Category: Top Dog

My 6 month old is great with potty training now! He quickly caught on to using the bells to ask to go outside, however – he has never signaled that he needs to potty otherwise so when we’re at others’ houses he will have accidents instead of let me know. His accidents are near the door that looks most like ours so I think he’s doing his best. I also think he’s still sometimes caught off guard by number 2.

Is there a way to train him how to signal other than the bells for when we’re out, or will this confuse him? Or should I take bells with me maybe until he’s older and can hold it longer?

I just adopted a 12 week old chihuahua puppy yesterday and she is so sweet. But the crying is crazy. We're working on crate training and I know thats going to be some crying but she just doesn't seem happy unless shes eating, following me around or in my lap. Is there any tips for this specific breed to help her self soothe?

My other dog wasnt this bad, shes 2.5 years old now and I didnt have the puppy blues this bad. I almost feel like I cant handle a second dog and I made a bad decision but I want to keep her and make it work. I just dont want her to stress herself out and make it worse for us both.

I feel stuck and I've just been crying not knowing how to process this. This is such a big change, and I fear I'm not good with change now. I need some reassuring words and any tips you can give please.

I want to preface, it's probably not the dogs' faults. It's probably a bad owner.

I love those "aggressive dog breeds." But, I wouldn't adopt one knowing I would have a hard time finding a place to live to keep that dog long term. I know a few people's HOAs banned many "aggressive dog breeds."

Curious, on your tips on finding places that do accept them?

Hello! I just adopted a 11 year old blue heeler named Pip! She is a adorable older lady who doesn’t have any health problems other than she is overweight, I am looking for any recommendations for a no pull harness that goes into a larger size that would fit her comfortably. I don’t want to try to squeeze her into anything and I thought I’d ask for recommendations.

My family of 4 people has 3 dogs. Our largest is a 2 year old 65 lbs male. He completed the petsmart beginner class a year ago and is generally well behaved but high energy. His only major problem is overly excited greetings when we come in the door. When walked by himself, he walks on a loose leash attached to his collar. He will stare down strange dogs and people without barking and responds to a leave it command.

We have 2 female dogs, 3 year old 20 lbs and an almost 2 year old 45 lbs. (yes we got 2 large puppies at the same time- my parents were convinced by the rescue while I was out of town.)

If the male spots either of the girls on a walk, either because two of us take both at the same time, or just at a distance if one dog is getting home and one is heading out, he is completely unruly. He will leap 3-4 feet into the air and pull forward at top speed until he’s close enough to touch and then he just flails in place from excitement getting everyone tangled in a leash. He can’t be distracted by our voices, treats, or even by hard taps to the nose or hip. We’ve used multiple harness styles that did not give any more control. The girls like him, but do not match his intensity.

Inside the house he’s the most calm out of the trio. We’re working on some tension between the girls but he gets along perfectly with everyone and has pretty good cat manners too. I’m just stumped on how we can ever walk more than one dog.

We have a 10 week old puppy, about 3.5 pounds. She was chewing on a Multipet Latex Giraffe and I think ate half of the ear (probably the size of a mini training treat). I haven’t been able to find the piece and I’m worried that she’s so small, it could cause a blockage. Has anyone else experienced this with latex toys?

Hi! I know puppy biting during play and when overstimulated is very normal. We respond by “yelping” and immediately stopping play, often followed by time in the crate or pen to settle down. What I’m seeing that feels like more of a red flag is biting when he doesn’t like something or to get attention. It doesn’t feel accidental or playful. No growling when he does it but definitely a “hey I don’t like that, I’m gonna bite about it” vibe. Is this standard puppy behavior or something to be more concerned about?

Please help me.

I found a small puppy, est. 8 weeks old on Thanksgiving running through traffic. I have registered to foster her as all the shelters in my area are full and kill shelters.

She is so sweet, but I have a job. Im back from Thanksgiving break, and I have to leave her around 3-4 hours at a time each day. (I come check on her on my lunch break) in checking the cameras, she screams and cries in the kennel for HOURS while I am gone. She may tire out and stop for 15-20 minutes but then starts up again.

She tore up the blanket I used to cover the crate. She chews at the bars and screams. If I close her in a room, she still screams and howls and tries to tear everything up. She's a perfect angel when she's out and about and I'm home.

She has toys, blankets, and food in the crate and a puppy pad (she tears that up every time though so I've stopped putting it in case she chokes on plastic). It's a large crate as its my german shepherd's old one. She's got room.

I am worried I am dooming her to never tolerate a crate but I feel I have no choice. I haven't found a home for her, I have to go to work, and its better than her being loose in the streets. But waiting out her cries or rewarding good behavior just doesn't happen. Even while trying to acclimate her to the crate if I'm home and try to crate her for shorter periods, she screams non-stop until I let her out. I try to wait and ignore her until she stops and reward her but then she doesn't. For over an hour. It's SO loud too.

How do I soundproof my apartment to this? How do I acclimate a puppy who won't stop screaming and crying? It's literally like a wild banshee screaming. I hate to see her so upset i just want her to be comfortable.

Any advice welcome.

So. My 7mo Bernese is in heat, at the stage where she's stopped bleeding but she's still fertile. She's been a lot more cuddly and generally velcro-like, and a lot more reactive to things she's scared of (like the vacuum cleaner) which in general is within what I expected. As background, she's been training since 3-4mo, and we go to a nearby mall once a week, which she likes. All is good there.

Today, however, she was particularly odd. We didn't run into any other dogs, and she handles people well by now. We were sitting down on a bench, as we usually do, and she lays down so we can just people-watch. Trainer then excuses himself to the bathroom. Immediately she's up, definitely stressed, refusing both treats and commands and generally looking towards the way to the bathroom. It was strange, but she was fine with some pets. I didn't mention it, and it wasn't an issue the rest of the session.

Now. Trainer leaves, and it's pandemonium. She TUGS towards the door (and this is a 60lb dog atp, which THANKFULLY I can handle, but it's not by any means easy), refuses to go back with me and if I tried leading her wherever she didn't want to, she'd sit and refuse to move. This has NEVER happened in any session before, by this time she is usually tired and satisfied with the walk and is very compliant with driving home. She's never outright refused my commands in this context.

I'm puzzled. The only thing that changed between this session and all others is that she is in heat, and while she's familiar with him, she sees this man twice a week at most. Is this… normal?