Category: Top Dog

We have a 13 week old, 12 pound rescue mix. We don’t plan to allow him on the furniture or our bed when he eventually gains access to the full house, but we do allow him on our sofa in the sunroom. My wife and I often watch an hour of TV at night on that sofa, and it’s a calm time where if he chooses he can sidle up to us and snuggle against our side or on our lap. We think this is important to our bonding. I have a friend who is adept at positive dog training who believes giving dogs access to furniture is a significant mistake and compromises control of the dog. Just curious about views on that.

One related concern is that recently he has started growling if we try to move him to his crate from the sofa to sleep. We usually back off for a spell and then try again by offering a treat (but with enough of a time passage so he does not think growling earns a treat), and that generally works. He generally settles down and sleeps in his crate well, and we don’t want to habituate him to falling asleep on the sofa. I would appreciate thoughts on that also. Thanks.

We started going to puppy school at 14 weeks. First he was extremely anxious just being on the training grounds.

I got adviced to stay out of the way of other dogs as much as possible during class until he would be less anxious. We worked hard and with a lot of patience, he became less anxious. Sometimes even sniffing other dogs on the lead.

But since we transferred from puppy to obedience class in January I don't feel he has learned anything new in 3 months because he is always so distracted by the other dogs. The last few weeks a dog that has been advised to get behavioral therapy outside of obedience class, has been falling out toward my dog a few times. And I have the feeling my dog has become even more stressed during class.

I was actually taking the classes in the hope of him getting used to being around other dogs from a young age, but I feel like by wanting to do the right thing, I actually did the opposite. So I decided to quit the classes and try to arrange some one-on-one positive interactions for him.

Today we visited a gentle dog of similar age and breed as mine (10 month old doodle) and it was a complete disaster. The other dog was quite excited and loud the first few minutes, but really gentle, just wanting to sniff mine. While my dog was really anxious barking the whole time, trying to get away (they were both off lead to have the choice to approach or back away) and when he came closer, even snapping at the other dog. I knew he was a bit wary of other dogs, but I had never seen this side of him before. And he didn't calm down. Yes, he would lie down, but the moment the other dog moved, he was in defense mode again.

So turns out by going to the school to socialise him, I actually failed miserably at it. And now he is a 10 month old adolescent who is aggressive to other dogs. I know we are in for an awfully long way back now, but I was hoping to get some advice or resources (classes/books/online trainers/behaviourists). How do I approach this the good way and how do you set up a good and safe meeting between dogs?

I would appreciate any help, negative comments about how it's all my fault can be kept to yourself.

Hope everyone who reads this finds it well and hopefully can offer me some advice/insight. 23M

Two days ago, my girlfriend of five years [23F] and I [23M] decided to add a new boxer puppy to our home. We already have two older dogs, an 11 year old rat terrier/Chihuahua mix and a 9 year old American Bully. The two dogs we already have were my girlfriend’s family dogs up until about 2 1/2 years ago when we decided we would take them in because we were more equipped to take better care of them. During that process I had bit my tongue and agreed that they could stay with us even though I was extremely reluctant and had never been tasked with caring for dogs as the primary owner. It caused a lot of arguments between us but as time went on I better accepted the responsibility and have grown to absolutely love those dogs with all my heart. So much so that it’s lead to me wanting a puppy to raise from a young age and have the full dog owner experience myself.

This time around though, my girlfriend was the one that was reluctant but admittedly had bit her tongue seeing as I was eager to raise a puppy myself. While I researched and thought I understood how difficult having a puppy would be, I can honestly say I had zero idea it would be so difficult. Since getting our new puppy my I have been exhausted and drained but still giving my all to the puppy while trying to balance still giving attention to my girlfriend and my two other dogs. This has caused a huge riff in our relationship because she claims that she “only said yes” because of how happy she assumed it would make me and had a “gut feeling” that things would take a turn for the worst.

To make matters worse, my puppy has been diagnosed with Giardia and Coccidia so now I have to essentially quarantine her away from my two other dogs in a ONE BED APARTMENT, having a yard helps a bit but it is NOT ideal.

My girlfriend hasn’t been very happy lately with her lack of career opportunities after recently getting her masters, she hasn’t been happy with the management at her current job and how disorganized and honestly nasty they are there, and she hasn’t been happy with the fact that 6 months ago we moved to an entirely different state which she is not the biggest fan of. And this puppy has added so much fuel to the fire. Her home life and my attention/care for her was the only thing keeping her sane and now that I must attend to this puppy she feels confused and helpless right now. I genuinely hate to see her like this.

It makes me feel terrible for wanting a puppy, it makes me feel like a terrible partner for not being able to attend and care for her like I usually do, it makes me feel terrible because my two current dogs could possibly get sick from our new puppy and I’m feeling so much regret right now.

I told her if she really couldn’t manage then I would call friends and family and consider re-homing our new puppy to a family that can take better care of her and she says she would feel like a monster if we had to give her up, but she’ll be driven insane if the puppy stays and things don’t get better. She says that she is considering moving back to our old state 1,000+ miles away back in with her mother as she can not take it if her home is just going to feel as unhappy and draining as it is.

I feel like I have failed myself, my relationship and my current pets and I have no idea want to do right now.

Balancing all of this with a full time job is honestly the most stressful situation I’ve been in my 23 years of life and I want to know will it get better? Can it get better?

Have I doomed myself and my relationship?

Am I a terrible partner? Am I a terrible dog owner?

Man idk, I hope this is just the worst case of puppy blues on earth but I know the puppy is just causing a flare up of things independent of her existence. I love my girlfriend so much and I just hope I can make the right decision before our relationship is destroyed.

Pup will have first poop in morning either before or after 730am breakfast.

Then pup will have lunch around 130pm. Typically wont poop until 3-4pm. Sometimes as late as 630-7pm.

Then dinner at 730pm. And he wont poop. He'll hold it until morning.

Bed time is 1130pm and I give him plenty of chances to go poop.

So, only 2 poops a day, yet 3 meals a day. One of those poops being 12 hours later. Doesn't seem right.

Is he okay?

Hello all,

My wife and I over the years have considered getting a puppy. We both love dogs and grew up with them: me with slightly older rescues and her family raised them from puppy age. We work from home and on average are away from home only a few times a week for a few hours.

We have been living in a foreign country for almost a decade, which is part of the reason we have delayed. We tend to like to visit family once a year or so and know that would complicate things. We also have to travel within the country a few times a year: but that may be changing which is why we are thinking about this a bit more seriously now. We also found a really nice option in town for a kennel for quick trips once they're older.

We've been researching Boston Terriers and reading up on caring for a puppy. My wife has some experience, but it's a bit new for me. We have been learning and planning, and have our name on a list for an upcoming litter, but it's low pressure.

Our landlords have a Chihuahua that is about 5 months old, and they had to go away for an emergency and we are watching him now. We thought it would be a nice way to kind of test the waters and see how much it would affect things. We realize that he's older, though.

Thing is… They literally dropped him off with a food bag, a toy, and a bed. No crate, which we expected and when we try to put him in a room to leave the house for a couple of hours he starts tearing apart the door so we've stayed home. Turns out he isn't really house trained like we thought and has peed in the house 6 times on the last 24hours despite us taking him out every 30 minutes, he's already taken out some fresh laundry, a couple of rugs. and fortunately the others were on tile. He bites a lot, which is expected, but my wife especially is starting to be pretty bruised and cut up. The diverting situation with his toy only helps a little, and yelping or giving him a little gentle nudge or restraining him for a second when he really bites doesn't seem to have an effect other than to make home bite harder.

I guess I would expect this from a new puppy, but expected things to be a bit better. I'm honestly pretty annoyed at this point. However, I think my annoyance might be more with his owners than with him: he's a baby. He's pretty much left alone outside on our buildings property all day. But it being a short period of time that we're watching him I don't feel like I can really improve the situation, and I wasn't expecting so much pee in the house from him, considering he's "house trained". The lack of a crate or a pen means one of us has to be on top of him constantly, and it's hard to give him an area to make him nap.

Anyways… I'm a little surprised that I'm more annoyed and exhausted than I expected. But I also feel like it could be different if it was actually a member of our family, and we were being consistent and trying to stick to more of a schedule, crate training, potty training, making sure he takes naps.

Is it a bad sign that we're finding this difficult?

Thank you for any advice or information you can provide!

We have a 6 month old 19 lb super mutt… these breeds in this order, highest percentage is only 22%: chihuahua, husky, Malinois 🥵, small poodle, supermutt (chow, Pekingese, schnauzer), GSD. Tired yet? We thought she was a terrier. She’s definitely big enough to do some damage if she wants to.

She’s been here for about 3 weeks. At first people coming over was zero issue. She’d calmly greet them and show her belly. Now she’s barking and herding and nipping. My mom is here and anytime my mom moves, my dog quickly goes for her. She’s definitely put her mouth on her. So now I’m doing place work, have her on a leash, getting her to lay on her place and stay, which she picked up immediately thank god, but it’s non stop. They can’t be left alone together, and I have to keep a grip on her leash. If my mom is sitting still, theres no issue. She’s cuddly and sweet (i think it’s a control tactic lol).

We have a trainer coming over this morning but thought I’d come here for any success stories or support. The good news is she’s very smart. The bad news is she’s very determined.

So my dog Toto (beagle) is very chill and fun kinda dog. He's 1 year old and we have him from when he was a baby. He's a good company to be around UNTIL we reach the vet clinic😩Then it's an absolute downfall! He gets anxious and scared and I literally require 2 people to drag him from the door to the doctor!😭 I am his mom and I feel very bad but checkups are essential and inevitable. Any of u going or went through it, PLEASE GIVE ADVICE! I need it!!!

Hi everyone,

we’ve had our puppy Emma for 8 days now (11 weeks old, ~8 kg) and could really use some advice.

Emma is a 25 Aussie/25 Berner /50 Goldie mix.

Main issue is rest/sleep. He has a really hard time settling during the day. He seems overtired, starts chewing everything (even walls), digging, and just won’t switch off. At the same time he only sleeps about 8–13 hours total, which feels way too little.

We’ve tried:

• keeping everything very calm (almost no walks, low stimulation) • just sitting/lying quietly ourselves • chew toys (sometimes help, but often just keep him busy) • crate/bed (he struggles to relax there) 

What kind of works is limiting him with a short house leash – then he eventually calms down and falls asleep. Without that he just keeps going.

What confuses us:

After 1.5–2h of sleep he’s super calm and perfect… but after just a few minutes of activity he flips back into that overtired chaos.

So now we’re wondering:

Is this just an overtired puppy phase? Or could he actually be under-stimulated? And is it okay to limit him like this to help him settle?

We also have cats, so there’s definitely extra stimulation at home.

Would love to hear if anyone went through something similar 🙏

we got our puppy at 8 weeks old at the end of 2025. we started crate training right away and he’s been really great about it. alerts when he needs to potty and sleeps in there until we wake up. recently at about 1:30am he’s barking nonstop and won’t let up unless one of us is sleeping on the couch and he’s sleeping out of the kennel in the room. this is a huge departure of our routine and my husband and i are not sure what is causing it.

some added context is that our bedroom is a level above where we keep the kennel and the bedroom is too small to have a kennel in it. we have a room adjacent to our bedroom that could fit the kennel, but we’re not sure if that would help the problem.

any advice on how to break him out of this habit while also getting some sleep? is this normal for dogs around his age (5 months)? he’s been so good up to this point.