Category: Top Dog

Right now we have a 6 month old pup that gets super aggressive, to the point she growls, snaps, and bites if you try to interact with her when. She eats.

She is drawing blood now, and we can't figure out how to train her out of this.

The real problem is, we have several babies, a 1 and 2 year old that are at real risk of getting hurt.

We try to separate them. When feeding the pup we keep her in a separate room to eat, but any time either the kids or the pup gets a treat its a problem. The pup is easy enough, she eats in a blocked off area. But when the kids get a snack she more than likely steals it, and then gets aggressive over it.

She got me when I tried to scoop her up after abit of sick she made, and I had to put her outside. We don't WANT to put her outside, but when she gets like that we can't risk it

Hello! I've had two cats since they were about 8-10 weeks old, and they just turned 6 years old recently. Behavior wise the cats are pretty amazing honestly. I've watched plenty of dogs and had plenty of people stay over, even had a pet bird for a while that the female cat very much adopted as her baby to the point of having several safe but monitored out of cage interactions, and through it all the cats have been occasionally timid but usually pretty solid. My wife and I now have an opportunity to get a 8-10 week old german shepherd from a family friend, and I wanted to see if anyone had tips for introducing the puppy to the cats, especially since there has been no permanent additions to the household since we got the cats 6 years ago.

I will say that the only real pre-existing plan we have at the moment is for pretty intensive behavior training for the puppy from the start; my wife is a licensed therapist so while this puppy would be a family dog first, we hope to get the puppy it's own therapy license so it can eventually go to work with her everyday. With such easy-going cats and such intensive training for the pup, I think we should be fine in the long term. So I'm mostly looking for short term solutions for helping develop that initial relationship between the cats and the puppy.

Hi all! We’ve had our puppy for nearly three months now and he’s going to be five months old in a few weeks. The time is flying and he’s honestly been doing really well with most things. He is crate trained, does well with commands, has stopped chewing on things he shouldn’t, and rarely has accidents in the house (just the occasional excited pee when someone comes home). We’re still working on side-by-side leash training and reinforcing commands outside with distractions.

The one thing I have noticed over the last few weeks: the boy is starting to bark at things he’s never barked at before. He used to just watch as other dogs walked by but now he barks at them – especially if they’re across the street or down the block. He barks at people now too – again mostly if they’re a little further away and mostly if it’s dark out. He’s also started barking at home (we live in a multi unit building) – mostly if someone is stomping down the hallway and making a lot of noise. For the outdoors, we’re doing our best to try to redirect him/have him sit and look at us while continuously giving treats and talking to him.

The only other change is that he goes to daycare a few times a week now as I still don’t trust him to stay home alone. We don’t have the best space to keep him gated (the boy is 22lbs already and can climb). I don’t want to leave him in the crate all day with only a few drop-ins from a sitter especially with how energy he has.

I guess my main question is: is this normal as pups get older? Or does this happen to dogs as a result of daycare for some reason? I feel like we’re doing things mostly the right way but I’m just concerned with the change in his behavior. Any insight or help is appreciated – TIA!!!

For a while, I was struggling with my little puppy who seemed to have endless energy. It was tough to manage, especially when I was busy at home or at work. I needed something to help him burn off that extra energy and keep him occupied.

Then, I tried a new toy, and it was a game-changer! The toy is a bottle with a ball inside that makes a squeaky sound when chewed. As soon as he started biting it, I noticed he was totally hooked. He’d stay entertained for hours, and it really helped reduce his barking and biting.

I also saw a big improvement in his overall behavior. If you're dealing with a similar issue with your pup, I highly recommend giving it a try! It really helped me out.

Please help me out. My puppies won’t stop digging. I fill the hole and cover it but they just go to a new one. How do we get them to stop. I don’t want them scared or to have anxiety towards me or water as they already hate water with a passion. I need help. My mother’s trying to get rid of them because she had to take care of them for a day. They’ve helped me with a lot of mental issues I’ve had. They’re golden retriever puppies. 3. Triplets. 3 months old.

any recommendations for a flight nanny? USDA. preferably near colorado area for pick up?

So as the title states, we adopted a dog from the local shelter back in early August. We actually adopted two the same day, one, Chico (5), who was an owner surrender but had 11 other dog siblings. Then Nene, who is around 2, and was found on the street with almost no info.

Overall, they’ve been amazing! Chico loves having a second dog, they have their own beds but still sleep together on one. They don’t really know how to “play”. We’ve tried initiating and they kinda look at you like “ what are you doing”.

The only issue is that Chico is overly clingy/jealous. We can’t even put on leashes without him practically wrapping around your arm & stepping on Nene’s head. We’ve tried putting his first, separating him so we can put Nene’s on and he jumps and squirms until he almost hurts himself. We’ve tried ignoring him, walking away and trying again with no luck. Same goes when we actually make it outside, Nene is smaller so say he’s peeing somewhere Chico will shoulder-butt him out of the way to pee in the same spot. I can’t even pick up their poop without Chico thinking I’m reaching down to pet Nene.

I’ve figured since he was surrendered, he may just need extra bonding. We’ve given attention to Chico, then try to give some to Nene but he will literally not allow it. Nene has now learned to cower away to avoid being trampled by Chico. I just want to find a way to correct this because it’s literally getting to the point where my partner is starting to have issues with Chico being out of his crate. We try to let them roam but if he sees you sitting, he’ll climb on you and try to “kiss” you.

We are planning on doing some training that’s offered by the shelter, but my work schedule has been so hectic during this season that it’s hard to make that commitment when my schedule is never consistent like it usually is. I just need some advice in the meantime. Anything is appreciated!

Anyone know any tips to give pills to a dog before appointment.

he knows when he's going to specifically take the anti anxiety pills (trazadone, gabapentin) before an appointment even though he takes gabapentin pills everyday in a smaller dose for his arthritis.

The last time we had an appointment I tried forcing it down him because we exhausted all other options of tricking him with food (give one without, one with, rinse and repeat, again, we do it everyday successfully)

And he ended up just spitting it out even though I held his head up high for 20 minutes, massaging his throat.. He would even gulp which is usually an indicator that he swallowed, but when i would check it was still there.

Any tips appreciated.

We recently adopted a puppy (4 months, male), who is really obsessed with my older dog (5 years, female). In the house, he’s relatively fine- and knows that he can’t follow her upstairs. He loves to spar play with her and is learning when she is/isn’t in the mood to play. Not sure if it’s important to know, but he also tries to climb on top of her (not humping, but to play bite her ears/neck).

He has a pen + crate set-up during rest hours and our older dog sleeps upstairs with us (and goes upstairs to take a break from him). If we do take her outside though, he sometimes cries (10 min max).

When we get outside, however, he can’t be a foot away from her (only applicable if he’s behind her). He scream cries as if he’s being tortured and pulls as hard as he can- never stopping until he gets to her. If we walk in front though, he’s better (no crying). He just keeps looking back and tries to play with her throughout the entire walk.

If it’s also helpful context to know: He came from a litter of 9- dropped off at the shelter; all malnourished. They divided the pups- 4 in one kennel, 4 in the kennel next to them (1 passed away). All the siblings in his kennel were adopted about a few weeks before we adopted him- and during the time in between, he was put alone in that kennel while two of his remaining siblings were in the kennel beside him.

What can we do to remedy his dependency? What’s happening?