Category: Top Dog

Hello all, I adopted a 1-year-old dog for me and my grandma 1 week ago. So far, I think he is a fantastic dog. He is insanely smart and fun and cute and most importantly; he is patient with my grandma. But he is also on Gabapentin while his neuter site heals (thought it doesn't seem to help much in terms of his energy).

I posted earlier and was criticized for my decision because he is a highly energetic border collie, I think?

I called the shelter and was ready to return him. I felt horrible that I made such an ill-informed decision and undoubtable will never let myself live it down. They advised to give him another chance so I gave it a week but have a month to return.

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I think with training he could be managable. The issue that remains is that my grandma is not as mobile as me and while can she is healthy enough to take him on walks I fear it may not be enough.

I myself work long hours (sometimes 10 – 12 hours) and because of this I consider taking him back. Another thing I noticed, is that he became very reactive to a squirrel. He started pulling with full force and I know training can fix this but it worries me if my grandma ever takes him out on a walk it could turn dangerous…

Its hard to think when you have an adorable lovable dog in your home. You try to justify and think of all the ways to make it work. I feel deep down the best thing to do would be to take him back to shelter but I might just not be experienced enough.

If I were to keep him, I could commit to 45 min walks in the morning and an hour walk after work. My grandma is retired so she has all the time in the world to be with him when I'm gone.

I (31) and bf (35) have 2 dogs between us and my dog is a vulnerable senior dog who is much smaller than my bfs Husky mix (f) dog who is 5yo. His dog barks, growls and nips at my senior (f) dog when I’m at over his house. The behavior used to be just barking but has escalated to nipping. He doesn’t actively address his dogs behavior, there is no discipline or redirection which I think just makes his dog more aggressive. How do I stop his dogs aggression or am I trying to make a relationship work that isn’t working due to his lack of keeping myself and my dog safe? since everyone is asking, I have spoken with my bf about it and he’ll either defend the behavior or will address it but once it gets to be too much, he abandons the training and gives up.

This is a long shot but Obi, my sweet german shepard, is super sad. One of his favorite toys was destroyed (by him) after playing with it for two years and his remaining toy is in major disrepair… they're both Kong brand toys and I'm looking for replacements! One is a purple dinosaur with orange spots and another is a pink axototl with purple frills. I'll pay to buy the toy and for shipping. Fingers crossed someone out there can help make Obi happy again!!

Hi! I’m trying to figure out how to get my two dogs to get along. One is a chihuahua who’s much older than my frenchie. The chihuahua is probably around 6-8 years old, though I’m not sure. He can be a grumpy grandpa sometimes, but the newer dog is a puppy, about 3-4 months old, so he’s still learning. The main problem is that my chihuahua can’t see the puppy without trying to bite or bark. The frenchie wants to play with him, but I think it might be mostly behavioral issues with my chihuahua and we’ve tried everything even slowly introducing them but nothing. I’d love to hear any advice!

So, I have a 17 year old Schnauzer/Beagle mix. We've always gone on 'adventures' together frequently, which are really just walks and hikes in lots of different parks and trails. Exploring has always been his thing much more than play, so I use a harness and retractable leash and just let him do his thing. He's definitely slowed down in terms of speed and stamina, but he doesn't seem to know it. He still starts out at a fast trot and will wear himself out after 15 minutes or so. A couple of years ago, I bought a dog stroller so we could still take long walks together, but I could put him in to rest when he got tired. The problem is, he'll only rest for like three minutes before he starts fussing to get out and walk again. Even when he's in there, he's standing up half the time. It's not that the stroller really bothers him; he seems to appreciate it when he's really tired, he just has FOMO I guess. He gets so wiped out after these walks and I can tell he's a bit sore after as well. Any ideas on helping him to accept that he needs to kick back and enjoy the ride? I'd love to keep him out longer on our outings in the fresh air and he loves to socialize with people and other dogs, but I really don't want him overdoing it at his age.

Hi guys, I recently graduated high school and am going to start university in around two months. I’ve been wanting a puppy for the longest time and figured now would be a good time to consider getting one since I’ll have lots of time to really buckle down and work on training and socialising it before I start school. The only problem is, I’m planning on getting a part time job during this break as well so I’m worried about leaving the puppy at home for a couple of hours at a time. I do live with my mum, but she goes to work a couple days of the week as well so there might be times when no one is home to take care of the puppy. I know getting an older dog is an option and while I’d love to (I actually might prefer it), we have a cat already and I think it would be ideal if the dog/puppy has grown up with a cat to hopefully reduce the chances of the dog harming my cat in the early stages… Or, if anyone has had success introducing an older dog to an existing cat and them getting along I’d love to hear about it! I also live quite close to my uni (around a 15 min drive) so the max amount of time the puppy might have to be alone would be around 3 hours once uni starts, but realistically it might be longer depending on my schedule. Would it be a good idea for me to get a puppy right now?

I have previously only had terriers or larger female dogs. My current large male dog is 65 lbs and quite tall and he pees like a horse just standing there. Is this a him thing or a tall dog thing? I do think he’d look hilarious kicking up one very long leg, but it’s odd that he doesn’t mark trees like smaller dogs.

I took my dog on a short trip this weekend and he destroyed my backseat again.

I tried blankets, hammocks, everything. Nothing works.

Recently I bought a “backseat extender” style cushion and it actually solved 80% of the problem.

Anyone else tried something better?

I have 4 rescue dogs and they're all around 40lbs. 3 of them are herding dogs and one is a sporting dog. Due to the cold they are not able to be outside as much as they are used to being, does anyone have any advice on how to keep them entertained while inside? They already have baskets full of toys which they love, but toys don't always fix the zoomies and with the Christmas tree up they can't play super rough like they normally do.

My dog does great at home, but outside he gets overwhelmed pretty easily. Too many dogs, bikes, noises, and his focus just disappears. We’re working on it slowly, but progress feels uneven. If you’ve dealt with this, what helped the most? Shorter walks, different routes, training tools, or just time?