Category: Top Dog

Hey there, I brought home a currently 5 month old golden puppy a month ago. I love her she is so sweet, but I feel like a bad mom.

She does so great, sleeps in the crate without crying, is mostly potty trained (only a few accidents in the house!), does great in the crate while I’m at work, all the good things. I just brought her home for thanksgiving and she loves to play. Our older (6 years old) dog was not a huge fan of her attempts to play and would snarl his teeth and growl at her. So I would put her in her crate when she got to be a little much for him.

Unfortunately my work schedule has not been super consistent like I was promised. I was working some crazy hours last week and feel like she was in the crate for 75% of the day. Whenever I eat a meal I will also crate her because she likes to beg and jump for food. I just want to make sure I’m not doing her a disservice. I love her so much, and of course she frustrates me sometimes, but I just feel like a bad owner.

My family was recently gifted a puppy, we have previously owned dogs before but never a puppy so we are very new with this whole puppy stage. I have been trying to do crate training for the last week but she is feisty. So many questions just because I don’t want her to be an aggressive/ reactive dog. We have a seven-year-old of living with us and he is crazy about her, but I think they are mutually creating chaos. She sleeps in her crate at night and cries, which I let her out and take her to potty area, where she becomes hostile. I don’t know if I’m coming off as overbearing because she stays to growl and bark and even tries to bite me. how do I effectively potty train her? Should I keep her in the crate through out the day ? I read that letting her free roam the house all day will make her have more accidents.

Hello! I’m looking for advice on dog door solutions that will allow my dogs to go outside freely while still keeping our indoor cat safely inside. The cat never goes outdoors, but our two dogs need regular access to the backyard for bathroom breaks.

Ideally, I’m hoping to find an affordable electric dog door insert—or something similar—that gives the dogs access without letting the cat slip out. If anyone has experience with this setup or recommendations for cost-effective products that work well for dogs, I’d really appreciate the help.

Thanks

We will be bring home a puppy in about 9 weeks. I've read the wiki articles on a puppy first day, but also on getting a puppy accustomed to her crate and leash with gradual introduction and games and treats.

But puppies need lots of naps. If I'm supposed to put treats at the entrance and put treats further in and gradually let her stay longer or move further away… how does she sleep?

If I'm supposed have a leash out in a non-threatening way, and then have the leash attached to the collar without doing any thing with it and then gradually letting the puppy get used it, yet simultaneously every time I take her outside to potty, she is supposed to be on the leash.

I feel like there is a contradiction here. Or maybe I am too literal.

My 16 week old golden retriever has recently started barking at me anytime I’m doing something in the kitchen longer than just a minute.

I have a pretty open floor plan and he is allowed in the kitchen/dining room/ living room as long as I’m with him to supervise his behavior. It always seems playful as he jumps up in place and barks (does NOT try biting and doesn’t jump on me per se) and never aggressive or fearful. I’ve tried to ignore the behavior, but he just continues until I leave the kitchen and throw a ball or pet him.

I originally thought it was due to me wetting his puppy food with the faucet so he thinks anytime I’m in the kitchen, he’ll receive something. I stopped wetting his food 3-4 days ago. This behavior has been going on for 3 days now and I can hardly be productive in the kitchen without putting him in his kennel for 10 minutes just to stop this barking. He gets ample play time, he’s great with kennel training, he’s plenty loved but I can’t even load the dishwasher or grab a quick drink without him doing this behavior. I havent noticed any signs of separation anxiety and he typically plays on his own or chews on a bully stick if he starts getting bored. And yes, I do play WITH him majority of the time but if I want to sit on the couch he will go play with a toy on his own.

Any tips to stop this behavior?

I have a 10 month lurcher pup and he is just absolutely chaos at the moment. I'm at my parents house and he just cannot settle. He's trying to hump his bed, chew their floor, he paces and whines, he's harassing their old dog. We arrived this evening and he genuinely did not settle the entire 5 hours before bed.

I put him in his crate for bed time and he howled for 30 minutes before eventually crashing.

His ability to settle in general in the presence of humans has just got a lot worse generally in the last month. I'm really struggling to understand what is going wrong and how I can help him.

He is fine at home generally except for being more whiney and attention seeking recently.

We recently rescued two puppies that are 9 weeks old now. The vet suggested leaving water out all day, but what time should we stop giving them water to avoid inside accidents? We work late (they come to work with us), typically getting home around 10:45 and bedtime is 11:30/12. Dinner is 7/7:30 and they also fill up on water at that time. They’ve been good about whining at the door when they have to go, still get up every 3-4 hours to potty, sometimes having accidents on their potty pad at the door. Should we stop water by the time we get home?

I’m a 24 year old single guy and live alone in a house right now. I work from home 5 days a week and make enough money that a dog would not be a financial burden for me. I’ve never had a dog before and have always wanted one, I feel like I’m at a place in my life where a dog is viable. I have a decent social life with an occasional 2-3 hour weeknight commitment and some weekend plans (golfing, pickleball, going out) where I’d be gone for like 4 hours at a time.

My aunt is fostering a 10 week old border collie mix that I absolutely love and feels like she’s the dog for me. I know this is an active breed and I’m an active guy where I feel confident that I can give her the activity she needs. I need some advice on if this is reasonable? Do I have a solid situation to own a dog?

Not an important question but kinda curious. 2yo Golden, half the time he gets really spooked by my feet if I touch him while he’s laying down but not if he can see them coming and never if I were to touch him with my hand, he’s never been spooked.. just kinda weird like he doesn’t associate feet with the same type of petting. Not sure if this makes sense.. is it a common thing, do dogs differentiate between hands and feet or is it all the same to them and my homies just a little weird. Just incase anyone tries to go there, no, he has never been kicked, he doesn’t have a fear of feet, just sometimes the spook him.