Category: Top Dog

I didn't know exactly what I signed up for today until the people who were doing it explained it to me and told me about it but I agreed to the procedure anyway due to being tired of the pain in my feet. I can't walk well for at least a week if not over(and was told not to unless it was absolutely necessary until they said so) and my pup is hard to entertain due to not liking toys. normally I run with him to wear him out. I messed my foot up and had to have it worked on today but I gotta get the other worked on in a couple weeks as well to prevent the same issue from happening with that one. So I probably got a whole month of not being able to do the running thing. Idk what to do. I have a kong but that only lasts about 10 minutes tops. He can take up to an hour to wear down enough.(not aiming for sleep aiming for not bored)

breed: blue heeler mix 17 pounds

Hello everyone!

I have a 9 month old standard poodle and I want to preface this by saying that I've always been kind of wary of dog parks in general, but my boy doesn't really get tired from walks and this dog park is pretty close by to where I live, so one day I decided to give it a shot. We actually had a lot of good experiences and I got into the habit of taking him to the park a couple times a week and he used to have the time of his life running around and playing with other dogs.

Today, however, there was a GSD (who we've met before and didn't know had any kind of behavioral issues) who was playing with a tennis ball, and when my puppy got close to her to play with it she snapped at him. The attack lasted maybe 5 seconds before her owner pulled her off of my dog — She just threw him onto the ground, growled and bit him a little, but she's not very young so her teeth didn't do any actual damage. However my puppy was absolutely terrified and ran away and hid in a corner, crying and shaking.

I checked him over and he didn't seem actually hurt, so as the GSD and her owner left I decided to stay for a little longer because I didn't want his last experience to be so negative. He eventually calmed down, but he was super wary of other dogs and only got close enough to sniff and get sniffed before taking a detour and coming back to where I was standing.

I'm honestly just so frustrated because I'm having a lot of problems with this puppy (we can't leave him alone without him barking and howling like a maniac, he swallows so many dangerous things) and I was just so happy he was, at least, very friendly with other dogs— He's always been so eager to play and just a happy-go-lucky puppy when it came to making new friends, and now I'm terrified this experience is going to make him scared of other dogs and it'll be yet another problem to deal with…

Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this? Should we go back to the park or stay away from it entirely? I sadly don't know anyone that owns a dog so I can't arrange any meetings or playdates that I'm certain would go well, so I'm feeling a little bit lost.

First time dog owner! Our mini schnauzer came home at 8 weeks and is now about 15 weeks.

Crate training is going pretty well – no fuss going in for naps, when we are leave the house, or for overnight and he usually doesn’t make a peep – even when we have left and then come home he waits patiently, so hopefully this continues. No apparent separation anxiety that I have seen so far. No problems with excessive barking or anything, I rarely hear him bark. Potty training we are still working on – he knows what he is supposed to do outside but is not letting us know he needs to go yet, so it’s on us to get him out still right now.

Other than that, he knows: sit, lay down, shake a paw, wait (for food) and waits until released with “okay”. HOWEVER, when he sees the treats come out for training he will automatically sit, then lay down, then offer his paw before I even say anything 😂 any tips on how to get him to wait for a command without offering everything he knows up front? Lol

Is there anything else that would be beneficial to be working on right now? Just want to do our best to raise a well rounded, secure and behaved doggo.

Thanks!!

My frenchie is ten months now and he is from a rescue that takes in cleft palate dogs. He was born in an ER vet and taken away from his mother immediately after birth and raised by his foster mom til we got him at 13 weeks.

We LOVE this little man and we’ve had him in training since December. However, after a bite that was a result of the doorbell reading, we learned about 5 week puppy syndrome and he has a lot of the criteria.

Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, did anything help?

TIA!

Hi! We have a 4 month old ALD and she has been going pretty much consistently outside, we take her out after she wakes up, before she goes to sleep and after she eats. However, we still have the pad out and she sometimes uses it after she drinks water. Idk if I should completely remove the pad and not even give her that option anymore? Idk any tips would be helpful 🙂

Hey guys!

So my dog is not a puppy, he’s an older dog, so with that naturally comes more problems, but I do love my dog, it’s just constantly cleaning messes that is not so fun. My question for you guys with senior dogs, what do you do if your dog pees in the house and accidentally steps in the pee and walks around and leaves tracks. I know the obvious way to prevent this is taking him out, but sometimes it still happens. He is a terrier mix, and he will be 16 in April. What I typically do is take him In the tub to get his paws clean, but I don’t think that will work either, since he gets nervous and poops in the tub, and causes a bigger mess than initially. I was just wondering, what do you guys do in this situation? Am I alone in dealing with this? Thanks so much for your help!

Our Olde English Bulldogge just had her first baby on March 18 (bred through the IOEBA) and unfortunately had to have a cesarean. She is recovering extremely well and baby is healthy, lively, and chunky. However, I’m having some concerns.

Persephone (mom) seems to be very uncomfortable with baby most of the time. We normally have to put the baby on her to feed because Percy won’t instinctively do it herself. She also is not cleaning her at all, stimulating her to potty, etc. so my boyfriend and I have been doing it.

Percy also will not sleep in the whelping box with the baby, she’d rather be in bed with my boyfriend and I. She is extremely persistent so no matter how much we try, she refuses to sleep in the box. We’ve had to put the baby in a cloth-lined heated box at night because we can’t get Percy to stop leaving her.

Sorry I realize this is long winded, but I am kind of desperate for some sort of solution or help. Should my boyfriend and I stop sleeping in the same room as her and the baby? And if we did, considering her other slightly concerning behavior, would it even be safe for her to sleep with the baby? Percy is an absolutely wonderful dog, she’s so sweet and gentle but is just not taking to the baby as much as we thought she would. 😟 Percy is my boyfriend’s dog, it was his choice to breed her (not mine) so I’m just a desperate bystander who wants a baby to survive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🫶🏻

Please help my year old dog he is house trained but only when my husband is home he will do his business inside even though our rules are the same I walk him regular when my husband isn't home the dog won't indicate needing to go out and even when I take him out to see if he needs to go usually he will just do a wee then poop as soon as we get home on the carpet. when walking my year old dog with my husband he will poop anywhere between 10 or more times. First 2 are solid then it gets runnier like liquid. People have said its scent marking but nowhere online can I find anything about poop marking. Every few feet it's a constant stop to clean poop he and I feel like poop collectors. According to the vet there is literally no medical problems but surely a dog can't be that full of crap. I stress very quickly due to my anxiety and having to keep stopping or going out for nothing makes it worse

I have two dogs and I swear… every time I leave the house (even if it’s just to take out the trash or grab something quickly), they react like I’ve been gone for YEARS when I come back.

Crying, jumping, running around like crazy… full emotional meltdown.

Meanwhile I’m like: “guys, I was literally gone for 3 minutes.”

They’re well taken care of, not left alone for long periods, and get plenty of attention, so I don’t think it’s anxiety… but their reactions are so intense it makes me wonder lol.

Is this normal dog behavior or are mine just extra dramatic?

My dog gets overly excited when visitors come over and keeps jumping on them. I’ve tried redirecting and giving commands, but it doesn’t seem to stick