Category: Top Dog

My gf and I will be getting a puppy in the next few months. We feel ready for the most part, however there is one thing that keeps coming to mind. Our breeder and vet have mentioned multiple times to not let our puppy do their business outside at our apartment until they are full vaccinated as our apartment is full of other dogs (we receive puppy at 8 weeks, won’t be fully vaccinated until likely 16 weeks). We have come up with the idea of getting grass mats or turf mats to put on our balcony to potty train until puppy is fully vaccinated. My main concern is the transition from grass mat on balcony to actual grass outside. If anyone has any recommendations or similar stories to share, all is welcome!

Hey guys! I have a dachshund mix foster dog with me right now, and he’s suffered through a lot of trauma recently so he’s incredibly reactive. He bit the hell out of my foot this morning because he tripped over it while leaving his crate.

He’s a wonderful boy most of the time, but resource guarding is genuinely horrific with him, and I’ve had to use a big plastic lid as a barrier to get to the bathroom a couple times. He also seems to get worse in the morning and at night.

None of this is his fault obviously, I just want to know if there’s anything I should be doing to make this easier and safer for everyone. I will be asking for a vet’s advice as well to see if there’s any medical way to help him be calm. Obviously not an ideal or permanent solution, but it might be needed to keep everyone safe.

Give me advice!! Whatever you think of! Thanks!!

Hello! In need of advice. Looking for brands and how to properly size. My bully mix has been notorious for shredding and eating things and I’m at my wits end.

Just went through his 3rd emergency bowel obstruction surgery bc it seems no matter how hard I try to dog proof any area he’s in he somehow seems to find anything and everything he can eat.

He is crate trained however seems to find a way to rip apart even ballistic beds made from bite work pads. Looking for basket muzzles that maybe even have a safety hook to attach to his collar to keep it secure?

I dont know what to do. My grandma has one of those white crusty dogs. This dog cannot walk properly, CONSTANTLY whines, slips on the floor when it does try to walk, can barley get up to eat, cannot clean itself so its back side is yellow, its face is disgusting and turning brown. The dogs front paws are different lengths because of how messed up its joints and bones are. and the dog wont let you touch it or pick it up because its in so much pain. I feel terrible for the dog, and terrible for what im about to say..but should this dog still be alive? This dog is 15 years old and cannot care for itself and will only let one person touch it (that person isn't me). The dogs favorite person is my uncle who is currently out of town on a business trip, which is why im here at my grandma's helping. between my 85 year old grandma, and the dog..im barley holding it together.

back to my point, this dog is falling apart and is held together with puppy pads, wet food, and a variety of medicine. It whines none stop and will just stare at you for hours. No matter what you do it wont stop. I feel like its way too late to start trying to correct any behaviors, especially with me being an 'outsider'.

Is it wrong keeping this dog alive? Is there anything to do to make this constant whining stop? I can't take it anymore.

**EDIT: This dog regularly goes to the vet, that's how its prescribed the medications it has. Theres not much the vet can do besides keep it comfortable if my grandma and uncle wont let it go.

I have an 8 year old rescue named Loki. Great pup. Energetic, great temperament, all the good things you could say about a dog, Loki is. Recently he’s been going through these episodes where he shakes uncontrollably for a while and now he’s panting while doing so. These episodes last for about an hour and then he seems to be okay and goes back to his regular self. I’m trying to post a video but can’t. Anyone have something similar with their dogs? Would love some advice. Making him a vet appointment but honestly this has me and my wife anxious cause it’s not like we can ask him what’s wrong.

Hello, I just adopted a 2 year old chihuahua mix a week ago. He is very good— doesn’t use the potty in the house, eats well, walks well on leash, etc. He just has one issue— scratching at my front door when I leave. Since he has been very good I had been letting him free roam my place, but he scratches the door a few times when I leave and it’s damaging the paint. I tried to gate him off to the back section of the place but he’s a jumper. I have considered getting a taller gate but I think I just want to start crating him.

Since he is foully potty trained, I am not worried about him using the bathroom in his crate. I do want him to be comfortable so I am considering buying a large size crate. Is there any reason I shouldn’t give him so much room?

The crate is 30 inches in length and he is 22 inches.

Hi, I have been training my dogs, dog reactivity ( he’s a mix of excitement and nerves depending on the situation) but I’m at a bit of a stand still with it and I’m unsure how to proceed. Currently if we are in a busy park, passing lots of dogs and people, he’s pretty good, will be very focused, or if he’s not he will respond fast to verbal cues or refocus words. He maintains a loose leash and walks next to me when asked. Which is all great, but we don’t go to those places very often, most busy areas are far away and not super accessible, as in i probably can’t go more than once a week, so not very helpful for our day to day life. Our walks are usually at the local park, with paths, open fields and play grounds. Unfortunately these places are not busy very often. Quite a few people will pass through during the day, but I don’t often see many dogs, and if I do they are off leash so we can’t get to close, other wise we might encourage the dog to come over, which I don’t want. He’s is way more reactive at these types of parks, since we will only pass or see a dog maybe once of twice the whole hour walk. This makes it very difficult to train him to not pull towards other dogs. I really want him to be able to disengage and walk past other dogs. But with a lack of dogs to practice with it’s getting pretty tough. The training we do at those busier parks doesn’t seam to transfuse over to the quieter parks with just a dog or two passing. Group sessions with other dogs, or having someone’s dog set up to walk past also doesn’t aid our progress. We go to weekly rally OB training nights, he’s around 10+ dogs and doesn’t react and usually doesn’t try to pull towards other dogs there. But even after half a year of that, he still can’t walk past a dog at the park. Set up dogs also don’t phase him, he might be a little pully for a minute, but settles down and does beautiful. So with that knowledge of his behavior I feel it would be very impractical to use other known dogs to help his training as I would need to get about 5 different people each walk to be set up around the park to make any real difference 😭😅

I’m genuinely lost and unsure what to do. I just want to be able to walk past another dog without him pulling like crazy to reach it. 🙁

my dog destroys toys in like 10 minutes. literally every toy. im spending $30-40 a month on toys at petsmart that last less than a week.

everyone keeps telling me to get barkbox but its $30+ per month. seems expensive for a box of toys my dog will destroy immediately?

do the toys actually last longer or am i just paying for cute packaging and instagram content lol

also the treats – are they actually good quality or generic stuff i could buy cheaper at the store

genuinely trying to figure out if its worth it or if im better off just buying tough toys in bulk from amazon

I stepped on my dogs tail by mistake. She whelped and then looked at me and put her paw up like she was gunna limp. (She walked and ran fine when I called her name playfully) but when I encountered her again she did it again so I gave her a treat as an apology lol. Does anyone else’s dog do this? I think she was looking for me to reconcile with her? Idk I know sometimes dogs have a lot of personality and this is my first dog I owned on my own

I recently adopted the sweetest senior dog. He is the kindest soul I have ever met. He had a very unfortunate start to life and was only rescued at 12 years old. He was in the system for 2 years with no adoption applications, but when I saw him I knew I had to give him a home.

I’m not sure if this will add anything but I also have another dog who I have had since she was born (rescued as well).

He is almost blind, a little deaf, and may have tumors (non cancerous assumed). I am writing this for advice on how to give him the best care I can.

How do I give him a bonded experience and make him feel comfortable with his conditions? What are things I can do to make him more comfortable? Is there a way to help him around the house and know who I am?

I am looking for any advice!