Category: Top Dog

Hi all,

So my boyfriend trained our 2 dogs (lab and cockapoo) to bark at sounds outside, or when people come up to the door. I guess it was supposed to be like a protection type thing. We’ve been living in his house ever since we got both dogs. The lab is 5 and the cockapoo is 4. They bark excessively when they hear certain things outside, or if I have the windows open and they see neighbors walking down the street or the mailman coming to the door. And if one of us parks our car in the driveway and walks up to the door, they go berserk jumping on the couches and barking. The cockapoo especially loses her mind when one of us comes in the door. When we tell her no bark, she keeps going for a while.

Well now we’re temporarily moving to an apartment before I start grad school in another state, and I want to know the best course of action for trying to re-train them in an apartment setting. I do not want to be those neighbors and drive everyone nuts with dogs that bark all day and get complaints. And I do not want them to be stressed! This will be a big change for everyone, and sounds carry in the apartment hallway. My apartment is also above the pool which can get a little rowdy when the kids are playing. We usually leave the TV on low for them during the day, but that doesn’t help once they hear/see something.

When I’m home during the day, I try to correct their behavior immediately when they start. For example, they always bark whenever they hear the brakes on the UPS truck driving down our street. I tell them no bark, try to distract them with toys, and then tell them they’re good (followed by a reward). I repeat this when the mail truck is driving through our neighborhood. I also try this when people walk up to the door or walk by our house, but it’s usually unsuccessful. What’s funny is, we have them playing outside in the front yard sometimes, and they do not bark at people that walk by. But when they see people through the window, they lose it.

Since they won’t be able to see anyone in the apartment, the main behaviors I want to try and correct are barking at every little sound or person they may hear at the apartment, or when we enter the front door.

Every time it rains, he doesn't want to poop. I can get him to pee though. A few times it's rained outside and I've tried to get him to poop, with no luck (spent ages in the rain). And when inside after bringing him in as he didn't poop, I'll turn my back for 1 minute he's pooped. Does anyone have any advice! Feeling a bit defeated this morning as he hasn't pooped, he's had breakfast, I know he needs to poop 🥲 I can't take my eye off him

We got a German shepherd puppy when she was 4 months and is now 7 months! We were told she’s good with cats, but she just wants to corner our 2 cats, even when they correct her. We attend group training classes and our trainer said that German Shepherds have a high prey drive, which will hopefully lower with age.

The kitties have upstairs and the pup is downstairs, but as we get towards the cooler weather, I know my cats like to come downstairs and cuddle with me while I work. I don’t want to crate the puppy since cats could spend the entire day in one spot, but I don’t want them to be chased when they come down. Our puppy knows all of her commands until a cat is in sight.

What are some good next steps? Should we hire a trainer to come to our house? Is it a matter of time? I really want to know what I can do because I’d love to spend the holidays with all of the pets around without needing to manage boundaries for them. Thank you!!!

Side note: this is my first puppy, and we have an adult lab who the cats are comfortable with.

Next weekend we’re getting our 8 week old golden retriever, and our three year old cat has never been around dogs. With the layout of our house, there’s no practical way of doing the whole “let them get used to each other before seeing each other” thing. We won’t be able to hide a puppy from him.

Our cat always greets us at the door. I imagine when he sees the puppy, he’ll run upstairs and hide. The puppy will be indefinitely kept downstairs. Should I try to go and give him some wet food/treats with the puppy’s scent on me? Or just leave him be? He has an automatic feeder downstairs; which he sprints for the second he hears it. Should I leave it there in hopes it would entice him to come down and eat while the puppy’s in the room? Or go ahead and move it upstairs so he eat without having to see the puppy?

Obviously I’d never force an interaction. But what else could I do to ensure positive interactions when they do see eachother?

I had a movie on in the background as I decorate for Halloween. So I wasn't thinking about it, but a man in the movie shot a dog, and my dogs were watching. The one dog jumped off the sofa and in front of the TV barked and then made a whimpering sound. She looks sad but I said it's okay. It's only TV. I changed the movie. They seem to be their normal selves. But has anyone had any experience with this? Is there anything I should be thinking about or doing?

Hey, we recently got a staffy/beagle/lab cross, i believe he’s 11-12 weeks old now. he’s our first dog.

he’s a very excited and sweet lil pup, but we haven’t really had much luck with discouraging biting yet. i know it’s gonna take a LONG time, but recently i’ve noticed that when we play, he gets REALLY aggro until i have to put him in time out or pick him up (he’s calm when being carried, it’s like a killswitch for his gremlin mode). and then sometimes when he comes out of time out, he goes straight back to the aggro play

it’ll start with playing (tug of war with a rope toy, throwing a toy for him to chase after, etc.), and then he goes aggro. suddenly he’s latched around my clothes or hands or feet, biting down quite hard. i’m sure it’s playful, but it’s so hard to get him to let go because of his grip, and he has no interest in any toys i try to replace my clothes or limbs with. (and it freaking hurts!!!)

is the aggro thing normal? i’m assuming he’s getting overexcited, but sometimes we can just be lazily playing and he still turns on me. my other assumption is that hand tastes better than toy, and hand fights back, but that can’t be sustainable. i’m not sure how much longer my hands can last as his chew toy.

when he gets a real good grip round my toe, what do i do? he won’t let go, and boy his teeth are sharp. i’m always scared that the next time he goes for my foot and i don’t see it coming, i’m going to instinctively react and accidentally kick him. plus if he’s literally dangling off my sock it’s kind of hard to step away without also stepping on him, i don’t know how to make him let go and then not go back for more

any advice, please 🙏 im desperate. i know he’s still a baby and that this is probably normal, but how do i at least start discouraging the super rough play?

Whenever we leave the house we have our 2 dogs confined to the living room with gates because they tend to get into things. Both dogs do great in there, never have accidents or anything. But our 7 year old dog occasionally gets out by either chewing on the gate or knocking it down or jumping over it (we've gone through several gates trying to find the right one lol). Whenever she has a succesful escape she pees. She'll be fine for hours in the living room but even if we're gone an hour and she gets out, there's pee. Any idea why or how to stop it?