Category: Top Dog

We've got our Cavalier at 7 months. He initially slept through the night until about 7am, but keeps waking up earlier. This morning he started at 4.30am. He is crated trained.

We tried ignoring it, or a quick QUIET which makes him quiet for like 10 minutes. It starts with a little whining which turns into more whining and then some barking. It's not toilet either.

Also tried more exercise during the day. It's very frustrating and we're all very tired.

He sleeps in his crate in our bedroom.

I've read people having success with alarms, but not sure how that would work as he sleeps in our bedroom. We could look at putting him in a crate in another bedroom, but that could wake up the rest of the house.

Any other tips?

Hi everyone,

We have a 5 month old puppy that we are struggling to get to like going outside. We carried him outside for the first few weeks we had him because he was still learning how to walk down stairs. He would do his business outside just fine then dart back to the door to go in. He’s now comfortable with stairs (the inside stairs are now his personal agility course, ha ha), so I know it’s not that. We’ve tried treats and celebration when he is in the yard. We’ve also tried high reward treats just for outside, but there is no treat we’ve found that the reward is high enough. Won’t even go near the door on his own. Just wanted to see if anyone had any other advice.

Not sure if this is related, but could be. He was older than I’m used to when getting a puppy from a breeder (18 weeks) and I don’t think he actually went outside much while living there. They had a really nice deck built out to an artificial outside area.

Thanks in advance!

I have a 4 year old lab and a 3 year old golden, I know they’re young but they’re both prone to hip dysplasia + other joint issues which is why I’m looking specifically for orthopaedic beds

It doesn’t need to tick every box, but other features I’m looking for are: water/moisture resistant lining, machine washable cover, minimum of 4” thick, heat regulating (the golden is a fluffy boy who overheats easily)

Ideally the design would be a mattress or would only have 1 head rest (they like to sleep sprawled out)

I’ve seen the beds available on VetRelieve and Big Barker and whilst they look amazing the price is just a bit too high (Big Barker only ships from the US so it’s the shipping costs that push it over)

Thank you for any recommendations

Why does my blue heeler “snarl” into our couch cushions or bed? He presses his nose into it and snarls

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice or reassurance. My 5 month old puppy, Murphy, used to love his crate. He’d nap in there for 2–3 hours during the day and it let me actually leave my apartment for a bit to do errands since I’m raising him solo.

After a weekend camping trip, he suddenly wants nothing to do with it. If I put him in, he barks and cries nonstop. The weird part is he’s totally fine sleeping in it at night.

Is this maybe a fear period or just a random setback? Has anyone else had this happen and managed to fix it? I’m feeling kinda stuck and just want to get back to where we were.

Lately, life has been a little heavy. I’ve been dealing with stress, some loneliness, and just that feeling of being a bit lost. But every evening, when I walk through my front door, my dog comes running, tail wagging, eyes bright, acting like I’m the best thing that’s ever happened.

It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’ve had, good, bad, or completely exhausting, he’s there with that same pure excitement. No judgment, no questions, just love. I sit on the floor, and he rests his head on my knee like he knows exactly what I need.

I know people say “dogs don’t live long enough,” and it breaks my heart every time I think about it. But in the time we do get, they fill our lives with more love and loyalty than most of us ever deserve.

If you’re reading this and having a tough day, hug your dog a little tighter tonight. They really are the best kind of therapy there is.

Hi,

I recently adopted my 3rd puppy. I adopted his full brother, a purebred Golden Retriever, last year and trained him in 3 days. Not a single accident in the house since he was 8 weeks old. My method was to take him outside every 15 minutes and reward only outside and never punish. He understood this very quickly. He's registered and being trained as a service dog and couldn't be better.

I adopted his brother at 6 weeks and he's now 11 weeks. I've been doing this method every day, and he knows he gets a treat when he goes outside, but doesn't hold it ever. I made a count yesterday and he peed 75 times, and not just marking, and about 40 of these were in the house. He went a substantial amount most of the time. I took him to the vet and he doesn't have a UTI and they told us to not withhold water. I now take him outside every 10 minutes, but he rarely holds it for the full 10 minutes, and I'm going insane. When I took him for a 15 minute walk yesterday, he peed 6 times, and a decent amount each time. He sleeps through the night so I know he doesn't need to go every 5 minutes.

I'm looking for any advice. I'm going insane. I just come in and out the house all day long and clean urine the rest of the time.

Can anyone help me? It's my 2nd day with our puppy(poncho) and I want to get him trained to pee on our pad.

He seems very resistant on going outside, hits the brakes every time and won't go to the bathroom when we take him out. Help!!!

Does my lab look more like American (field bred) or English (show bred)? She is 5 months old.

I posted 3 pictures of her here: https://imgur.com/a/hJxPh21