Category: Top Dog

Hi everyone. Looking for some advice here. My 7 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was neutered 6 days ago. We usually get up around 7-7:30, but lately he’s been up barking at 4:15, then 5:30, then demanding barks at 6 etc. until I finally get up. I caved the first time he did it at 5:30 so maybe it’s my fault for teaching him. Any advice on how to stop this? Is he just uncomfortable with the inflatable cone and the meds wearing off? Should I just ignore him? Maybe only use the surgical suit in the Kennel since we’re on day 7 and his incision site looks normal and good?

I ignored today and caved at 6:30 after his breaks in barks became pretty short. I even let him free roam a bit and jump more than he should have last night to see if he just had too much pent up energy. He is on the pain medication and also the trazodone. He has the surgical suit and I do put the cone on in the kennel, but we switched to inflatable a few days ago. I want to be extra safe that he won’t lick through the surgical suit, but if he’s going to keep waking me up before 5 AM I’m not sure I can take it another week using the cone as well. Thankfully he’s doing well other than this!

I’m thinking he hates the cone and I want to only have him wear the surgical suit, but if he’s up early still and starts to lick that could cause issues which we of course don’t want. Advice please!

My 7 month old GSD has been going to the same daycare for 2 months now once a week for socialization purposes (besides last week when we skipped because there was a bad snow storm). It's a very small daycare and has the same 5 dogs each time he goes. He usually loves going and gets along great with the other dogs.

Yesterday he returned and the owner said he was not acting like himself. Was very shy and hiding away from the other dogs. Even the dogs that he gets along with very well he was scared of. He ran inside as often as he could to hide in a cage. When I picked him up he couldn't wait to leave which is unusual behavior for him. He was not aggressive in any way, just acted a bit skittish and scared.

This behavior perplexed both of us because he has done so well there. The owner suspects he is going through another fear period and suggested we push through it and keep him on his regular schedule. She said it's normal for GSD to go through phases. He's sort of been a nervous nelly since I brought him home but it seemed like he was coming out of his shell all for it to go backwards within 1 days.

I have him coming to daycare for 1. socialization purposes and 2. plan to board next April when I go out of the country for 10 days. I wanted him to get used to the environment and acclimated. It seemed like he was doing very well and enjoyed going but his behavior yesterday is throwing question marks for me. I socialized him very well (places/people/noises/dogs) as a young puppy… but I'm wondering if I need to do it again?

I'm unsure how to proceed, and if there are any other steps I should be doing to mitigate this? I wonder if it's because he skipped a week…? Is this something he just needs exposure to again to get over?

Hi all

I struggle a bit with our now 3 month old pup and walking with her. She really pulls a lot and goes to every winddirection when she sniffs something and running while walking forward.

We are really happy that she is starting to get used to the street and the cars the people so in the beginning we let her do her thing so she could explorer and get used to the envoirement but the pulling gets pretty exshausting… I try standing still or going other direction or walk slowly when she pulls but she keeps pulling hard and I'm a bit affraid she hurts herself with the pulling but that she doesn't know it hurts her or don't realise

She also always jump in the high grasses of the frontyard but we don't allow that because of mushrooms growing in between and then she get's to wild and don't listen very well anymore. I try walking the time limit she get's with her age but it gets a bit hard after couple minutes i know she is 3 months and i don't expect miracles from day 1 or 2 but i don't know how to train her the right way

Okay so we have a Labrador puppy who is 5 1/2 months old and is the sweetest boy but we have recently seen a behavior change with sleeping at night. Previously he’d sleep just fine until we got up with him at 2:30 to let him out. We transitioned recently away from that and waited until we got up at 5am to let him out and he was fine with that for like a week. Well now he barks at 3:30am to be let out and we put him back into his crate but then he barks until we finally get up with him and he immediately falls asleep with me on the couch. I’m afraid this is becoming a seperation anxiety thing but idk. Maybe it’s just a phase? I’ve tried going back to getting up at 2:30am whether he barks or not but doesn’t matter he’s barking again at 4am.

I have a 6 month old puppy and generally he’s a good dog. Hes potty trained, he sleeps in his crate for 12+ hours. He does have some bad puppy behavior, he chewed on my wall (fixed) chewed up a corner of my couch pretty good, and has been tearing up grass. He’s pretty bitey and barks/jumps but I know this is puppy behavior.

My husband is not happy though and feels like our life has changed too much. He did not grow up with dogs so I think maybe this is part of the reason that he’s having trouble. I understand he’s feeling towards the bad behavior. I don’t know if this is just puppy blues that’s lasting 3+ months now.

What can I say or do to help him understand that this puppy behavior only lasts a few months and then we can go back to our normal lives. Or is it better to just rehome him?

Our pup is 8mo old, and hasn't gone potty in the house in months– probably since she was 4 months old. We still take her out pretty frequently (at least every 2 hours to be safe). Last night, I had just taken our pup outside after dinner, she was out there for a good 10 minutes, and didn't go. We came back inside, and within 10 minutes, she was pooping on the floor, basically right in front of me. I was shocked! It was a nice solid poop, so it wasn't like an upset tummy or something and she couldn't control it. What the heck! Is this an adolescent age thing? I honestly was starting to consider her potty trained. This accident was so random and shocking

hi! so we have a 12 week old chihuahua and i am worried i am setting her up for failure.

we have been working hard on socializing her by taking her out in a stroller and carrying bag to different places and letting her get used to new sounds and places. we also let people pet her, depending on the place how busy it is and if she seems comfortable and calm.

our vet has been very strict in her recommendation to not let her touch the grass where we live due to other dogs (who’s owners don’t pick up their poop). we also seem to have high cases of parvo at our dog parks and other areas.

all this being said i’m concerned about her not meeting or playing with other dogs. i know she’s young but i don’t know if taking her to a puppy class or trying to meet up with other puppies would be a smart idea. she’s a very very small girl, weighs about 2.2 pounds so im hesitant.

i just don’t want her to grow up to be reactive around other dogs.

We brought home our Aussie puppy last week (now 9.5 weeks old), and we’ve been using the crate at night, which he’s doing wonderfully. However, we’re having a bit of trouble during the day.

In the first week, we were mainly busy getting him settled into our house, so we didn’t restrict him much. But we quickly realized that was too hard to manage because he was getting into everything. This week, we started putting him in the playpen, but he’s not a fan. Even though we’re in the room with him, he just cries, sometimes for 30-45 minutes. Eventually, he settles down and falls asleep, but it takes a while. We let him out plenty during the day to play and train since we both work from home.

Are we doing this right? I feel so bad letting him cry!

Hello! I have a 24 week old standard Xoloitzcuintli. Im having a bit of an issue with her resource guarding- a major issue that I don’t want to continue as we have another puppy (I know, I know) and I do not want her snapping. The puppy is much smaller, a scottish terrier and I’m worried she’s going to hurt her.

The snapping isn’t awful (more so in the air or just very light nips- she does lunge) but when she has any chews / treats, regardless of the ‘value’ she will snap (Not bite) at the younger puppy if she gets too close. She snapped at me today when I pet her and she had a bone. Absolutely fine after, and let me take it away. I’m just wondering if this can still be curbed? We can’t feed the dogs in the same room, nor can we treat them in the same room without distracting Branwen. She’s 19kg already, and I really do worry that she’ll injure me or the little one.

I am looking into going to a professional trainer, but I want to do some work at home with it too. Any tips on how to help with this would be appreciated, thank you!