Category: Top Dog

I have always had dogs growing up and even a puppy. I've wanted a dog ever since my mom gave mine away when I was in college. Fast forward to 6 years later- my bf and I go to a rescue shelter where we adopt a sweet little 6 month old. Her bio said she’s shy, but eventually warms up. The first two days she was an angel and warmed up pretty quickly. We didn’t expect to adopt right then and there but we did. Due to our poor planning we didn’t have a play pen (we only had a kennel). Since we didn’t have a play pen, she was free go wherever she wanted hence the unwanted behavior came up (totally our fault for not setting proper boundaries). Now we have a playpen for her bc day 3 and 4 is when her biting started. Literally anytime we take her out the kennel. I know it’s not an aggressive bite- she’s either overwhelmed or thinks we’re playing but dang do those fangs hurt!!! The only good thing is that even when she doesn’t want to go in the kennel, when she does, she eventually settles. It’s also so funny bc when we’re outside she’s sweet and listens (ish) but it’s when we go back inside the house the craziness starts! I’ve only had a small breed as a puppy so their bites weren’t as significant as my current one. I want to say she is a beagle/jack Russel terrier mix … maybe some shepherd but more so the other two breeds. The shelter mentioned she’s a medium breed. I see the beagle terrier in her as she is crazy smart and loooves to sniff and dig. I understand the time and effort that goes into taking care of dogs, but wow- my life feel like it’s turned upside down. I’m so happy I found this page bc it’s nice to know I’m not alone. I feel extremely guilty and frustrated with her and myself. I know dogs pick up on energy and I try my best to remain calm, but it’s so hard to not have a reaction when she bites. I’m 100000% okay with her never being a couch potato, but the constant bitting is really taking a toll on me. My arms and legs are bruised up and it’s getting harder to redirect her. Kongs eventually lose interest, plushies make her more amped up, sniffing puzzle games work for like 3 min until she realizes she could just grab the whole puzzle and flip it over so all the treats come out (crazy smart!!!) I also try to tire her out with walks so she can smell around, but that amps her up when we go back to the house. After we walk, before we enter the house, I wait for her to sit and/or lay down and then we open the door. The second she steps inside- nope all calmness goes out the window. Once she’s amped up she gets into her biting frenzy which is so hard to redirect. Today we finally got a play pen, and anytime I’m in with her and she tries to bite I get out and go behind a door in another room and give it a couple seconds. She barks but I try to wait when she stops. At this point I can’t tell if I’m getting through to her and this is all just puppy craziness or if this is making her even more frustrated with me and defiant.

I mentally prepared myself for a dog but I underestimated how much a puppy could throw off every video, book, or other resources you’ve taken in to prepare. Also, she is good with people, hasn’t barked but is just a little too excited haha with dogs, she hasn’t barked but they bark at her (>:/) She usually whines so I try my best to keep distance and take her out of the situation. My bf and I signed up for puppy classes from the shelter we got her from. So I’m hoping she could get a better experience with dogs there vs the ones here who bark at her. I would love for her to positively play with puppies her age and possibly learn manners on when the biting is too hard. Idk I never knew about puppy blues till now and I get so overwhelmed thinking about how I always need to be on top of it. Whether she’s getting properly exercised physically and mentally, but not so much to the point where she gets frustrated overstimulated or catching her every time she does an unwanted behavior and properly redirecting her. It’s for sure allllooooot especially with medium/large dogs whose bite her 5x more. Can someone tell me if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel?? I know for biting she won’t necessarily outgrow it, I’ll need to show her what’s actually ok to bite and not bite, but plsss tell me this phase is just a phase and her impulsive decision to bite whenever goes down? I feel so shitty bc I always felt like I love dogs even ones that have bad reactions and I would do whatever it takes to make it work, but I am realllllly feeling the puppy blues and it’s making me question everything I know and if I was never ready for a dog in general))): I am so tired and a little sleep deprived and a little delusional. Sorry this post is literally all over the place but I just wanted/needed to dump huhuhuh

Also if anyone owns a jack Russel terrier or beagle or mix of both and has had these experiences, pls share what’s worked or what I could do moving forward to help redirect her T-T

I seriously need help crate training my puppy. He has no problem eating and grabbing toys out of his crate. He'll even sit in it while I'm training him. But he won't sleep or settle in it. I've used treats, kongs and toys. He has a blanket in it and the shirt I wore to sleep in. I turn on fans and low classical music. Once the door closes he starts crying. He will continuously cry for over an hour. I don't know what else I can do to help ease him in. I don't think its just a crate thing though. He also whines if I'm on the couch or bed and he's on the floor. Is this a separation anxiety thing?

Hi everyone, my 4 month old male puppy got home from the vet getting neutered as well as his last round of shots yesterday. I was anticipating the vet giving me all the information I need, as before hand I saw conflicting information online. When I picked him up the advice given was mainly about the next 6-12 hours regarding the anesthesia wearing off, and to wait 2 weeks to bathe him. The discharge paper I was given says “unless otherwise instructed your pet should not require special attention”. They also didn’t give me a cone but told me to monitor if he started licking the incisions (he’s been fairly uninterested and quickly redirects, thankfully, but I’m getting him a recovery suit anyway). Is this standard? From everything I saw online it seems most people get a pretty specific timeline on when their puppy can resume activity again. Today I’ve been going crazy trying to keep him chill and not running or jumping. My parents say that if it hurt him he wouldn’t do it, but I’m just nervous he’s going to accidentally bust a stitch open. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I just want what’s best for him. Thank you and sorry for the long post!

I’m not really sure what I’m looking for in writing this post I guess I just need to get this off my chest- to preface I live with my parents, brother and sister (11 and 19)

For a couple of months I’ve been searching for a puppy to be a friend to my sisters 2yr old JRT who likes other dogs but is unpredictable with them on meeting (unsocialised as puppy) – might snap at them unless theyre super friendly/submissive/female etc (with some exceptions) so we try to avoid other dogs on walks altogether unless we warn the other dog walker beforehand. So I just assumed he wants to be friends with dogs just doesnt fully know how

So a week ago I found a 9week old female JRT puppy online, came home with it- they didnt meet outside the house just got used to eachothers smell/presence for 2 days then they met and were fine and playing. 2yr old is rough when playing (probably because he wasnt socialised/just likes tackling) and we usually have to intervene when it gets too one-sided. Im just thinking he may prefer to be the only dog. We do let him correct her and praise him as he is an anxious dog

Anyway thats all fine and good but the problem is I’ve had a past of anxiety/depression and I thought it was mostly gone. Until the 2nd day of getting the puppy I got puppy blues bad. Ive been crying everyday since then & worrying about everything concerning this puppy- training, me not having enough sleep, worrying about watching them playing so she doesnt get badly injured, cleaning mess, dreading future training, etc. Now I wouldnt mind usually but I’m doing most of this myself – my family has work & school. I work from home (freelancer) & I havent had time to do things I want to do or work. Yes family plays with the puppy/train but not for very long then its up to me again- feeding, sleep schedules, training. Ive been trying to make pup not too reliant on only me. Ive asked one of my parents if they can take a bit of time off work (or less hours) just to give me a break for a day but they said no (they really want me to keep this puppy but I dont think I can do it anymore)

My whole world now revolves around this puppy. Ive not been eating well and have lost weight. Ive been drinking during the afternoon to get thru the day- I /was/ sober for 3 months (was heavily reliant for 8 yrs). Ive been so tired I dont feel like doing any training with it and it makes me feel so bad because shes so smart (I am still training her just feeling drained)

Today I was looking at fostering services which seems better for the pup than being in a pound. Usually I’d be crying right now while its sleeping but I just feel so calm and relaxed knowing that it might leave. I know Im a bad owner. I keep regretting ever getting it. But I want it to have a good home while its still young and can hopefully bounce back quickly. Shes a very happy pup & loves people. I just am hesitating bc I feel bad for my family cos they like it Also we are moving house in a couple days. I dont want to move her to a new house only to rehome as Im guessing might cause stress

I have a 14-week old mini dachshund, I posted about him previously he’s so energetic and loud and clingy. I nearly lost my mind on week 11.

Yesterday I decided I’d get him used to being in a harness because I’d start bringing him out with me when his vaccines are complete.

His attitude has changed all together, he’s so calm now with his harness on. I took it off just to see if it’s lethargy or anything I should be concerned with, but he just goes back to being crazy with the harness off.

Our other dogs at home are all inside dogs so they don’t wear collars and I wasn’t planning on getting him one yet but now I feel like he’ll feel safe with it on, similar to his harness. Or maybe pet clothes? Idk I feel crazy, but anything that works with keeping him calm (and getting us both more sleep), is worth a try in my book 🥲

Context: Puppy is s bit over 1yo maybe 3-4 mo into it we honestly dont know her dob. Some bichon mix/mut

I feel like she is not the issue at all. Honestly she does very well with what she's given basically. But i feel like i cant exercise her properly and generally give her the attention she needs and it kinda makes me sad and guilty.

I try to walk her for about an hour every day (latetly it has been really cold an shitty so its more like 30 mins). And id say its a pretty bad quality walk. We walk to a local very small park where all i do with her is let her sniff as much as possible and when she gets bored of that i throw her a stick a couple of times and rehearse some stay/come. All that takes us well under an hour to do the rest of it is going over the same spots shes been to already sadly. And thats about all i can do. The area is full of stray dogs and even in the park i have to keep my guard up all the time, luckily she made friends with a local older man that takes care of a building in the park and we hide there sometimes when hes around.

I've tried exploring the area a bit more with her but its honestly stressfull. Dogs barking left and right and thats if i am lucky. If i am unlucky 2 big black dogs start running from around the corner spot us and start running towards us. If that souds specific thats because it happened she was younger and i basically started running and while running i picked her up by fishing her by the leash.

From around 18 till 21 shes around us. Either we let her outside if she asks or i try to play tug with her and we do another more serious training session where we go over all her commands and we try new ones. She knows: sit, down, high 5, paw, play dead, touch, spin, heel, between legs, stay/come, up (on couch), down (from couch) and i'v tought her to find treats i place in different locations. We're curently working on roll over and diferrentiating the left paw from the right paw. Even the ones she knows are not perfection in any way shape or form but i am happy with them.

But that's about it after that she's either outside by herself for a bit or sleeping / laying about. And thats a happy day. In reality i even dont have time for her walk in the morning and/or i am too spent/depressed in the evening to give her attention. Or everyrhing that we do that day is just plain bad quality. I do well with teaching her tricks/commands but i am not really a happy person so i am not good at playing with her or getting her excited in creative ways always.

And in top of all that i've basically gave up on any form of behavoir training because of may parents and sister. Its an uphill battle. I tell them to stop her from barking when they catch her doing it and when barking happens they even encourage it citing "Dogs should bark that means they are good workers" or some dumb shit like that.

I've told my mother since we got her to not be overly joyfull with her when she comes back from work to prevent anxiety and i ve stopped asking a long time ago soo the puppy goes all whiny when my mom comes back. At least the puppy does not do it with me or at least is not nearly as bad.

And not to mention that they both refuse to do any commands work with her. All they do is give her anxiety and play with her once in a full moon. And it kinda pisses me off the the puppy still choses to sleep with them :)).

My sister either is not at home or shes tired or doesnt feel like it… And even when she does take her off my shoulders it feels half assed lot of the times. Maybe i am delusional.

I honestly wish for some snow this year. She really liked it when she was small she would burry herself in it and it generally brought the zoomies out of her.

It kinda kills me seeing her quietly settle on my bed or her bed while i have to work after trying her luck with me by pushing her toy against me.

I dont know i dont have a solution for any of this. I would give her away but u feel like everyone would be against me even though they probably wouldnt do anything to stop me. Shes also grown on me quite a bit and she really makes me proud when she's doing well on a new trick or listening when i dont expect her to

Idk

Puppy (7 mo, great pyrenees/kangal/border collie mix) has started to exhibit some odd behaviour on walks. Near the end of our walks, he almost always starts to turn on me, jumping up and biting (though not hard enough to hurt me) and it's getting gradually worse. Some things to note:

• He's pretty good most of the time. I have a harness with a front clip to help him not pull, and apart from being a little excited when he sees another dog or person, we have no issues.
• This seemed to start when the snow started to fall (he LOVES snow and wants to play in it 100% of the time, which I won't let him do on our walks)
• We used to have an issue with his nipping, but he's outgrown it. I think it was because he was a singleton puppy and had no idea that his bite could hurt.
• To correct this behaviour, I've tried:
  • turning my back on him (he's 70 lbs, so this was not effective, to say the least)
  • Taking him by the collar to regain some control and making him sit (somewhat effective, he will sit and calm, but will resume jumping as soon as I try to walk again)
  • practicing some commands, with treats. I'm not sure this is the right way to go, as I'm concerned he'll think he's being rewarded for the bad behaviour.
  • Waiting it out. This seems to be the best course of action so far, but I'm not sure it's correct.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

I have a poodle girl who just turned 3 months today and she absolutely HATES getting her hair brushed and doesn’t like me messing with her paws. I still have been doing it and touching her feet but is there anything I can do to make the process easier before she gets older and she loses that puppy fur?

Hello everyone! For a little back story. My wife and I recently got a pure bred husky 2 weeks ago. She’s been a wild ride, as expected. We’re trying a new training method compared to our older husky mix, positive reinforcement. It’s been a patience game for me since all my past dogs have not been trained that. At the end of the day I think this method is best for a husky overall but, consistency is key.

Today, our older dog isn’t feeling well so she’s been in bed most of the day. We have been redirecting the puppy that this bed is not her space even when it’s empty. This has been a challenge to enforce but it’s only been 2 weeks. Today the puppy tried to play while our older dog was in bed. As you can imagine that didn’t go well. Lots of teeth, growling and barking from the older dog, she never stood up or lunged. This was also the first time this happened too. Most times even when she’s in bed she just gets up and moves but today because she’s not feeling well (I’m assuming) it’s different. My wife immediately picked up (she was next to the puppy) the puppy and began to walk up the stairs. Shortly after, the puppy growled and barked at my wife’s chest (not face if that matters). With my wife being startle by this she dropped her. To clarify she was midway up the stairs that she couldn’t fall through.

So my question, what would have been the best to handle that to keep it positive. Also any advice for other times she growls?