Category: Top Dog

I, 21F, (I am not a new dog owner) am adopting a decently sized Boston Terrier 1 year old male, named Otis! I’ve been told he has been suffering from PTSD, I wish to be a good dog owner and I am asking for any advice on how to properly support my new pup. We will be living in an apartment, he will have space and there is a park down the road. I want to ensure he feels safe in my apartment and with me. I also would like to know if a behavioral vet specialist is necessary? Thank you so much for anything you can tell me!

Lab, female, not a puppy. With some medical problems that would cause my dog to pee at random points, or gets extremely excited. As solution, I got pee pads, hoping to fix the problem.

It solved some part of the problem.

But here is the new problem, recently, my dog very often, would pee onto the floor about like a foot away from the pee pad, and my dog knows that it could not pee there.

I think many of the time, it's not my dog didn't make it to the pad, but my dog just decided to pee there as I can see my dog staring at something on the counter, then sits and pee. Is there anything specific reasons that this would happen? I leave no food on the counter as my dog would steal it.

My dog knows that it shouldn't pee there as if my dog pees on the pee pads, I would give treats, and my dog would have another set of behavior for food.

Thank you.

I'm curious as to how life is like for people here who have eight or more dogs.

My husband and I recently (yesterday) adopted a 3 yr old doggo. We have a 13 year old lab dalmatian mix as well, Maddi. The new pup, Max, is a lab/poodle mix (or so the humane society says). He looks to be more of a lab/Irish wolfhound. Our senior dog is very well behaved. She is still as hyper as a puppy and listens well to commands. We are hoping he learns from her. Max (new pup) is very large (65 lbs) but underweight by about 15 lbs. He is very nervous. He has hookworms which we are treating and heartworms which we are treating as well. The vet told us we can not allow his heart rate to elevate much for about 6 months which is easy enough while he is inside. We let him out back and monitor while he is back there (we use a shovel to dispose of his feces as to not transfer his hookworms to our senior dog). After a decent amount of outside time Max refuses to come inside. He sits and puts all his weight down and will not budge. We try high reward treats, praise and leash. The only way to get him inside is to pick him up and carry him, which I can not do myself. I need advice as to how to start training for him to come inside on command, or at least on a leash. We were told he came from an animal cruelty case – but no specific details. He was previously adopted out from the same humane society but brought back after a few days because he would not come inside or play with toys. He is scared of both of us but is starting to come around and let us pet/love on him. We believe he was previously an outside dog. He gets very nervous when we are working to get him inside. Which is elevating his heart rate. Any advice is appreciated. I'm not a professional….but, I have had dogs my entire life and they all have been very well trained though I have gotten all as a puppy. Just to add, we are trying the in and out method with a high reward treats in the inside and he still won't come in through the threshold. TIA!.

I've had my shelter dog for…let's say a year and a half. Usually she'll sleep by my legs and I wish she'd sleep by my side so I could put my arm over her and whatnot. But she's never liked that. Is there a way to get her to like cuddling? Or, would that be rude/mean? I don't wanna force or her anything, I just miss cuddling like my old dog used to do with me

Context: I adopted a Jack Russell/Beagle mix 6 years ago from a pound. He was around 5 when I adopted him and is now around 10. He was a stray so we don’t have much information on him or his exact date of birth so his age is a guestimate. He was neutered at the pound. He is SUPER high energy. He asks to go outside pretty often and when we’re on walks he pees so much that sometimes nothing even comes out. He thinks he must pee on every tree or pole in sight. I adopted him with my ex but kept him when we broke up. I am now married to a different man who has his own dog from before we met who is an angel.

My husband and I just moved into a new house and we are renting from someone we know so I’m stressed about this behavior with my dog since we don’t own the house and we don’t want anything ruined. There is carpet in the living room, hallway and our bedroom. Yesterday I thought I smelled pee in the hallway and found that the baseboard had been peed on. Not just one spot but about 4 feet along the baseboard had been peed on. As well as the baseboards on either side of ours bedroom door. I found another spot in the living room around one of the end tables. I was aware that my dog would sometimes pee in the house since I first took him home 6 years ago, but I feel like it has never been this intense. I have only ever witnessed him peeing in the house one time so he must be doing it when we’re not home or when he knows for certain that we’re not paying attention.

The one time I actually witnessed him doing it was in our bedroom. My husband and I were getting down and dirty in bed and when that happens my dog will always jump off the bed. Maybe 30 seconds into my husband and I getting hot, we heard him peeing. I called his name out and he stopped. I took him outside and cleaned it up. He only ever pees on the carpet which is frustrating since it’s harder to clean and I’m worried about the sub flooring.

My husband and I both work full time jobs. I always leave for work after my husband so I take them out for a 15ish minute walk every morning, feed them, and let them out again to potty before I leave. We have a baby gate that separates the hallway from the rest of the house so they can’t get back to the rooms while we’re away. I’m really not sure when he would have got the chance to pee on the baseboards in the hallway since we use the gate so often unless he is doing it when we’re in the shower.

I came across a post on here that sounded very similar to what I’m dealing with and they called it vengeance pee. Comments went on to say it could either be separation anxiety or marking. He is neutered so I’m not sure if it’s marking. I do know he deals with separation anxiety so maybe it’s that?

Im just at a loss about what to do about this. Since he does it when I’m not home I can’t catch him and take him outside right away. This has been keeping me up at night trying to think how to fix this. When we lived with my ex, my dog would be crated for about 4 hours a day until my ex got home from work and let him out. That was 6 years ago. My dog has never been crated since my ex and I broke up and I would feel terrible crating him for 8 hours out of the day while our other dog gets free range. I’ve thought about hiring someone to come take them on walks in the middle of the day but I’m not sure if that will fix anything either. I’m starting to wonder if I should say something to the vet about this. I will take any tips!!! Just please help us!!

Hello! Does anyone know what the squeaker looks like inside the mini squeaker balls? My dog destroyed one and the squeaker seems to be missing inside?

I have a lab that likes to dig to be comfortable and she burns through beds every 2-4 months. Does anyone have advice on a good dig proof bed? I can’t use loose items to help save the beds since she likes to burry under and snuggle in.

hi! so, i have a 4 month old pomeranian (female, not spayed but will be spaying ofc). she generally gets along with the cats extremely well, but can sometimes “snap” at them, like how an adult dog does to correct a puppy, if that makes sense?

she started doing it after she got her final vaccines a few weeks ago, which i thought was normal since she was super tired and feeling bad. but now she does it when they come in her vicinity when she’s tired/sleeping.

i just want to make sure this is just a normal thing and she’s trying to tell them to not get in her business when she’s tired and trying to rest but idk!! is it aggressive behavior at all?