Category: Top Dog

Hi, I have a lab and he is avoidant to the bath. However he needs weekly or at least bi-weekly baths because of his health issues. I have tried getting in the shower with him but he wasn’t very cooperative unless I gave him treats. What can I do to make him less scared of it? Or even how can I make him more comfortable? I also tried to bring in a chew toy he favored.

My dog is 4.5yo Great Pyr. Had him since he was a pup.

Cat is a standard issue cat. She’s 1 now. Got her at 12 weeks last year.

They were separated for the first few months basically at all times. My dog never really shows any interest in her unless she’s getting zoomies and is moving a mile a minute then he perks up.

I’ve been leaving them out in the house together for the last few months and I’m starting to think maybe it’s a better idea to keep the separate when I leave the house. Mainly due to the size difference.

They don’t interact from what I can see in the cameras. But at the same time my dog is starting to become a grumpy old man. Aka doesn’t like when other animals disturb him while he’s sleeping or minding his own business. He will grumble. The kitty will immediately move away when he does that if she’s been in his face bothering him.

I think all around it’s probably safer for me to separate them. But who to separate? My dog tends to prefer my bedroom if I am gone so closing him into there is a simple enough move. And all he does is sleep while I’m Gomez Otherwise the kitty has her own room upstairs with her cat tree BUT I would have to place a litter box in that room (litter box is currently in the basement).

Should I confine the dog to one room? Or the cat? Thoughts?

I don’t even know the last time I played with her and didn’t end up being nipped or humped on. At least half the time I try to play with her she stops going after the toy and starts nipping at me. Yes, I have tried ignoring it, walking away, ending the play session, redirecting onto a toy, it’s been well over two years that ive been doing all of those every single time we play to no avail. It’s not enjoyable anymore. I want to want to play with her, and I just don’t. It’s not fun. It’s not fun to be nipped, to not know what I’m doing wrong, to have her ignore me and then bark at me when i walk away. It’s not fun to tug and then one of us wins and then she doesn’t care about the game anymore. It’s not fun to do two passes of the flirt-pole and then get nipped at. It’s not fun to have her go out 5+ times a day in the yard trying to play, yet still remain so uninterested in what im trying to do. Someone who barely walks her will play with her for 10 minutes, running around, not getting nipped at or any of her bad behaviour, then I try to go play with her and what? I get bit. I get jumped at. I get ignored. Then I get an energetic dog chasing me around like it’s my fault she wouldn’t play. What am I doing so wrong? I’m starting to hate myself for this. I don’t want to play with her anymore. I want to avoid her now, because I can’t seem to do anything right and I can’t afford a trainer to teach me. I’ve tried everything I know and it won’t f*cking stop. I want her to stop biting me and I want to know what I’m doing so f*cking wrong to make her hate playing with me so much. I want to interact with her and I just feel like I can’t anymore.

Hi all,

I need some help. My 4 year-old golden lab is the sweetest boy ever at home and with most other dogs. He greets people very politely, he loves attention and strangers, and with most other dogs, he's polite and doesn't exert himself too much.

The problem is, every so often he'll bark and snarl at other dogs in a very aggressive way. Sometimes he'll start pulling really hard on the leash when he does this, and I have to physically pull him away. Just today, he was off lead in a park, and ran over to another dog that was on a lead and aggressively began chasing it around the owner until I had to physically grab and restrain him.

I don't plan to let him off-lead again any time soon after that. What I want to know though, is does anyone have any idea why this might be happening? I looked up a lot of different causes of dog aggression, and couldn't find anything that really explained why he's so randomly aggressive towards some other dogs. It doesn't seem to be based on size, he's done this to dogs bigger and smaller than him, and it seems totally random, like he'll be fine with 4 random dogs he meets then suddenly act super aggressively towards the 5th.

As far as I can tell he doesn't seem to be trying to attack these dogs, because with the one today all he did was chase, but there was a lot of aggressive barking and snarling that alarmed both me and the other owner. Does anyone have any insight into why he might be behaving like this and what could help get him to stop?

Thanks in advance.

I got a new puppy that will be living in my yard.

I couldn't teach previous dog to poop on specific place and now I don't want to make the same mistake.

Anyone got any advice or experience with training outside dogs?

BTW dog is 2month old labrador and we have really big yard and he just poops wherever he wants, thankfully only on grass.

My 8-month-old Pinscher puppy had a bad experience on his first walks because a woman let her dog off-leash corner us and bark. Now he barks at other dogs, and even at people at night.

Well, I recently spoke with his vet, who recommended that for better progress, I should prioritize socialization. We should spend 10 minutes on our walks just sitting and watching people and dogs go by (my neighborhood is full of strays). He also recommended rewarding him with high-value treats when he sees stray dogs and doesn't react. We've been doing this for two days now, and he's improved a lot.

The thing is, until now, I had only used high-value treats for potty training. He knows the "go pee" command, and I take him out every two hours to avoid accidents. He would pee every time at first, and then we would walk for 5-10 minutes. Well, now that he's getting treats for watching dogs, he's simply lost interest in obeying the "Go pee" command. He focuses on looking at anything even slightly distracting and then stares at me, waiting for a treat, whether there are people/dogs around or not. He can hear a leaf fall or a bird sing and still look at me, waiting for a treat. What can I do to prevent this? I already give him several treats for peeing/pooing, and I praise him a lot to make it more exciting. Should I use different high-value treats for each thing? If so, what healthy and tasty treats can I give him? His current treats are very small pieces of sausage.

My partner and I recently adopted two dogs (M & F, ~50lbs each) about four and six weeks ago. We’ve had great success with 1:1 training using standard methods (reversing direction, stop-until-slack, high-value treats). Around the neighborhood, they are becoming "pro" walkers.

The Problem: The "Lead Dog" Syndrome This completely falls apart when we hike together. We are avid hikers, and on single-file trails (95% of them), the dog in the back becomes obsessed with being in front.

• The behavior: Whichever dog is in the back will pull, lunge, and whine the entire time.
• What fails: Standard 1:1 techniques have zero impact here. Treats are ignored. Reversing direction works until we turn back around, then the "race" resumes immediately.
• The "Fake Calm": Today we tried a "stop every step" approach for two hours. The female dog eventually learned to pretend to be calm just to get the "OK," at which point she’d launch like a rocket to try and overtake the lead dog.

It feels like the presence of the other dog creates a competitive drive that overrides their training. Most resources cover one person walking two dogs, but we can't find much on two people walking two dogs in a line.

Right now, our "family" recreation is pretty miserable. Does anyone have tips for breaking this specific "must-be-first" mindset or drills for group hiking dynamics?