Category: Top Dog

I got a 8 month old staffy, love the little fella but he apperantly hate my pc. If I give him something to chew on and sit down at my pc, he will drop it at my chair and whine, then if I go sit on the floor, he will take the chew and go chew on it somewhere close to me. Sometimes, he can't even see me from where he chose to settle down, but if I then get up and go back to my pc he will go back to whining.

It goes back and forth like this if I switch between sitting and my pc and the floor.

How can I get him to just settle down next to my chair? And be okay with me using the pc? It's not like I'm entertaining him on the floor anyway

Hey, all!

https://www.thehorrorlounge.com/post/dogs-and-their-contribution-to-the-horror-genre

I thought I'd share this article about the evolution of the role of dogs in the horror film. I thought that some folks here may enjoy it!

Curious to see everyone's opinions on what would suit me! I will be getting the dog in the future, years time. 1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs? * I have owned a couple of my own and my family has had many dogs growing up. I have mostly owned smaller/medium breeds. I owned a chihuahua/jack russel mix, French bulldog mix, and an Australian cattle dog mix to name some. I know how to socialize and train basic obedience. 2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder? * I would like to go to a breeder 3) Describe your ideal dog. * I would like a dog who is is active who will join on hikes, beach trips, playing in the backyard alot, going for runs but also can be chill, doesnt demand "constant" stimulation/exercise. Doesnt get bored easily. I would prefer if the dog is eager to learn and please..but if it is somewhat stubborn i'll manage. 4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why? * my favorite breeds are Beauceron, Mudi, Standard poodles, akita, gsp, kelpie, Australian cattle dog. Not necessarily interested in owning these breeds unless i am capable to. They are just some breeds i love. 5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do? * basic obedience, tricks for fun, bike joring 6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport? * possibly agility down the line **Care Commitments** 7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day? * i will like to devote training to like short sessions each day, multiple 15-20 minute sessions. I would want to play with them 1 hour or more each day. And i will be interacting with them all day really. They will be hanging out with us all day. 8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park? * 1-2 hours. Walks almost everyday, some days will need a break. Running, fetch, my own agility course, swimming, playing with toys (tug of war etc). And no dog parks. the dog will be able to play with our other dogs as well. 9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly? * i am willing to brush everyday. I am open to trimming hair and cleaning ears. I would prefer to do it on my own. I do not want high grooming requirements. **Personal Preferences** 10) What size dog are you looking for? * medium-large 11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle? * I do not want a strong shedder, nothing like a golden retriever or Australian shepherd. I dont mind barking as long as its not a ton. Moderate is ok but not interested in vocal dogs. No slobber. 12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area? * not important **Dog Personality and Behavior** 13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space? * whichever is okay with me 14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please? * eager to please preferably 15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors? * there is honestly no preference for this 16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs? * preferably no 17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid? * no **Lifestyle** 18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone? * not often at all, i am mostly home but if i do go into town it would be probably 2-4 hours at most sometimes. 19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog? * they would help feed sometimes if they need to and they would play with the dog whenever. Would watch them when i go to visit my family in another state. 20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they? * multiple dogs and a cat, will have chickens/ducks/goats in the future. I also have geckos but they will never come into contact. 21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly? * not at all 22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease? * no 23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds? * there are no bans 24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live? * 82°F-70°F 

always warm climate here

We have a puppy who, from the very first night, insists on sleeping either above our heads or right between our heads.

All possible positions,curled up, sideways, or fully stretched out on his back with all four legs in the air. He sleeps best when he’s basically glued to our faces.

For those of you whose puppies did the same:

Did they grow out of it, or is this still their preferred sleeping spot as adults? And how are you sleeping?😅

Hi everyone!

I am not sure if I am over reacting but I am slightly panicking. I have a 14 week old small companion breed and have been focusing on extraordinary places to socialize him to like train rides, shopping malls, restaurants etc. and kinda neglected the regular places like the park as I thought we would see these places everyday anyway. Now he is really good in these extraordinary places but super overstimulated in the regular places like the park. Is this something that can be fixed? I have been trying just to sit down with him and let him observe it but he just gets the zoomies even when well rested. Any advice highly appreciated!

Hi, I have a blue heeler puppy that is nearing 1 year old.

She is actively trained in good behaviour and obedience, but nothing super strict or tedious.

While she is excellent at coming when called, or staying where she is supposed to, she is as expected very curious and explorative, so she cannot be left alone within our yard. Our problem at the moment, is that she is set up on a wire run, depending on me doing an activity with her while constantly monitoring being her only off-leash time. Although i go out of my way to make plenty of time for this, an hour or two of free roaming time is not enough for a puppy, eapecially a blue heeler.

We live on a huge block of land, with a smaller yard around our house within it, which is about 2-3 acres.

and while she can get out, (which she does occasionally) the concern is not her running away, as she always comes back to us witbout a problem,

rather our concern is the cows that we have recently moved back to our property. While she hasn’t had a problem with them yet, she has showed much interest towards them multiple times, and hasn’t been left unattended in the yard since they got moved back.

She has however had a few instances where she got into the chicken coop, which is attached to our yard.

Between these two things, keeping her active has been tedious, but i think it’s possible to have her trained/setup to have a safe space to run around and have a

happy life.

By no means is she aggressive to any of these animals, it is just in her nature to chase as a cattle dog.

Nor is she getting out while ignoring us (usually just a matter of us being forgetful or inattentive to her whereabouts)

I understand finding a new home for her may need to be an option, however i think it is possible to make this the perfect home for her, with a little extra work.

Any advice on prevention, training, things for the yard, etc would be greatly appreciated, Thanks 🙂

We adopted an intact male dachshund, around seven months ago. We were told that he was around three years old, But the vet said he's probably more like five. I am his person, he follows me around the house. He's my little shadow. Hes fine with my husband and everyone else when i'm not around, however, if I am around, he is super protective and possessive of me. He will bark and growl if my husband even comes in the same room. And if we hug, he will jump and snap at my husband, I have tried removing access to me when he does this, seems to make it worse. Tried treats to distract and reward when not barking.

It really seems i'm the problem hahah…. because he only does it when i'm around. he's literally fine with everyone when i'm not home. but is velcro to me when I am around and does not let anyone near me. help!

I have a husband and three sons that would like to be able to walk in a room without getting barked and growled at.

thank you.

Hi all, we have a 2 year old Doberman/dalmatian mix and a 5 year old border collie. Almost every time they are left in the house throughout the day they howl for about 1-1.5 minutes and then stop and lay down the rest of the time. It’s only 1 howling session, usually 10-15 minutes after we leave and then they don’t do it again. The dogs are not destructive or using the bathroom inside when we are gone. They are “crate” trained to a bedroom that they stay in when we are gone. They have never tried scratching the door or make any attempt to escape. They don’t pace or seem freaked out. They also never howl at any other time, they bark if the doorbell rings and sometimes my border collie barks at people walking right by the window. (There’s a camera in the room so that’s how we know their behaviors)

We aren’t sure if it’s really separation anxiety, but we are leaning that way because the 2 year old has become very uninterested in treats/puzzles/toys when we’re gone and will only eat them when we get back. He is the one that starts the howling every time and then my border collie joins in. We’re working on exiting and returning in smaller increments, they don’t have trouble with stay/place and will hold it even when I’m out the room. But it feels like Dash (the 2 year old) just has to have his minute of howling when we leave. If we talk on the camera at anytime it confuses them and they start barking and get very worked up so we don’t do that anymore.

Honestly if we were in a house I wouldn’t care, but we are in on post housing currently in a townhouse style home so we share 1 wall with a neighbor. There is a bedroom between the room that the dogs stay in and the wall we share, so I’m not sure how much the neighbors actually hear. The howling is loud enough that you can clearly hear if you’re standing outside, but not when I’m sitting in my car outside the house. But it’s something we want to address because we don’t want to start getting complaints. And just for the future if we move into an apartment where we have more than 1 neighbor.

Has anyone dealt with this exact scenario or something similar? Any tips?

TLDR: 2 year old dog and his brother howl for 1 minute when left alone and then stop. They don’t howl again after that and will lay down/go to sleep. Happens 10-15 minutes after being left alone, have tried exercise and frozen treats, which the 2 year old dog no longer eats. No other destructive or anxious behaviors when left alone.

We have a 1 year old male golden retriever who hardly ever barks. We're trying to train him to 'speak' but its near impossible to get him to bark – any help would be great 🙂