Category: Top Dog

I’m really considering getting a dog soon, but I don’t nt know if I should buy from a breeder or adopting from a shelter. I’d love to hear your experiences and advice. What helped you decide?

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

I have a 5 year old poodle mix who has never been particularly fond of toys apart from holding them. She will chase a couple times and carry them outside, but after 1-3 minutes (if not two throws) of throwing or tugging she completely loses interest and tries to roughhouse. Roughhousing seems to be the only type of play she wants to do, and I cannot keep up with that. She gets overexcited and starts biting way too hard and doesn’t listen, so I stop play any time she starts it. The issue is she also doesn’t play with any of her toys. She has stuffies, balls, a rope, a frisbee (which is the ONLY toy she actually kind of likes but I can’t find it right now). I feel like I’m failing her by not being able to play with her. She just doesn’t look interested, looks at me like I’m dumb when I try to grab toys, and then gets sad when I don’t allow her to jump and bite me. She wants to play but just… doesn’t. I have been working on this by ending play every time she does it, but we have just barely played at all now. She won’t stop doing it and hates her toys and I don’t know what to do. I feel like a horrible owner because she wants to play, I just can’t be bitten and jumped at every day.

We brought our 12 week old Sheepadoodle on a post dinner walk around the block last night. It was going great. He had just started to enjoy his walks this week and was confident and sniffing around. Then on a fairly quiet street, we encountered a man walking his dog, who was a good bit away. His dog got excited, started barking really loud and was uncontrollable. Our puppy was startled and started sprinting. The man brought his dog out onto the street, away from the sidewalk. We passed each other with parked cars in between. We tried to offer high value treats to our pup but he wasn't interested at all, even a good few minutes after the incident. He was fine once we were back home, he was playing for a bit and then went to bed.

This morning when I brought him out for a potty break, he wanted nothing to do with being outside and wanted to head back in. I brought him across the street but his eyes were glued to a man walking towards us. A few hours later I brought him out again and he seemed pretty anxious, afraid and wanted to immediately head back inside the apartment building.

I'm worried and wondering if this would have a lasting impact on him? How do we help him gain his confidence back? Thinking of going back to keeping walks short and just sitting outside the apartment building and let him observe.

So this isn’t my first doggy but this is my first Aussie. His name is Cosmos. He’s about three months old and has been honestly quieter than most puppies and pretty decent at house training so far. I’ve been socializing him a ton and he’s already great in the car now. I took him to my boyfriends and he did great. He hardly had any accidents and didn’t cry when we put him in the crate for naps and night time. We stayed there for a week, but now that I’m back home he’s crying being put in the crate and when I leave for only a couple seconds he’s screaming. I know he’s probably confused but how can I alleviate his anxiety. We are also moving again in about two weeks. (I know it’s not good timing but I was also surprised with this bundle of fluff). Any advice is greatly appreciated. EDIT: he’s also peeing everywhere 🙁 I have another small dog (mini golden doodle) and I think it must be a territorial thing? I take him out every 30-min -hour and always after eating, and he’ll still pee inside. I use an enzyme cleaner to get rid of marking smells but I’m trying to figure out how to get him to stop. Also he’s difficult with letting other people take him out, he will only really go with me. I feel like he was doing so well and now I’m failing 🫩

I have a 4 month old puppy. Whenever I sit on the floor with her, she always crawls right into my lap and lays down for cuddles and pets. But I notice that she’ll give me the “whale eye” sometimes. I originally thought this was just her staring at me and being too lazy to move her head to look straight at me, but I was reading online that when dogs look to the side without moving their head like that, it’s always a sign of distress/anxiety. Could that be the case here? Or is she just a lazy girl

I live in Minnesota and my dogs were both born in Oregon – they are still acclimating to the weather and it's been brutal cold the last few days. We try to spend some time outdoors and they wear booties but it still has to be limited to 15 minutes or less when its -15F outside.

They are very well behaved and quiet in the house but I know they are getting a little stir crazy. Ideas on enrichment or entertainment that isn't lick mats or frozen bones/treats? Cheap or free is best!

Hello!

We have a three month old Keeshond puppy we adore and have begun doing short walks with to help with her energy and socialization. However, I need some help/tips with how to start off on the right path for her to be a good walker. My golden took to it like fish to water so I’m at a total loss.

Right now, it’s a mixed bag of pulling me but also wanting to sniff and greet every single person and bark at every dog she sees. The pulling I don’t mind as much for the moment—that I know how to correct. However, I can’t correct it right now by just stopping and waiting like before. If I stop, she’s jumping and lunging and barking to get at people and other dogs to play and get pets. She’s even started growling at other dogs? I feel like I’m pulling her through our walks for the most part sometimes because of course everyone is out walking their dogs in the morning. I try to bring treats to encourage her attention but they only work maybe ten percent of the time; I’m sure the world is much more interesting then her treat.

I know she’s just a puppy and she’s been cooped up for weeks before this, but does anyone have any tips for getting ahead of this before it becomes ingrained behavior?

I just have a pit/aussie mix that's 8 weeks old, and I've had him for 2 days now, and in those 2 days, he absolutely refuses to pee or poo outside. I have a grass pad on my apartment balcony until he gets his shots, and I take him there when he wakes up, after drinking water, after eating, every hour/ 30 mins, etc., and will stand there for 15-20 minutes, and all he will do is sit and whine, but the second he's back inside, he pees in seconds. It's winter, so maybe the cold has something to do with it, since he just whines and shivers when he's outside. The family I got him from said he was using puppy pads, so maybe that has something to do with it. Just seeking advice on what to do, and hoping maybe just giving him time to adjust will work, but I feel as if I'm doing something wrong.