Category: Top Dog

We have a 14 week old Golden Retriever who seems to respect me (M50) but doesn’t not respect my partner (F53) and my son (M17). My partner works from home and generally she sits on the couch with her laptop but our puppy is always biting her legs and feet. My partner has tried ignoring it then praising when she stops but it’s hard to ignore being bitten. She bits my partners feet and my sons feet whenever they walk everywhere too, but she doesn’t do it to me. I gather it’s cause I have a deep voice whereas my partner and sons is high pitched so no matter what my partner says to her she continues to do it until she is put in her crate. I feel helpless as I’m at work til 7pm and by then our puppy is winding down and my partner is upstairs crying. What else can my partner do? We feel we have made a big mistake with her.

We have a 5 month old corgi, who I drop off at my best friends house twice a week so I can work my 10 hour shift and not have to lock him up for it. She has a pitbull mix, Bernese mountain dog, and an Aussie. So he’s really well socialized and loves “runnin with the big dawgz” lol. Last year, when my husband and I were buying a house. Her and her husband let us rent a room from them so we could save money on rent, and since they were the MOH and best man in our wedding it worked out well. Well when we lived there we noticed their dogs always had really rancid breath. Not the dogs fault, but it was always more than just oral hygiene stuff. Almost like something they ate or were eating was causing it. I’m also not sure on their brushing habits… I brush my boys teeth once a month, and he gets them professional cleaned at the groomer every 6 weeks! So this hasn’t been an issue for us… until yesterday when I picked him up. He has the same breath her dogs have, rancid. Not just bad doggy food breath, like really nasty smell. I know this is super frivolous, and I’m not upset with my friend at all, just gonna brush my guys teeth and move on. But does anyone have any ideas of what this could be caused by?

Hey, I have a 45 days old German shepherd, he pees and poops around the house which is totally fine given he's just a baby. I was wondering at what age do I start giving him training using treats. I don't give him treats yet cuz pet shop owner said he is way too small to be trained and too many treats might ruin his appetite for his meals. Also i was looking up how I can clean if he pees outside his mat which he does most of the time I came accross pee absorbant pad or something, but my pup pees like a bit more so if I use it everytime he pees its gonna be super costly. I don't compromise on anything when it comes to my pup but a little help from experienced owners could help me a lot. (Also he gets really hyper when the food comes, I wait for him to calm down but when I see him go crazy I just get scared he might hurt himself so I let him eat)

I'm a force-free dog trainer in Brighton UK researching training mythology for a book project. New puppy owners get bombarded with outdated advice from trainers, breeders, vets, family, and that suspiciously confident person at the park.

What's the worst/most baffling advice someone's given you about your puppy? Bonus points if you actually tried it before realising it was rubbish.

I have a labrador f13 & dog m(5) ,am i wrong in thinking of getting a pup to play with m(5) to give her peace & also mother if she feels that way? Or is it too much energy for her? Wouldn't get 1 after ,as would feel like a replacement.

My husband and I have a 10 month old Chihuahua-Jack Russel mix (male, neutered). Ever since the neuter he has been more anxious and nervous (he has some separation anxiety and FOMO). Usually this is not a big deal because I work from home and my husband and I are homies so he is almost never alone but for a couple hours a week. However, recently we went to my in-laws where there were dogs and kids playing (we don't have kids) and he had to be on his pen most of the day and he got so stressed he was sick most of the trip (it was a little better when the other dog left, but still not great). I honestly was so stressed about him being sick and stressed that I broke down in tears one day. He instantly got better after we jump in the car and he slept the whole 10 hours back home and finally ate and he stopped having stomach issues.

Now the issue is, we are going to my husband's extended family for Christmas and we don't have anyone to pet sit for us so he will come. They only allow him in one room and so he will have extended periods in which he will alone. I'm not sure about the holiday schedule but I was trying to plan on check on him every 4 hours. This trip will be only 2 full days (2 other driving but he usually is pretty good at the car), but is already taking a mental toll on me as I'm stressed it will be as bad or worse as the Thanksgiving trip and I want to enjoy the holidays but I don't want to stress out my dog.

Does anyone has advice on this? Should I contact my vet for anxiety meds or is there any tool I could use to calm him down?

This is for secret Santa at my workplace.

Coworker adopted an 8 week old pug just last week. His name is Remy though I’m not sure about the spelling.

I need some ideas for gifts that fit a $40 budget.

Hi everyone,

I’m pregnant with my third and suddenly super anxious about my Bully girl (almost 2 y/o). She had a rough start (little socialization), but with training she’s come a long way.

Two things triggered my fear again:
• At 10 months she bit my son during over excited play (behaviorist said it was because she was high in arousal and lack of bite inhibition, never happened again). But I think i'm still a bit traumatized by it.
• Recently she tried to do a playful “nip” at a child who biked past us really fast (no contact, impulse reaction). She used to nip us out of happiness as well, but we managed to train that away inside.

She’s actually amazing with my own kids, and I even chose this breed because they’re known for being so tolerant with children, so it feels ironic that I’m scared now. Probably pregnancy hormones making everything 10× worse, but still. + all the scary “Bully attacks kid” stories online.

I’d love to hear positive experiences from people with Bullies ( or similar breeds) who did well with babies and toddlers. Just need some perspective until the behaviorist comes by.

Thanks ❤️

My dogs are very vocal and will bark at the dog on the other side of the valley, but they never react to dogs on TV, even in travel shows and other "real" shows, they just keep sleeping. Do they understand what those dogs are saying and just not care, or is there some kind of bark accent that they don't understand.

Nothing to do with body language, just barks

I'm searching for high anxiety crates with doors on the side for XL dogs. I have a 110lb rottie who will be about 135/140n once he's fully grown.

I have a house with very limited space, and my dogs current knockoff impact crate takes up a HUGE amount of floor space in my living room. The dimensions are 41 x 27 x 33. We are wanting to rearrange things and move the crate to the corner, rather than where it is now, jammed between the end of my couch and my entertainment center. it currently blocks access to my entertainment cabinet and 2 outlets. We move it out if we want to put in a blue ray or need a board game then move it back. 🤦‍♀️ If we had a crate with a side door it would be ideal, then I could put the crate in the corner out of the way. Searching online I can't seem to find any. I landed on a blog by Impact Crate but every one I saw the door was in the end. Thanks in advance for any help!