Category: Top Dog

Picked up our mini schnauzer between 8-9 weeks old, he is now 12 weeks. For 3 weeks straight we have been taking him outside every 30 or so minutes, before and after naps, after eating, and after play. We grab his paw and get him to ring the potty bells on the door every time before we go outside. He does go pretty reliably outside, and we say “yes, good potty” in the middle of him peeing or pooping, and then he gets a treat immediately after.

He still has frequent accidents in the house though. 2 poops and a pee in the last 2 days and most of the time these are shortly after coming back inside. I’m getting frustrated and exhausted. I know 3 weeks isn’t very long but should something not be clicking by now? He does not use the bells to let us know he needs to go outside and just casually squats and poops/pees right in front of us without warning.

We have a 4 month old puppy who is teething bad! Found out that a good enrichment toy is just an empty Gatorade bottle (remove all the plastic on the outside) and throw some ice in there! Our girl plays with it for hours

HI everyone,

I am fairly new to reddit and have mainly only used it to look up advice or training for my new puppy. I want to preface this post with the fact that I have had a dog before (he is 9 now) so I have raised a puppy before. I was on a waitlist for a mini dachshund puppy since September and was told I probably wouldnt get an available puppy until August. However, this specific breeder (very ethical might I add) had an accidental litter and was unable to advertise said puppies as it would not be good for her reputation, therefore I was offered one and picked her up last week.

I had done all the preparation for months, I had thoroughly researched all breed specific training and spent a lot of money on specific enrichment toys, crate, special carry bag for their spine etc. I was so ecstatic. However, once I picked her up I had this massive sense of dread and fear at what I had done. I have cried every single day since I got her, I keep thinking it was a mistake and that I desperately want to return her. I feel trapped and so flat and numb. Now, I know this sounds dramatic but I genuinely cannot make sense of these emotions and they have not gone away even slightly. She isn't even a 'bad' puppy, just a regular puppy and she is cute and its fun to play with her and she likes to cuddle which makes the whole situation worse.

Now just to add some context, I am 23 (f) and recently moved to central europe from the UK (August) and have struggled for months. The country was so difficult to integrate into, I struggle hugely with the language, the people are cold, I had to navigate the housing market alone and organise my visas as well as applying and reapplying for the visas for my partner to join me. I also struggled a lot with my new job too and as of around a month ago I finally felt settled and happy with the job and settling into the city. My parents dont think this is really about the dog at all and more that I have struggled for so long and finally felt okay again and now I have 'trapped' myself with another responsibility when I shouldn't have.

I did reach out to the breeder to try and express my struggles but she has not been understanding at all and it has mainly been more of a guilt trip. Now I know I am cruel and I deserve to be guilt tripped and I promise there is nothing I could hear that is harsher than what I have been saying to myself. But I just wanted to ask for some advice on whether this truly was a mistake because I dont really think I can trust my own judgement anymore. I just want to do what is best for the puppy because like I said, this breeder is desirable and I have no doubt a new family would be found soon and I'd rather she goes to someone who can give her what she deserves incase I can't pull it together as I would hate to evetually resent her when she didn't do anything wrong.

I appreciate any advice or insight anyone can offer.

Is there such thing?

Just shy of 10 months and he’s been completely toilet trained for months now.

For the last few days it’s like he’s forgotten how to let us know he needs to go to the toilet. I take him outside several times and even when he does signal at the door he wants to go out but he doesn’t go to the toilet. We stay out for 5-10 mins, if he doesn’t go, I herd him back inside. He’ll then have wet paws and I know he’s peed somewhere but they’re oddly not in the spots he used to go as a puppy either.

Is this just the joy of adolescence? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I adopted a nearly 3 month old husky mix a week ago. the first couple of days she was so chill, she just laid down on the floor with me and liked snuggles. now, i cant even pet her because the moment i try to pat her head, she just goes to bite me (playful bite, but she has sharp teeth and bites quite hard sometimes), she is my first puppy and honestly, she has A LOT of energy, especially at night, like an hour before her bedtime and honestly, its making training difficult and im currently having anxiety problems because of it, any tips? i try to redirect the bites to a toy but she either doesnt even look at the toy or just goes to bite the sofa or any of my parents. help please, i dont know what to do

Recently acquired a 2mo old Bernese mountain dog (it’s only day 2 so completely understand we have a long way to go) but was looking for advice on her insatiable appetite for poop, her own, the cats, whatever she can get her lil mouth on 😂 I took a quick gander at the wiki on here and couldn’t find tips there, but maybe I’m blind lol.

It’s been hard to get her to focus on any real training with so many distractions in the house (another dog and 3 cats, one being a kitten) so I’m wondering if I should do training outside where there’s a bit less going on as well

All the ones I seem to find I fear are too big

Currently theyre biting each other and our fingers

My 14 week old Aussie puppy has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently since maybe 10 weeks or so. I usually have to get up around 4-5 and let her out and put her back until 7/7:30 but tonight she is whining or crying or barking and I just want to sleeeeepppp. She’s been out multiple times, she’s peed and pooped. No diarrhea or anything. She was fine all day. I feel bad because I had to move her from my bedroom to the living room because she keeps waking up my actual baby who still sleeps on my room and my husband. I can still hear her and can’t sleep though. Also the living room has the added distraction of the cat who she is now whining and barking at on top of it all. I’m currently laying next to the crate trying to calm her down. I just wish I knew what her deal was today! She slept from about 10-2 after being way more barky before settling and then my baby woke her up and she has been up since. It’s now 3:30. She usually doesn’t make any noise at all when the baby wakes up to eat. She might adjust in her crate or something but not wake up barking. Just of course this comes on a night I was already sooo exhausted all day.