Category: Top Dog

Hi, I was wondering what kind of training you're doing with your puppy when they enter the teenage phase?

I knew to expect some regression, due to the "teenage phase" stubbornness and I knew she'd try to push some boundaries… but now I'm wondering how to find balance and not completely f*ck up her training/what she's learned so far.

For example, during walks, how do you balance the 2 following things: A. "It's normal for her to be more distracted on walks and pull more and want to go left and right and left and right. It's the exploration phase." B. "I want to continue the amazing work and progress we were doing with walks. I will not allow her to do as she wants. I want to teach my dog to walk properly."

From what trainers say, you have to be consistent with your dog and if you're going to correct a behavior (pulling on the leash/wandering left and right), ALWAYS correct it. It's not "heel, little soldier" one day, and the next day: "aw ok sweetie go smell every bush and pull left and right and play with all those wonderful sticks!!!!". Consistency, right?

But then, I'm thinking, if I don't let her explore, she'll go mad? And I'll go mad. All this "ah ah, heel" when she gets the urge to discover the world. Like? Do you give them more space to "fail" (let them ignore you, pretend it's not happening, and just keep rewarding the good stuff with the hope that it'll be enough? Where do you draw the line? 😵‍💫

So far, the "U-Turn" (8 figure) technique was working, to get her back in a heel position while walking. She'd wander away a bit and start pulling and I'd go "nah-ah", then turn the other way and yank the leash gently", then she'd adjust her position and we'd circle back and continue on our walk. I'd reward after a few steps. And, then she'd do fine for a while… but now it's like everything has speeded up and it's like "treat, thanks bye, wowwww what a beautiful gorgeous stick omg IT IS MINEEEEE 👹".

I do allow her to sometimes stop and sniff, but the issue is the intensity and the frequency, because it turns into quite a frustrating walk, although I try to be patient.

Before, she'd see something, I'd say "nah-ah" or "leave it" and she'd mostly listen and I'd tell her "good girl" and sometimes give her a treat if she resisted food wrappings or dead birds and such. BUT NOW, she's like, "well I fancy this finding of mine a lot, I shall swallow it whole and then hurry up to find my next treasure" starts pulling again or changes direction randomly.

I've tried to walk faster, or slow down the walk a lot, but it doesn't do much. Even if we are walking the same boring streets, or in a new place, it just feels off.

I'd like to keep being consistent with what I ask from her, but it seems to be too much. Do I train harder the heel command before walks (in the parking lot)? Do I just cut her some slack and give her more freedom? Dog trainers say not to give a dog freedom when they don't earn it, and I don't feel like pulling on the leash and walking in zigzags should end up with her getting what she wants.

Thanks so much if anyone has made it to the end. Thanks for reading and hopefully someone has advice/tips for me.

At first I thought it was the drugs and the sedation, but it’s been a full week. He seems more settled in the house and not as scent driven on our walks. He still loves to sniff bothering dragging metoprolol scents anymore. He’s much more calm through the day. I hope this lasts!

My pup is 1.5 yr old and suddenly changing up his entire routine and behaviors. -not wanting to go outside immediately upon waking up -not wanting to eat breakfast -not pooping on his nightly walk after dinner No personality changes whatsoever in terms of he is definitely not ill. Is this a common “puppy growing up” thing??? I dont remember this with family pets growing up. I should add he is a sheepadoodle, dont know if it is stubbornness, sassiness, adolescence, or what haha.

My last dog hated winter. I wouldn’t go outside with him, I’d just open the door, he’d go outside for 2 minutes, and then come back. No fooling around and we never had to worry about him eating things he shouldn’t have.

This puppy is the polar opposite and I really hate it. I can’t stand waking up in the dark, going outside in the snow, and having to freeze my ass off while he does everything except go to the bathroom.

I bundle up and take him on long outings multiple times a week. I’m talking about the multiple potty trips we have to take. I hate them.

He can’t go out without a leash because he refuses to learn to leave mulch & acorns and sticks alone and if he gets one, he will not drop it on command. We are training this, and he’s doing very good with indoor items/toys so I know it’s only a matter of time before he finally listens with the exciting outside stuff.

Basically what the title says. The puppy we chose is suddenly growing much bigger than her littermates, she's only a week and a half old but she's literally pushing other puppies out of the way in order to get more milk. I don't mind a big and greedy girl as long as everyone is getting fed, but does this indicate she might develop food aggression? Has she developed it already?? The only positive I can take away from it is that she'll definitely be food motivated for training.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue? She's a pitbull mix for reference if this is a common problem with the breed, and I'd like to nip this in the bud when she's a puppy if it's something to worry about, because we have children in the house. Thank you if you can help.

Hello! My puppy had a play date with another dog, and the owner of the other dog knows a few dogs in the area. Anyway one dog came to us, and he was a bit bigger than mine and played a bit rough. Anyway my pup (8 months old) gave one loud bark which felt like HEY too rough and I called her to me and she came to me between my legs to chill for a bit and went back around the other dogs to just sniff about and she went back between my legs after a while and then went back (still trying to play with the rougher dog). Then we left. To me it seemed a healthy behavior to communicate her boundaries. It’s the first time she does that. But I think it’s good? And of course, I try to control the play better next time, but she was still very keen to play with the other dog. Thoughts?

2.5 weeks ago I rescued a beagle mix puppy. She is currently just shy of 12 weeks old. This adoption was supposed to help me get over the loss of my dog in April. What was supposed to be a joyous occasion has turned into me crying near daily. First it was the separation anxiety—nonstop screaming. I absolutely cannot crate her without me fearing for her life. I’m chained to my house. We’ve at least advanced to a pen with lesser crying. Now it’s turned into her aggressively roughhousing me—like she does her toys. There is no distracting her. He is fixated in biting me—hard. I fear this getting worse quickly. It’s gotten to the point where she’s in her pen when she is not sleeping. That is the only time I’m happy. The only time she is happy is when she is allowed free run of my house, which she can’t have because she also aggressively roughhouses my cat. I have a first session with a trainer this week, but I am starting to doubt this will ever work out. I have never in my life surrendered a dog. I am considering doing so with this one.

I really want to love this thing but I can’t quite get the hang of it. I’ve heard you can use it on clothes too. What’s the technique I’m missing?

I’m currently using a hard piece of rubber to scrape hair away and it takes ages! Thanks!!

I have a 10 week old sighthound puppy that I have had for less than a week and he hates it when I leave his line of sight for even a minute. While I’m glad he bonded so quickly, I don’t want him to develop separation anxiety as I know sighthounds are prone to. We are currently working on crate training and he does pretty well as long as he can see me. The instant I leave the room he is inconsolable. Any training tips to make this transition easier? Is this just him adjusting to a new environment? Will he get less attached the longer we have him? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I find it annoying that my dog can't let me eat. She's always staring at me and at my feet when I open a bag of chips, am eating a meal, etc, etc. She wants crumbs or is waiting for something to fall on the floor.

I've given up on dealing with it though. It seems like a moot point since her other owners won't stop giving her human treats. They always sneak pieces of food from the table, give her food while on the couch, etc, etc.

It doesn't seem possible to train her to not want food when she's being rewarded from it. Training isn't situational, right?

I also give her food while sitting down, but it's dog treats. I train her behavioral issues by using positive reinforcement (dog treats) at random or when she shoes a behavior. If I hear a noise outside and she doesn't react, I'll give her a treat. I am usually sitting down when this happens.