Category: Top Dog

Hi all, I have a 1.5 year old goldendoodle who up until recently has been fairly well behaved and allowed to free roam the house while my husband and I are at work. We crated her as a puppy (stopped crating at around 10 months old) and honestly she was just never a big fan of the crate. When I tell you we tried every single thing to get her to like her crate…we did it all. Crate games, high value rewards in the crate (frozen stuffed Kong, licky mat, bully stick, etc), slowly building up the time spent in the crate, covering the crate, music on while we were gone, showering her with praise anything she went near the crate. You name it, we probably did it. She would tolerate being in there for maybe about an hour, and then it was non stop barking, crying, and just overall distress until we came home.

Anyways we stopped crating her at around 10 months old and were shocked with how much more relaxed she seemed and how non-destructive she was. She would pretty much just lay on the couch and sleep the whole time we were gone. Up until now.

Recently she has been a menace when left home alone. Ate my husband’s tennis shoes, stole a book off a table and shredded it, destroyed a wicker basket, but the cherry on top was her destroying about 5 ornaments PLUS the string lights on the Christmas tree. That really freaked me out, because I would never forgive myself if she got into something and really hurt herself/needed surgery/etc.

So now I’m struggling with whether or not to start crating her again after all this time. My husband and I work rotating hours, so the longest she would be in the crate would be about 9 hours with a dog walker coming for a 30 min mid morning break. Some days would be shorter than that. I hate to do it, because she really never came around to liking her crate, but what if she gets hurt because she eats something harmful? We have tried to dog proof the house as much as possible, but every time I think there can’t possibly be anything she could get to, she manages to find something and chew it up.

Sorry for the long post. If anyone actually read the whole things and has any advice I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

for anyone whos in the thick of potty training and going out every 30 min-hour, IT GETS BETTER! our puppy caught onto potty training really well and we use a bell but most of the time she sits next to the bell on the door and waits.

At 4 months, she was still unpredictable but stopped going in the house very often, maybe once in a while. She had to be watched 24/7. At 5 months, if she’s playing she asked to go out every 30 min-1 1/2 hours. If she’s sleeping she asked every 3-4 hours. Now at 6 months, she can hold it for 5 hours even with playing and hanging around.

My advice: be diligent about potty training!! if they have an accident, pick them up mid accident and take them outside. Go through the same door every time. Use a bell and high value treats they only get when going potty. Nature will take its course and their tiny bladders will be able to hold it more!

I'm struggling a bit right now. partly puppy blues but also just practicality.

I live in a house with my gf, her two kids, and my gfs elderly parents.

our 17 year old dog died a few months ago, and then a short while later a lab shepherd mix fell into our lap. (the vet thinks she's mostly shepherd but with a labs coat and ears)

we've had her just over a month now. not only is the house full of people, but the layout is odd, it's a very old house, and the only room we could safely contain her in is what used to be our living room. it's fairly large, has three exits. mine and my gfs bedroom is off the living room, but obviously doored off.

then there's a standard door opening straight into the kitchen, and an extra wide opening (70+ inches) on the other side that leads to the front door, a staircase, and a hall wrapping back to the kitchen.

we got gates for both of those openings, ones with doors.

yesterday she learned she can jump one of them, the extra wide one (they're the same height but idk if she knows that yet).

if I'm not in the room, she will pretty much immediately go to try to get over it. the rooms on the other side are NOT able to be puppy proofed, it's a small kitchen and space is limited so we have to resort to storing things like extra drinks, cereal, chips, on the ground. there is no other place for them.

I found one gate that is taller, but pricey, but it should stretch the gap. but isn't that just temporary? she's just gonna keep growing and she'll still be a puppy when she learns she can jump this one too.

she's not… destructive, but she seems to prefer chewing anything other than the chews, toys, and other things we've given her.

we have a crate, I didn't want to, but her nippiness with me kind of forced my hand. (for a couple weeks I used it for short 2 to 5 minute calm timeouts to interrupt legit biting frenzies on me, my arms are still shredded from it).

but she doesn't mind the crate, she naps in there open and closed of her own accord. and last night she slept in there the entire time with never a sound.

but I don't want to crate her every single time I leave the room for several months more. a 15 minute bathroom break, a 45 minute blunt outside. every single time I'd have to crate her, and that just seems unfair.

I also wanna give her the freedom in the room to entertain herself without me hovering over her all the time, but now I straight up can't without her escaping

I don't wanna spend more money every month as she gets bigger

wtf do I do?

I brought home a 15 week old poodle last night and walking on the leash has been extremely difficult. He will not walk at all, and the rescue did let me know he has never been on a leash before. My question is, should I practice leash training indoors until he’s comfortable and then take him outside on the leash? Should I bring him out and hope he starts walking? I’m unsure how to go about this.

So my dog had a lot of seizures within 24 hours (14 in last 6 hours) it happens every 20 to 30 minutes. we had only one severe one where he couldnt even stand the other are lighter ones for around 23s, we took him to vet, got prescribed medicine but nothing changed.. Anyone had something like this before?

After a lifetime of owning dogs I find myself dog-less. I lost my German Shepherd a little over a year ago, and my faithful mutt about 6 weeks ago. Life seems very empty and gray. Because of my age and health I don't feel good about getting a young dog. It wouldn't be fair to the dog, and as it would probably outlive me, be fair to my family.

I've been looking for a senior dog to give it the best last few years of its life but discovered they don't come along very often. I stumbled on a 5 year old Springer Spaniel that ticks all the marks. Laid back, easy going, happy with a comfy bed, good on a leash, knows his basic commands and gets along with other dogs, cats and people.

I think I'm going to go for it. I'm still physically able to walk him a couple of times a day. And 5 or 6 times a week I'm able to take him to a rural area for some off leash fun (depending on his recall) as I have done for the past twenty years with my other dogs.

This will be my first time adopting an older, used, pre-owned dog. :). I'm onboard with the 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months concept. Any other advice for an older guy adopting an older dog. This will be a first for me and your thoughts would be appreciated.

My Catahoula Great Dane mix snores, flinches, dreams a lot, and can’t stay awake. I’m genuinely curious.

My baby girl passed a year ago. Her favorite toy was this rubbery, nubbed, football shaped squeaky toy. She would walk around the house with it in her mouth while whining like it was her baby. Sometimes she'd drop it and ram her nose into it to make it squeak loudly.

I pulled it out of the drawer today and noticed one side of it is becoming discolored and hardened. One of her other toys did this and eventually it had to be thrown away. Is there something I can do to stop it's deterioration?

Does anyone have recommendations for toys or brands that are good for small Pomeranians and require a lot of energy?

I have a golden retriever who is absolutely brain cell deficient when it comes to knowing how to actually retrieve. She HATES tennis balls, stuffed animals, and won't even try those food mats/treat puzzles or anything a dog usually likes.

but when she was about a year old (She's 6 now), I realized she LOVES stealing plastic bottles (Gatorade, water, etc.) and ever since, I've given them to her to play with. She chews for a while and gets the lid off, then she's done with them (never ingests anything, btw.). So, for Christmas I've been collecting plastic bottles for her since October and she's occasionally caught a glimpse of my closet and gets super exited.

My issue is that she's played with bottles for so many years she's gotten extremely good at getting the lids off and gets bored quicker. I can't put treats in them because my other dogs who don't like bottles would probably get food aggression and I can't glue the lids on because it could be harmful for her. Any suggestions on how to make her present last a little longer? (I mean, she seriously can get through 5 in an hour.)