Category: Top Dog

Has anyone travelled with their dog in cabin, please share your experiences and how it went and the process etc!

What airlines did you fly? Thank you!

My dog is skittish, gets scared of any random noises in and out of the house. We recently moved to a new house and fortunately everything was going well the first minute until I slid and fell down the stairs which then triggered his fear. He started shaking and is now scared of the house. On top of that, there were fireworks going off outside which did not help the situation. I am looking for any guidance on how to help my dog like his new home and not be scared of it. Is he going to be scared for the rest of his life in this house or will he be able to overcome it? Thanks in advance from an anxious dog owner with an anxious dog.

Bit of backstory, I adopted my dog "Loki" in 2013 area. The shelter listed her at the time as around 5 years old. If that's what her age was back in 2013, she is right around 17 years old. Has been a great dog, you can tell she is old though by activity level, etc. She still eats fine, albeit only wet food because of almost no teeth. But she gets up, eats, drinks, etc. She will get in moods of very high activity but then settles down.

Over the last year or so I've noticed her wandering around the house in circles a lot. She's had a couple of seizures as well, which the vet concluded it was due to her age. Each one would last maybe around a minute or less, vet didn't seem to concerned about it though.

In the last 6 months though I've noticed she will literally just stand in a spot and act like she can't hear me, which is probably true given her age. Then she jumps when I come up to her even in front of her face. Will just let out random yelps while sleeping. She's also gotten worse with using the bathroom in the house, though she was never really house trained, but was on a schedule and it was fine.

Now it seems even taking her out a couple hours she won't go at all, she'll just wait to come in and then go a few minutes later. I've tried crating her at night to curb it while I'm asleep, but she will just go in her crate. Mind you the crate is just big enough for her to lay down and stand up in, so there's not a place for her to go in the corner and lay on the other side of the crate. I'll wake up every morning to her literally standing over her pee and poop just waiting to be let out. Won't bark, yelp or anything, just stands there all night I assume.

I'm at a lost as to what to really do. I also suffer from mental health issues and I've had therapists tell me she's had a good life and to put her to sleep, but I don't want to do that, especially since she is still eating. I don't know if I can keep taking care of her though and just do not know what to do at all. I know the flooring in the bathroom (her primary spot) is probably trashed at this point. Do I just keep cleaning and managing it and risk myself getting more and more depressed and all or what? I've also tried pee pads on the floor, but she will just move them out of the way.

I guess I'm just looking for some advice on what to do, how to manage it, especially with my issues I have.

Aside from testing the dog as much as I can and instincts, what else can I do to make the dice roll of dog adoption have a better chance of rolling boxcars instead of snake-eyes? We're going to a state pound, a humane society and an out of state shelter (we live on the border.) on Friday. I just want a calm 1-4 year-old dog to be my companion for the rest of its life.

We recently got a 10 week old Labrador, we’ve had him for a week or two now, and he’s doing really well, doesn’t pee or poo inside, and he doesn’t bite people, but he’s got into a bad habit of biting at and pulling clothing. Does anyone have any advice? My wife and MIL who have both had dogs in the past keep on trying things but nothing seems to work.

Hi all. First time poster here.

I have a beautiful 9 month old mixed breed rescue dog that I rescued in July at 5 months old. When he first came home he had the usual shelter behaviors, timidity, fear and a need for safety and love.

He's lived with me now for 5 months, and he's turned into a gorgeous, loving family member. But he has some issues, and I've reached the point that I need some serious help.

Firstly, he has an older "brother", my nearly 5 year old Golden Retriever. My golden was trained with the positive reinforcement method, and he's a perfectly behaved maniac of pure golden energy. He knows when to potty, he requests outside time, and his recall is perfect.

Remus, however, has gone from timid to actively agoraphobic. I can't leash walk him at all – if he exits the house from the front door he has a panic attack. He can't be walked. He hides if anyone comes to the house. And, his potty training has completely reversed. He's now pottying upstairs.

I know he's capable of learning. He waits to eat, he sits for treats, he comes when called, he cuddles. He plays with his golden brother, he shares his toys when told.

So how on earth do I help him through this agoraphobia? And how do I get him back on track with the potty training?

For context, I believe it's loud noises outside that have caused this fear. We live in a neighborhood where you can hear motorbikes revving at 2am. There's frequently fireworks and other events.

I rescued a pitbull about a year and a half ago and I've been struggling to find the right collar for her. First, I put her in a regular "heavy duty" flat collar from Tractor Supply. She quickly learned how to get out of said collar (even when tightened). I then tried a harness, but she is also a puller (obviously bc she's a pit). I now have her in a slip lead and it worked great for a while, but she has recently started pulling again.

I think it's her thick neck and smallish head that makes it possible for her to slip out and I don't want to waste money just to potentially have a loose dog at the end of the day. She has a decent recall, but I'm worried one day she will see/hear/smell an animal and take off. I just want her to be safe without causing harm to her neck.

Am I overthinking this? Is it possible that I had the collar in the wrong position or something? I stress about her being safe and work with her constantly, but if I can't even find a reliable collar for her strength and size I feel like I'm setting her up to fail.

Please be kind in the comments. I've had pitbull mixes before and have never had this problem. I'm like 80% sure I was blessed with a full blooded APBT when I found her. She's an excellent dog and I'm just trying to set her up for success.

We have a 15 month old lab/blue heeler mix who loves to walk when me or both my wife and I walk him, but is stubborn and stops quickly on a walk with my wife. She has tried treats and praising him whenever he is not stubborn but he stops once no treat is involved.

The odd part is as a puppy he was the same way, but there was a short period where he would walk with just her. Now he has regressed again. Has anyone had experience with this? Could this be a phase again? We're not sure what to try.

TLDR: Neglected rescue hates being outside or contained and has no interest in conventional training rewards. How can we help her?

We recently adopted a 4 year old beagle/bulldog that was rescued from a puppy mill breeder. She doesn't necessarily show signs of physical abuse, but certainly of neglect. She's very anxious and scared of her surroundings, but most of her issues will just take time and patience.

Our primary concern at this moment that we aren't sure how to address is potty training. I don't think she ever went outside in her previous life as she seems very scared of going outside at all, and she hates having a collar or harness on. We can't pull her outside as she'll lock in those bulldog haunches and there's not much to be done about it. She does, however, allow herself to be picked up. She doesn't like it and just goes limp, but she allows it.

Our current plans have simply been to carry her out and gently walk her around the yard, but if we close the door she panics and after a few minutes starts to pull quite hard to get back inside. If she is unleashed she will run to the door, and if it's closed she starts looking for an exit through the fence. There aren't any, so she then just retreats to a corner and wedges herself in among the fence and shrubs. She is completely uninterested in treats, and shows no positive reaction to praise or affection. She could be out and walked for a half hour with no results, then come inside and immediately pee/poop.

She is slowly getting better being on a leash, but she hasn't done her business outside in a week. I've read through the FAQs and wikis about training that are provided, but with her reluctance to be leashed or even being outside at all has made things extra difficult.

…mostly we just want to know if we are making things worse for her, or if it's something we should just stick with until she gets comfortable. We also saw suggestions of getting vet help with anxiety and such, but we didn't want to resort to that unless it was fully necessary.

Any advice is welcome!

Hello we currently have a 2.5 year old lab female spayed that we have had since she was 8 weeks old. No behavior issues at all until about 6 months ago she aggressively barked at a friends dog once in the kitchen when food was out on the counter. She doesn’t bite or cause injury just aggressively barking and we had to pull her away and then seems to be fine. Most recently she did this over the holiday with my mom’s dog twice who she has known her whole life who is also a lab, both times in the kitchen when food was around. She has never acted like before so we are very surprised. Again didn’t bite or cause energy but enough that we had to pull her away and my mom’s dog got freaked out. Usually they get along so well. I do think over the holiday it was extra stimulating at my moms with more people than usual and she is a very high energy dog. She has never once resource guarded over food or toys or bones with any humans me or my husband- this has only happened with other dogs. I am also nervous because I’m currently pregnant and although she has never acted like this to humans her change in behavior has me worried. I did contact a trainer who we will start working with in two weeks just to help with this as well as put her and us in the best chance of success with the new baby coming.

We are suppose to go visit my mom again next week for the week and I am planning on making a viligient effort to keep my dog/both dogs out of the kitchen area as I feel this is the biggest trigger but I’m curious if anyone has gone through anything else similar and has any recommendations or tips. I did read the resources on the page- this seems a bit more tricky just bc the dogs aren’t together all the time to do training together (but do see each other around once a month for over night stays) so want to manage this the best I can and early. Thank you.