Category: Top Dog

It’s just me and my Australian shepherd living in a fifth wheel in an RV park. We used to live in this RV for 3 years before moving in with my parents for about 2 years. So he’s now used to having someone with him 24/7 because my mom was always home. We’re back in the RV and I tried to leave for Walmart and I could hear him running around, knocking things over and howling. There’s a rule in the park about excessive howling and barking and I do have other neighbors within a few feet of me. I have anxiety myself about people being angry with me so I don’t want to make my neighbors mad or annoyed. I do have a camera but I unfortunately do not have service on my phone yet to watch/talk to him until I get somewhere with wifi. Which Walmart will not have and I neeeeed to go get food for us lmao Should I just go and hope for the best?

Sister in law moved in with us & she has a dog that’s not potty trained (the dog is 10-12yrs old) we have tile floors thru the house except bedrooms. I hate pulling out the mop & bucket the whole process to do the floors takes forever & I have a 3 month old that’s glued to me. I was wondering if something like a crosswave (any brand) or a steam mop would be easier to clean the pee up or any other alternative . I need something that can help with not taking as long right now to do these floors it’s sweep , vacuum then mop it takes me 2-2.5hrs to do it all with having to stop due to my 3 month old. Using the mop I have to keep replacing the head after 2-3 uses cuz even with washing it, it still smells like dog pee after

Does anyone have any recommendations for harness or crates that are crash tested?

Everyone talks about puppy blues but no one really talks about anger. I truly have never been this angry in my entire life. I don’t even know what to do with this much anger and frustration. i do all the things to give myself breaks and my fuse just feels extremely short most days now. for example, she stepped in her poop and i was trying to wipe her foot before running around inside. and she acted like i was trying to cut her foot off. she’s never been that scared of getting her feet wiped and i’ve done plenty of times before. it sounds so stupid but the stupid stuff like that sets me off now. I don’t know what was worse. when it was crazy behavior everyday all of the time and it was expected or now it’s random and unpredictable and catches my emotions completely off guard. How do people even deal with anger in general?? i have never struggled with this. i just grit my teeth and separate myself as fast as i can. and i don’t ever feel better after “cooling down”. i just feel drained. someone please tell me im not alone.

Hey everyone,
I know there are trillions of potty training posts out there… but, you know, every puppy has their own learning curve … so if it’s not too much, I’d really love your input.

My Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever puppy is 11 weeks old and has been with us for 3 weeks.
At night she can hold her pee for about 8 hours with no accidents. During the day, we both work from home, and she’s learned to wait until we take her out of her playpen to go pee in the garden.

But… when she’s free in the house, accidents still happen a lot – even right after she’s peed outside. Sometimes she goes near the garden door, but she doesn’t really call us yet, so we try to take that as a cue and bring her out. Still, we get several accidents a day.

As for walks: we’ve only done two “real” outings so far. On the first one (about an hour) she peed in the pet store. On the second (2.5 hours in the park), yesterdat, she didn’t pee at all, and then as soon as we got home, she peed by the garden door. And in the evening she even peed on her indoor bed, which felt like a step backwards.

I can’t quite tell if this is just part of the normal process – maybe she’s still struggling with the excitement and freedom indoors – or if it’s some kind of regression.

For training: every time we catch her peeing inside, we take her straight outside. Usually we say a firm “no,” but sometimes we try the more positive approach saying nothing and just bringing her out. Of course, we throw a big happy party when she pees outside. If we find a puddle after the fact, we don’t say anything, just clean it up quietly.

How long did it take your puppies to really get reliable with potty training? And how did you notice the turning point in their learning curve?

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any shared experience ❤️

So she gets in her stance to poop and then right before she goes she’ll run and poop. What can I do to fix this?

We just got a gorgeous BC/Lab puppy . He has been great , what I read about them being smart is absolutely true. Within our first 15 minutes together (following Sophia Yin's book 7 Days to Perfect Puppy ) , he is already sitting every single time he wants something. Still working on Leave it but I'm sure he will get it.

But I have this constant fear of "What if we screw up and he outsmarts us / we can't provide what he needs regarding stimulation and he becomes a nightmare / etc. " This is not letting me enjoy the puppy as much out of fear.

He is doing well in his crate, the first night I had to sleep next to his crate, but he whined a bit with the door closed, yesterday my wife took the night shift and said he was a good boy. Whenever he needs a break either because he needs to calm down or sleep, he goes in his crate, but we keep it open throughout the day to let him get used to it without feeling trapped.

Potty training is also going OK , he has had a couple accidents, but they were absolutely our fault. With pee he already goes to the door when he feels it coming, with Poo we have had a couple accidents, but it was always when we were not paying attention.

I know , things are going well , but I feel like freaking out .

Tavo travel systems: Maeve ISO 5x vs Small Flex- both use Roscoe stroller

I’m trying to decide which car seat travel system I want to get for my mini. The Maeve ISO 5x is the newer model, and the Small Flex is the older model. But it’s just not cut and dry as to which one would be the better option for me.

My mini is currently not even home with me yet. She is just over 6 weeks old, so I still have to wait until she’s 8 weeks old. She is projected to be 13-16 lbs fully grown, so both models should accommodate her anticipated full grown weight.

The newer model, the ISO 5x, does not need a base and it attaches to the anchor points in my car, as you can see in the first slide image. It also has a higher weight limit, accommodating 30 lbs, rather than 20 lbs. in addition to that, it has a pouch that holds a power bank, and has a fan. My feeling is that the higher weight limit may allow me to put two dogs in it when I’m using it as a stroller, which could be a really good benefit for me. But the newer model also costs $150 more than the older model, and I’m not sure that the fan, and the higher weight limit are enough of a benefit to justify the extra cost of an already extremely high priced item.

The older model, the Small Flex, uses a base, which although it does look pretty easy to use, it also looks bulky and cumbersome. My feelings on it though are that it may be better if I ever have to use a vehicle that does not have the latch system in it. I think all modern vehicles have it, but maybe they don’t, or maybe they don’t have it on all the seats and really… I just don’t know if the base system is better or worse. This model also does not have the fan, and it only accommodates 20lbs. So I may not be able to use it for two dogs when using it with the stroller…

Both models are very expensive, but Tavo is the pet brand from nuna, which makes car seats for human babies, and the Tavo systems are crash tested. So I feel like I will have more peace of mind using them. The stroller, for both models is the same, and it folds up with one click. I really like that feature a lot. Since my puppy can’t touch the ground yet, I would be using this until she has all of her shots… and also, it will get use any time she is injured in the future (my last dog tore her mcl and I know injuries happen from time to time with dogs), plus when she grows old and can’t walk as much. So much of the use of the stroller is further down the line for her except for the initial 2 months that I will need to use it in the beginning.

If any of you have either model, and can let me know the things you know now but didn’t at time of purchase, I would really appreciate it. Also, just general thoughts on your experience I’d appreciate as well.

I keep going back and forth on this and I’m not sure which model to get. Other than the price, there’s pros and cons to both and I cannot figure out which one is better for me.