Category: Top Dog

We are so excited to bring home our new pup on Tuesday!!! Our work schedules almost never over lap except for one day when I have to work 11-2 this will be every week consistently and the first day 6 days after we get her. We are planning on starting crate training ASAP, but I know she won't be able to go this long without needing to potty. Idk if this sounds bad if it's wrong I will definitely do my best to figure something out but is it okay to leave her that long even though I know she will have an accident? I'm not sure i'll be able to find someone to let her out at a half way point. Most people I know that could would be able to at 11:30 or 2:00 which isn't very helpful but i'm not sure what to do.

Hello! Firstly, this community has been such a great help and reading through other people’s experiences has made this feel less lonely.

On to the issue: our cockapoo is about 6 months old. In the past month he has become more vocal and has started barking at things that sometimes startle him, other dogs, and barking of other dogs. This has made walks frustrating sometimes. If we see a dog, we will give him time to see the dog, and a moment to settle. He will sometimes settle but then start barking like crazy and lunging. If he hears big dogs barking from a distance, but not see them, he’ll start barking. We’re training him on the command ‘quiet’ and treat him for being quiet or calm behavior but this rarely works outside. We have neighbors who have dogs that are constantly barking at any noise outside their door but our dog has now learned to ignore them and does not react to them. This does not apply to any other dogs outside.

We tried introducing him to a friends dog and that didnt go the best, but also not the worst. He did his usual bark, growl, lunge but when walking near him he finally ignored him. When we put them back in a closer closed proximity but still with some distance, he started up again with his reactions. Today, a person walking by with their dog allowed his dog to say hi despite our dog’s initial reaction. When greeting each other he did pretty well and we made sure it stayed friendly. When I saw him getting too excited and was being cautious he wouldnt start up growling or barking again, I pulled him away and he started up again but then got distracted because he realized he hadnt said hi to the dog’s owner (he loves people). After greeting the owner, they walked away and he started back up again. I genuinely cant seem to get him to calm down or have some manners and have considered puppy classes to desensitize him but worry that might be too much for him right now.

If you’ve been through something similar, what worked for you?

Went I got my doberman puppy the day before Thanksgiving I had all these grand plans of taking her places and letting her experience as much as possible before 16 weeks so she could get as much benefit from that window as possible. But now, 16 weeks is a few days away and I feel like I've wasted all the time away.

The week we got her she came with us to the airport. We had family coming in, it just made sense. We held her of course but she at least got to see things. My husband has an exotic pet store so she got to go up and see his work too, again never touching the ground. And of course she had her well puppy visit at the vet.

Then her second week with us we had a parvo scare. In spite of not letting her feet touch the ground anywhere there were animals she was throwing up and vomiting. 700$ at the ER later and it was thankfully just her eating something yucky in the yard.

The week after that we had a family emergency that is still ongoing. She went to hubby store once more and got to experience a Christmas tree and packages but nothing out and around.

It's been weeks and between the emergency and work and the holidays she's only really gotten to see us using a power washer. I took her to Lowe's once as well and she road in the cart and then we sat in the back of the SUV and watched people and cars. She's been around cats and family and our other dog along with our snakes. From our back yard she's heard kids playing and cars making all sorts of revving sounds. I've taken her down our drive to watch the neighbor kids play.

Honestly I'm just feeling so frustrated and disappointed in myself that she hasn't been out more. I had so many plans and it's all gone to sh*t with everything going on. Are there other socialization windows or is it pretty much just socializing like with an older dog now?

I brought home an 8 weeks old puppy (Havanese) a week ago. First thing first, Is this normal for the puppy to be biting and nippy all the time? I mean ALL THE TIME? Unless he is playing or eating or sleeping, he is biting something. My hands, feet, clothing, baseboards you name it. I try to redirect him to his chew toys but this constant biting is making me crazy. I know puppy will nip and bite but really that much? How was your experience? He nap regularly as well.

And I cannot teach him anything at all. I’m only trying to teach him his name and “Sit” but he is so distracted even when there is just him and me in quiet place. When I teach him to sit, he would rather jump up to my hand to nip. Sometimes he is not even interested in the treats as well (they are high value treats and he seems to like it). He just wants to play and nip all the time so I cannot teach him anything. I am worried and I need some help.

We picked up our sweet boy today, he’s 12 weeks old. I did my research and I know I’ve got my hands full especially in Boston with an iggy , im just looking for tips , tricks and hopefully some successful stories of fully potty training your iggy / hard to train small breed? Outside !

Me and my partner picked up an 8 week old Staffordshire bull terrier on Saturday and since we have been an anxious crippling mess. We done so much research beforehand and have been preparing for weeks but somehow the reality is… it’s an insane amount of pressure and responsibility that we are questioning whether it’s all too much for us and have had thought of returning him. We know it gets better but unfortunately we don’t know if our mental health will let us get to that point. I havnt eaten since we got him and have thrown up at night due to the anxiety.

Does anyone have any advice? Anyone returned a puppy or kept one despise severe puppy blues? I just look at his little face and feel this immense amount of guilt like we’ve failed him.

He is honestly such a good boy which is why it breaks my heart even more. We have tried putting him in his pen to have some time alone but that knot in my stomach from my anxiety just never leaves.

Please can someone give an opinion from an outside point of view?

Hello, my roommate and best friend has a Pomeranian that regularly poops and pees inside the house. He only likes to poop on puppy pads, but regularly pees on new items or blankets/pillows. I understand that this is something that is trainable, but i’m unsure how to approach it. Literally any advice, even the absolute basics would help.

A man I know lives in low-income housing and his dog accidentally got pregnant. She had four puppies. His housing agreement only allows the mom dog, and he didn’t know what to do. He was told the puppies would likely be put down if they weren’t placed quickly.

He was desperate and offered me one of the puppies for free. They are about 3 weeks old. I took her because I didn’t want her euthanized. While I have a 13 year old dog, which I've had since he was about 8 weeks, I’ve never cared for a puppy this young before and the mom is not present. I’m bottle-feeding and trying to keep her warm and safe.

She's a jack russell terrier pup at about 2 lbs and I've had her for about 11 hours. She's had two successful feedings, but no poop. She's peed only once even though I've stimulated her after her feedings.

Overall, she’s eating, sleeping, and adjusting, but I’m anxious about doing everything right. I’m looking for advice or reassurance from anyone who has experience with orphan puppies, especially around feeding, pottying, and what’s normal at this age.

He's a border collie x poodle (I know). 15 kgs and going on 3 years old very soon.

I first introduced him to riding in a controlled environment after he turned 1 (long leash, riding on the flat, running next to me) it proved a great way of burning off this maniacs energy, he loved it and it really started to reignite my love of biking too.

Lately he has become odd, nervous, stalls on the spot and will not follow me when I am on the bike and will even try to turn around and go home.

Some context:

After we started jogging the shared trails to get a feel for it and he was running next to the bike untethered in no time.

His behaviour developed a bit, where once he would overtake me on the down hills and run in front, he learned to follow behind so he didnt cause an accident when he wasnt sure which way to go and would stop in the middle of the track in a tricky section (we never had a crash, important note here. He isnt afraid of the bike) None the less he was always extremely enthusiastic about going on rides and Ive always had to be careful about both of the B words around him.

As of recently, hes pretty much gone off it. Where we used to ride to the tracks via the local park we frequent, he now refuses to follow me any further. He would prefer to turn around and go home.

I tried driving to a different trail recently and he did the same thing. He stalled, waited for me to turn around, then did a playful prancing "chase me" thing so.i followed him back to the truck and he had a nap of the front seat while I did a lap without him.

Im basically no longer taking him riding as I dknt want to create any lasting negative associations, but what is going on? I cant isolate any incidents that have caused this.

Any ideas?

I was just wanting to know if dogs realize their owners are gone for a long time. I never notice my dog crying when I leave or anything, other than the fact he gets excited when im back. I just feel bad on the days im busy.