Category: Top Dog

Hi, so my dog (15months mini fox/ jack russel x) pee's on beds.

I bought him from a previous employer (I worked inside her home) at about 3 months old and this behaviour was normalised for him as a puppy. On top of the puppies bedding never being cleaned out (unless I was there alone) the parent dogs almost exclusively peed on the owners bed without any discipline, proper training or cleaning (she would literally put a towel over it and sleep on the other side, wash her sheets the next day but never the mattress).

He is easily trainable, and it only took me a week or so to toilet train him. However if he sees a mattress unattended (even if he just came in from inside) he WILL pee on it without fail. He has not had an 'accident' anywhere inside for 12 months, except if a bedroom door gets left open.

This act just seems to be so ingrained in him as it was basically encouraged from birth.

Any tips on helping to retrain his thinking on this? Tia

I have a 9 week old field golden retriever. He’s a very confident puppy so far, does great in cars and with loud sounds and new experiences. However, whenever I take him out on our wagon for a walk or to people watch, all he wants to do is jump out. It feels like I spend half of the time trying to get him safely in the wagon. I do have him strapped with a leash, which worries me he’ll develop leash reactivity. He doesn’t particularly try to jump out when dogs or people pass by, I think he just wants freedom to explore (but sadly he can’t because he’s not fully vaccinated yet). Any recommendations? Am I being paranoid about him developing leash reactivity? Is this just a matter of lack of impulse control?

I do also take him out on a sling and he ends up wanting to jump out of that too.

We have a 4 year old rescue we adopted 3 months ago (Husky mix). She is potty trained and most days she does fine. However, she has been having poop accidents in the house since we got her (maybe 1-2/month or about 5-10 times since we got her). It typically seems to happen when she has an upset stomach (usually it's diarrhea/soft, not always), and when we are not around (either when we are at work/out or sleeping, and she sleeps in the living room). She always does it in the same spot on the rug. We feed her twice a day (around 7 AM and 5-6 PM, though she sometimes won't eat breakfast until noon), and take her out 4 times a day (AM, noon, after dinner, and before bed). We work hybrid, so usually home but go into the office or a coffee shop to work a few days a week. She does seem to have some separation anxiety (gets upset when we leave or when she's alone for long periods), I'm not sure if this is related but most times we leave, she has no accidents. For example, she sleeps fine in the living room every night on her own and has pooped in the house overnight maybe 1-2 times. I'm struggling with knowing what to do since it's so inconsistent, and she seems otherwise very happy and healthy (vet checks have been fine) – she eats the same kibble every day and seems to tolerate it (Costco chicken and rice), her pee/poop is usually normal and outside, she usually is fine when home alone (no accidents), and occasionally has diarrhea/soft stool a few times since we got her but usually it is totally normal (normal 95% of the time). Is this normal for dogs to do?? And any advice or tips greatly appreciated!!

Hi Everyone,

We adopted our now 11 month old lurcher/spaniel mix at 10 weeks old and all has been great. She has picked up training easily and been great on the lead and with people. However we recently found out we are expecting our first child and she has began to bark at people both in our house and when visiting family.

This has included instances where she would be cuddling and asleep on the lap of a family member who then left the room for a couple of minutes to be greeted with barking when they came back in.

She is very food driven so we have tried to have treats on hand when she is around someone who makes her bark and rewarding her attention on us or when she is quiet, but this does not seem to be helping.

She attends day care a couple of times a week and they haven't mentioned this behaviour either.

Would anyone have experienced similar? And have any advice? With a baby on the way we are anxious to make sure this behaviour doesn't escalate.

Hey, I adopted a 5 year old American staffy girl. I met her before adoption and from that I knew to prepare for a lot of barking (at anyone at the door). What I wasn’t prepared for was how clingy she’d be. She’s attached herself to me very quick and does not like anyone else in the house. If she’s not on top of me or next to me she’s barking or whining or panting. If I leave the house, she’s restless. I’ve tried a lot of tips, like making my entry’s into the house boring, same as my exists. I try to get her to settle on a blanket. I wait until she’s calm until giving pats. I feel like nothing is working, and it’s getting to a point where I’m starting to not enjoy her company at all. I don’t want that to happen, can someone pls give advice?