Category: Top Dog

As my puppy nears her first birthday, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have responded to my desperate posts. I know I have more challenges ahead, but thanks to a lot of your advice, and puppy school, my holy terror now has more moments of bliss than “what the hell” moments. After only getting older rescues for years, a puppy was a shock to the system. However, with your advice to me and others, I managed to survive! Thank you.

I feel as if, my dog (2 and a half) will never be able to go off leash. He’s such an angle, often checking in, usually close ish to me, loves his recall cues, yet whenever I feel super confident to let him off leash, something always goes wrong.

On occasion, well actually many occasions he decides to chase a scent, probably one from a dog. Usually if he’s only 10-15 ish meters away he’ll come right back the second he hears his recall, but other times he’s just goes and goes and goes and then stops listening, I don’t believe it’s a my voice it’s strong enough problem, it’s more of a, he’s just choosing to ignore me at big distances problem. Now he’s always come back, but Iv been fairly lucky that nothing else (like a dog) has popped up at the park while our dilemma unfolds. So if I just run the other way eventually he comes back. But one day we won’t be as lucky.

I have a 20m long line, which he’s actually on pretty much most days, so it’s not as if he’s lacking freedom. I fulfill him in lots of different ways as well. Like finding a ball in long grass, those sorts of things. And I think that does help lower the chances that he will run after a scent, but it still does happen when he’s already been heavily fulfilled.

When he’s on the long line, and off chasing a scent, he pretty quickly hits the end, so he jolts and rushes back. Or if Iv recalled him and he ignored it, I have the leash to pull him back in, But when he’s off leash, there is not a leash to reinforce anything. So if he ignores me, there’s nothing I can essentially do. If I run the other direction ofc I have to reward him when he gets back as to him, he’s forgotten he ran off, so if I put him back on leash or something for coming back, he will not understand, if you get what I mean!

I just feel lost. How can I train him to come back when chasing scents that far away, when he has to be off leash in order to get that far away. I could yk drag 50m of long line to the park. But 1 it’s impractical, and 2 Iv never known anyone else to need such an observed amount of leash to teach recall.

Is my only option to recall him as soon as I notice him started to get a scent and then keep him close to me for 10 mins and then release him again in hopes we have passed the scent or he’s forgotten about it? What happens when he shoots of faster than anything, or I recall to late?

For some more background information, he’s become amazing at ignoring birds, on the odd occasion he will chase them, but that’s always happened in a safe area or he’s never hit the end of the line and has come strait back. But training him to ignore birds, which I can see, is a lot easier than somehow training him to ignore a scent that’s right under his nose that I can’t see.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated! I’m happy to keep him on a long line, apart from the scent chasing 20m is plenty for him, it’s more just a practicality thing for me, if that makes sense! 🙂

Housebreaking my puppy ~9 weeks old, is going amazingly well (knock wood) but we are going to the beach house for NYE and will be there 3 days or so. The house is on stilts and he's been using a doggie door here at the house to go into a fenced in grassy area for potty. I will have to carry him up and down the stairs to go because he's little. Will this set him back in his housebreaking?

Hi all! I have been looking for a long time for the right rescue dog, and I think I’ve finally found the one! She is a sweet tripod staffie, with her right hind leg amputated due to injury. Before I jump into this journey with her, what advice would you give me? How can I maximize her comfort when I first bring her home? I have had dogs with special needs before but she would be my first amputee.

Thanks and happy holidays!

My 9 year old yorkie started peeing everywhere. She is house trained. She also has some back and knee problems but she gets daily medication for it and I carry her over any steps. She's pretty energetic and jumps and runs regardless. She started peeing in the living room regularly (it's where their food is and where they spend most of the day) instead of going up the hallway step and peeing in the bathroom on the pee pad. I've watched her sometimes hesitate in front of the 15 cm step even though she just jumps over it constantly.

I've since then blocked off majority of the living room because she repeatedly goes, and also installed a ramp up the step in case it's hurting her back (she doesn't like to use it and usually just jumps over, but I'm forcing her to.) I reward her for going up the ramp and praise her for going on the pee pad. She STILL keeps peeing everywhere, even in other rooms past the bathroom??? Sometimes she pees a lot, like she's been holding her bladder.

She had never done this before in her life and I'm losing my mind. I've been thinking about diapers? I clean pee off of the living room floor every 2 hours or so…….. I really don't want to put a pee pad there because I fear it will reinforce her idea of peeing there, and also the other dog will pee there too.

Edit: she also poops at those places as well. This has been going on for 2 months now 🙁

Would be first time dog owner looking for recommendations and advice please

introductions

1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

• First dog yes but not first pet- I’ve had cats off and on for 26 years

2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a [reputable breeder]?

• not particularly

3) Describe your ideal dog.

• laidback and snuggly but not So clingy that I can’t get anything done. Loyal, not super barky

4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

• honestly I’m open to most breeds, but I’m considering poodles and golden retrievers because they’re supposedly good with kids and easily trained etc

5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

• mainly just basic commands and house training ( like not to destroy the furniture for example) maybe a few tricks but nothing major

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?

• no definitely not

Care Commitments

7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

• I plan on interacting with the dog off and on throughout the day as I’m home more often than not so playtime and training can be whenever needed or the mood strikes really

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?

• probably walks and indoor play mostly, around 30 minutes a few times a day for the walks. I’d probably try a dog park at least once or twice but if it was something manageable it would be a once a week thing most likely

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 can do daily brushing or at least multiple times a week, and any grooming I couldn’t handle I’d have no issues with taking them to a groomer for

Personal Preferences

10) What size dog are you looking for?

• preferably something that could fit nicely in my lap- I’m 5’2 so very big dogs are a no

11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

• shedding isn’t an issue very much since I’m already used to cats shedding but minimal barking indoors and minimal slobber would be ideal

12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?

• I’d definitely want good recall ability in case the dog got outside by accident but it’s not crucial

Dog Personality and Behavior

13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

• definitely snuggly but not smotheringly so if that makes sense

14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

• eager to please

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?

• calmly and without too much barking ideally

16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

• if my dog ended up being like that then yes but preferably not

17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

• destructive behaviors or aggression towards people etc

Lifestyle

18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

• very rarely. I’m home more often than not and even if I’m not my mother is retired and she’s always home

19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?

• my mother prefers small dogs, easy to manage. My father doesn’t really have any opinion on it. I would be the main caretaker for the dog unless I was unable to do so.

20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?

• my parents have 2 cats but they wouldn’t go near a dog as they usually avoid most people etc and I would keep them separated when possible

21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

• yes definitely. My youngest is 1.5 and my oldest is 5

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?

• USA

24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

• summers are between mid 70’s and high 80’s but can hit mid 90’s. We however have good ac year round. Winters are usually low 70’s or mid to low 60’s if that

Additional Information and Questions

25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

• I have chronic illnesses that can limit the amount of time I can spend doing physical activity and my oldest child has allergies

26) Feel free to ask any questions below.

My elderly mini poodle (15yrs) is deaf. He cant hear a single thing. We just got a standard poodle puppy (8weeks) and he tried today to get my elderly's attention by barking in his ear. Obviously it didnt work. (We've had the puppy now for 3 days as i am writing this)

How can we tell or show our puppy that our elderly cant hear him? He desperately wants to play with our elderly but hes not understanding social cues or hearing our puppy.

Help is needed ASAP. Thanks

Does anyone use their lick mats for daily meals? How do you figure out how much of everything to give your dog?

My baby has always slept with me for 1 and a half weeks but sometimes he prefers to sleep outside on the cold tiles. Last night he started whimpering on the side of my bed wanting to go down and I thought he wanted to use the toilet but he just went and slept on the tiles under the couch and I can’t reach him

Will this be a permanent thing where he doesn’t want to sleep in my bed anymore? Should I be concerned? He doesn’t even like sleeping in his crate he really likes the floor under the couch

10 month old golden started audibly choking in the garden. She'd been chewing on a stick and I hadn't noticed.

I ran over, first thing I did was open her mouth and look. I couldn't see anything. She was retching and clawing at her face. I couldn't feel she was taking in any air.

I shoved my hand in, near enough down her throat and tried to feel for anything. Nothing. I think she must have still been breathing but in my panic I couldn't feel her take any air in.

I lifted her back legs and she continued coughing, I then smacked her really hard multiple times behind her shoulder blades (I regret this now because she cried out).

I couldn't think of anything else to do and it had been a long time and she felt weak. So I held her mouth shut and blew very hard down her nose (again no idea why I did this).

This caused her to gag and she brought up a piece of stick which flew and hit me. She then rolled over and wanted pets.

I almost cried, but I've now noticed she's really sheepish and wary around me. I think this is because I hurt her during my panic.

She's still weakly wagging her tail when she sees me but nothing like usual.

Please could I also have advice what to do if this ever happens again (hopefully it won't because Im watching her like a hawk). I feel terrible that I hurt her. Im still shaking as I write this.