Category: Top Dog

Every morning when I let my dog out in the backyard by herself she ends up just walking to the back and sitting right up against the fence under some branches. She only does this in the morning and then I have to go outside and walk halfway to her and she will come right back in.

Any ideas why? She is a very weird girl

I got my puppy (mini dachshund) the very beginning of October, he is now 17 weeks. I have left him home by himself for short periods and he does ok. He stays home with my boyfriend when I go out to run errands. He does fine, but he does mope around some.

We have a work meeting to attend and we will be gone 6 days. My mom is coming to stay with him and meet him a day early. So yes, he will be in his home, with the other dogs (who he is not super close to because they’re old), with his routine.

I just worry because he is SO attached to me… I’m going to leave some of my worn clothes. Any other tips?

I’m just worried and I know I won’t enjoy my trip because I know he’ll be sad 😅

Hi everyone,

I got my second puppy last December and was quite active in this thread. My first puppy was a lot easier, so the second one (a boy—first was a girl) really threw me for a loop! He was a naughty little bugger… still is sometimes. But now, it’s been about a year and I’ve just been reflecting on that time since the weather is bringing back memories. Wooooo boy we were in the trenches and I thought it would never get better! I remember crying in the shower thinking we ruined our peaceful dynamic by bringing in this little hellhound. Many a night were spent wondering if we made a huge mistake. But now, I can’t imagine our lives without him. We’ve grown to love all his quirks and my connection with him really grew during those hard months, more than I thought it would or realized at the time. So all this to say: it gets better! I’m so beyond happy with our little family, and even though my pup is far from perfect, we are out of the trenches and really enjoying life. Routine is the best thing you can build in those early stages. And my number one piece of advice is forced nap time!!! No one will know peace so long as your puppy is overtired.

My spouse and I just got a 2.5 month old black lab/golden retriever pup and he's the sweetest boy. We adore him so much, and while we've only had him for 4 days now, he's been such a good boy. He's fine with the crate (for the most part) it's the amount of time we leave him in there. We leave him in there during night except for potty breaks, we let him have about 20-30 minutes of free time before we put him back in and go back to sleep. We both work full time, so he's also in the crate while we're away. He's done fine so far with us at work in the crate, no accidents, no destruction. So if he seems fine with it why do I feel so guilty about leaving him in there for long? I know this isn't forever but I just get overwhelmed with anxiety thinking about leaving him alone. I've helped my parents raise puppies growing up (we had 6 dogs) but this is my first time raising one while not living at home. Just looking for advice to get over this crate guilt.

Hey all, I got my puppy almost a month ago (he was almost 4 months old then). Another family had him for about 1.5 months but decided they couldn’t handle him. I asked if there were any issues with him and they said he was a normal dog (spoiler: he was a normal dog), but those first few weeks was still terrible.

I live alone and even though I watched all the videos and read all the forums, I still didn’t expect it to hit that hard. My head was buzzing, I had trouble sleeping, I was stressed as hell, and I couldn’t leave him for a minute without disastrous barking. He was biting a lot too and I genuinely started wondering if I could handle him or if I had made a huge mistake. I felt like I was trapped in a cage, I also lost 5kg due to stress haha.

Reading other people’s experiences here helped me so much. We pushed through the first weeks and even though it has only been almost a month, the progress is insane. He listens so much better and today I left him alone for 4 hours and he was calm as spaghetti (checked on the camera). We started from just juggling keys, opening/closing doors/putting jacket on/off and repeating it plenty of times through the day, felt stupid but it works! He is also fully doing his business outside now.

The biggest things that helped were crate training (he loves it now) and having a routine. I love him so much now and I can’t imagine giving him away. Ofcourse there's still many challenges to come but I feel more ready now

Maybe this will help someone else who is struggling, just like all the posts here helped me! ❤️

Hi! I’m a new puppy mom and could use some advice on scheduling. My puppy is 7 weeks old. She was already used to sleeping in a crate and going potty outside at her previous home, so overall she’s doing really well.

My question is about her early-morning routine. Our day starts at 5:30 with potty, play, food, and a little training. She naps in her crate throughout the day, plays with my young kids, and sleeps well in her crate at night. Bedtime is around 9 pm. She usually wakes once around midnight or 2 am to pee, then goes right back to sleep.

The issue is she consistently wakes up around 4:30 wanting to play and will not settle. I’ve been keeping her in her crate until 5:30, but she gets so worked up that it takes a long time to calm her down. This morning I gave in and let her out at 4:30 to play but kept breakfast at 5:30… and now I’m worried I reinforced the wrong thing.

Should I try keeping her awake a little later? Is this just a phase she’ll grow out of? Do I keep holding the line with the crate? I’d love guidance from anyone who has dealt with early-waking puppies.