Category: Top Dog

Basically the title.

My 5-month old aussie mix is incredibly food-motivated—almost TOO food motivated. If there isn't a treat involved, his obedience is hit-or-miss, but if there IS a treat involved, he sometimes doesn't listen because he's so focused on the treat OR will bite/lunge if he knows you have treats and aren't giving them to him.

I've tried making it random when he does and doesn't get a treat to fade the treats out and he'll do okay for a while, but eventually he goes back to not listening and being unruly.

A separate issue:

While he's doing well with potty-training, now that the snow has melted, he's struggling with getting distracted like crazy outside, leading to him not pooping. I live in an apartment complex so I can't always control his environment as much as I want. I'll take him out when he clearly needs to poop.

He'll even get as close as squatting and starting to poop, then get distracted by…a stick, a leaf in the wind, eating grass, another dog, a car rolling by—ANYTHING—and he'll literally stop pooping to chase, bark, or watch whatever the distraction is. Then the moment is gone and he won't poop, and will start to attack me when he isn't getting what he wants.

I've tried (1) being as boring as possible and standing in one place, but he inevitably finds something to distract him (2) keeping him moving but if the distraction isn't moving with us, he'll start to attack me because I'm taking him away from what he wants (3) pretending I'm also looking for a place to poop in hopes he'll get the picture, but doesn't seem to compel him lmao.

We have a yard and in the last two months puppy was outside by himself there often. It was extremely cold and full of snow, hard for us to go there but fun for our furry, winter-loving dog.

I tried to go a few times to catch his poops but they were hidden under snow or stuck, frozen solid.

Now the snow is melting after weeks of puppy pooping. Are there any manageable ways to deal with the soon to be melting poops???? What should I do????

I get my 2 month d dachshund mix tomorrow and i plan on crate training and potty training him starting tomorrow. Any tips on getting started?

My labradoodle pup is a week shy of 9 months and has hit 37 pounds. Saw my trainer at Petco and she said by the looks of her size it may be time to start transitioning to adult food.

When did you all start the transition?

How do I stop this. It’s always bed or couch when I’m sitting there. Has happened maybe four or five times total. My old dog doesn’t react. We got the puppy at 4 months and have had him for 2 months so far. I don’t want this issue to continue. He is not neutered yet. I’m bad at this please help.

My puppy (8mos large mixed) was skittish on our stairs when we brought him home. We spent the first few weeks building confidence by putting treats on the steps and he slowly made his way up. For a few months he had no issues but over the last week or so has refused to go up the stairs (where he sleeps at night). Started the treat incentives again but I can’t get him to go up to bed. Wondering if anyone has any other suggestions? Carry him? Let him sleep downstairs?

Considering signing up for my 6 month old pup. Is it worth it? How is the toy selection and quality?

We recently moved into a house that has a back yard and my dog keeps getting out by hopping the fence yesterday she got out and then ran off took an hour to find her. The two other times she came straight to our front door. I don’t want to have to keep worrying about her getting out and lost. She loves to be outside. We lived in an apartment prior when we got her so this is the first time she has had a yard. We don’t have anything up against the fence that she can use as a launch pad. She a Belgian mal so jumping fences is what they do. I haven’t had this issue with my other mal I have. What can I do to keep her in the yard???? I want to be able to put her outside so she can run around as much as likes. I can’t sit and watch her the whole time because I have a very active toddler. Please help.

Looking new ideas to tire my little guy out mentally and physically that can be done in our house …his bored groans are killing me!!!. So Barney is my 12 year old Dachshund and the light of my life!!! He still plays like a puppy, loves his Stuffies, puzzles , treats balls etc and with 3 acres and ample walking trails keeping him happy is a breeze for most of the year until the peak of winter hits and ours trails have three feet of snow on them and our sidewalkless roads have 10 foot snowbanks and cold slush that reachs up to my poor boys belly!! We snowed in literaly!!! Luckily my husband deligiently snowblows are large patio plus a generous section of our backyard for Barney to do his business in comfort but besides a few loud barks just to let everyone know this is his yard he back inside like a flash. I play with him as much as I can, he has an emabrsssingly large selection of toys, puzzles, chew sticks etc and yet I'm constantly being stared down with his beady little eyes and guilted with overdramtic sighs that could rival most teenage girls (has anyone who's ever had a dachshund kind of test they are drama queens). And I feel bad for him I get it he's bored silly being cooped up inside and so I thought I'm sure there must be tons of enrrichment ideas I haven't thought of to get my little guy out of his funk. Please Help!!!

From all I’ve seen and read, puppies can’t really go outside before 6months when they have all their boosters. And they need frequent potty walks and feedings and need to be trained to be quiet etc before taking them to the office.

People who work full time office jobs, how do you get through the puppy stages? Is it just all crate time?

Can you explain your schedule as a prospective puppy owner with an office 9-5!