Category: Top Dog

A few weeks ago I posted about the puppy we found roaming and adopted then proceeded to have issues after her first vaccinations and needed blood transfusions

Her name is Wanda, and I’m happy to say she’s now doing really well considering the vet hinted that it perhaps we should put her to sleep and she had a hard time during the second transfusion.

Her condition is IMHA and the vet said it was 1 in a million that she had a reaction to a vaccine (still not 100% sure it was that but it’s the only factor that changed leading up to her sickness).

Her red blood cell count is as of yesterday 37 and in the normal range, they were happy that her steroids prescription has been reduced and follow up blood test in 2 weeks.

We’re on a slow road but glad to say she’s a happy and full of energy puppy, fingers crossed she can lower her steroids next check up. Then we come to the challenge of vaccinating her again and working out how we do that without risking sickness again, hopefully because she’s growing and getting bigger that her immune system is also getting stronger.

Thanks for all the support previously (would love to post a picture of her but can’t seem to)

My pup is 15 weeks old. I work from home most days but haven’t been going to the office since we adopted her. I can’t continue to always work from home for much longer and need to start going back into the office 2x a week. I want to put her in doggy daycare those days so she can play with other dogs and have fun. When did you all start?

Her last round of shots is in 2 weeks and then we were cleared by her vet to start daycare then, but I’m curious if you all think that’s too young.

Basically, yesterday we took home a boxer mix puppy. He is super sweet and not aggressive, just playful and hyper. Cats are NOT happy, which I obviously expected. I bought them a gate, have done introductions through the baby gate but one of my cats actually came out on her own and slept near him which was good I suppose, but she also acts like she wants nothing to do with him. My certified anxiety cat is getting progressively more upset, and I’m worried that I’m a horrible cat mom for adopting a puppy. I’m trying to train him to be calm around them but he just gets so excited and wants to play.

I’m basically just seeking reassurance that it will get better! I know it’s only been a day but I’m just so worried about my cats because they are my first babies and deep down I’m worried I’ve made a mistake.

On Thursday, my 9 month old puppy was neutered. He's cryptorchid and ended up with 3 incisions, so the healing process is rougher than normal. He's also a very high energy boy who has always struggled with settling. Not being able to play, run, etc. as normal has only made him crazy.

We've been keeping him on Trazodone twice a day, 100mg each (he's 40lbs). It worked wonders as first but has started seeming less effective, especially at night. Last night he didn't sleep and we didn't either because he was turning around and moving in his crate all night and finding ways to reach his lowest incision past the cone. I called the vet and he recommended going up to 150mg twice a day. We gave him that at about 5:45…it's now 8:30 and he hasn't chilled out at all. He's in his pen pacing and trying to jump and generally being a menace, all the things we wanted to prevent by using Trazodone in the first place.

Has anyone else have this happen? It's just not touching him at night and it's miserable. We're getting zero sleep. The last dog I owned was already neutered by the time I had him so I'm not used to this – is this a normal neuter experience or am I just super unlucky?

I adopted a 3 month old puppy a little over a month ago (he’s currently 4 months old). I live alone and work a full time job. I have been crate training him (having him in his crate when I go to work and when he sleeps at night). I come home on my lunch break to let him out of his crate for potty so he’s alone 3~4 hrs max. He is such a sweet and smart puppy that follows me everywhere. He would immediately freak out when I go to work and cries for about 30 mins and he would settle. Same thing after I leave during my lunch break. Recently, he started to not go in his crate when I throw treats in there. I think he now knows that when he’s in the crate, he will be alone.

Trainings I’ve done with him:

-not engaging with him when I come home until he settles down

-turn on dog music before I go (often times when I’m home as well just so the music doesn’t trigger me leaving)

-giving him high value treats (when I come home and check, he ate his food but will still cry, howl, bark when I leave)

-crate training that is now not working at all (he will go in to eat the treats when I’m not looking and will come out immediately)

-getting ready beforehand so that I’m not rushing myself

-leaving 30 sec and coming back in multiple times to show him that I will always come back

-desensitizing the door and my bag by doing all the actions and coming back to sit down without leaving

I left him one day to free roam (still checked in during lunch times) but I’ve noticed that when he free roams, he isn’t able to settle down at all until I come home. When he’s in his crate, he settles down within 30 mins.

All the resources I see online are not possible for me because I would have to leave him alone while I’m at work…

I don’t know what to do and I feel lost. I want to hear how you guys overcame separation anxiety while working full time while living alone. This is my last cry for help before I spend couple grand hiring a private trainer to help me.. I’m just worried that I’m stressing my puppy out when he’s alone.

My 15 week old cavoodle is fully vaccinated and socialised every afternoon with an organised dog meetup that I take her to followed by a little sniff walk.

I have two long work days coming up and I’m looking for advice on whether it’s too young to let her go to puppy day care or on a group walks/adventure for a couple of hours with a trainer.

I’m leaning down the group walk route- she will get picked up in a car, taken on a walk and run around for an hour and dropped back off- time is between 2.5-4 hours depending on order of drop off.

I don’t know if she is too young? I’ve booked into a trial day for her. They will match her with a group of similar sized dogs and dogs that tolerate puppies.

I just adopted my sweet girl a week ago from a local shelter. She is 3mo and a hound mix.

My husband and I planned this time to get a puppy as I am off of work for 2 months, so it is the perfect opportunity since I have ample time right now to devote to housebreaking, bonding, etc

The problem is, she has developed severe separation anxiety! She will only nap if I am laying down with her. At night she falls asleep with me in bed and when my SO is done gaming, he will pick her up and put her in her crate by my bed and she is fine through the night probably out of pure exhaustion.

I have put her in her crate during the day twice so far. Once during a zoom meeting and the other time when my friend brought her baby over to visit. She whined the entire time she was in there. I’m talking over an hour straight of consistent hollering her little lungs out. I put on a quiet noise maker, make sure she has a chew stick to keep her occupied, cover her crate partially but nothing helps.

She follows me around the house consistently which is fine, but she will be so exhausted she literally starts falling over. I have a 13 year old son so I stay pretty active even at home. I have her a bed to sleep on in the center of the house so she can keep eyes on me and rest but she needs to be within inches of me at all times.

I know puppies her age need sleep, but she will only sleep when I lay down with her and she is physically in contact with me which just isn’t realistic.

How can I help her adjust and ease some of her anxiety?

It absolutely kills me to hear her so upset and see her so tired! Literally any advice will help lol.

What's everyone's opinions on cosleeping with your puppy? I had a boston terrier for 10 years that I had since 7 weeks old (she passed of cancer). She slept with me from the very beginning. She cried and cried with the crate for a few nights and I gave in and let her sleep with me. It was totally fine though because I knew thats where I wanted her to be anyways.

This time around, I have an 8 week boston terrier puppy and i skipped trying the crate. I put 2 potty pads on the end of the bed and made sure the whole top of the comforter is covered with a blanket and the sheet underneath is too just in case. She has been here 2 nights and no accidents. I let her out around 3am to go potty on potty pad and she does. She sleeps all night with me. I genuinely dont see a problem but want to know if I will regret this for any reason.

I would like to rescue but I don't think any dogs in the shelters would be a good fit for me atm (and I've been watching the local shelters for literal years), and the rescues around here are all either up to some super shady bullshit or they reject adopters for any reason whatsoever. I will probably have to get from a responsible breeder. I have to ask after reading what some people have said, do people harass you about having a dog from a breeder? Or is that mostly an online thing?

Hi All!

We are looking at planning a trip this summer to go camping with our dog& would like to go to Grasslands National Park, then down south through Montana and back up to Waterton NP.

We have a dog that will be 10 months by the time we leave for our trip but I’m wondering what the requirements are for us to bring our dog across the border and back into Canada. I’ve looked into it online but I’m not sure if I need a CFIA export certificate or not.

If anyone has done this recently or has any advice that would be greatly appreciated!