Category: Top Dog

We have a 4 year old corgi and have recently got a Swiss Shepherd puppy who is 15 weeks now. We never crated our first, he honestly was really good at being alone, didn’t chew, and I can’t even remember what we did to make him this way 🤣

Our Shepherd is more of a Velcro dog, I am aware the breed is like this and don’t particularly mind it overall but I work from home and don’t want to cause separation anxiety.

I have read conflicting advice online and even in books about crate training, so I’m wondering what has worked for those who have done it or have even just left them out for a small amount of time so I have new things to try.

Note at the moment she will go in her crate with the door open, she will also settle with the door close when we are in the room. She will cry and bite at the crate when we leave, then settle, then repeat for intervals of I’d say between 5/15 minutes. I do not want her to feel unsafe in this area.

If we leave her out sometimes she will just play with her toys and potter about and sleep, however she can bother her brother with bitey play which if I’m not in the room I cannot intervene and I do not want her to constantly harass him. Today I left them out together for 30 minutes and they did sleep but it’s hit and miss.

If I am crating I always make sure she has had a walk or play beforehand and it’s when she needs to rest.

I think I’m over thinking it, but I’d like to make sure I’m doing the right thing 🥹 because we didn’t crate train the first I don’t know what to expect. Some people say leave them to cry it out. Some say go in the room every ten minutes and build it up…

She’s a brilliant girl and when not in her crate is brilliant in the house, chews her own toys, enjoys mooching about and being in the garden a bit too much🤣

I have a 5 month golden retriever puppy and he has been constantly sick with different parasites since I got him that have caused many sleepless nights. On top of that, he has just been a very difficult puppy – demand barks, will not settle unless he is in his crate, excessive biting. Need any advice on how to get through this.

I got my 4-month old west highland terrier crossed with toy poodle puppy when he was 12 weeks old. This is my first puppy. He had recently been vaccinated. He was a joy at first until he settled in and since then it just feels like problem after problem. I have had him for over 4 weeks now, crate training is going nowhere, he still won't sleep for longer than 30 minutes in there (I have tried kongs, frozen carrots, chews, a multitude of things to settle him that only work briefly), I have tried in-the-night toilet trips and often he just doesn't need to go, he's just crying to get out. Any movement I make wakes him, he cries, and I have practiced briefly leaving the room, coming back in, etc. and there has been no progress. The only training he has retained is "stay".

I live on a main road with both the front and back garden area that projects the noise. He hates it. Always in a rush to get back in when toiletting, and on the odd occasion he settles outside enough to play, he wants to eat everything (but I understand that is likely just teething). I will say, he has surprisingly done really well with the toilet training outside, but I am wondering if he just toilets so quick outside so he can rush back in?

We started walks about 2-3 weeks ago and he hates them. I try for only 5 minutes and he is always trying to pull me back, any sound or person/dog near sends him into a screaming frenzy. He will jump, pull, fall over and hurt himself etc. I try to remain calm so that the lead isn't tense, but I must admit it is getting me down. He also seems to be resource guarding now, and no matter how much I try to train "drop it" or "trade for a treat" it isn't working.

I guess I just don't know what to do really. I live with my grandparents, he is very familiar with them and gets pets and they know what training I am trying with him etc so they try to follow that as much as they can, but he still growls and barks at them, and only seems to be comfortable if he is with me and only me. I have been in alcohol recovery for a while too, but this is really beginning to push me to relapse which is scaring me. I knew it would be a hard process, but I at least took solace in knowing I could probably get out of the house with him. Now I feel like a prisoner in my own home, too scared to leave him and leave that burden on my grandparents. 🙁

I’m looking for following recommendations for equipment for my 20 lb 9 month old working-breed rescue!

Probably the most important thing to note is that she is a big chewer and will destroy anything within minutes. My home trainer was even impressed with how persistent my pup can be when she wants to chew….

All of these were suggested by my home trainer who is a CCPDT and IAABC!

– A short leash to tether her to the door for timeouts

– A medium/long lead line for sniffaris (looking for more of a happy medium here because my gal eats rabbit poo! I need to keep her close enough to redirect her from poo)

– Flirt pole (could make my own, but would like suggestions on rope and attachments for the prey that will withstand chewing. Going to not allow chewing on flirt pole but want a sturdy start while we learn)

– Lick mats (I’m thinking these will be used under supervision only, but still looking for maybe a sturdier lick mat just incase)

– Bonus: your fav reflective gear for walks!

Hello, I adopted a 4 month old labrador/pittie(?) mix a week ago. She was not potty trained and we are now working on that as well as crate training.

Potty training and crate training are going okay, but I’m worried I’m not giving her enough physical touch attention during her wake hours. She is super bitey and hyper, so I’m focusing on reinforcing independent play in her play pen and while sitting tethered next to me. I have been giving her toys, lick mats, stuffed kongs, and frozen washcloths with food in it to keep her occupied.

I am not usually in her play pen with her unless I am hand feeding her meals since she doesn’t know how to be calm and not bite yet. She doesn’t seem very interested in cuddling, but should I be trying to pet and cuddle her more during the day or is it okay for her to be more independent while adjusting to a new home?

Any insight or advice is helpful, thank you!

Hello everyone

We have a 3 month old puppy that is struggling to take her naps during the day. We always have to enforce them with tethering + proximity (we put her bed right at our feet while working) and sometimes laps when she’s been awake for too long.

She has a crate where she sleeps through the night – occasionally she wakes up once for potty, but she’s very chill during at night time.

It’s getting tiresome to always having to enforce naps during the day, and she has been sleeping way less than the appropriate amount – usually 12 hours/day. This causes biting, barking and over tiredness.

Should we try to enforce the day naps in the crate as well? We tried a few times but she just cries and barks constantly in the crate – she hates her crate during the day apparently. We don’t want to ruin night crate because we know how valuable it is currently.

Any suggestions?

Hi –

Question on the whole “ethical breeder” situation. Found a breeder that does full genetic testing of parents, can visit both the parents, and they don’t do litters until they have enough people on their waitlist.

However, they allow puppies to go home between 6-12 weeks, which is “dependent on the puppy”.

I know that 20 years ago 6 weeks was normal, however now that is flagged as the sign of an unethical breeder very strongly, particularly on Reddit.

All of the previous dogs I got at 6 weeks (those being 20+ years ago) were definitely easier and more wel behaved than any 8-12 week pup I’ve gotten since this was a “known issue”. This led me to trying to do research on it…

However, when digging into a variety of studies I’ve been able to find, now I’m even more confused. Most of the published research I’ve been able to find (scientific journals, not articles) haven’t really shown this. There is one that showed 8 weeks had a statistically significant improvement in one of the six behavioral criteria they assessed, but it was still very minimal. That study, as well as multiple others, essentially said that 12 weeks is the important cutoff and there was little to no difference between 6 and 11.

So now my question. Can someone please link me to actual materials that show the results demonstrating the need for 8 weeks? Because otherwise this breeder meets all my criteria.

I just got a puppy a couple weeks ago and him and my older Boston terrier get along great! They eat and sleep together or near each other no problem but my only problem is that when the puppy trys to play with my Boston terrier my Boston seems to react as of my puppy is being serious. What I mean by this is that my terriers mood immediately changes to very defensive and try to bark or be aggressive with my puppy who is just wanting to play, how could I solve this?

I am adopting a 2 month old male dachshund mix who weighs about 4lbs. I am set to pick him up on Saturday and I am trying to have his necessities by then. Any good kibble and treat recommendations?

I’ve only had a dog for about two months for the first time in my life. I may be overthinking this, but is it gross to walk your dog barefoot? I’ve bought all kinds of shoes for all weather types. I live in NJ right outside NYC