Category: Top Dog

I'm needing crate recommendations for my starting to train my 9 week old pitbull puppy. I know he will be big and strong because he is full pit, so NO WIRE CRATES!!

My two dogs chase play and the younger one (3 yrs) nips the neck of the older one (5 yrs) leaving small cuts that scab over and scar.

The younger one never play bites people but will nip in excitement. We’ve struggled with her impulsivity nips her whole life. I don’t know how to address the nipping when playing as they’re running around chasing each other.

As an immediate solution, is there a neck protector that might work for this?

Which pet insurance is best for you? Are there any that may cover your dog's current treatment? Did your dog get injured during the waiting period and want to know if you're covered?

Here's the place to ask.

Do know we cannot help you here with medical concerns, and lying or not disclosing things to the insurance company is illegal so we don't allow that either.

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

My dog pulls a lot of- any idea of what lead to get? He’s a Doberman

my dog ate my cake while I wasn’t watching should I be worried. it was a plain vanilla cake and roughly 100g worth as I had already eaten half of it already. she’s a Labrador and has a normally healthy diet if that matters (sorry I didn’t know what flair to use)

My senior dog is starting to slip a bit on hard floors. I can't put rugs everywhere but I was thinking of putting them in strategic spots like top and bottom of stairs and places she turns around.

Are there any specific rugs or mats people recommend? Big requirement is a robo vac has to be able to go over them and they need to be easy to clean (don't want something all the dog hair will stick to).

Got my dog one of those toys that rolls around and lights up. However I’m worried the flashing light may be similar to a laser pointer and create a shadow/light fixation. Anyone know if these types of toys can cause the same sort of behaviour.

He became pretty obsessed with it right away, even ignoring his new bone.

Raising a puppy the "rght way" feels like a daunting prospect, so I've been working on understanding (simplifying) it, trying to figure out what is important, and what to start with to set both myself and the dog up for success and made an attempt to jot down a vaguely hierarchical guide:

– abstract:
socialisation *time sensitive=takes priority, BUT quality > quality
concepts (=capacities, frustration tolerance, impulse control, optimism, thinking/acting… )

– transcendental/life skills:
motivation
foundations (name, handling, consent, off-switch/resting)
manners (leash walking, taking treats gently)
default behaviors (=prevention, ignoring dogs, greeting people, leave (food))

-methodical:
training games (recall basics, etc.)
training basics (markers, methods)

– verbal:
communication *not methodical, organic, vs
cues (game starting/ending, lifting/restraining) *methodical

– behavioral and formal:
basic commands (recall, stay, positions)
advanced commands (directions)

– professional:
sports
working dog

All of this (order, titles and content, ie. the examples) are very tentative, and I'd love to have your feedback on it.

Dog is 16 months. Slept in his crate no problems since we got him as a puppy. He doesn’t sleep in there in the day anymore but goes in willingly at night.

Last couple of nights he has been fine going in, lays down. As soon as we go upstairs he starts banging at the door. This started after he was sick in there one night (this has happened before and he’s been fine) and he was quite hyped up going outside for a week just before bed. However last night was the same.

He used to come upstairs with us for an hour or so and have a snooze then we would bring him back down. Really keen to get him in his crate again ASAP, we obviously came to him when he is banging and tried to get him back in again after half an he but he was the same. We even tried the crate in our bedroom and he didn’t want to stay in.

He definitely doesn’t seem distressed but seems to want to be near us and get our attention.