Category: Top Dog

Hi All, long time follower here first time poster. The long and the short of it is, my fiance and I have been thinking about getting a dog for about 9 months now. We fell in love with a puppy about 10 days before Christmas, but we were traveling for the holidays and knew it wasn't fair for a new puppy to be dragged around right after being brought home. Sadly, that pup was no longer there when we returned home.

We have now met a 4.5 month old Shih-poo that we liked a lot, although I will say, it didn't quite feel like the first dog. How do you know if it's the right time or right dog?

My Fiance and I are probably about 2-3 years away from having kids, so in my mind it feels like a good time to onboard and train a dog so that it's more of an adult by the time we embark on that next chapter.

However, as I think about the act of going through with it, I do get more nervous. We have planned things out well, I have already gotten a crate, and a puppy play pen, we have a great dog school near us that we plan on enrolling in, we've gotten pet insurance quotes, so I feel like logistically, we have done a lot to prepare. But, I read some of the horror stories on here and get worried about the puppy blues, or not knowing how to handle things.

Any advice on how to know if you're truly ready, or how to know if it's the right dog?

Thanks in advance!

We've had our 11 mo old border collie mix for about 6 months now, and are still having issues peeing in the house. It's only in certain rooms – we've hit them with the enzyme cleaners over and over, but if we aren't keeping a close enough watch on her she'll still go pee in there without very much notice to us.

If those doors are closed she's usually pretty good about coming and whining to us that she wants to go out, but when they're open it's like she would rather just directly pee in there rather than tell us. She hasn't peed outside those rooms in several months, but for some reason those last two places are still a block.

I'm kind of at a loss on what to do with this. Keeping the doors closed does fix the issue, but I'm worried it's something she won't grow out of if we don't directly address it – which I have no idea how to do.

so my dog luna has always been kinda anxious and lately she has been waking me up at night because she wont stay in her old bed. its pretty flat and worn out so i figured 2026 is the year to finally get her something way more comfy and supportive. ive been reading about what people are calling the best dog bed 2026 but there are so many styles and materials and i honestly have no clue what will actually help her sleep better.

she is about 50 pounds and loves burrowing under blankets, but also likes stretching out. i guess that means she needs something that gives good support but also feels cozy? also our room gets kinda warm at night so i dont want something that overheats her. any suggestions or real experiences?

has anyone here upgraded their dogs bed recently and noticed a big change in sleep or anxiety? what features should i pay attention to like memory foam vs regular stuffing? also how do you deal with cleaning the bed when it gets dirty from outside walks? would love to hear what has actually worked for other pups for 2026. thanks

So, we have the bestest boy, he’s so smart and pretty and he already does all toilet outside. He sleeps in his crate at night (if I sleep on a mattress right in front of him. We have connected so well, he’s my baby. But he also won’t let me out of his sight before he howls bloody murder. It’s been a tad better today but I need to pee and shower and eat and I don’t want to scare him or make him insecure that I’m leaving forever every though he can mostly see me from his pen. Should I just stay with him as much as possible for now and start leaving him alone in the pen longer ahead? If so when? Or should I allow him to vocalize and just praise whenever he is silent and only be gone for short amount of time like bathroom and eat.

I’m so scared of getting a unhappy insecure pup. I don’t any him confident and secure.

Anyone have any advise. I’ll read everything and I’ll try and reply but sometimes it is just so much going on that I forget,

My puppy (7.5 mo) had a hard time sleeping alone in his crate, so I decided to keep him up in my room and I have managed to get him to sleep very well now, with me in the room, but not directly in his line of sight. In the morning, he tentatively whines me awake around 7 and I let him on the bed for some morning cuddles (which is 5 mins on working days or +1 hour on home office/weekend days). As this is working well and the good sleep quality has finally helped me through puppy blues, I have no intent to change this anytime soon.

I have a work trip coming up and my mom is going to look after my puppy and sleep in my room while I am away. But I am wondering what to do if she can't sit for my next trip or if I want to take my puppy with me for a summer holiday. For people in similar situations, how are your puppies/dogs dealing with being in holiday homes/hotels or sitters (either in your home or their own) dealing with your nighttime habits?

Never thought I’d post but I’m here every night so I’ll give it a go. Our AmStaff x Bully is 13 weeks tomorrow. We got her at 7 weeks – the first couple weeks she settled into her night crate well enough. There was always a bit of protest but she would soon settle and nod off to sleep. We got to a point of sleeping through the night. No major concerns here. In the past probably two-three weeks she’s decided every. Single. Night. Is a battle. That only seems to get worse every night.

For context, we have a play pen with crate in it down stairs for day time. She loves it down there and takes herself in and out of crate as desired, sleeps easily, plays happily, etc.

Upstairs, in our bedroom, we have another crate, which is her night time sleep crate. Inside of this crate is her bed, heartbeat toy, we rotate old tops that smell like us, a small chew, and a little stuffie that we had let her mum (with the breeder) sleep with to mark her scent on, although this is probably lost now. The crate is covered, the room is dark. It’s summer for us right now so we have a fan going in the direction but not directly on her. The window is open, and the inside temp is 25 degrees (c) (77F) We play YouTube videos on soft volume as my partner and I sleep with videos going, so from day one, this has been part of the routine. We have a structured pre-bed routine, and by all accounts, we are ‘doing everything right’ per every piece of advice on here, from our vet and from our trainer. So the issue now, we take her into the crate, she looses the plot. Bark bark bark bark. Usually with seconds long pauses between outbursts, before more barking. We sit with her every night, sometimes with a few fingers through the crate so she knows we’re there, sometimes not (if she’s really nippy and just attacks them)

It’s at the point where it’s taking sometimes two, sometimes three hours a night to get her to finally settle after long protest.

We have tried leaving the room, staying in the room, giving her treats, lick mats/enrichment, window closed/open, fan off/on. Mostly, we have tried having the same fixed routine/environmental factors so she’s comfortable and knows what’s going on.

I feel like we have tried everything, still every night she’s having these, what I think are “over tired protests” probably worsened by “teething” “heat” and who knows what else.

My partner and I are exhausted, our neighbours hate us, and we are hating bed time.

In just about every other aspect, she’s really good, happy healthy and friendly. She goes to work with my partner each day, well socialised, heaps of training, enrichment, love and play. What the hell do we do Thanks !

My puppy refuses to sleep, when he's with the family. He has a dedicated area in our entrance hall with his bowls for food, water, bed etc.

He also has a bed and blanket in the living room and in my partners office.

However, the ONLY place he can settle down and get some sleep is in the entrance hall, when we close the door to him, so it's completely calm around him.

Whenever we put him out there and close the door, he goes directly to sleep in his bed. We can crack open the door and see him, without waking him up. But if he realizes the door is open, he will run around in the house to find us.

As my partner is 100% remote, there is always people in the house. If she does not put him in the entrance hall with door closed, he can go the whole day with barely any sleep. He gets incredibly wild and bity in the afternoon/evening, obviously from lack of sleep.

(We walk him 3 times a day, and he is out in the yard to do his business in between).

We feel very guilty locking him in on his own, but it seems to be the only way for the little guy to get some sleep.

Has anyone had similar problems? And how did you solve it?

I have a 4 month old Standard Poodle puppy. She is crate trained since she came and takes all of her naps in there. That has been great. She has been struggling to relax outside of it, which you guys told me it’s normal for puppy that young, so I wasnt that worried. I started the relaxation protocol with her a few days ago (until now i would reward her wher she went to her bed on her own and lie down etc so we had a solid “base”). Im only on day 4 but she has been choosing to lie down in her bed more and more! Until now my day was a lot of “how can i fill her awake hour and entertain her” and now we have some calm blocks. It’s maybe just 10-15 mins without a chew but i call that progress:)! Evenings are also a lot better (but granted now she is vaccinated i can take her out on a “longer” walk so she is also tired. We have been doing tethering too but i feel like the relaxation protocol is making it click. Maybe this helps someone in the trenches. Any tips are welcome too