Category: Top Dog

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..

As title states I have a dilemma. I am getting a golden puppy, and have the option to either pick him up jan 17 at 8 weeks, or let the breeder hold him for 2 weeks until 10 weeks.

Air Canada limits age to 10 weeks, but is the only air line that provides direct flights (2.5hours)

Take a Porter flight (2hr 10mintes) then a 45min connection (stay on flight) then (1hr 50mins). So a bit over double the time for getting him at 8 weeks.

I know theres some big development from 8-10 weeks, so advice would be appreciated.

My 4 month old dachshund mix has anxiety with other dogs and will bark at them. We have been trying to mitigate this issue through creating distance with dogs, marking seeing dogs with treats, and teaching our puppy she can leave the situation. However, tonight she randomly started barking at a little kid running by, and I felt so horrible because I know it must have been scary to the kid but I just did not know what to do in the situation and how to stop the barking. Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice?

for those with a puppy who have done the embark dna test, i’m pretty sure you have to swab their mouth for like 30 seconds right? I just ordered one for my pup but she is very wiggly so i’m wondering if anyone has any tricks for how they got their pup to let them swab their mouth?

Hi. Puppy loves bully sticks but the ends are hard for us to hold. He sometimes does good chewing it up real good but wondering if there’s anything you use to cut the ends to help them out. Thank you

I’m in an apartment in Co. it’s starting to hit the 20s here and I’m so freaking cold when I take him out. I’m not used to being out in the cold for so long even though I’ve grown up here 😭

For morning potty, I don’t want to have to put on a bunch of layers, just a really warm coat quickly that gets the job done

None of my coats or pants are cutting it, I layer too. Does anyone have any suggestions on a knee length women’s coat?? Hopefully somewhat affordable and still cute. Or a material you recommend the most like fleece?

Thank you!!

I rescued my girl, Penny, almost 2 months ago. we haven’t done a DNA test but believe her to be an 8mo shepherd/malinois/lab mix. I want to make sure she’s getting enough physical and mental exercise. Daily, we do 3 walks (morning, afternoon and night), 2-3 5-10 minute training sessions, and 1 sniff/find it session. Those who have working breeds or work with them, is this enough for her?

As title states I have a dilemma. I am getting a golden puppy, and have the option to either pick him up jan 17 at 8 weeks, or let the breeder hold him for 2 weeks until 10 weeks.

Air Canada limits age to 10 weeks, but is the only air line that provides direct flights (2.5hours)

Take a Porter flight (2hr 10mintes) then a 45min connection (stay on flight) then (1hr 50mins). So a bit over double the time for getting him at 8 weeks.

I know theres some big development from 8-10 weeks, so advice would be appreciated.

The full-body shake dogs do to dry off when they’re wet, but he’s not wet, he’s just doing it all the time. Other than being a little annoying hearing the sound all the time, I want to make sure it’s not a sign of anything bad. He’ll do it a few times right after waking up from a nap which I figure is maybe just him waking himself up like getting a good stretch after a nap, but he’ll also do it randomly through the day a lot. I was visiting family and their dogs for thanksgiving and noticed he does it a lot more than the other dogs that were there. Seems like he’s been doing it more in the last month or so but it’s possible I’ve just started noticing it more. Been kind of stressed recently and have admittedly been more easily annoyed and noticing every little noise. He just went to the groomer last weekend so I don’t think it’s a matter of him being dirty, no fleas, etc. Anyone else’s dog do this a ton? Is it something I should be worried about? I feel like I call or visit my vet about every little thing, so I don’t want to bother with this if it’s completely normal.