Category: Top Dog

Dogs fighting

I have 3 australian shepherd, 2 males 5 and 1 years old, and 1 female 4 years old. I've had both males since they were 8 weeks and the female I adopted at 9 months. Shes always gotten along with my older male dog as well as other dogs she has come into contact with. Within the last few months her and my 1 year old male have started fighting. At first it seemed like when one was jealous of the other– one was getting more attention or fighting over a toy. But in the past couple days it has become more consistent with her attacking him for no obvious reason. Today my male 1 y/o dog came back home after being gone since the day before (I sent him home with my partner to give them their space) and she almost instantly went at him. He has grown up with her and theyve been best buddies and will play fight. Until recently their fights have been a month or 2 apart. Yesterday it escalated to the point of my partner being bit by her (on accident) when trying to break up their fight. Im not sure which course of action to take. They're both good, well behaved dogs and neither have a problem with my 5 year old male. She is spayed. Neither male is neutered. Thanks for the help!

Hi all,

I have had my rescue pup for 6 years now, and I love him so much. He's loving, sassy , and funny.

That being said, he just HAS to be around people. He tends to try to be the center of attention with guests too, and tends to be all over them if they're comfortable with it.

I actually splurged on a house with a yard for my dog, but he refuses to be outside alone. He has always been an indoor dog, but it would be nice if he could get energy out in the backyard that I got for him. He won't even play with me in the back yard. If I put him in the backyard, he is barking and jumping at the door within a few minutes.

When I start getting ready to leave for an outing, he starts freaking out and barking, which makes me feel so guilty.

He is on trazedone right now, but he burns through it. it's like the trazedone is completely ineffective for him.

He's a "velcro dog" and I just don't know if this stems from anxiety or just his personality?

For context: my dog was adopted and returned because his previous owners tried to make him a backyard dog, and he ended up "digging a hole" in their backyard. He is a husky mix. I could never imagine my dog ever being a backyard dog. I am his second or third owner. he is between 8-10 years old, but still acts like a young dog. People think he's around 3-4 years old!

EDIT: he also gets a good amount of exercise for his age. He had surgery so he has had to be much more subdued lately, however, he hasn't gotten more restless with this lack of activity.

i have a german spitz, and the ONLY toys he likes are soft toys. stuffed animals, cat toys, plush toy balls, etc. the problem is, if you leave him alone with any of these toys, he will just chew and chew and chew until there's nothing left. (we usually notice first, since he is a bit slow.) otherwise, the only way we've been able to play with him is just… manually? like, running back and force with him, playing with our hands (he's always gentle with us), etc. he has 0 interest in playing fetch.

any ideas??? he doesn't even carry these stuffies around like he does with underwear and socks. he ABSOLUTELY wants them, but all he does is destroy them… as long as they're plush and soft.

Do you think that would kill any smell, even if the carpet doesn’t dry overnight? 😅😂 I’m desperate guys. I can’t smell anything, and have used an enzyme cleaner after every accident, but my sweet, adorable, gremlin of a puppy keeps returning to these spots, and I just found out that she’ll hold it for 2-3 hours at other people’s houses. She used to do the same for me until she had a couple accidents that were my fault. So she has to still be smelling it at home.

Anyways, the room is my living room (apartment size, so not huge) but I don’t really have a way of blocking it off until it dries completely. But I’ll figure it out if that’s what it needs. 😂

We adopted a senior pug about a week ago and she has been holding her pee/poo for 24 hrs straight each day. I take her outside every hour and will crate her in between (45 minutes in 15 out) and if she goes then she has freedom to roam around the apartment. She drinks and eats normally and is pretty active. She had a vet appt yesterday and the vet said she was concerned cause that’s not normal but didn’t want to do any follow up testing or anything. She has another appt with a different vet in a few days. But I’m truly at a loss on what to do for her, because it cannot be comfortable to hold your pee for 24 hrs.

Hi all, I need help picking a dog carrier for my dog for flights going forward. He is about 18 lbs and rides in the cabin under the seat in front of me.

However, he can’t stand being in his carrier for flights and he just broke through his 3rd different carrier on our most recent flight. He typically does just fine in his carrier up until the plane starts moving and takes off.

I’m sure others have had this problem? Is there a carrier that wouldn’t be easy for him to break through that is still TSA/cabin approved? I’ve had no luck, and it’s frustrating when he breaks through his carrier mid-flight and then we catch heat for it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

this entire year felt like a blur. until about 2-3 months ago, we were severely sleep deprived and exhausted by our puppy every day. she turned 1 y/o a few days ago (coincidentally coinciding w her first heat cycle), and has very suddenly (within the past couple of weeks) regained so much of the training that had regressed. for months, she did not listen— almost at all, every walk was super stressful and took forever (repetitive leash and reactivity training that seemed like it was doing nothing), she had boundless demon energy and an inability to settle, she was still having accidents inside, and constantly trying to chew things she shouldn’t. i honestly questioned if i was doing things wrong and failing her somehow.

suddenly, like a switch was flipped — she’s a sweet angel who listens to commands and comes when she’s called, puts down the object the first time i say to (but mostly is leaving things she shouldn’t alone), she’s so much more affectionate, our walks are much more relaxing (still working on the leash reactivity—but improving!), she’s communicating her wants and needs more calmly/clearly, and she’s settling on her own and napping regularly. she still has plenty of energy of course, but it’s actually manageable. she’s really pleasant to be around. i honestly assumed she would be a crackhead for another 6 months or more (boxer).

it finally got better!

Hi all, it’s been a while since I’ve posted and my pup is 12 months now. Some things have improved, but people generally still describe Charlie as “a lot”. Even my friend who looks after people’s dogs all year round considers Charlie as a “special little energiser bunny” who is “more work than a lot of dogs”. Anyway… that’s just for context.

We don’t take him to the dog park anymore for various reasons associated with naughtiness, but we do take him for off lead time in this huge run area where you maybe see a dog every 200 metres or so (it’s about 2kms in length). Charlie is friendly, and LOVES other people and dogs, but he has this awful habit of stealing other dogs balls (he hates balls himself) and we cannot for the life of us (and the other poor owners, AND the other dogs) get it off him once he has it. It’s a huge game to him because he only does it BECAUSE of the dogs chasing him that he loves (and he’s so fast). Treats don’t work, calling doesn’t work. Ignoring him doesn’t work. We have all just walked away on many occasions and ignored the hell out of him for 15 minutes and he just sits with the ball – he is the most stubborn dog. People get so angry with us. We eventually only manage it by somehow catching him, or throwing high quality treats away from him and eventually he just can’t hold both the treats and the ball in his mouth at the same time. It is so embarrassing. Worst part is that he actually knows the command “drop it” and “leave it” and will listen if it’s not something he wants much anyway. Charlie will literally only do the command if he wants to (and this applies to EVERYTHING).

Is this all because he is still young? Do I just ban off-lead time altogether? Is it his personality? He also has a habit of crouching down and pouncing on other dogs which is a whole other level of worry 😩. Just looking for some advice (please no judgement as this forum can be mixed). It may be that off-leash is just a no-go for Charlie and I guess I’d be ok with that..