Category: Top Dog

I'm thinking of making a series where I try to train my dog new tricks as quickly as possible. Hes a poodle mix and usually picks tricks up within 2-3 days. I need ideas on what tricks I can train (ideally I'll like to teach him 10 new tricks).

A couple he already knows aside from the basic sit/down/stay/come/high 5/shake/heel combo are spin, roll, up/jump, bang/ play dead, freeze, find it, take/ pass (fetch with various objects)/ drop it/ leave it, toss (basketball), back (reverse walk), tunnel/under, dig, walk (on two legs), close door etc.

I know a lot of people will say "oh the baby tastes good" etc. but it's not just that. What do people with expertise and/or experience think about these specific circumstances:

– Our dog only does it when we have visitors (someone other than me and my husband is there) and the baby is being held and/or attention is being given to the baby

– We say no, push dog's face away etc. But he comes back again and again. He is relentless.

– If it is only us at home, dog doesn't pay much attention to baby, other than of course lurking beneath high chair for scraps, or if baby crawls over to dog/grabs at dog, he will lick his face

– Dog is a licker in general. He likes to lick adults faces, hands as much as possible if he can

I think I accidentally taught her to only respond to commands after I count down from 3. When she was younger and scared of getting into the car, I’d give the cue and then do a “3–2–1” before helping her in. I’m pretty sure that’s where the habit started.

She's two now and although she initially learnt them without a countdown, now she won’t reliably do any of her commands unless I do one.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I just got a poodle puppy yesterday. I’ve always had a dog but this is my first time owning a puddle. This girl is so sweet but she seems like she is all about me. She will go to my parents as well but I will be her main caretaker. She has rarely just sat on her own playing with toys that I’ve left in front of her. Shes also been climbing into my lap or wanting to lay on me for her naps which I don’t mind but again I just got her yesterday. I’ve never really had a puppy seem to be so attached this fast. My other dog didn’t even seem like he liked me for the first couple weeks to months that I had him lol. I’m questioning whether this is just typical poodle behavior or if she’s just a lot friendlier than he was. Also I know I probably shouldn’t hold her for naps but she is also crate training and did really good last night and when I put her in the crate while I was showering

I have reached a point I never considered being at with a dog; rehoming. I would love to hear others thoughts given the context I am about to provide.

Context: I had to put my 7 month old (30wk) Rottweiler puppy down after he began experiencing severe degenerative neurological symptoms. Multiple vets were consulted before ultimately making the deciding to put my sweet baby boy to rest. (He had NAD). I put him down 11.18.25 and by 11.19.25 my family was sending my links to puppy rottie mixes at shelters and highly encouraging me to get one so that Saturday 11.22.25 we went to see one (I said yes because tbh I didn’t know what I needed and trusted my loved ones to help guiding me through this hardship, as I currently could not even return home due to saddness of the reminders of my baby) my mother ended up paying for him. I kept him two days with me and discovered it made my grief much much worse so they took him in and were going to hold onto him and help train him till I was ready…..until 11.28.25 when my grandparents dropped off their dog since they would be going on a cruise. So they felt it was too many dogs (their 2, the new adoptee & my grandparents dog) and I had to take one untik my grandparents returned. So I took my newly adopted guy home 11.30.25 and immediately learned he’s EXTREMELY food aggressive, short warning window before snarling and grabbing at me. I was legitimately concerned for my safety and I’ve had reactive dogs, though all I had since they were 8wks old and was able to nip it relatively quickly to the point they were not harmful to others human/animal……now today 12.1.25 I gave my little guy a different toy and he began growling when I got near, would snarly and grab at me once more. In both instances I have been unable to successfully trade, to help him give it up. I have a cat who I LOVE dearly and LOVES dogs. So I am greatly concerned for my cat’s safety, food is one thing but resource guarding even toys seems riskier especially since I can more readily navigate aggression toward humans but not other animals. From what I’ve read they say to have toys removed/ monitored but that does not seem fair to him at all to have no toys when I work or am busy, he’s just a baby 5 months old but already 55lbs. I feel guilty rehoming him as I made a commitment to this pup, though I also feel over my skis as a currently single woman who is still grieving her ‘Ferdinand’ of a boy.

Note: The pup in question is a rott mix, I assume with pittie. He was found and brought in because he was following a random person in Lynnwood, CA (An area notorious for dog fighting)…..pup is very afraid of the dark, does not like his collar touched, resource guards food & toys…I assume from trauma. He is extremely loving and cuddly minus his resource guarding. The collar & dark are not areas of concern.

2note: did not receive my sweet baby boy’s remains until 11.26.25 as well if that means anything

so, we got our boy socrates a couple weeks ago. important context: he's a german shepherd/mastiff mix, we live in a 4th floor apartment and my wife and i both work full time. also, when we picked him up, the people rehoming him dropped the bomb that he was not as old as we thought he was, which is why we got him so young!

all things considered, he is a very good boy. from zero, we have achieved – moderate potty training (he uses but then rips up his pee pad; he prefers to do his business outside, but will pee on any available carpet so we keep him out of carpeted rooms) – learning his name + almost-mastery of "sit" and "no" – mostly sleeping through the night!!

some troubles we have: – he has BIG separation anxiety. this is to be expected given his age, but seriously, someone HAS to be paying attention to him or he barks and barks and cries and cries – he's very bitey. also to be expected, but i have a harder time dealing with this one because i'm learning that my initial reaction to unexpected pain is to swat at it, which obviously is a no-no. he doesn't seem to care about his toys when someone's leg is available, so redirecting is proving challenging. but we're working on it!

i love taking him to the park, i can't wait for summer and for my boy to get bigger so we can start having some adventures. thanks to this reddit for all its puppy-rearing advice, y'all have saved my ass so many times 😭

i have a rough collie and a sheltie. everything i own is covered in hair. but their hair gets embedded into blankets specifically, and i have this huge faux fur comforter that has it the worst. the hair feels like little needles and i'm constantly washing this thing, as well as their bedding. their bedding is washed weekly. i always shake everything out outside before i wash it, i have tried vacuuming mine and their blankets, blowing the hair out with a force dryer, vinegar in the washer, foil balls/pet hair dryer sheets in the dryer, and even lint rolling everything.

i'm desperate!! what are some good methods to at least getting the embedded hair out? i've looked into those little hair catchers that go into the washer/dryer, brushes specifically to pull hair out, and those laundry pack things that are supposed to dissolve hair. have not bought anything yet because i don't want to waste money. note that my dogs are professionally groomed twice a month and i brush them very regularly, they're just very hairy fellas!

At the beginning of this year I adopted a dog who was an absolute sweet heart but he did have some of the typical problems that made me go through a period of "oh god was this a mistake." Eventually I got over that period and had a great time with him for a couple months before I got the news that he had a congenital liver disease that would kill him soon, so I had to make the choice to euthanize him.

After a couple months I decided that I would adopt a new dog and this one I got about a week ago. I am now having the same "was this a mistake?" questions for my issues with her but added on top is a feeling of missing my boy and comparing the incorrect things she does to the fact that my last dog either got over those things or never did them in the first place.

Rationally I can understand that these feelings are what I had with my first dog, so with time and training she'll get better and it won't be an issue anymore. But was wondering if anyone can relate to this experience or has any advice on dealing with the comparisons between a previous dog and new one.

My puppy is 13 weeks old, and we've been working on house training. I've been using the crate advice that I found here, (thank you all!) and he's now pooped outside for the very first time. My concern is that he doesn't have enough room. I read to use the divider to only give him enough space to lay down and turn around, which he does have. But outside the crate, he liked to sleep all sprawled out. Does he have enough room, or does this seem too cramped? Thank you so much for any advice.

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