Category: Top Dog

We got our pup at 8 weeks old hes a miniature long haired dachshund (very loving and has been doing great with crate, potty etc). We socialised him a lot in our arms/puppy sling the past 4 weeks and hes super desensitized to cars, noises etc and can happily sit in a cafe watching the world (people and dogs walking past)

Hes friendly with dogs. However…with strangers, he will happily walk past, or sit and watch but when they try to come close to say hello (which happens alot since hes super small and cute), he shys away. He’ll back up slightly but no growls or barks etc. When someone goes to his level and puts out their hand slowly, he will go and sniff but then slowly retreat.

How do we get him to be more friendly? We dont need him to say hello to everyone but we also dont want him to be super shy & having to retreat, we want him to be confident. We dont mind him being neutral, we just want to grow his confidence 😊

Anyone dealt with something similar?

Hello! I'm not new to dogs but first time owning my own. Basically, my wife and I have recently re-homed a 1 year old pomeranian. We've had him for a little under a week now. And he pees on the floor when unattended. I dont know if we just aren't getting it, or if he just needs more time with us? For some context he lived at his puppy house for his first year, and the breeder decided to sell him in the end. That's when we picked him up. I worry that because he's been around puppies he's never been properly house trained (and we live in a flat).

We've set up a 4 hour schedule to take him out, which is working, and now he sleeps through the night without wetting his bed. We basically keep him on the sofa as a lap dog and he's not peeing on the sofa. But now I'm not trusting him on the floor unattended. To add on to this, he struggles going downstairs because of his size, so even if he wanted to tell us he needed to go outside he can't get up. He sniffs a lot around the rugs and floors, but I'm constantly hovering, and I want him to feel comfortable as well in his new home.

A week isn't a very long time in the grand scheme of things, but the new dog blues have hit and I want to feel a little less stressed in my home. Which is partly the reason we went with a slightly older dog. Hes getting neutered in a week, so I'm hoping that will have an effect. And he's gaining more pom-itude every day so he's getting comfortable with us. Am I just in my own head and need to give it some time or is there an effective training method we can use? Any wisdom or kind words in this tough part of owning a dog would be appreciated! 💟

Has anyone ground transported their pet from east coast to west coast? Any reliable business (I have searched google and came across few) but wanted some recommendations from folks who done it recently? Thanks

Dog = Lab mix

I just need a little reassurance right now. My dog, is a 7-month-old German Shepherd/Staffy mix, and it feels like we’ve faced every possible challenge since the day we brought him home from the shelter in June.

Within the first 24 hours of owning him, he was lethargic, had discharge from his nose, and could barely stay awake. We rushed him to the vet, and he was diagnosed with a k9 Covid strain. That was the start of what’s become a long and expensive road, one vet quote alone was $8,000, and we’ve already been to the vet seven times in just a few months.

Since then, we’ve dealt with:

Chronic skin issues — constant itching around his tail and groin which has just now been managed with Cytopoint. But that was $160 and it only works for 30 days I believe is what they told me.

Food allergies, now managed with a fish-based diet.

Behavioral struggles — occasional resource guarding, stubbornness, eating EVERYTHING in the yard, especially rocks and leaves, and overexcitement that we’ve been addressing through desensitization and gentle training.

He’s still full of energy and affection, and I know none of this is his fault. Overall he’s a sweet, goofy, loving boy. But between the constant vet trips, allergy management, food issues, constant redirection and worry, I’m honestly tired and discouraged.

I love him so much, and I want to do right by him, but it’s hard not to feel defeated when it’s one thing after another.

If anyone has gone through a similar start where your puppy seemed to have constant health issues that finally got better with time — please tell me your experience. I just need to hear that it really can calm down once they mature and their immune system settles.

So my dog is about 11 months old. We’ve had her for 7 months. We were feeding her Purina puppy chow when we first got her and she loved it. Then over the course of a few weeks she slowly stopped liking it. So we switched her to Purina One Puppy food. She liked it for a few days then stopped eating it. So then we switch to half canned food and half dry food of the same brand. She will sometimes eat it and sometimes not. We’ve tried different food toppers and none of them worked and I didn’t want her to think we would just give in if she doesn’t eat it so we have stayed pretty consistent with just the Purina One Puppy canned + dry food. Sometimes when I feed her, she doesn’t even go near it, other times she eats it right away, and other times she will move it around with her nose for 20 minutes before I eventually take it away. We feed her twice a day and if she doesn’t eat one of the meals she will eventually throw up bile, but that doesn’t seem to phase her. I’m about 6 weeks pregnant and we simply cannot spend this much time waiting around for her to eat and getting frustrated about her not eating and then just wait around for her to throw up bile. Does anyone have any advice!? Also, if I were to throw that whole plate of food away and then set the plate back down on the ground, she will lick the plate clean from whatever was possibly left on there. I don’t get it.

I have an almost 6 year old chihuahua/small breed mix. We adopted him as a puppy and he has been completely housebroken since he turned 1 year. In the past week, he has started urinating on the floor 4-5 times a day. He has been to the vet twice. Urine (twice) and bloodwork all look reassuring. I'm guessing it's anxiety, but I'm completely flummoxed by the pattern of urinating and how to fix it. I'm open to suggestions, thank you!

• This all started the same day my husband left on a work trip. However, my husband is a pilot and leaves on work trips every other week. This has been the case since we got the dog, so it's not something new. Obviously this is something we can't change. Waiting to see if he stops this behavior when husband is home in a few days.
• Urinates only in the downstairs on the hard floor. No accidents upstairs on carpet. No specific spot he is peeing. It's just on the floor not on things.
• Urinates within 5 minutes of me leaving the room. He is not locked or gated off downstairs. He could absolutely follow me! I'm talking I run upstairs to use the bathroom or switch the load of laundry and he pees. I've set a timer, so I know the 5 minutes is accurate.
• When we're in the downstairs with him, he still goes to the back door and signals to be let out. I've been ensuring that he actually urinates when he goes out. However, he has peed on the floor even with having gone pee outside within 30 minutes.
• Goes all night (~12 hours) without peeing. Still comes to wake me up and runs to the door to go out and pee first thing.
• Does not pee when we leave the house. I've been gone 3-4 hours each day this week and he has not urinated once while I'm gone. It's only when I'm home.
• We do have two small kids (3 years and 12 months). But I can't think of anything new with them. Both kids have been mobile for a while. They are never unsupervised with the dog. He absolutely adores them and sleeps in my 3 year old's room every night.
• If it wasn't for the peeing, I would not see any sign of separation anxiety. He has been better behaved this past week than he normally is (less barking and less whining than his norm). He has been affectionate and snuggly.
• Again, normal bloodwork, negative for UTI. Vet suggested limiting his water intake, but I've already done that.
• He is crate trained and often retreats to his crate in our room. But with this pattern of behavior and with chasing two kids around, he would end up being crated a large amount of time as we go up and down the stairs frequently.
• He has plenty of chewers, peanut butter mats, etc. Plus more treats than he should because the kids love to feed him.