Category: Top Dog

Hi, I would like to go ahead and apologize in advance as for the past three days I’ve had probably three hours of sleep consistently as I’ve been having a lot of issues with my new pup. She is a blue healer and corgi mix. She is three months and some weeks old and we have had her for about almost 2 weeks now. The issue that I am having is less of an issue as I know that she’s just a baby, but I also am trying to keep my own sanity so any advice would be very much appreciated as I am currently leaned against my couch, trying to force myself to go to work and not pass out.

When we first brought her home, I immediately started crate training her and all the other fixings. She sits and will even stay and not just run and eat her food until I say break now this is a work in progress, of course, but I have mentioned this to say how smart she is as I have never had a dog that picks up so fast. Obviously, the first week we had her she was having issues with using the restroom in the crate and I would obviously get up whenever she’d whine to let her out. She’d go use the pup pad in a fenced in area of our living room while I stood silently and then she’d go back into the crate. After the first week and maybe even just a day maybe two she literally slept the entire night almost with me only having to get up once MAYBE twice. It was great and I was getting sleep again.

We just took her to the vet like three days ago and she is completely healthy other than worms, which I learned you can’t always see in their poop because that is the first thing I checked. So thankfully, they gave her some medicine that starts with an S and I can’t pronounce and it’s been helping kill the worms but since the exact same day, she gets up every single hour almost if I am lucky it’ll be two. Is she doing this now because of the worms? Is she doing it now because I’m doing something wrong? Did I get frequently lucky and she was just doing fine and then I got Rick rolled? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is affecting my mental health hard just purely because I can’t sleep.

Also side note when she does go out to potty she does VERY little poops/pee. And the poos are not completely solid.

Tl;DR. puppy was doing find crated at night and only woke once. Then took to vet and she got worm medication and now gets up every one to two hours. Help please.

I found what I believe to be a 12ish week old pitbull mix about a week and a half ago. He‘s a very sweet boy who is learning well. He is great in is crate and will let me and my husband sleep all night. He is learning the leash well and since finding a training treat he likes is doing well with learning sit and lay and come and stay.

But of course he’s also a little monster. I feel like I can’t look away for two seconds because he’ll find something he should chew or he’ll pee on the rug. And even though I try to be patient and understand that he’s just a puppy I feel like I can’t relax. I’m so afraid of doing something wrong and him becoming a naughty dog. I have so many dogs in my life that are good dogs but not well trained and I don’t want that.

I’m doing everything I know how but I know there is always more I could/should be doing. I feel that every time he doesn’t follow me he’s learning that he doesn’t have to do what I say. Or when I go to work and he has to be crated that I’m going to make him hate his crate which he has loved so far. I know dogs are malleable and even if they learn something not perfect now that they can still learn later but I want to give him the best foundation. I don’t want him to have issues in the future because of something I did or didn’t do.

All this to say is it’s just stressful! I know I can’t be perfect and neither can he, but I just want him to be the best he could possibly be. I don’t want to mess up. And in turn I just don’t feel like I am enjoying him. Puppies are cute and fun even though they are crazy and I wish I could enjoy that while it’s here because it goes so fast. Hell never be this tiny and cute again and I just wish I could sit a little in the joy of that. But the stress of raising him right has me so on edge I can’t just relax and have fun too.

My 13 week Old English Sheepdog has been with us for 4 weeks. she's the first puppy, or dog, anyone in my family has had. Narya is pretty high energy and doesn't self settle much. I learned about enforced naps here and it has changed our whole dynamic. In the last couple days she has occasionally laid down in the kitchen or outside and dozed. however, her head pops up whenever there's a new sound or something moves. My question is, when she dozes, should we move her to the crate where she sleeps more soundly? or leave her be so she experiences more self-settling? and if we leave her, is it restful enough to call it sleep and does it count toward the 16-20 hours of sleep she needs? I can figure it out by experience over time but if there are known answers I'd like to know them too!

Puppy101 has been extremely helpful to me figuring out how to be a good puppy parent and I'm so grateful.

I'm only trying to promote best practices and whats possible with training, time and trust. I worked with shelter/rescue dogs and I am passionate about helping anyone who asks what has worked for me with these and previous dogs. Offering everything for free, volunteering at a shelter is highly encouraged to learn by playing, walking and helping is a win-win for everyone!

I have two Belgian Malinois puppies, end of April 2025 and end of May 2025 (respectively) and a rescue cat which is two years with me. They turned one year old March '26.

Lure (hand-feeding), Capture (rewarding nature behaviors), and Shaping (gradual small steps to task competence) are the pillars of training for me. Learning about body language, animal behavior and positive reinforcement psychology [please seek out peer-reviewed articles and scholarly journals] has been integral.

People often ask about specific issues i.e. potty, leash, reactive/fear, my approach is more slow burn and holistic, minutes through the day as part of routine that includes exposure to as many different places, scents, sounds and sights to build their confidence. Around the house I'll let them smell the things I'm working on so they're involved in the training process with me and not a top-down focus on rote repetition but channeling their working drive, curiosity and intrinsic motivation.

There are about 18-20 videos on my profile and I plan on uploading more from the past and as we training in the future. I'd highly recommend recording training sessions, I record them and lay in bed at night reviewing them (while dogs lay sleeping next to me). In the future I'll try to put together something more formal in writing but I tired to upload one video of each day this past week. There's also a nail trimming video, if you only clip two nails, clip two more the next day, keep it a positive experience and end on a high note.

The training I knew but didn't realize the technical terms aside from luring which while I've worked with dogs haven't heard of but trying to spread the method because it will make training so much faster, easier and opens so many possibilities for more complex training in the future, my dogs still prefer eating from my hand to eating from their bowls.

We are considering getting a dog – my husband and I have a 9, 7 and 4 year old. We are going to participate in a “couch crashers” program for our local shelter a few times to make sure having a dog is right for our family before making a decision.

What are some things we should consider when adding a dog into our lives? Any general advice when introducing a dog/puppy into a family? I’m hoping this will lead to us keeping one as our own 🙂

ETA: my husband is resistant to wanting a dog. He thinks about the expense, the hair, and the time… all valid, but has anyone else experienced this resistance? What has helped and how did it end up?

Hi,

My dogs have been on bravecto and I will still be giving it to them.

From time to time, specially in spring they still come home with ticks and I want to know if there's a natural repelent that I can add into the routine that can help keeping ticks away. I don't want to mix collars with repelents as I was told a few years back that the collars also have chemicals and that along with the bravecto might not be the best.

We also have a baby in the family and don't want any topical chemicals on the dogs skin/fur.

Any advice?

Thanks

Does anyone here have any experience with this pet door? I’m considering it for a few different reasons, but it’s quite pricey…haven’t found many reviews from real users.

Also would love to hear recs for other doors if you really like yours. I need something that is suitable for very cold winters. It will be in my small office, so I’m looking for one that won’t be drafty when closed.

Thanks!

ETA: this is the Petwalk door. I don’t necessarily need one this high tech, but I do like some of the features: https://petwalk.at/en )

My 8.5 year old terrier mix has started having bouts of aggression. Usually it happens when I am on the couch. Either when I grab office supplies (pencils, journals, coloring books)

He will jump into my lap and try to push those things away. If I tried to push him away he refuses and if I try too many times he starts to snarl and snap.

I have been trying to talk to him calmly and to send him to his kennel. In the past that worked, but now when he gets to his kennel and I shut the door he starts to snarl and scream at me as I lock the door. Then he screams and throws a tantrum. Eventually when I let him out he’s usually calmed down, but I cannot resume whatever activity I was doing.

This morning I woke up earlier than normal. I let him out of his kennel because I figured we could get a hour or two of snuggles before I had to start getting ready. He wouldn’t go outside (that’s the first thing we do every morning) and then when I went to sit down on the couch he threw himself in my lap because he wanted food. I said no but he didn’t stop. I pushed him away, he snarled and snapped. So I had to get him into his kennel (now he only goes if I say treat) and he screamed and snarled while I shut the door.

It’s only specific things that trigger him, but when he’s triggered he’s a totally different dog.

Any advice? He’s very, very food motivated.

I'm looking for recommendations on what type of diaper configuration I should try out and people's experience with different types: disposable vs. reusable, belly band vs. full diaper, snaps vs. velcro, with or without suspenders, and any specific brands that are recommended?

My 14 year old male 65lb mix is starting to have incontinence issues. I'm taking him out more frequently, even in the middle of the night now pretty much every night, but he's now peeing inside sometimes even when we had just gone out less than an hour ago, so I think it's partly mental deterioration or something as well not just physical incontinence. So I want to keep a diaper on him 24/7 just in case. Even though right now it's just pee accidents, I'm wondering if I should just get him used to a full size diaper in case it starts extending to poop accidents as well.

Hi guys! I adopted a 1 year old mini Aussie from someone who had her since she was a puppy.

We are struggling with her a bit. We’ve had her for a week. But she’s very skittish. She’ll cuddle with us at night. If she’s in her bed she’ll let us pet her. But if she’s outside or just around the house she won’t come to us and runs away if we move at all.

Does anyone have any experience with something like this or any suggestions? She’s not food motivated at all. She will eat her dinner just fine. But doesn’t do treats, we’ve offered her fresh chicken and steak and she just ignores it.

I was told she was leash and crate trained and from what I can tell she is neither. I don’t know if it’s just the transition period or the whole most aussies are a one person dog so it’ll take longer thing. But any advice at all would be appreciated