Category: Top Dog

I have a 8 month old chihuahua pitbull mix. Potty training has been going pretty well. I live on the 4th floor of an apartment and the beginning of potty training was rough. She doesn’t like going potty in the dirt/mulch and the only grass area in my complex is super muddy and is not the easiest to get to. I got a roll of sod and made a potty patch on my deck, it was a game changer. I started off leaving the door open when I was out there with here and then eventually trained her to use bells. She was doing really good, she just had this habit that I didn’t think was that big of an issue until now. She doesn’t like to pee and poop all in one go… she will go pee, insist on coming inside and then a few minutes later ring the bells to go back out to finish up.

Now here is the issue… the potty patch needed to be replaced (it was a little overdue and she didn’t want to go potty on it anymore ) so I threw it out and just planned on walking her downstairs until I can get a new one. She stays with my mom while I’m at work and that’s what she does with my mom so I didn’t think it would be an issue. I take her outside first thing in the morning, when she’s first let out of the crate, or whatever she shows us she needs to go but most of the time she will only pee when I take her out. Then when we get back up stairs she’ll either ring the bells just a few minutes later or just poop inside. I’ve tried waiting 20-40 minutes outside with her because I know she has to poop and she doesn’t care. She still will want to go back upstairs just to ring the bells to come back down not even 5 minutes later. How do I help her break this habit?

my boyfriend and I adopted 2 Chihuahua brothers a few months ago, and unfortunately we broke up. he wants to take one of them and I would keep the other.

trust me when I say I read a bunch about litter mate syndrome unfortunately only after we got them. and so far they don't show any of the telltale traits just yet. but i am wondering now though, are they too old to be separated indefinitely from each other?

I have an 11 month old high energy pup and if he isn't occupied by a chew, he thinks he can play, mouth and dive on me whenever im on the couch.

I've tried getting up and walking away and every time I come back he acts the same, saying a stern "no", crying out in pain and ignoring him. No matter what I do he just gets more and more overaroused and more bitey/ mouthy. Its like it makes the behaviour worse. It hurts, his teeth are bigger and he tends to play grown whenever he goes for my hands.

I'm honestly sick of not being able to relax on the couch when he's around because it's constant. He just doesn't relax when im around. I feel like I cant have people round because he'll be the same with them.

If im sat at the dining table he's fine and doesn't do this. He will do things like digging up the rug or something else to get my attention. But he doesn't try to play with me. How can I get him to chill when I'm sat on the sofa?

My 5 month old puppy (rough collie) has significant car anxiety. He had this issue before I got him at 12 wks. He drools continuously from time he gets in car until the time he exits it. He also typically vomits if it’s a trip in excess of 30 minutes. Note the vomit also appears to be on account of anxiety, not the motion. It’s crazy how much fluid he releases; not as much of an issue in winter climate I live in but will be much more of a concern in summer.

I’ve done a lot of things people recommend, namely treating, short trips with fun outcomes, etc. but nothing seems to work.

When he was younger I had him in crate for trips but I have recently transitioned him to a harness.

What I am doing with him now is I take him to car with me in harness tethered to seat daily and we just sit there for 15-20 mins while I praise & comfort him. No drive.

Because of dynamics my life he has to travel with me somewhat regularly & some of these trips are multiple hours. The vet has prescribed me a sedative which I intend to use for longer trips until he overcomes this fear but really do not want to rely on them.

He’s such a great pup otherwise and has successfully overcome other phobias he had, namely stairs, since I got him.

Anyone ever deal with severe car anxiety & how did you overcome it? Thanks!

I’ve been reading a ton of books and posts here and feel prepared for my puppy, but now that I’m putting it into action I’m worried I’ll start bad habits. Does this sound like a good start for a 4 month old hound mix?

– 7A wake up for the day, straight outside

– Keep going from crate to outside every 20 min if she doesn’t go right away

– once she goes, inside for an hour of play (fetch, tug of war, run around like a crazy gremlin)

– 8 or 9A (depending how long potty and play took) Eat breakfast. straight outside after again

– Back in her crate for a chew and naptime

– 10/11A wake up, outside, more play inside

– 12P lunch / find it game / training

– 1P outside for potty then crate for naptime

– 2/3P wake up, outside for potty, inside for more chaotic play (fetch, tug of war, chasing toys)

– 4P crate for more napping

– 5P (or when she wakes) dinner, outside right after

– by now she’s usually pretty tired, so I’ll give her another chew in her crate if she’s not into her toys, or we’ll run around a little more

– 8P outside if she’s awake. If she’s asleep I let her sleep

– 12A potty break if she’s awake

– 4A potty break, especially if she slept through 8 and 12.

– 7A wake up for the day

I guess my main questions are is this too much time on chaotic toy playing, and too much time in her crate? She’s very good at settling herself and seems to like it in there. Am I setting myself up for complicated mornings by going right to crazy running around before breakfast? I’m also worried about running her around the house too much if she’s too young. Her puppy energy has her going non stop for about 45 minutes each time.

She hasn’t figured out how to alert me that she needs to go to the bathroom yet (we started bell training this morning, so that will take a minute), so if I think she has to go and won’t, I keep doing crate/outside till she goes. Otherwise she just stops mid play to pee/poop.

And today she’s refused to go potty at all since our 4A trip outside. Is it a huge deal if we get off schedule?

Thanks for any advice, I want to set her (and myself) up for success.

Our puppy has interacted with other dogs, attended puppy classes to socialize, but has never stayed in a house with another dog until now.

We are home for the holidays and my brother has a 1 year old female puppy (who is fixed). My dog is OBSESSED. Constantly whining, trying to get to hump her, barking and not listening at all.

He won’t settle. He won’t eat. He won’t listen for treats or commands. They finally played amicably for a few times, but he takes it to the next level and gets too excited and just wants to hump. And when he can’t, or we remove him from the room to try to teach him no, he whines nonstop.

We’ve created space. Removed him to his place. Trying to reward the quiet moments but he truly won’t settle even after hours of crying.

Really at a loss with what to do to have him just coexist with her and other dogs without getting this wildly feral excited. Any tips?

Recently an elderly dog with strong “herding instincts” at my local dog park has become OBSESSED with my small dog and won’t leave her alone. The owner thinks it’s “cute”. I don’t.

All my dog wants to do at the dog park is run and play fetch, but bc this old dog is 5x her size and obsessed she can’t. (We leave when it escalates from just following & circling to licking and nudging.)

What would you do?

(FWIW, I used to have a herding mix and on the rare occasion she’d get fixated on a fluffy white dog at a dog park, I’d promptly but gently intervene, put her on leash and leave. Why? Bc IMO other people’s dogs are not “toys”.)

EDIT: Went out and bought a pregnancy test, it’s negative!

Our dog (blue heeler) LOVES my husband, to the point that if he’s in another room and I move, she runs to him to make sure I don’t get him. She hates us showing any sort of PDA towards each other, will physically put herself between us on couches or in bed, she loves that man! He’s been laid off work for a few weeks, so has been home to give extra snuggles, treats, and playtime. For some backstory, she belonged to my husbands grandpa and we inherited her in his passing, she has cling to him ever since, follows from room to room every time he moves too. But about 5 days ago she’s started to obsess over me, nothing in their relationship has changed but she follows me everywhere, squeezes under my desk to lay on my feet (something she’s never done to either of us), and if I’m away from home, she lays on my side of the bed until I get home. I read this could be a response to me falling pregnant but I have the Nexplanon birth control, so I don’t think I am (though I have tests coming just in case!), other than that I’m in good health, I’ve been a little bleh the last few weeks because of hormones but it’s nothing out of the ordinary, so does anyone have any ideas what this might be?? She still eats, drinks, plays, potties, etc all like normal, no changes in her health at all. It just has us confused, she’s never been this way before and it’s been days!

Good morning everyone, Today while having lunch, our dog was sitting under my chair and when we finished lunch I tried petting him on the head but he reacted in a bad way biting my hand not in a playful mode.

This is the second time that this happens, previously it happened while he was sitting next to me on the couch and I tried petting him on the head.

Usually he is behaving very good inside the house, never causing troubles or similar, but sometimes he has this very bad reaction.

What do you think can be the cause of this?

Thanks a lot for your help!

im dogsitting, and this dog is so extremely sad. hes at my house and misses his owners a lot. hes just whines and stares at the door. how do i make him happy?