Category: Top Dog

Hi all,

I have a 8.5 month golden retriever on a whole is doing well in terms of behaviour and learning. This is mine & my partner’s first dog so we’re learning ourselves along the way.

When we have been out for a long walk with our dog, he will often fall asleep in the back seat of the car on the journey home. When we open the door to let him out, he sleepily doesn’t want to get out and will just look at us.

If we go to pull his lead to force him out he will growl.. if we back off, he can bark and then eventually he will snip if we continue.

I’ve tried a few things: – forcing him out and a snip from him (didn’t draw blood) – treats on the side of the door and on the driveway – getting his favourite toy and luring him out – getting my partner to call him from the door (this only works if partner hasn’t come on walk)

Treats and the toy won’t work immediately as he’s really too tired to be bothered by them, and it can take up to 10 minutes of waiting.

The mixed advice I’ve had is that if we back off and let him growl, he will learn that that behaviour gets him what he wants and will continue doing it.

Also had advice to let him growl and give him space slowly lure him out with treats and toys when he’s ready.

I don’t want to reinforce bad behaviour so I’m not sure what to do?

Silly and random question, but I've heard a lot about a puppies ears changing during teething. Is it the chewing that makes them start to stand? I've read a few things about chewing strengthening the muscle to make it stand up more to get to its final position, but seen conflicting information. Just interested as I'm watching him gnaw his teething bone!

My pup was a floppy eared boy up until 3.5 months when one ear started to go in the rose position while the other has stayed floppy. I love his floppy ears and am missing them. I know they won't drop, but secretly keep wishing they would lol

I have a 12 week old havenese mix that refuses to nap in the crate during the day. I don't let her out while she's crying but how long before throwing in the towel? If it matters she's only been with us for 2 days and I don't think crate naps were reinforced before. I have been keeping the crate in a separate quiet room and leave a toy to chew on. At night she's generally ok but cries when I am not in the room for a while.

My dog is 3 yo labrador. I know that it’s normal to a certain extent, but it goes beyond playfulness and boredom. I’m afraid i might have created an overstimulation problem. He whines every second that we’re not engaged with him. He’s restless. What can i do to break down that behavior ?

Here is some context. About 3 months ago, we adopted a 7 month old puppy name Ben. I have two adult dogs, cupid, 5, and slippers 7.

When we first brought him home, cupid wouldn't let the puppy in our bed, we like it when the dogs sleep with us. It's fine, we did other sleeping alternatives for about 2-3 weeks and cupid let the puppy in the bed.

Everything was going great! Cupid doesnt love the new puppy. But they finally started to play together. One time the puppy climbed over cupid and he didn't care (we try not to let this happen but dogs being dogs). We saw a lot of improvement in 3 months.

Now the problem…a few nights ago, Ben probably stepped on cupid face at night and started to growl. We turned on the lights and then cupid went for Ben. It was all bark but it was scary. We quickly separated ben and moved him into the other room and I slept with him while cupid slept in the main bed.

3 nights ago, cupid was laying near the end of the bed, and I was a wall separating them. We slept fine that night.

The next night cupid growled at him and was doing the classic warning signs. We moved cupid in the spare room. We don't punish him but just called his name and he got up and followed me. I slept with him while ben got the main bed.

Last night….cupid growled again…….we made cupid sleep in the spare bedroom by himself. He cried a little which sucked. I really really wanted to let him back im but I was scared he would hurt the puppy.

We are going to be doing more family time activities. Its just crazy because during the day, no issues. We are going to spend some time with ben on leash and cupid on the bed together with treats.

But if he growls, who should we remove? My husband and i just want what's best for our small pack. Sorry for spelling and grammar mistakes. I typed this before my first cup of coffee lol