Category: Top Dog

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 .

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.

Hi guys,

My 5mo British bulldog puppy was previously crate trained, sleeping through the night from about 3 months with no accidents. All of a sudden he’s soiling 💩 every single night without fail.

I’ve tried putting him to bed later but it hasn’t helped. Vet check was all good and nothing that would be causing it.

There have been 0 changes to his diet, 0 environmental changes. We did go away on holiday for a few days but took him with us and he wasn’t alone any more than usual but could it be stress from the holiday? He was fine and didn’t soil for a few nights after we returned, then started and hasn’t stopped.

How do I troubleshoot this? Do I go back to getting up hourly through the night and just start from scratch with crate training? Why is this happening 😭

Help!! 💩

My puppy is 4 months old and we have him for two weeks. Just now while playing with his favorite squeaky toy, i grabbed on it while it was near his mouth and he bit me, just a nip not a hard one but kinda to alarm me not to take his stuff i guess? Is it a normal thing or should i be concerned?

Hi there I've been looking for a play pen for my rescued 6mo puppy. I've seen soooo many but I can't seem to find out which are the best ones to choose. It will be in my living room which is quite small but for her benefit I want it to be so that she can move around, play and nap. I've seen pop ups but they seem like they would just fall over if she jumps it leans on the side. Not really keen on the metal ones that look like a cage. Would really like your opinions about what you have and have experienced. My pup is 6kg at the moment but won't get bigger than 10kg (I believe, looking at the parents)

Thank you 💜

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

I have an 11 week old Alaskan malamute that I got at 9 weeks and potty training has been very rough. The first few days I was exhausted and got him going on the pad most of the times but for the last week and a half we’ve been having extremely cold weather here in Minnesota and haven’t been able to stay out long enough for him to actually go. I work a good amount but I still would come home and take him out for about 10-15 minutes at a time (well below negative temperature) and he would pee sometimes but in the 4 days I’ve actually deemed warm enough to try he gets too distracted and just doesn’t go. I’ve tried standing in one place not making it fun but even car/ wind noises are enough to get his attention. As it gets warmer I can definitely stay outside longer untill he gets the idea but I just want to know if you guys have tricks to help a adhd dog go number 2 quicker so I can give positive reinforcements. Only time I’ve ever corrected him with a timeout is when he climbed on my sofa and went potty there.

Hi guys. My dog has been dealing with some separation anxiety. I want to exercise him in the morning before work but i dont have much time to do our usual routine that we do in the afternoon which is a walk/dog park play combo. Hes also a large breed puppy so i dont want to work him out too much, but i need to help him relieve his anxiety somehow.

What morning time exercise helps your puppy quickly get his energy out?

I have a 100lb lanky mixed breed dog. He is capable of jumping but I prefer to use stairs or a ramp to get him in and out of the car because he has joint issues. Usually when we are out I am the only human, so ideally it needs to be something that is quick and easy to set up as a single person. I prefer he go in and out the side door of my compact SUV, because he sits in the back seat and we don’t have a great system for getting him up into the seat from the cargo area, plus sometimes I am transporting items in the cargo area. I’ve tried quite a few stair and ramp options and while they work ok, they are either too clunky to unfold and set up, too steep, too unstable. My dog also is afraid of loud noise so the metal telescopic ramps often scare him while opening or when the metal rests on the blacktop.

So I’m looking to try another 😞 I’m looking at these two models and wondering if anyone has used them and can speak to difficult or easy they are to open up, use, and store, as a person with only 2 arms. Do you have one and have no trouble using it daily or a few times a week? Obviously the website makes them sound easy but looking for real opinions as I still don’t feel sold after reading the online reviews. If you have the aluminum or metal pet loader, is it loud? Do you have a different model that you love (for big dogs)? Thank you for any advice!

https://www.weathertech.com/easyramp.html

https://www.petloader.com/product/pet-loader-aluminum/

I have a newish dog who I've tought basic commands and she will come on command in exchange for a treat most of the time. The other day she was wandering around and I could see her about to follow some scent trail into a part of the yard I wanted her to stay out of, so I told her to come to me. She paused and I could literally see her deciding whether or not to comply–on the one hand, I might give her a treat if she came back, on the other hand, she really wanted to smell whatever was behind the shed.

That got me thinking, what makes a well-trained dog decide to immediately comply with a recall instead of evaluating the pros and cons and deciding whether or not to comply? If I practice 'come' enough times with this dog will she start doing it automatically, even if the 'pros' of returning to me [maybe getting a treat] don't outweigh the 'cons' [not getting to chase a rabbit]?