it was issued 10 days ago and I just got the letter!)

Edit: I didn't expect so much advice so fast, thank you! I'd like to note I have looked up the council laws in my area and do have cameras around my backyard and at my door. My council has it as you must converse with the offending neighbour before complaining (I've proof they haven't – no letter, no knock on door.) So, I'll call the council and let them know, as well as start noting all the times my dogs bark with reasons and recordings.

This is my first Reddit post, so i hope I’m doing this right. Also I’m sorry if this is long, i wanted to make sure i gave all the info.

I have 10 year old female toy poodle. She was pee pad trained for 9 years, but since she likes to eat her poop she would often hide and poop elsewhere in the house. I’ve tried giving her supplements to where she wouldn’t want to eat it, nothing stopped her. Around March of last year, my mom got fed up with her going in the house and decided we needed to retrain her to go outside. I should clarify that she is very much my dog, so I am the one caring for her primarily. It’s now January and she still is not trained to go outside. I got a bell for the door, she refuses to ring it to signal she needs to go, in fact she gives me zero signals. I try to take her out often and at consistent times. She gets rewarded with a treat when she goes outside. But she still is going in the house. To the point where I will take her out, she’ll do number one and two, but then immediately poop in the house after. I’ve tried multiple pet smell remover sprays so that she’s not marking her scent. When she goes potty inside I immediately take her outside to reinforce where’s she’s supposed to go. My mom is threatening to git rid of my dog now. I struggle with depression, and the threats are effecting me emotionally. My dog is very much my support animal. My mom has tried spanking her when she does this, but it hasn’t made a difference. Plus it upsets me as I don’t believe in hitting dogs. It is becoming an every day issue. I am desperate for help! Any advice is welcomed. What am I doing wrong?

Okay so my parents bought a poodle x lab and over the past few years she’s kind of just became my dog shes 5 and for years I’ve been trying to figure out what types of games and training I can do to keep her engaged I’m not an incredible dog trainer but I’ve taught her solid basics but she’s really been wanting to learn new things and have some kind of extra stimulation outside of just walks and repeated basics in training. We live out in rural Victoria so there’s not a ton of like community resources.

She really like any kind of smelling work I do with her like I’ll run off and then after about 30 seconds she’ll come and track me with her nose. She’s also don’t some honestly half way unbelievable stuff with her nose she smelt out when my brothers cancer initially and then again when it relapsed and also some other bits and pieces with sickness.

So basically she really loves using her nose and anything maybe in that direction would be great.

She’s medium sized and due to unfortunately being bought just before COVID she’s not the best around other dogs or people. She can be and she’ll be well behaved she just doesn’t enjoy it.

Hi, im posting to see if anyone has any tips on training dogs to eventually track deer etc.

My dog is a black Labrador retriever and is about 15 months old or so. She listens good already and the training I've been doing to get her to follow basic instructions has worked very well so far. I was wondering if anyone has some tips to help make this a smooth and effective process or has any suggestions on what to avoid doing. Thank you!

Evening everyone! I know this is long winded. My fiance is having some issues with my 9 month old puppy when it comes to her excessive barking, potty training and overall misbehaviour.

When she’s at my house she’s potty trained, doesn’t bark unless she sees other dogs and people when we walk (how do I get her to stop doing this), and she’s generally a good puppy by listening. She is a VERY smart girl and is always willing to learn with the right treat lol.

At his home she rarely listens, acts like she isn’t properly potty trained, wakes up throughout the night and barks all the time when she’s in the backyard. I tell him that he needs to put in more time training her so that she listens but all he does is compare his 4 year old dog to her. (He didn’t do much training with his dog to the point where his dog failed training classes twice. his dog will often have accidents in the house but will go outside, and his dogs personality is more quiet).

What is some advice you can share on what I can do about 1. Walking with the leash and 2. Her behaviour at my fiance home.

I would greatly like some insight.

My 5 year old Dalmatian was crate trained from the moment I got him as a puppy. Every night I would put him to sleep in there. Over the years there were moments where he could cry and hit the door of his crate asking to be let out. If it was a peepee cry he would be let out, if not he would stay there. Now he kind of refuses to sleep in there. He will whine, cry, bark, and hit the door to be let out. He’s potty trained of course and doesn’t cause damage in the house, so leaving him to sleep out isn’t a problem. I just don’t like that this has suddenly changed.

His routine did change though, which is an important note. We moved houses this past month and has since been actually screaming to be let out of his cage. Since we live in an apartment, I can’t have him scream and bark all night as the neighbours will get upset.

Knowing that he was starting to show signs of not wanting to be in the cage, and now that he truly is refusing, do I give up? Do I just leave the door open as an option for a sleeping location?

My boyfriend says that since he’s known me, my dal has never “liked” his cage. Bf believes I should just let it be.

Please help. Thanks.

we recently (6 months ago) adopted a new dog. We have one inside dog (who this post will be about) and 3 outside working dogs and 2 outside cats. All female. Some background:

OG dog: 3, poodle. Has only ever been the only inside dog since we got her as a puppy. Very energetic, crazy. Loves her toys and runs. Has massive FOMO always has to be involved in the action. Adores playing with our outside working dogs when they are available. They will chase her and she will run circles around them. She loves chasing the cats as well. Has always played well with other dogs as well. Is our darling girl, very spoilt.

New dog: 3/4ish, poodle cross (unsure). Adopted recently as we thought OG dog needed a friend. We have since realised the information the shelter gave us was misinformed – things like her training, energy etc. she is a lazy girl. Loves the couch and is more than happy to do her own thing. Is slightly anxious but seems to be fine with all dogs. Not exactly what we were looking for but we adore her anyway.

Now, OG dog (I think) wants to play with new dog. She will run at her and nip and growl, jumping on her and over her. Slightly rough play but not dangerous. Very very similar to how she plays with our outside dogs and cats. New dog is so uninterested it’s almost funny. She will sit there and just take it and not care. Her tail will be wagging but she is unaffected by it. Eventually OG dog will give up. Maybe every second or third day, new dog will get a bout of energy and do some running with OG dog. OG dog will still try to nip at her and growl. I am not sure if I should discourage this type of play as new dog is obviously uninterested, but still unphased by it.

The other thing is jealousy from OG dog. If we pick up new dog, OG dog will bark and growl at her and us. Recently OG dog has started to jump up and bite new dogs tail while we are carrying her. If we are ever patting new dog, OG dog will come in and bark, growl and nip at new dog. As I said new dog is completely unphased by this behaviour (even the tail biting) but we still are trying to discourage it.

For the past 6 months we have consistently ignored OG dog if she displays this jealous behaviour and rewarded her if she does eventually stop it. We have tried pushing her away when she starts growling. We have tried yelling no at her and giving her a small smack on the nose which she knows is wrong as she will then go and sit in her bed and sulk. Yet she is still displaying this behaviour. We constantly give the dogs attention together. Eg. First thing in the morning when I let them out I give them both big cuddles together and also when I get home from work, big cuddles together. OG dog also is still getting the same amount of attention, especially considering new dog is happy sleeping all the time and OG dog is still wanting to play with her toys etc.

Not sure where to go considering it’s been 6 months similar behaviour without any changes. At the start I knew we would have some problems with OG dog and her FOMO but I didn’t think it would last more than 6 months.

I’m hoping someone can help me understand a behaviour change in my dog since we moved.

I have a neutered Cocker Spaniel, almost 2 years old, and I’ve had him since he was a puppy. He has always been a very typical “velcro dog.”

In our old home (a small city house, about 50 sqm), he would always stay close to us. Wherever we were sitting, he’d settle right next to us and move with us from room to room. We recently moved to a much larger house (180 sqm, two floors). In the old house, we could see almost the entire space from wherever we sat, but that’s obviously not the case anymore.

In the new house, we spend a lot of time upstairs in the kitchen area. I made sure to bring his same pillow from the old kitchen and spent time helping him settle there. However, he really struggles to relax upstairs — he walks around constantly and seems unable to settle, even when nothing is happening.

Downstairs where our living room is, though, he has his chair next to the couch, and when he’s down there he immediately falls asleep and seems completely relaxed. Out of curiosity, I tried leaving him downstairs while I stayed upstairs, and now this dog who used to follow me everywhere is choosing to be alone in the basement instead.

I’m not sure how to interpret this. Is he overwhelmed by the new space? Does he prefer enclosed areas? Is this something dogs commonly do after moving to a larger home?

Should I encourage him upstairs or let him choose?

Hello, I’m looking for some advice on my new puppy (who is a four month old corgi x terrier mix if that’s helpful). I adopted him a few days ago and love him so much. He and I bonded very quickly and so far he’s adjusting to his new environment great. The only problem is that potty training seems to be a big issue area for him. I’m not sure if his previous owner had him using puppy pads or something of the like, but I’ve strictly followed all of the standard potty training advice to no avail. I keep him under my supervision at all times and always catch him mid-accident. When I relocate him outside, he refuses to go no matter how long we stand out in the same little patch of grass (5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes…) and will hold it until we get back inside. When I interrupt him mid-accident again, the process simply repeats. In fact, I’ve stopped him so many times I’m beginning to fear that he thinks that going outside is a punishment for going to the bathroom…he’s started to try and be sneaky when he has an accident despite me never yelling at him, never making loud noises at him, and never even telling him “no”. I have tried to use only positive reinforcement throughout the duration of all of his training. It has worked in every other instance, except for this one.

I also follow a strict routine by letting him out as soon as he wakes up, shortly before we go to bed, 10 minutes after eating his meals, and about every hour to two hours throughout the day (I’m a university student so I do have to leave for class at times, however I live within walking distance from my campus, take the bus to get to him even quicker, purposely structured my schedule and even dropped a class so that I’m not leaving him for more than two hours at a time). I’ve managed to get him to pee outside a whopping single time and practically threw a party to praise and re-enforce the behavior. Afterwards, he immediately peed even MORE inside…in his sleeping area in fact, which is definitely new and has left me quite discouraged.

My aunt did send me a package of puppy pads (she trained her own dogs with them), although I have yet to use them because I would definitely prefer for him to use the bathroom outside. However, with the exception of a single corner of my room, I’ve noticed he prefers to pee on soft surfaces (e.g. my rug and now his bedding). Would it be a good idea to try using the puppy pads at least initially so that he doesn’t start to think the rug and his bed are fair game, and so that he doesn’t think I’m upset at him for using the bathroom at all, or that going outside is a punishment? After that, is there a good way to transition from using the puppy pads to peeing outside, or will the texture association be too strong to break? I’m especially worried about what that would cause if he and I were to move to a living arrangement with carpet in the future. My current apartment has all hardwood floors but I definitely don’t plan on staying here forever.

One more thing to note is that it is a short walk to get outside from where we live. We are on the first floor but we have to walk down the hallway and turn the corner…maybe this is contributing to his reluctance/confusion especially when I relocate him mid-accident?

Any advice and suggestions are appreciated. I grew up with dogs in the past and none of them have been this difficult to train. I’m worried I’m doing something wrong that I’m simply not aware of. He is such a perfect little guy and I just want to give him the best home possible.

Thank you!

Hello, I have an ~2 year old terrier mix who had a pelvic fracture early in life (likely 4-6 months) and lost a back leg, but is otherwise in okay shape physically. The fracture healed poorly and has created a small obstruction in the colon. The result is that our pup may have some nerve damage to the colon and is having a hard time with training to defecate outside.

A few important notes:
1 – she is housebroken for peeing and responded well to this training

2 – the training we have already done has gotten her to the point where she is (about half the time) able to indicate a need to go out and make it towards the door, but often without success

I wonder if anyone has advice on training for such a pup with such a medical situation.