Category: Top Dog

There is this one dog and owner that I run into frequently on walks. When I’m walking my dog and we are headed to cross paths, this dog owner will stop his dog and make his dog wait until my dog and I pass. It is not a space issue he just does this to everyone. I’ve spoken to other dog owners who also feel it is rude and the situation is uncomfortable and puts unnecessary pressure on their dog. I think he thinks he is being polite and I understand that he is being consistent with his training but it is not beneficial for my walk or the walks of some other dog owners’ who I’ve spoken to for several reasons and I’m curious to hear respectful advice and opinions.

• it takes us twice as long to pass them when they’re holding still
• it prolongs a stare down and makes my dog uncomfortable
• I think my dog takes it as a challenge or a territorial thing, it makes the whole walk past him so tense and there’s no escape unless I just turn and walk the other direction which when I’m headed home isn’t an option.
• my dog loves seeing other dogs and wants to go up to them, I always redirect her and remind her to focus on her walk and even reward her with treats but when they’re just holding still it is confusing to her if they are inviting her to visit or challenging her, either way I keep it moving.

So I’m not sure if there are particular benefits to his approach, the seated dog appears to be an invitation to interact, which can cause my young high-energy dog to get even more excited or frustrated.

Should I do something different? I’ve thought about copying him a few times and just pausing our walk until he gets the picture and walk past me. For me the ideal situation crossing paths with another walker and their dog is no one changes speed, you try to make room for each other to comfortably pass and you say “hi, good morning” when you’re close enough and then keep walking.

We already know our dog does great with kids and babies, as I used to take care of my nieces and nephews at my house everyday for several months. But those kids went home after a few hours, and our baby is here to stay, Lol!

My husband and I already talked about boundaries and how our dog needs to wait for permission to enter baby’s personal space, and that our baby will not enter my dogs personal space.

Just wondered if any of you have recently brought home a baby and if there was anything specific you felt like helped the transition for your pup. We thought about getting him some new bones for when we come home as well.

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Am I missing something? Service dogs are supposed to be well behaved right? My MIL brings her tiny dog every time she visits. And brings it EVERYWHERE and has a service dog harness. But it never listens. Barks, runs away. And shes always calling its name. Its embarrassing. Even when we are eating. The dog will go to other tables and bother people. I dont wanna be that guy but something seems off. I HATE leaving the house with her.

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

I just watched this documentary about how dogs can "talk" using buttons with preset words. Basically, the press a button to say what they supposedly want. This got me thinking. If your dog could magically speak one single word, which word do you think it would be? Mine would probably say "stay", because he hates when I leave.

This past Saturday we got our 13 week old German Shepherd puppy (Floki). Safe to say he’s been a dream he goes to potty outside, has only had 4 accidents since we got him and all of them were my fault, and sleeps through the night. I made the executive decision to not crate him at night as I already have a plan to only crate when we are out of the house and I stay at home most of the time so that will rarely be needed as well. I have been working with the crate with him since Saturday and he’s doing well so far. I just wanted to see if there is any advice that would be helpful with crate training. And also anything that helps with teething. And how would you portion out his food I’ve been doing three meals a day but he doesn’t seem hungry until like midnight for his dinner so would it be ok to skip out on lunch and just do two meals.I feel like I’m doing something wrong but idk what.

I have a small shih tzu and she’s only 2 months old so I understand the constant crying but the thing is I just feel like I’m picking her up too much possibly because even when I’m just on the couch and she’s in her play pen big area we set up for her in the living room if she sees me she will cry and cry and want to get up on the couch with me. Basically I just feel bad to let her cry but don’t know what else to do because she can’t constantly be in my arms or next to me I want to teach her some independence. We are crate training her for sleeping as well and it’s actually going pretty good but I feel like I can’t just put her in the crate whenever I need alone time. Should I just let her cry and get used to being on the floor or does anyone have any suggestions?