Category: Top Dog

My puppy is coming up on 5 months and is definitely attached to me – which is great but also stressful because when she knows I’m home and not in sight she won’t stop whining. I keep her gated in the kitchen and if I go upstairs and she can hear me walking around she’ll whine until I come back – sometimes she actually screams like she’s hurt 🙁 she’s teething really badly this week so I’m not sure if that’s making her more needy than usual, but would love any tips to make her feel more comfortable! I’ve tried leaving her with a puzzle toy, lick mat, things like that and it works for a bit but once she hears me moving around all bets are off.

She does go to puppy daycare 2x a week and seems to enjoy it, and she’s great at night in her crate, goes right in no problem. She’s also good in the crate when no one’s home – it’s just when she’s alone in the kitchen that it seems to be a problem.

We adopted a 2 lb chi mix puppy in December. We have had no choice but to pad train her. While our older chi mix can go out all bundled up, he’s also part Pomeranian and has an undercoat and even he’s struggling. She’s super short haired with no fur on her belly or inner legs. She even has to wear a sweater inside or she shivers. Not to mention that the snow would be over her head since we have almost 20 inches on the ground and it’s been below zero here in the mornings. I have read over and over that puppy pads are a terrible idea but she’s pretty well trained at 14 weeks. But now, I’m worried we’re going to be stuck with pads forever. Are there any tried and true training protocols for switching from inside after everything thaws? Has anyone ever successfully switched? We have a fenced yard and an older dog that only will go outside if that helps. We’re not going to even attempt until all this snow melts which looking at the weather could be into March. This has been a terrible winter in the northeast have a new puppy.

So I have a six months old puppy. He mostly stays inside. He acts ok..all quiet, sleeps normal, behaves well, just doesn't listen or follow me around if called, doesn't much tear stuff but occasionally when finds stuff that can go inside his mouth he eats it like insect,small black stuff or dirt on floor..it's all fine upto that…but the moment I take him outside and put him on ground of soil. He would descent his head down and begin licking and sometimes even bite chunks out soil and eats it..I stop him, gently lift his head up and say no..but when I remove my hands he again out his head down..I've tried rewarding him food one day or two to refocus his attention but the absence of food ,he returns again to eating dirt..the next day again same ….is it normal? Will he change? Is he deficient in something.

Hi everyone. We got a puppy after we lost our older dog and wanted to get a companion for our other older dog, who tolerates but doesn’t love the puppy yet – which is really sad 🙁

Anyway. Puppy is pretty good. She’s smart and she even had been warning us sometimes when she needs to go out ( she’s only 11 weeks!). I’ve had her 2 weeks and I go back to work in 2/3 weeks. So far the crate is not working workout and I’ve been patient and diligent. I’ve done the trainings, watched YouTube, let her cry, she yelps and cries and screams and is so upset to be left in it for any period of time. Like … how will I ever be able to leave? How can we support her if we can’t go to work?

I’d be an advocate for just letting her cry but sometimes she gets so upset she poops in the crate and I just cannot keep cleaning poop from the nooks and crannies my god.

I am desperate. It’s not for lack of trying, I didn’t just lock her in there and say oh well. We hung out in the room, gave her high value treats, feed her in the crate, fun toys, only come back in when crying stops, put on relaxing music. It’s like the panic sets in as soon as she thinks we’re gone. Even though we’ve repeatedly come back for her. I’m worried and I’m just stressed and over it. I can’t even take a shower without hellish barking and screaming. I tried puppy proofing the room and putting a baby gate incase it was confinement, she escapes the gate. I tried closing the door and leaving her in the room, still freaks out. Help me please .

Anyone know of anyone or anywhere who have puppies preferably ones that will grow into a medium size! Other than places like spca exc

Hello, everyone I'm looking for some potty training advice for a puppy that lives in an apartment. She's a two to barely three month old Norwegian Elkhound mix. She was found in a desert near my home which is an apartment on top of a business my fiancé manages. She was out in the desert for awhile and I think her litter mates were dumped as well because upon searching whether someone lost a puppy of her description in my area there were four other found puppy reports (all looking striking similar to my pup) in multiple different locations near me.

She's doing well with going pee and poo on the pads now with some accidents here and there, we are crate training her and it is helping her a little by little. At one point she pooped outside with us but since she has been with us (two weeks) she has not really gone to the bathroom outside. We live in a three and a half room, two and half bath apartment/townhouse attached to the business' property and office. We unfortunately don't have a yard but we do have a garage.

The poor thing must've been out in the dirt roads for awhile because she was skinny, had worms(and still has worms, I have to get a hold of the vet about this because the de wormer is not working), and so beyond filthy. I understand why she doesn't feel comfortable pooping and peeing outside anymore after being granted an area much quieter and secure, however, she cannot continue to poop and pee inside my little home.

I have no issues with picking up the poo and cleaning the pee but I worry about pests and from what I read, having a dog get used to potty inside is a bad idea and can create a lot of issues especially when you need your dog to be watched during vacation or long work hours. She's also gonna be a big dog, she's only three months at the most and she's already ten pounds, me and the vet believe she's a Norwegian elkhound mixed with a Belgian breed. We'll know for sure from the wisdom panel in a few weeks.

This puppy is pretty obedient for the most part, she can get sassy, and she is super smart. She picks up on cue commands even sign commands very quickly. I notice she's less sassy with sign commands. Maybe, she doesn't like being talked back to, haha. But I know she has the potential to go potty outside she's done it before and like I said she's very smart. It's not a misunderstanding and she's not being disobedient, she's just a little puppy who was dumped in a desert and is scared of all the loud noises outside.

Our walks are short and minimum throughout the week because she's not fully vaccinated and we live near a car wash, on a storage facility, and next to a car shop with industrial machinery. The road we live on has a train track with a train that comes by two to four times a day, people that drive by with their work trucks, and we live near a busy main road where there is lots of honking, loud music, and sirens multiple times a day.

I'm looking forward to when she's fully vaccinated and I can take her to the near by parks where the noise of this busy town is minimizing enough for her to get a proper absorption of the world around her. But I'm stumped at what to do now. I really do not want her to get used to potty inside but she's really scared of all the cars and loud noises.

Is this something they grow out of? Will a grass patch or dirt box help her get used to potty outside? Should I maybe just start integrating the pads in the garage and take her down stairs to the garage on the grass patch or dirt box after the pads then graduate to immediately pooping/peeing in the dirt spots near the apartment? We have areas she can poop and pee she's just not confident there.

I just took her on a car ride to go through a drive thru and she was whinning at me after we started driving away so I pulled over and let her sniff around. However, that's all she did and she was very nervous about the cars driving by so I took her back into the car and then home after like five minutes of her trying to go potty. I took her immediately to the pad when we got home and she peed then pooped like ten minutes later. So, this has to do with her confidence right? Her behavior makes since I just want to understand how I can help her feel more secure to poop/pee outside.

I don't want to rush the process either because I don't want any sudden changes to mess up the potty flow she has already because she's doing so good for her age and the fact she has worms. Thank you for any advice provided! Just to be clear I'm not asking for health advice, I'm pretty informed for the most part as far as her health conditions and have a live vet chat from two different resources. Her energy is normal, her behaviors are typical puppy behaviors, BM and pee normal, and eating and drinking normal. She's just got some confidence issues outside especially with potty.