Category: Top Dog

Adopted a new 4 month old puppy about 4 days ago from adoption center he is a terrier mix, and was neutered the day I picked him up so he has an Elizabeth cone. At first he was shy but has now been more comfortable, I notice he loves to sleep by the front door with the screen door closed and main door open, any reason for this? He always loves to see the outside but I was told to not take him on excessive walks yet

my 15lb dog has had her size medium kong extreme for nearly 5 years and it's held up wonderfully until recently. I tried to order a replacement in the same size (but red since they were out of stock of the size medium extreme), but the size was way smaller than it used to be. I tried sizing up and that was way too large even after I checked measurements in advance. I don't know if they changed the sizing or if there's an error happening or what, but now I'm at a loss. I've also seen people complain about the quality changing drastically over the years, so now I'm wondering about the best affordable alternatives? I just want a sturdy stuffable toy like classic kongs. thanks in advance!

Which pet insurance is best for you? Are there any that may cover your dog's current treatment? Did your dog get injured during the waiting period and want to know if you're covered?

Here's the place to ask.

Do know we cannot help you here with medical concerns, and lying or not disclosing things to the insurance company is illegal so we don't allow that either.

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.

this is not necessarily a behavior "problem", but I'm STUMPED. My almost 6 year old mutt has recently started to act nervous/submissive when going out and it seems to have gotten worse over the winter.

He spent his first 5 years in NYC so he has been exposed to every scary noise, smell, and sight you can imagine. he's great on a leash. we moved to the suburbs last March and has adjusted fine. we live on a one way street in a quiet neighborhood.

Towards the end of last year every once in a while when I would take him to pee in the morning (no fenced in yard so he is still walked) he would walk around like he's nervous and give me these nervous looks. it would take him a while to pee as he'd be walking submissively with his ears drawn back and back slinked. I would even try to not make eye contact with him because that would make him stop in his tracks. there have been a couple times Ive brought him back inside because he won't even walk. as soon as we're inside he's fine again.

Skip to the (first) snow storm NJ had last month and he loves snow, but I saw an uptick of this behavior. it's not even like he seems scared of something in particular, he just turns completely nervous and submissive. I try to get him to play and be upbeat but he quickly regresses to this submissive behavior. But I can take him out an hour later and he's skipping about happy as can be like nothing was ever wrong. he wears booties in winter which he has worn since he was a puppy so it isn't the salt or cold. I'm the only one who walks him so it isn't about him having a negative experience I'm not aware of. I tried bringing treats but he's the least food motivated dog on the planet and it didn't help.

Would love any insight!

So, we have a small 2 year old female dogthat has been with us since 10 weeks old (as well as her sister). She's recently started peeing on her beds and the cushions we have on the floor for the dogs again; this used to be a problem when we first got her as the bed setup was a little different at the time. We had a longer thinner flat dog bed then which was soon removed after she started peeing on it as we maybe thought she was confusing it with the puppy mats they used, and then when both dogs got fixed she stopped completely so we thought the issue was gone.

She's never had any issue/confusion with toileting outside, she knows thats where her bathroom is and she's regularly let out during the day especially after meals but for some reason her peeing problem has started again. She'll be sleeping/lying on a cushion or a bed and then she'll stand up and start scratching around like she does when she's trying to get comfortable or rearrange it but then she'll suddenly squat and start peeing.

We're not sure if this is a territory thing? There are 2 other dogs in the house, her sister (who doesn't pee anywhere but outside) and our 14 year old male dog. We've never scolded her when she's peed, just clean it up and she happily moves to another place to resume sleeping. We also considered removing all beds but deemed it too unfair & inconvenient to the other dogs. We also have no space for crates and I fear she'd just pee in one anyway if we did have some. Weirdly, she has no issue with blankets on the floor as she has never peed on one when it's been put down.

Idk, we're just at a loss for what to do and obviously want this habit to stop but we have no idea what's causing her to do this. It's pretty much a guarantee for her to pee on one bed every other day, the dirty one gets washed & put back down and that same day she'll decide to pee on another one. idk.. any advice would be helpful and/or if any of u have gone through similar problems with ur dogs thank you!!

I have read the wiki page that was prompted when I started writing this post and I am still at a loss. I have had this sweet baby angel for 4 weeks now and he is still having accidents inside. I take him out every 2 hours, I crate him when he is unsupervised, I reward him when he goes outside. When we go outside, I make sure to take time so he has a chance to smell every damn blade of grass after he is done going potty, but still he is having accidents inside.

I took him to the doctor and paid for the blood work and a urinalysis because that was recommended. He is perfectly healthy except for some mild anemia. My daughter and I are so obsessed with him and I have no plans on giving him back but I seriously don’t know what to do. Please, any help would be so appreciated. TIA

We have a 7 month old field golden x red setter. While we do not feel comfortable leaving her home unattended outside her crate yet, she is starting to do better with self-settling, relaxing on her own outside her crate while we are at home working (or doing anything that isn't interacting with her).

We plan on starting very small and leaving her for a couple minutes to start and slowly working our way up to longer periods, just wondering if that is the best method, and at what age did you start leaving your dog home unattended?

We do have a crate, she has been fine being in it while napping or sleeping overnight. She is usually good for 2-3 hours in here crate in the afternoon or evening so that is when we have been leaving her (to go run errands or go out for dinner, etc) – but eventually we'd like to allow her to roam freely

Whenever we take our dog (3 years) to a trainer they just do basic stuff like walking on a leash, recall, etc. and she does well with all of that while training but not great at recall at home (she'll listen sometimes, and other times won't).

Sometimes she gets into a mood where she will bark loudly/high pitched and look at you like she wants something (she points her nose in the air). Then she'll immediately start running around like crazy, won't listen at all, will jump on any and everything, etc. A lot of times that ends with her peeing (she's allowed to and encouraged to pee in our yard). This is in the morning before taking her on the morning walk, which we do every day for at least an hour. But then she'll still normally crouch and bark and act like she wants to be chased.

Today she did the bark at me outside, ran inside, immediately came back out, barked and looked at me again, and then ran full speed and completely rammed over my 14 mo who was standing in the yard. She'd just came in from being outside in a larger area running around and digging and sniffing, so it wasn't that she wasn't able to get her energy out. She had water available and she went to the bathroom earlier. It was around the time when she'd get dinner but not an exact time. Sometimes it would be an hour or so later, sometimes around that time.

What would you work on training here? Would it be recall? Or is there a way to train to get a dog to calm down? Thank you!