Category: Top Dog

My 1 year old puppy keeps biting her tail when we have her sleep with us in the bed, it when we have her sleep in her kennel it doesn’t appear that she does this, I also haven’t seen her do this any other time! Does anyone know why she’s doing this or advice on how we can stop this?

I am really conflicted on what to do with my puppy. I have a 9 month old Sheltie puppy that I got 3 months ago and I have not bonded to him at all.

This is my second dog, I had a rescue who died a year ago and I’ve been wanting another dog so badly ever since. My last dog had a lot of breed specific behavioral issues that really limited my life and what I could do because he was very bite prone. Despite that I loved him and miss him terribly. I say all this to say that I have dealt with a difficult dog before and I adored him and would never have given him up.

I decided to get a puppy from what I thought was a reputable breeder so I could raise this dog from the beginning and hopefully have a better adjusted dog that I could take everywhere with me without having worries. I used to take my last dog everywhere but it was challenging bc he had to be muzzled and watched.

The new puppy wasn’t socialized which I didn’t learn till I had him. He had never left the property or been on a leash or climbed stairs or been in a car. Everything terrifies him. I can barely touch him because he’s so skittish, and in 3 months I have barely been able to brush him which he needs because his fur is really long. He pees and poops in the house still and training hasn’t been sticking; for whatever reason he just cannot absorb the commands no matter how much we practice. He pees in the car and can’t handle a 5 minute ride. He’s afraid of cars so we can’t walk on the road so we’ve just been walking circles around my house for months for our walks, I’ve tried taking him to a nature trail but the car ride freaks him out so much he doesn’t want to walk when we get there.

Regardless of all these things I don’t think any of it would matter if I felt love for this dog. I do not hate him by any means but I feel no connection to him. My last dog I loved the moment I brought him home and would have died for him. I find myself not wanting to be around the new dog. I don’t know what to do with him. He doesn’t engage into sniffing games or fetch or toys or puzzles, I’ve had a trainer I’m working with but that hasn’t made a big difference.

I feel overwhelmed and sad and anxious. I don’t feel like the puppy is happy with me and I don’t feel happy either. I have family friends who live on a farm and have kids and other dogs and animals and lots of fenced land. They’ve said they want him if I don’t. (I talked to the breeder first but the moment she heard I knew someone who might want him, she didn’t offer to take him back or find him a new home) When we have gone over to their house, my puppy loved playing with the other dogs and kids and exploring their property. It seems like maybe that might be a better fit for him and he may thrive more in that environment. I live alone with him and even though my parents are a couple houses down and we see them all the time he doesn’t have other animal friends or kids to give him constant company or attention.

Despite all this I still can’t make a decision. I loved being a dog mom and I miss that part of my identity so much. I miss going on hikes and all the people I met through having a dog. Most of my friends have dogs. I know I will feel lonely and left out if I rehome my puppy. On the other hand I am not enjoying being around him and I don’t know if I ever will. I am still taking care of him as best as I can, he has so many toys and treats and beds and training and whatever he needs. I will never neglect him. But as of now I am just going through the motions and it’s making me really depressed. I don’t know what to do. I keep hearing from people that it will get better and the love will come but what if it doesn’t? Am I being selfish if I keep him?

Our 14 week old Golden Retriever puppy has become more reactive to food, or any time we are generally in the kitchen preparing food. He is relatively non-vocal for breakfast, but extremely vocal for his second meal. He has become vocal when we are preparing food in the kitchen or for our cat. He has never been fed human food or hand fed anything from us other than treats. If he is kept in a separate room in his playpen he is equally vocal, which I assume is because he can see us in the kitchen. Any advice on how to train to minimize him being vocal? Or is he just a puppy that needs to grow out of it and be reinforced and told no

She’s four months and insane, but I love her.

I’ve tried soaking the kibble, in bone broth, water and water with peanut butter mixed in. I’ve tried a new brand, I’ve tried slow eaters to make it interesting, I’ve tried tough love with a tough schedule, I’ve done hand feeding, I’ve done toppers- we’re on like our fourth day in a row of her only eating one meal and I’m going to go insane.

Everything else about our routine is magnificent- she gets her daily 18 hours of sleep, crate training is going amazing, our walks are finally enjoyable without pulling, she’s listening well- it’s just the eating that’s a major pain rn. She’s not sick, nowhere near lethargic, she just doesn’t. Want. To. Eat.

Hiya! I just got a male 8 week old golden retriever last Saturday. I’ve never had a puppy before, only cats. I work from home but I’m a mental health therapist so I can’t leave my office 50 minutes at a time. I’ve tried desperately to crate train him but so far he doesn’t like it. He is fine going inside with the door closed but as soon as I walk away, he loses it. My partner has said we should let him cry it out. I’ve read 10-15 minutes is good but when I’m in session, I can’t get him out if he’s still crying. He will bark, scream, and make strange noises, biting the crate.

I’ve read conflicting advice of what to do. He’ll fall asleep easily on the couch within minutes as soon as I take him out. There have been a few times he’s been able to sleep but as soon as he’s awake, he freaks out. I feel like crying. I know it’s only been 6 days but I’ve tried all the positive associations with the crate, like pupsicles, all his meals in there, lots of treats, and toys. When he screams and cries, it elevates my heart rate and I just don’t know what to do. I worry he also has separation anxiety. Any tips would be great!

So long story short, I was carrying my puppy when I tripped and fell, breaking my ankle. He is 10 wks now and I am so sad.

I can't play with him like I was and I can't train things that take a lot of moving around.

I really wanna cry because I wanted to be the most exciting human in his life but at this point but he loves and gets excited around everyone else except me.

I can spend tons of time with him but the fact I'm stuck in one spot is really not interesting to him. Plus he needs to be socializing and I need to rest.

I just cry trying to do as much as I can without re-hurting my ankle (I have pushed it a couple times now that really ended badly).

I then tried the quality over quantity with spending time with him but he really wants to explore and learn. And I want that for him too but I just can't.

He has learned sit, roll over, spin (both directions), "touch", down, mat, kennel, wait.

I feel defeated.

He is so smart and I want to give him the world but I don't want an unruly dog that is more work in the future just because I couldn't be engaging and set good foundations.

I took my 5 month old pup (Shikoku Ken) to a new daycare since the one I take him to regularly was booked up for spring break. The new daycare was 5 minutes away from my place and when I walked in it looked very nice so I had very high hopes for it.

I took him yesterday for a temp test to see if he’d fit in with other dogs and for the staff to see his overall temperament. When I picked him up the staff said he did very well, was excited to play with all the dogs, and even napped in the sun which made me very happy to hear. Once we were home I fed him and tried to pet him and he seemed to flinch, cower down, and his tail went down. That is obviously unusual for him because I am his person, he’s literally stuck to me like gum and follows me every where so I know he trusts me. I didn’t think much of it because maybe he didn’t expect me to reach down to pet him ? I don’t know yesterday kinda felt like he was distant with me and like I had to win his trust back again. By bedtime he was fine and normal so I chalked it up to him having a long day at a brand new place. Today I dropped him off again at the new daycare and I am so disappointed and heartbroken for my puppy. While I was waiting to get attended, they brought out someone else’s dog that was there before me. That dog must’ve had some type of reactivity because it was lunging at anyone they saw pretty aggressively while their owners were grabbing the leash tightly dragging them and trying to get their attention with a treat. Once those people left, the front desk people were talking to each other saying that dog has gotten worse and the other person agreed saying it was because the dog was constantly there for almost 12 hours a day. That was my first red flag because as a pet parent I want my pups behavior addressed to me plus I hated how they openly talked about around me, a customer. Also, if that dog had reactivity, I would not want it around my puppy and I know many owners could agree with that. When they finally bring out my puppy they hand me his food. The person who handed it to me kind of seemed ashamed or embarrassed and in a low tone they said that my pup didn’t feel like eating today. In my head I knew that was a lie, he will choose food over playtime anytime and every trainer I have gone to comments on how food motivated he is. I’m also very disappointed because if my pup does not eat regular meals before the 12 hour mark from his last meal he ends up throwing up bile from having an empty stomach (very common for his breed). It had been 11 hours since his last meal when I had picked him up. We then get to the car and he climbs on me to nap (he does this every time after daycare) and he smells horrible. I understand that they get dirty playing with other dogs but he smelled like straight urine and that’s when my heart broke. I feel like I failed him. When we got home (we live in an apartment) he saw another dog and his owner came to let his dog to say hi to mine since they asked if he was friendly and if that was ok with me. My pup immediately puffed out his chest and the other owner saw that and dragged his dog away which is understandable. My puppy has never done that before, he’s so happy to meet new dogs and play with them. I feel like something might’ve happened which caused that reaction. It sucks because his breed is known to remember interactions especially negative ones and react based on that negative experience. I have spent so much money to prevent dog aggression in him since that’s also prevalent in his breed and I feel like that went down the drain. I just feel so guilty right now.

Hello,

Puppy is 11 weeks, Whippet, 1 week.

I am in a strange spot after reading in here about a lot of people struggling with crate training, but my particular problem is that I have a pen for my puppy and the crate inside the pen, when I place him in the pen with the crate door open to wind down and sleep — he is restless and cry’s. But when I put him in the crate with the door closed he settles within a minute and goes straight to sleep

Is this normal that he loves the crate so much that he can only settle when locked inside? I believe the breeder I received the puppy from had the dogs in a kennel outside to be raised so I am thinking maybe he would have been locked inside the kennel and let out at times so it feels familiar

Just double checking that this is good behaviour

I'm likely rejecting my kidney transplant and have been in and out of the hospital a lot. When I'm not, I'm absolutely exhausted. My poor 15 month old Aussie is struggling. We went from doing stuff all the time and structured days, to her being taken care of by my elderly family most days. She is definitely hitting her teenage phase and my perfect calm pup is a tornado of terror, and having unmet needs doesn't help. She is having a hard time regulating her emotions, and is into EVERYTHING (this hasn't been an issue previously). I'm worried that this "time" is going to shape her behavior and habits for the rest of her life. I've been down and out for about 2 months… And if it is rejection, it means long days at dialysis.

Has anyone been through something similar and came out okay on the other side ( I mean with the pup being a chaos queen due to life circumstances). Being so sick has made me extra impatient too, and I feel like such a bad owner. At what point do you consider rehoming…. I can't even believe I'm asking that, but I just feel so bad for my girl. She is just a baby and shouldn't be crated as much as she has to be right now. She gets lots of time playing fetch in the backyard, but I know that's not enough.

I'm so heartbroken, and looking for advice, input or support. I'm not sure I could live with myself if I rehomed.. That's how much I care for her.

we had to put down our older dog a couple weeks ago. she was 15, and our current dog is 1. i have noticed him being more restless (not sure the best word to describe it) since she died. we got him a year after our previous dog died, but i think he needs a freind sooner than that. she never really played with him due to her age, so its not like he suddenly doesnt have someone to play with that he did before, but we went to a family freinds house about a week ago who has a dog, and he looked so happy to be around another dog. is it to soon to get another dog? should we wait a bit longer?

edit to clarify: my family is ready i think, we have talked about it a couple of times, im just wondering how much time we should give our current pup to greive and adjust to the fact that she is gone. thanks to everyone who took the time to read and reply 🙂