Category: Top Dog

Hello! My 4-month old puppy is absolutely bonkers (as many are). It’s like overnight he gained a new confidence, defiance, and zest for life (lol).

We heavily rely on enforced naps, structured play, enrichment, training, and practicing settling throughout the day. My main question is, it seems like sometimes he gets overstimulated extremely quickly. He’ll take about a 2-hour nap and then we’ll do a little outside training/potty break, play (together or independent), enrichment or meal time, etc. However, sometimes it seems like he’s not even up for 30 minutes before he’s going bananas biting everything, having the zoomies, chasing his tail, barking, etc.

I usually put him down for a nap because i’m reading this as overstimulation, but he will go bonkers in his crate too lol (i. e. biting and barking at his blanket, biting the crate, chasing his tail, etc.). Could this indicate a lack of fulfillment & I just need to push through his crazies to redirect to more activities before putting him to bed?

Idk, he’s still a baby but I’m having trouble deciphering what the issue is and how to help him push through!

I’ve seen people talk about letting puppy explore in an ex pen outside but never see anyone talk about a staked in ground leash. Is there a reason for this? If I want to allow puppy to explore outside in a smaller area before the whole fenced in area can I use a staked in leash?

Hi everyone! I have a 6-month-old female golden retriever puppy and I feel like she’s way more tired than other golden puppies I see online.

Her weekly routine looks like this:

• 3 walks a day, about 15 minutes each • Thursday: full day of daycare (no walk) • Sunday: 1 hour of puppy play group • Monday: 1 hour training class 

On regular days, when we’re not on walks, we’ll usually do an enrichment toy or something mentally stimulating.

But overall she seems tired a lot of the time. Her schedule is usually:

• Up for ~2 hours • Sleeps for 3–4 hours (in crate) • Repeat that twice during the day • Then she sleeps about 11 hours overnight (in crate) 

When she’s awake she seems normal and happy, but she’s pretty much done after a walk and a little enrichment and then wants to nap.

I always see people talking about how energetic golden puppies are, so it makes me wonder if this is normal.

• Is this a typical amount of sleep for a ~6-month-old puppy? • Do some goldens just naturally have a more laid-back temperament? Or should I expect her energy level to increase as she gets older? 

I have a puppy that is almost 7 months, he is a mixed breed (lab/McNab/Border Collie and Malinois) He is generally a very well behaved puppy, he is calm at home, crate trained, has an off switch and a great temperament…but he gets super overstimulated on walks and it is making it impossible to teach him leash manners. I can practice all day inside and in my back yard, and even in parking lots, and he does amazing..but as soon as we head outside the house to walk around the block he goes crazy. God forbid there be someone walking their dog by us, the whole walk is ruined before it starts. I hired a trainer when he was about 5 months and she came for a couple of sessions and taught me that if he pulls I stop until he checks in with me, treat and then keep going. She also taught me to distract him from other dogs with a high voice and treats in my hands to make it seem like taking treats from me is more interesting than the other dog…these tricks worked okay when he was 5 months. But now they do not work at all. He lives at the end of the leash, I cannot get him to walk next to me outside. I can have the smelliest teat and he doesn't care. It is so frustrating….also we use a front clip harness but his body is weirdly proportioned so I have a hard time finding one that fits him right, and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on something he is going to grow out of. I am at a loss. Do I spend money for another trainer to come and tell me the same thing, to stop when he pulls? That just seems to overstimulate him more. Is it just this adolescent phase? Or the border collie part of him spazzing out?? I need help I am so frustrated and saddened. I have tried doing training before the walk so he is more tired, but that seems to make him even more overstimulated. I don't know what to do..any tips or tricks, or encouragement would be much appreciated.

My mini bernedoodle has always been shy, and while it's improved a bit over time, he's still really shy/insecure at 7 months. I'm worried it's going to escalate into anxious or reactive behavior, he's already starting to bark a bit at the front door of our apartment when people walk by in the hall for example.

Are there any basic activities or training I can try on my own to improve his confidence before I look to spend money on a trainer?

My pup is very nervous by nature and has really struggled getting confidence for walks

Even with very positive socialisation, she’s just improved very slightly.

This last few weeks she’s come on strides, started taking rewards outside (occasionally) and generally walking infront quite comfortably but today we went for a walk around our block and it went pear shaped

She got 3/4 of the way around confidently and happily but then there just seemed to be loads of people, two on bikes Speeding up the pavement we had to avoid, a loose dog running freely into the road that started screaming when it was picked up, too many cars to cross the road safely and create space in time and then a baby screaming it’s little lungs out

We had about 2ft to walk before we had a safe crossing space to head back home and by that time she’d completely shut down and frozen, her tail was just tucked under her and she was petrified, couldn’t move and wouldn’t even look at me

I sat on the side of the road for about 10 minutes with her until she was willing to take a few steps and cross over the road but she was still really reluctant to move even after that long and all the hustle and bustle subsiding

She doesn’t recover quick, she’s flighty and it doesn’t take much to knock her confidence

Once we got back into our street she was fine, happy to walk down to the bottom, cross and walk back up to our house but now she just seems really disengaged and upset

She is six Months old in a week and I really wanted her to go into it with confidence so that fear stages didn’t knock her more than necessary

I just hope that by tomorrow she’s feeling a bit better and is happy to try again

I am picking up an 8 week old Springer Spaniel puppy from a breeder 1400 km away. Driving was not an option so will be transporting home on a plane. The breeder will meet me at the airport and is supplying an airline approved soft crate. I managed to score a very low priced first class ticket so priority on and off and the airline has given approval on my ticket.

That said what advice can folks give me on the challenges I will face, toilet, food, etc. The flight is only 1.6 hrs but I need to check in 2 hours ahead of time and then there is the waiting for the flight and as always possible late flights. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe I'm worried over nothing, but I would like to see other people's opinions.

I have a 5-month-old female poodle/Spitz/terrier mix. She was born a drama queen and I'm used to that.

A couple of days ago, I had a medical appointment and left her in my family's house. She lived there when she was 2 to 4 months, , she knows everyone there, so she's pretty comfortable there. When I left she cried a little, but my sister said she stopped in less than five minutes and went back to playing.

I was gone for 3 or 4 hours. During all this time, according to my family, she was very chill: played, took a nap, had a few zoomies in the garden. All was well.

But when I got home, she went INSANE. Started to bark and cry and jump, peed on the floor, jumped over me and started to bit me (thank God she is small). Her body language was of over excitement (I've seen her like that in other contexts).

As I said, I'm used to her drama, but this was way too much even for her. It was the first time I left her alone for so long, but even so, she had never got even close to this level of desperation, so it worried me. Is this a sign of over attachment? We live alone together, she is used to be left alone to her business for a few hours but she knows that I'm home and comes close whenever she wants. I'm also confused because she was very calm before I came back, my family said she gave no signs of missing me at all.

Do you think I should do something about it? Or is it a normal behavior since it was the first time I left her for more than an hour?

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

With 2 dogs and wet spring weather we’re getting a lot of dirty paws coming in the house. We have your typical 2×3 or 3×4 rugs just inside our doorways that get need laundering almost daily. Any suggestions for a specific brand or methodology that will hold the rugs in place and also not curl up badly after laundering?