Category: Top Dog

Our pup is almost 8 months old now. He is a labrador retriever. Everybody says the puberty phase is way harder than the puppy phase. But so far it's been going great. He was an absolute manace as a puppy tho. When does the chaos start?

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice from other dog owners.

My partner and I have been planning to get a Maltipoo for a while now. We’re pretty familiar with the day-to-day routine and costs etc since we previously lived with a family member who had one. Overall, we feel ready, except for one thing.

I’ve been afraid of larger dogs my entire life, and that fear is what’s holding me back from getting our puppy right away. I worry about situations like encounters with bigger dogs on walks, at parks, or in public, and whether I’d be able to handle those situations calmly and responsibly. I know this might sound like a silly concern, but it feels very real to me. Has anyone else dealt with this? Is this a valid concern, and if so, how did you work through it?

Any insight or shared experiences would really help. Thanks!

Hello all! My puppy just turned 12 weeks, and at 11 weeks, he started growling at me if I touched his back or got to close when he was eating something “high value”. (I touched him in the beginning to get him desensitized to hands while eating. I do the same with his kibble, but he doesn’t care.) I’m the only one who feeds him and the only one he does this with. I’m thinking of getting rid of him but do not want to. Please help!

As title says, I lost my patience with my puppy today. She’s been with us for about three months and is now five months old. At first it was very hard and demanding, as is normal in the beginning. We got her used to being alone right away, gradually, associating it with treats, and apart from the occasional pee or poop (she has NEVER been scolded after the fact), she has always behaved well.

For some time now, when we’re away, she climbs onto the sofa now that she can jump (she has her own armchair and the sofa has always been a space exclusively for us humans), she runs around it, moves and chews the cushions, but when we come home she always makes sure to be on the floor, so we have no reason to scold her unless we catch her in the act.

Today, tired after a long morning, when I opened the front door I found a potted plant that seemed out of her reach completely destroyed, soil and water everywhere in the living room and entryway… Cushions on the floor, leaves everywhere, but above all pee on the sofa.

It had only happened once when she was smaller, and after talking with the dog trainer we were reassured that at four months puppies still don’t have full bladder control.

I scolded her, took her to the scene of the disaster in the middle of the soil, raised my voice a lot, and she got two "slaps" on the bottom.

I feel guilty. I know that scolding after the fact is useless, but I felt so, so frustrated.

Did this happened to you? Did she lost trust in me?

I've been seeing a lot of posts/reels of dogs with various types of cancer. A lot of people in the comments talk about their fur babies' fight with cancer as well. I cant tell if it's my algorithm or if it's very common disease amongst dogs. I'm naturally a little paranoid and scared now, because my golden is only 4 months and I haven't thought of this before.

How can this be detected/prevented? Has someone here done something different in terms of nutrition or lifestyle that has helped their babies fight this scary illness 😭

We got an 8 week old doodle on 12/26, he does well at night in his crate that we have next to our bed, but will not settle anywhere else besides my arms. I know he’s a baby so I’ve been letting him settle in my arms and then try to move him a bit like next to me etc but he gets hyped up again. We were hoping to have a daytime crate for naps downstairs but I think everything surrounding it is overstimulating to him since that is where we spend the majority of our time. So he just gets amped up and won’t resettle. If I let him settle in my arms and take him up to the bedroom crate for a nap he happily lays down and resettles. I still need to be nearby for now until he’s asleep at least.

Could this ruin his night time crate by using it for daytime naps?

If you see my earlier post he absolutely hated his pen even if we were right there or even in it with him and we were concerned he would hurt himself, so we are not using that anymore for a while until we can reintroduce it slowly. Since he does well in his nighttime crate we figured maybe we get another one and cover it etc do the same thing but so far no luck and he needs to sleep so is it bad to use the night time crate during the day?

Hi everyone – I'm getting my first ever puppy in about a week, and met two girls yesterday from the same litter and have a few days to decide. I fell in love with both and immediately reserved one. The unchosen puppy will go to the owner, so she is giving me the choice but I have limited time – she isn't a breeder so she can't recommend for me, she just had the puppies on her farm, and the puppies are mixed breed/an adoption. The owner carried them out together and I held one, my partner held the other. I held Puppy 1 first and immediately melted.

Puppy 1 is gold with some hints of white and a slightly smoother coat. I immediately felt more drawn to her because I loved her coloring, and she was easy to engage with, very comfortable, wriggled in my arms a bit, nestled up in my neck and kissed it several times. Both puppies are TINY and will be a small adult size. I held her 3-4 times, switching between puppies, and she became a bit more playful each time, kissing a lot, biting my fingers sometimes. Near the end she seemed so relaxed and confident that it felt kind of like our connection wasn't special – she's the kind of dog who can get along with anyone, which I also don't mind. I DO travel a LOT so my puppy will be traveling in-cabin with me and traveling all over the world with me, so I am looking for an adventurous, open minded but soulful companion.

Puppy 2 was the opposite. She was tri-colored, tiny, and had a slightly puffier coat. However, she was visibly shyer than Puppy 1. I was initially confused because she wouldn't look in my eyes too much, would nestle into my chest like a little ball, and was shivering. It WAS cold out and the owner made us carry them above-ground because we saw them away from their crate and she didn't want them touching ground other dogs had touched, so maybe she was scared of the height. She shivered on and off the whole time, but would occasionally look up at me with her eyes and give a little kiss. For some reason, I saw Puppy 2 as more vulnerable and soulful than Puppy 1, but also unsure if she connected with ME because she was so shy the whole time.

Looking back at videos my partner took, Puppy 1 looks fun and confident and you can tell I find her very cute, Puppy 2 would nestle into my chest and then look up at me with really vulnerable eyes and go for a little kiss, and i saw her trying to make that connection, which was really sweet.

I'm genuinely torn and only have a day or two to decide, to be conscious to the owner as she also is waiting for me to decide. I don't have a preference either way and sway back and forth. I love the look of Puppy 1 (they're both EQUAL beauty though), but worry her energy level will lead to a crazy, stubborn or high-energy dog. I know Puppy 2 would eventually end up opening up with time, which the owner also said. I asked the owner for videos of the puppies playing and having fun in their environment so I can have a better idea – if Puppy 2 is still timid even while playing in its own environment, that would be revealing. I am disappointed I didn't get to play with them on the ground when we visited – and I can't visit again because they are in another town. Honestly, how do I decide? It seems almost impossible. I'm worried I'll choose the wrong puppy and regret it and miss the other one. If anyone has any advice or similar experiences I'm all ears!

My husband and I got our working cocker spaniel around 4 weeks ago and she is now 11 weeks old. Some days she's a dream. Today she's been a nightmare. I'm trying to teach her to 'play with herself' or teach her she cannot always be played with. I'm trying to do some work from home today whilst off work for the Christmas holidays and it's a nightmare. Unless she's in her crate, I can only manage around 5 mins.

Every time I stand up she follows me, which I know is in her nature, but is a pain when I'm trying to unload the dishwasher and her head is in every cupboard I open. She's decided today she is going to jump up at the cupboards in the kitchen looking for food and to jump up to take washing off the side and run around with it.

So far today I've played with her in the garden for 10 minutes doing some ball retrieval, she's been out lots to do her business in the garden. I've done some light training with her and she'll go out for a short walk later this afternoon.

As I am sat down to write this she's pacing around the kitchen and has chewed her chew toy for about 30 seconds on and off.

So far she knows 'sit', 'down', 'spin', 'stay', occasionally 'paw' and is doing well with 'heel' whilst walking her.

I give her time to chew with a frozen carrot, as she's teething at the moment. I have a snuffle mat I sometimes use with her and a lickimat she has most days too.

Help!

For Context – I live with my parents and my puppy is obsessed with them.

Please help lol. I have a 19wk puppy who up until recently had a great sleep schedule. He would fall asleep around 7:30-8pm and sleep for 10-12hrs through the night. He would sometimes wake me up to use the bathroom but would go back to sleep right after with no issues. Recently though, he's been waking me up to use the bathroom around 2-4am and will not go back in the crate. He will make these little cries that progressively get louder and will lead to barking if I ignore him. I do my best to avoid this and will let him out because I do not want him waking my parents up. Now.. if he went back to sleep on my floor right after that's fine. It's not ideal but at least we both can go back to sleep. Instead of going back to sleep though, he's been sprinting to my door and trying to jump up and scratch on it because he knows my parents are in the next room. Last night I had to stand and guard my door to avoid him jumping up and making a bunch of noise. I tried putting him back in his crate multiple times after this and would sit there with him, but he would never settle and would start crying louder and louder. Eventually we had a 10 minute standoff with the door and he went to sleep under my bed. I really do not want him to get used to getting let out every night but I know when I let him out to avoid barking I'm enabling that behavior. My parents did just come back from being away for the holidays so maybe he just missed them a lot ? I'm not too sure. Any advice is appreciated. TIA