Category: Top Dog

Hi everyone,
I have a 7-month-old pup and I’m confused about balancing daily meals, enrichment toys, and training treats.

I work from home, and other than the walk, I feel like she gets too bored throughout the day. She eats 2 meals per day (AM and PM). Because it’s summer where I am from, I can only take her out for a walk in the evenings, as it’s too hot otherwise. I want to use food enrichments, but I worry about overfeeding and weight gain.

Questions:
1. Does enrichment count as part of the daily food, or is it “extra”?
2. If you don’t give food enrichment all day, what do pups do instead?
3. When walks are limited, how do you keep dogs mentally satisfied?
4. Do you use boots for hot pavement? What budget options work for hot weather?

I have a 10 week old puppy that I’ve had since he was 8 weeks. He started licking the pee pad right after he pees. He didn’t do this before but now I catch him doing it every time and shoo him away. I try to replace the pad as soon as I can but he gets to it before I do. I tried doing some research and pee licking could indicate UTI but he doesn’t show any signs of pain or discomfort. He’s currently on Hill’s science puppy small bites chicken and brown rice. It was recommended by our vet. Anyway, Is this normal puppy behavior? Has anyone else experienced this with their pups?

Also any tips on puppies would be greatly appreciated 🤍

I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. He won’t stop biting and he hates his crate and will bark at air. He gets way too overwhelmed whenever someone’s over and potty training only works 50% of the time. I know it’ll get better but I’m just looking for advice thatll actually help

Im just planning ahead for when our puppy arrives. But some things that are easily available in some countries don’t seem to be here.

Peanutbutter – it’s really hard to find peanutbutter here that has no salt at all, what salt percentage would be ok, if any? 0,4 percent salt is the one I can find with less salt.

Liver pate? What ingredients should I look out for?

Apple sauce – it should be sugar free right?

Fruits – what fruits are ok? Is it ok to use the frozen ones?

Yoghurt – what type should it be? Greek unsweetened?

We don’t have pumpkin pure, how would you fix a pumpkin to do your own pure? Oven bake it? Boil it?

What else can you put on them?

Sorry for stupid questions – I have been reading up on things not safe for dogs so I’ve got the basics, I just don’t want to do anything wrong.

We have a 12 week old puppy and we have had him 3 weeks and we are generally loving it! He has taken to training fairly well but one of the things he is struggling with is separation. We are crate training and he is quite happy to sleep in the crate but not quite at the point of taking himself in there to chill out yet.

He is struggling a bit with being left on his own, we have a baby gate we use to keep him in the living room when we have a job to do in the rest of the house and whenever we leave him he will have a puppy meltdown unless someone is with him.

There has been a few points where I have had to leave him in his crate to pop down the shops for 15/20 minutes and I watch him on our security camera, he will cry in his crate for about 10 minutes but then settle down so I don’t think it’s full blown anxiety, but we really need him to be happy being left in his living room whilst we do chores or take meetings.

Any suggestions?

Hi! I have a little whippet pup of now 17 weeks. I feed him kibble 3 times a day. Next to that, he also gets a lick mat every time he goes into the crate with 100% chicken meat. Around 30 grams per feeding, 3 to 4 times a day.

So basically: around every 2 hours he has a meal (3/4x 30 gram chicken or the 3x 80 grams kibble)

I notice he doesn't always eat his afternoon meal. Do you think I can switch to 2 meals a day for his kibble (morning and evening, 120 grams of kibble)? Since in between, he also gets the chicken meat.

Normally its recommended to go to 2 meals a day when they older, but I thought since he does get the chicken in between, it might be a possibility for us.

My goal is to make sure he eats everything and make food more high rewarding, since it just an 'option' now for his afternoon meal mostly.

We had three dogs.

1 male chihuahua, 1 female chihuahua(6), 1 female cockapoo(13). All rescues. The male chihuahua passed away due to congestive heart failure about 1 year ago. He was 12-13. He seemed to keep the peace. Both of the female dogs loved him.

Our older dog doesn't have many teeth. The chihuahua growls at her whenever she walks by, but she will curl up next to her to stay warm/sleep. We think the cockapoo puts out some type of vibe, but she's really hard of hearing, has one eye which is cloudy so likely eye sight is not great at all.

They stay in the same kennel during the day because the chihuahua has a small bladder and will pee if not in the kennel. They sleep in our bed. We have a small place and while 2 kennels would be possible it would take up more space then ideal.

They have gotten into squabbles in the past, none of which result in injury. Over the past month or or two these have escalated in frequency. They will brawl in the middle of the night waking us up, they brawl on the couch, anytime there is food around, etc.

The chihuahua is super sweet to us but a nightmare around anyone else. If we have guests she'll try to bite their ankles in a 'faux bite' way. Meaning, she snaps 6 inches away and then retreats. She will finally get used to people in the house and even lay next to them, but if they get up she losses it. We now have to put her in another room because she'll ruin the rare times we have family over. It's getting worse.

The chihuahua is now on a low dose of prozac. Doesn't seem to be working.

The cockapoo is so good with people, loving, not aggressive unless brawling with the chihuahua. Tonight it happened while unwinding from work, and this is after being awoken at 2:00 am from a brawl.

I'm at my wits end. Chihuahuas are not smart dogs, don't argue. I highly doubt there's a way to change this behavior.

I hate to admit it but for the first time the thought of rehoming or just getting rid of her came to mind. Mind you, I'm the bleeding heart of our family that adopted and found our rescues.

First our older girl doesn't deserve to live her last years this way. Secondly, I selfishly don't want to deal with this for another 10-13 years.

I'm at a loss and if there are any recommendations I'm all ears. I have never rehomed and our male chihuahua had been through 3 owners due to his behavior so I am understanding and tolerant. This is a different level though.

Thank you.

I have not been able to teach her to sit for Jack. this afternoon as I was walking her, just starting out, her leash came off. I don't know what happened but I am sure this is my fault. This is a dog who wants to run and I said Franny no, come back here loudly. She came to me immediately and SAT at my feet. I was proud and so happy as it could have been such a different outcome. I excuse her from sitting lessons. although I will still try.

Been trying to catch a stray dog for 4 months and won’t go into a traditional trap. Anyone have any unconventional ways of catching strays?