Category: Top Dog

We just adopted a rescue dog, she's about a year old and has been either on the streets or in the shelter her entire life. We fully expect to have to be patient with the potty training so this is NOT a potential re-home for us, just an expected hiccup, but as I have always had either puppies or fully trained rescues in the past and my husband has zero experience with potty training we thought we'd ask for advice.

hi all. my new dog just jumps up an everyone and gets so excited in public, any tips? thanks a lot.

So, I don't know where else I can post this, so I'm hoping you can help, and I'm desperate enough as it is.. so recently we started going to a grooming salon to get our dog's hair cut, everything was fine, until the past few months, whenever we make an appointment, BOTH our dogs would start whining like really loudly and wouldn't be quiet, in fact it would be non-stop, I found it weird because whenever we go somewhere else (for example the beach), yes they would whine at first but eventually settle down. They also would stick closer to me than usual, try to go underneath the car seats, and have their tails drooped down. I tried giving them treats, and once they finished eating, they would eventually start whining again, the whole 10 min drive. Is this normal, and if so, what can I do to get them to stop? (i'm hoping this isn't considered medical..)

Anytime I am sitting down I have to constantly get up to throw his toy for him. Any tips?

Hi all,

I have a ~1.5 neutered male who loves to play with dogs. He is very well mannered with other dogs when off leash and is never pushy or rude. I take him to a large dog park roughly once a week so he can play with other dogs. I typically go during off hours and always leave when it gets too busy.

I know a lot of people have experience with their neutered males not liking intact males, but I have yet to really find practical training solutions to help with this. I don't know anyone with an intact male that I could work with, so that is not really an option.

Recently, whenever there is a large intact male at the dog park (doesn't seem to be too phased by small intact males interestingly enough), he gets very in their face and barks / is very rude / will NOT leave them alone. I always grab him and leave to avoid any escalation.

For additional context, I adopted him at 6 months old and around ~8 months he developed quite a bit of leash reactivity towards other dogs. His recall is already quite good, but I'm working diligently to perfect it so that I can actively call him away from these situations, as I'm always a little hesitant to pull him away from another dog in case he becomes 'reactive' due to being held back.

I'm not looking for harsh criticism here either please. This dog has come with a lot of baggage and I'm doing everything I possibly can to work with him. I'm just looking for tips on how to help him (if possible) become more neutral when he encounters such situations.

Thanks.

TLDR: what are some tips to ACTUALLY neutralize neutered dog around intact males (if any)?

Hi guys,

I'm currently researching options for dog grooming courses in my city and am having trouble deciding what to choose. Some course outcomes include a Cert III in Animal Care, and some don't. I know that there is no need for an official certification to be a professional pet stylist, but I was wondering if it would be worth doing a longer course that includes this Cert? I'm assuming the course with the most practical grooming opportunities will be my best bet, even if that doesn't mean obtaining my Cert III.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you :)))

I take a lot of photos and videos of my dog, but sometimes I feel like they don’t fully capture the quirks and little habits that actually make him who he is.

Not just what he looks like — but the dramatic reactions, weird routines, specific expressions.

Has anyone found a creative way to preserve that side of their dog? Something more intentional than just albums or captions?

Or is this just one of those things that’s hard to really capture?

Curious what people have tried.

Hoping to get some suggestions on tricks or training to work on while I’m nap trapped (I.e., sitting with a bag of treats unable to move).

We’ve got the basics (sit, down, leave it, drop it, find it, touch, gentle, catch). My go to is currently getting her to sit, stay and throw a treat for her ro chase or impulse control,.

Additional info: 1.5 year old lab mix,use marker words for training.

I am located in Alberta Canada. I have been interested in working with service dogs for a very long time. Probably since I was a child. However, I just recently moved to be closer to my husbands job and therefore lost the one I was at previously and as I'm looking for a new job I'm really considering putting my efforts into working towards the goal of being involved with the training of service animals. Previously I have worked as a kennel attendant at abiut 3 different dog kennels / daycare. As well as the SPCA. And as a bather in a grooming shop. I have a ton of experience around dogs and cats and most animals really and a deep passion and love for them as well. I feel this is what drives my goal. As well as this would be really fulfilling to me because I am passionate about helping people who silently struggle. I have also seen first hand how an animal can save your life. That being said, I have no idea where to start. The more I look into it the more confused and overwhelmed I am because it's not straightforward. I'm looking on advice on where to start this journey and if there is any accreditation education for service dog training in Alberta? **I know there is a program in medicine hat unfortunately that is too far from my husbands job. Im looking for something I can do online or around the area we live which is like central Alberta.

Hello! We recently foster failed a dog and we also have a guinea pig in the home. The dog desperately wants to make friends with the pig. I’m trying to train her to ignore the pig/not stand up to see in the cage. She only does this occasionally but when she does, I say no, give her the off command, and when she disengages and gets down, she gets a high value treat.

My question is, am I rewarding her for standing on the cage? I just want to make sure she understands that the reward comes when she gets down and disengages with the pig.

Also, does anyone have any tips on training with a prey drive? She’s only been out of the shelter for ~3 weeks and she was previously abused/used for breeding so she’s not consistently playing just yet. Otherwise we’d be playing prey drive-y type games!

Note: The guinea pig is SAFE. Her cage is raised, I made a lid, and she truly has no survival instinct lol, she goes right up to sniff the dog, she’s used to our fosters, she doesn’t run or get scared. Additionally, if I notice anything escalating she’ll immediately be moved into our bedroom. The only reason I haven’t done so yet is because her sister recently passed away and I’m not ready for another pig just yet. Guinea pigs are very social animals so I want her to be in the man area of the house until we decide to get her a new friend.