Category: Top Dog

Need some advice… I have a 7 months old shih tzu who is probably the most hyper puppy I've ever seen. She gets easily stimulated and just wants to always play. She follows us everywhere. She also barks a lot to get our attention, mostly to play. We would walk her twice a day to exhaust her but she just has so much energy. It's draining the life out of us… Another problem she has is she eats her own poop. I've tried lots of things from pineapples to forbid but nothing works. People said it'll pass with time but she hasn't stopped for a long time. TIA

So we started off our bernedoodle puppy (got at 8 weeks and now 11 weeks) in a play pen with a crate attached. Everything happened in the pen and it was great! He LOVED it and it was his safe space.

We have now moved the crate outside of the pen and upstairs to a quiet area and he's finally getting 16+ hours of sleep! Crate is zero issue. However, he seems to be hating the pen! We sometimes tether him outside the pen- either right outside the pen (with the pen door open) or in the living room while we're on the couch. 99% Feeding happens in the pen, water is in the pen, toys are in the pen. But he hates being in there and bangs on the door and gets all antsy in there. But the moment we tether him outside the pen, he's usually okay OR if I sit inside it with him to do training (settling, sitting, leave it, etc).

We are getting another crate for the pen. We need to start training him to be left alone in the pen while we're out and he's awake. I would love some tips on how to move towards this- since I feel like we've gone backwards in the pen!

• First theory is that he has bathroom anxiety and fears that someone won't take him in the bathroom because he can't see us? He hasn't had an accident in the house in two weeks.
• Second theory is he has separation anxiety and just wants to be with us. He acts like he hates the pen even if we sit outside of it. However, if we're inside it he is fine. Third theory is a mix of the first two
• Third theory is both theories are true

Helloo

my Australian Shepherd just turned 9 weeks and i’m REALLLY struggling to get him to stay in his crate without literally screaming !! i’ve had him for almost a week now and we’ve made very very VERY minimal progress in his crate.

his breeder claims he was great when he had crates growing up, and he also did amazing in his flight crate when i went to pick him up and had him in there almost for an entire day i was very excited to see how he’d do in a crate and it’s been awful 😭

we’ve tried to do crate games with various high value treats, and his meals too. i think the maximum amount of time he’s been in is about an hour but that’s only really during the day and still with occasional whining. we’ve also tried lick mats and chews and those have worked a little but not for very at all since he hates being alone.

i know it’s only been 5 days so it’s going to take time, but i can’t just let him cry it out because he just doesn’t stop. i have neighbors and we did write them a note but i can’t just be okay with the worry of disturbing them):

we’ve tried to have the crate in our room at night when we sleep and he just screams even if he knows where there. i can’t put him in his play pen we made either because he’ll just scream there too and that’s not at all insulated it’s just in the open so the neighbors would hear him SO much mor with how much louder it is 😭

he’s been sleeping with us while he crate trains during the day but last night he had an accident on the bed, and it was not fun to clean or wake up to ): we always try and wear him out before bed as well as taking him outside and limiting his food and water to prevent accidents overnight as well

idekkk!! i’ve tried just about everything despite so so much research i spent preparing to crate him any advice is greatly appreciated!! i just want sleep and i think im completely exhausted !

I have been trying to give more licking opportunities to our 5 month old puppy. I have some churros, and I seen yak chews announce and I wondered when did you start introducing Yak chews? Or Churros? It makes me a bit nervous, but I do think my puppy would enjoy them a lot. Especially before bed when we are settling down and she is in her crate after our sniffing walk.

The crate is in my room, next to my bed.

She is 5 months old 35ish pounds. She is a big girl.

Our rescue puppy is doing pretty well with crate training so far and we don’t want to mess anything up. She’s roughly 5 months old, likely a pittie mix, so she’s about 25 pounds but will probably get up to 70lbs. She’s currently in a small crate but the next size up we have is a large or xl. We really don’t want to have to buy a medium, but also don’t want her to move to too big of a crate too quickly and start having accidents in there. What should we do? Am I overthinking this?

Asking for a friend… just kidding, asking because I hear this a lot and I'm genuinely curious.

New puppy owners seem to have the hardest time with that first drop off: separation anxiety, but make it human 😂. Was it getting regular updates? Meeting the sitter beforehand? Just time?

Would love to hear what actually made a difference for people because I think it's something that doesn't get talked about enough

My wife and I recently adopted a 3 month old husky mix named Tula and for being as young as she is, she is fiercely intelligent and has picked up on training really fast. When we first got her, I would slowly start taking her on short 5 minute walks just to get her used to being out and about. Nothing crazy… Just to the stop sign a few houses down and back. She was doing amazing too! she would sniff around and be curious about stuff and I just let her be.

Then 2 cars drove by slowly one day (because it's a neighborhood) and that was it. Tula refuses to leave our driveway anymore. she won't go on walks, she's terrified of cars all of a sudden. She lost her marbles when I took her out one day and the mail person drove up going maybe 2 mph and we were easily 75+ feet away.

What happened and what can I do to help her with this? We want to take her on adventures with us when she's older and getting her to go near the road is a nightmare like she's being tortured.

Hi everyone

our boy came home 5 days ago and has been nothing short of amazing, loving, clever and just wonderful.

we have been doing crate training since day dot and in the day he loves it, plays in there, takes his toys in there, has his naps in there with the door closed with no issues. also won't cry if we leave the room whilst in there… has treats in there and we play games in there ..

night time however is a different issue, lnight one and 2 I slept next to his crate and he didn't cry at all just slept until he needed a wee or poo (his toilet training is going incredibly well) however night 3/4/5 have been Awful… lots of crying and not settling well, last night the worst,

screaming crying digging biting, even whilst I am next to him, with my hand there for soothing. he will not settle. so I had to go upstairs as I thought maybe me being there is frustrating him because he can see me but can't come out? going upstairs made it worse and he just screamed for about 1 hour but without a break so I was unsure when I should let him out as didn't want to reinforce the crying but I couldn't bare hearing him and seeing him like that any longer so I let him out just took him in the garden and returned, put him back in and just sat with him till he slept them put him in his crate and slept next to him again….

I'm just wondering why it's the night specifically that is the trigger, I know it's only been 5 days and like I say, it's amazing that he even uses his crate in the day but we don't want to do something in the night that prolongs this as we all need sleep lol 😆

debating putting the crate in our room but then will that affect him using it downstairs in the day?

guess I'm just looking for tips/reassurance

thanks