Category: Top Dog

We have a 10-week-old Siberian Husky puppy and brought him home 2 weeks ago. Potty training and night-time crate sleeping are going well, but we’re really struggling to establish a consistent daytime routine because he has a hard time settling and napping on his own.

We try to follow the common advice of 30–60 minutes awake followed by 2 hours of nap time, but it rarely works. He often won’t settle after being awake, or his naps are much shorter than expected. He becomes overtired, restless, and bitey.

Typical morning:

• Wakes around 5:50am → potty → back in crate until 6:30–7am
• 7am: potty, 10–15 min play (inside or garden), 5–10 min basic training
• 7:45am: breakfast → potty → attempt first nap around 8am

This is where the main issue starts. He often won’t settle until 9–9:30am, meaning he’s been awake for 2+ hours. We first try an enforced crate nap, but he cries for 10–15+ minutes and won’t settle even if we sit nearby or reward quiet moments. We then try letting him settle by our desks or in a playpen, but he usually cries, bites everything, or stays restless. Eventually, once he’s extremely tired, the crate works with minimal crying.

When he wakes from his first nap we repeat the same routine (play, training) with lunch, and the same struggle happens again.

After 5–6pm things improve. He’s calmer and can settle on his own in the playpen or by the couch. From around 8pm onward, he sleeps well overnight in the crate (with 1–2 night potty breaks).

Some more context:

• He doesn’t seem to hate the crate: he sleeps there happily at night, eats all meals there, and gets treats and enrichment in both crate and playpen to make it a happy place.
• He can’t go on walks yet due to vaccinations, but we do have a garden for play.
• We use puzzle feeders, Kongs, and lick mats, which help until the food runs out—then the crying starts.
• Covered crate sometimes helps, but if he cries longer than 15 minutes, we let him out during a quiet moment.
• We’ve tried teaching relaxation by rewarding calm behaviour near us, but he just keeps getting up and fussing.
• We keep the crate and play pen close by during the day as we haven't yet worked on leaving him alone in the room. During the night he is now fine to sleep outside of our bedroom.

Luckily we both work from home, but once meetings increase after the holidays, this inconsistent and stressful schedule will be very hard to manage. We’re also worried he isn’t getting enough daytime sleep.

Are we doing something wrong? I can't tell if he is under-stimulated or over-stimulated. Any tips for helping him settle and nap more consistently, or is this something that could improve once he can go on walks? He just seems restless for most of the day.

I know you have to reward when training, and I’ve started using feedings as working sessions, but that’s only twice a day. I’m told I need to really work my Aussie Shep/Catahoula mix to keep her from being destructive and developing bad habits. But how many treats is too much for training? How are you all handling it?

Hello! I need some help. My 4 month old german sheperd puppy barks at other dogs and going on walks/going to the river (we don't keep her on a leash there because she likes swimming) has become a nightmare. She doesn't attack or growl, she likes to bark in general whenever she's playing or she gets too excited. So she just wants to play, but it's annoying for other dogs and I don't want her to get hurt. I don't think it's fear either. I would like to work on that and other commands, I'm pretty lost since my last german sheperd pup was so well-behaved. Please give me some reccomendations, I'm desperate and I don't have money to hire a trainer, at least not now.

I feel like I have hit a wall with puppy training, and almost feels like I might be making things worse.

my puppy is almost 8 mts old. I have had him for 4 months.
I feel like we have come a long way in some aspects since I adopted him.

but I feel like his progress with training has plateaued, and wonder if i'm now inadvertently starting to reinforcing bad behaviors.

i feel like his drop it and leave it are still very inconsistent even after 2-3 mts of persistent training. still having trouble with leash walking. working on heel but its not catching. Still fixates on things and i can never seem to get his attention back on to me. he also still can't settle or nap on his own. during the moments where he is calmer, i try to do the capturing calm method, but that just sets him off again.

He also seems to be ignoring me and refusing to follow commands more often. while i try not to let this slide, there are regular instances where I have no choice but to let it go. and i think this is making him think its ok to ignore me.

My pup is also whining SO MUCH more than he did even a couple weeks ago. I usually try to ignore his whining if his needs have been met, but worry that I'm doing something that is reinforcing this behavior.

I'm assuming this partly him entering his adolescent phase that I keep reading about. but also feel like I'm at a loss on how to continue. not sure if what i'm currently doing is enough. just wondering if you guys have any advice or insight on this. thanks!

Hi everyone!

I’ve got a female toy poodle who’s now fully vaccinated and ready to start exploring the world 🐶

She’s comfortable wearing her harness and doesn’t seem bothered by it at all, but as soon as I clip the lead on, she sits down and will not walk. I’ve tried practicing both inside the house and in the back garden with the same result.

Does anyone have tips for helping a puppy get used to the lead and preparing her for her first proper walk?

Any advice would be really appreciated. I’m a first time puppy owner and want to get this right 🐾