Category: Top Dog

Hi everyone, not sure how to address this behavioral issue I'm having with our 5month old puppy. We had some initial potty training issues but are definitely over them.

We take him to my step sisters and tie him up in the garage when going over for supper. We do this because it could be a few hours and don't necessarily want to leave him at home alone. This allows us to check on him and take him pee throughout the evening say over a 4 or 5 hour span.

Often though he tinkles on his bed or floor. This evening when going home he was jumping around so I told him to sit on his bed and he did but then started peeing while seated.

Would this be a nervous / abandonment reaction and how can I correct it.

Thanks.

My husband and I adopted a pupper on November 2nd. I am not new to dogs and the expense that comes with them. Growing up we always had at least one family dog and I've personally (and with my hubs) had my own dog(s) since I was 21.

Our older dog (just about to turn 5) had her first year of vet care, her spay and her chip costs rolled into her adoption fee so I didn't see the individual cost breakdown. Before her it had been 9 years since we'd had a dog spayed (2012) and it cost $90 (including microchip) at the vets office.

Yesterday the vet (a different vet as we moved a couple years ago) emailed me the estimate for our new doggo's spay (to be done in late January/early February) and I nearly fell over!!! Almost $700?!?! She has an appointment in 2 weeks for her final round of puppy shots, blood work for her spay, and a couple other things and the estimate given to me for that was a couple bucks shy of $280. Up until this point I'd been paying less than $150.00 for the puppy and some booster vaccines for our older dog.

Obviously I'm going to pay for these things (it's what you sign up for/expect when taking on the responsibility of a wonderful new family member) but what happened?!

I will add that 1. We now live in an area with a slightly higher cost of living than where we'd lived before and 2. The vet we'd been using up until May of this year had lower rates, but they had a fire and are temporarily closed while rebuilding.

This little dog is a chihuahua mix, only weighs 8.8 lbs and is expected to be about 12 lbs when fully grown. How the heck much would it cost if she were an 80 lb German Shepherd Dog or 100 lb. Akita?

Anyway, if you made it this far I appreciate the read and feel free to commiserate if you'd like.

Hi everyone!

My husband and I have a 6 month old male golden retriever puppy. I thought we were finally through the trenches of teething biting (he has lost all of his baby teeth) and in many ways he has gotten better with biting.

However, when we are playing with him, he tends to nip at us when he wants us to play with him, OR he will sometimes drop the toy and start aggressively biting our hands and legs. He also curls his lip and will not stop. He will sometimes bark/growl a bit too. When he does this, I try to get him into a sit/down position and reward him either with treats or by throwing his toy. It works sometimes, but I’m wondering if this is normal puppy play behavior or aggressive behavior? He is still wagging his tail, super excited, but I really want to stop his behavior, and at least know if it’s normal?

Thank you all for the help, and happy holidays 🙂

Sometime it helps to laugh with other people about it?

My pups new favorite snack is used chewing gum he finds in the park.

Hello! I am coming on here because honestly I cant deal with my new puppy anymore.

For context. I have a 2 year old pomapoo-schnauzer. He is an angel. Never had any issues training him or anything. He does agility and Fast- Cat racing.

Recently, we added a new addition. A Jack-Rat terrier. We got him at 8 weeks and he immediately needed to go into surgery for a hernia. He spent the first few weeks of his life in a cage/crated area since he is a jumper and vet recommended it for healing.

During this time we did all we could to do trainer recommended meetings between the dogs which always ended in puppy freaking out, growling and getting aggressive.

After he was done healing we put him into puppy training and consulted a private trainer for helping the two dogs get along. The puppy was almost immediately removed from puppy class as his aggression was too bad. The private trainer said we should try anxiety meds since it seemed like his issues were rooted from anxiety. The aggression had pivoted not only towards my other dog but me and my S.O as well.

He is 5 months old now and we are still trying anxiety meds actively. He has gotten less aggressive towards us but still has aggression with other dogs.

Unfortunately, at this point he pretty much lives in a crate or a play area we made for him and cannot really have freedom or else he starts attacking. He was fine in his mini crate but we recently switched him to a larger cage and he escaped it today by biting at the metal bars until he got out.

Tons of people at this point told us these are issues I will forever deal with and should consider giving him to another family / figuring out a different route but i truly cannot bring myself to do that as I have developed love for the little guy and sympathize with his struggles.

I just cannot keep him contained for the rest of his life. My older dog goes to events, comes out with us and enjoys being around people. I cannot just leave the puppy home alone all the time.

What should I do?

I'm a college student and I walk to and from the bus stop every day to go to uni. Thing is, there's a lot of stray dogs in the street I walk through, and I don't have any other way to go to the bus stop.

Normally, I'm a little apprehensive about the stray dogs, especially if they come in a pack, but one bit me in the leg two weeks ago (I'm okay and got my shots), and since then I've been too scared to even walk by a single stray dog.

Any advice? I don't have a license or car, so the bus stop is the only way I can go to uni.

Librela.

My 10 year old lab had her first shot this morning for an ACL tear we found out about (I’m not putting her through that horrible surgery again at this age) as well as some overall arthritis since she’s slowed down a lot.

Is it really all the horrible stories I’ve heard? Why all the fear mongering? I love my baby girl so much and only want the best for her and her sweet old bones, but it can’t be that bad, can it?

Joint degeneration, all these things. Did I make a mistake? Are there any good stories?

My dog grew this on her leg but I don’t know what it is. Can someone tell me??

Hello! I am coming on here because honestly I cant deal with my new puppy anymore.

For context. I have a 2 year old pomapoo-schnauzer. He is an angel. Never had any issues training him or anything. He does agility and Fast- Cat racing.

Recently, we added a new addition. A Jack-Rat terrier. We got him at 8 weeks and he immediately needed to go into surgery for a hernia. He spent the first few weeks of his life in a cage/crated area since he is a jumper and vet recommended it for healing.

During this time we did all we could to do trainer recommended meetings between the dogs which always ended in puppy freaking out, growling and getting aggressive.

After he was done healing we put him into puppy training and consulted a private trainer for helping the two dogs get along. The puppy was almost immediately removed from puppy class as his aggression was too bad. The private trainer said we should try anxiety meds since it seemed like his issues were rooted from anxiety. The aggression had pivoted not only towards my other dog but me and my S.O as well.

He is 5 months old now and we are still trying anxiety meds actively. He has gotten less aggressive towards us but still has aggression with other dogs.

Unfortunately, at this point he pretty much lives in a crate or a play area we made for him and cannot really have freedom or else he starts attacking. He was fine in his mini crate but we recently switched him to a larger cage and he escaped it today by biting at the metal bars until he got out.

Tons of people at this point told us these are issues I will forever deal with and should consider giving him to another family / figuring out a different route but i truly cannot bring myself to do that as I have developed love for the little guy and sympathize with his struggles.

I just cannot keep him contained for the rest of his life. My older dog goes to events, comes out with us and enjoys being around people. I cannot just leave the puppy home alone all the time.

What should I do?

My poor guy recently came back from boarding with horrible smelling breath. He was only there overnight. He saw the vet recently and his teeth are in good shape. What’s a safe, effective way to freshen his breath?