Category: Top Dog

We are bringing an 8-week golden retriever home in 2 weeks, and I need crate help. We have always used wire crates with our two rescues, but we got them when they were a year or more old. I am seeing horror stories of puppies getting caught in wire crates. That is terrifying to me, as one of the times we would typically crate is when we have to leave the home, and we are crating for safety purposes (not chewing on cords, not eating non-edible items, etc) What is a good crate for a puppy? Are there any non-wire crates that can transition from puppyhood to adulthood that don’t cost over $500?

We’re at 9 months and my guy is 70 lbs and so much trouble. Intentionally disobeying, pestering, high energy, overstimulated or looking for trouble, refusing naps, randomly spazzing. That’s all fine. The really hard part for me is that he’s stopped being affectionate. No cuddles, doesn’t even really like pets. Would rather pick a fight and tests a boundary.

Tell me it gets better! I can’t take a dog with this many needs who isn’t emotionally available.

Hello everyone! I am a first time dog mama and i currently have a 3 month old Labrador-Australian Shepherd-Weimaraner mix. He is a very smart dog learns quick. He knows recall, sit, lay, leave it, give paw, down, to run between my legs and wait. He is very polite at dinner time, waits for command to eat. With most of the commands he is very good, just when he is overexcited his puppy brain shuts down hearing and directs power to legs for zoomies.

We have a schedule for him, potty training is going well, the only time he has accidents is if we miss his schedule. He sleeps in his crate in our bedroom from 10pm to 7.00am and has multiple naps per day. When it is sleep time, i usually say "sleep" and he comes with me and goes in his crate by himself and i just close the door. He does not complain.

My problem is this: sometimes he gets so excited that he gets really restless and aggressive(?) when we are inside the home. He gets like this everytime i try to relax/sit. He comes and jumps to bite me, growls, starts barking really loud. I cannot sit down on the couch to relax anymore. I try to not let him on the couch unless i invite him because he chews and molests the pillows. I tell him to get down and he doesn't listen, i tell him to stop biting, he doesn't listen. I usually give him 3 tries before I stand up, say a firm no and loom over him in a dominating way and usually he stops. If i leave the room, he settles fast, but as soon as i get in and sit down/relax he starts again. To me he seems very aggressive, but i have never interracted with puppies before, i only had cats as pets. Everything i know i read online. He bites and barks so much that i have to crate him to get him to calm down. I am a bit worried he will be an aggressive dog.

Once in the crate, he sometimes complains for 2 minutes, but usually sits quiet/goes to sleep for a couple of hours. I reward him when i see him laying relaxed on the floor. But now he doesn't come to his crate willingly, i have to pick him up (he weighs15kg/33lbs) and put him in. Soon he will be too heavy lol.

I need someone to tell me if i am doing something wrong. There is so much info online that i do not know at this point what i should do. I feel bad for crating him so often. I don't let him stay for more than 2-3 hours, or until i see he is restless. i always take him out if he is calm/not barking.

I don't need advice – just a vent so to begin, i want to thank anyone who listens or gets it.

My 6 month old cocker is stressing me tf out! She's so picky. We've done everything to get her to eat her damn food, switched, etc. this adolescence stage freaking sucks! I am so stressed and depressed trying to juggle life AND her teenage bratty antics 😂 somedays she's an angel and perfect, lately she's been a hell hound. I'm exhausted, no sleep for days. This girl is gonna be the death of me!

Vent over. Thank you for reading and listening to my pity party. 🎉

Hi all! First post ever on Reddit and I’m looking for some advice. I have 15 week old Jack Russell Terrier puppy. Her name is Chloe. She’s our first puppy ever and oh boy… she’s a handful. The issue at hand is I feel like she doesn’t sleep as much as she should be for a puppy of her age during the day. We are crate training and she sleeps throughout the night with potty breaks every 3 hrs. It’s during the day that I can’t get her to sleep very much. Any little noise wakes her. To the point where I’ve had to stop doing any chores/activities just so it’s quiet and don’t wake her. If I step out of the room she wakes up and doesn’t always settle back to sleep. When she’s out of the crate (1 hour or so after her 2 hour nap) I take her out for potty breaks, she’ll sniff around, we’ll come back in and practice some commands and play a little before putting her back into the crate for another nap. Some days she’ll nap, others she’ll just cry and yell. I’m just wondering if this is normal puppy behavior or maybe there’s something I’m doing wrong that’s not allowing her to get the quality sleep she needs. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

INFO: We live in a studio type apartment. So the kitchen and living room (where she sleeps and plays) are connected. Our bedroom and bath are in another room. This is where I’ll usually come hang out when I put her down for her naps. Also, she’s currently on a few deworming meds and antibiotics. Could this be a factor?

Basically my gym coach had a beautiful husky and whnever I put my hand out to him, he sniffs it and then licks my hand, and he doesn't do this with anyone else. My coach thinks it's because he knows I'm visually impaired and it's his way of saying it's okay. Do you think he would know?

my husband and i moved into our first house a couple months ago and recently his childhood dog passed away. we have both had dogs growing up but never our own. we’re wanting to adopt a dog – preferably from a foster. i say that because i want to be able to ask lots of questions about the dog and their habits to be sure the pup fits our lifestyle and vise versa. would a shelter be able to provide enough info?

Hi all! I have an ~8 month old German Shephard/Husky mix? who was kind of left at my front door step (therefore I'm guesstimating both age and breed). He's so smart and fun, but I've recently reached the end of my rope.

Right before his walks, he gets insanely rowdy with me. In the mornings, he'll whine as early as 4am for outside time, and his walks don't usually occur until 6am – 7am. If I let him out of his crate, he'll take himself outside and entertain himself, but around 5:45am he'll be at my bed waking me up with his whining. Lately, I've been wondering if perhaps he's overstimulating himself outdoors? So I'm being more strict with the crate and taking him out leashed for a potty break, then back to the crate with a lick matt.

I've only just started this new routine, to be fair, but it really doesn't feel like anything makes a difference. He's still super insane. I'll take him on his walk and towards the end of the walk (~30min to 45min in), he'll randomly pounce on me and put his teeth on me, and try to hump me. During one walk that I thought was going particularly well, he turned around and lunged at me and basically punched me in the gut with his front paw. It literally knocked half the wind out of me.

Someone suggested playing a game with your dog prior to walking them, to get that rowdy energy out, so I've been trying that, but I can't put my heart into it, because three seconds into the whatever game we're playing, he sets his sights on me and my arms. I'll kick a soccer ball around for him to chase, or throw a ball to fetch, and at one point he just goes bite-mode and jumps on me, mouths at my arms, and so on.

I am bruised up and extremely discouraged. I want to do what's best for this dog, but it is just so hard when my whole day revolves around him, I dedicate so much of my energy to him, and it doesn't feel like he's getting any better. I literally am so heartbroken sometimes I don't feel like walking him, but of course I have to, because its not fair to him to not walk him – he doesn't mean me harm. But he's literally bruising me up and just making me so sad.

I have an appointment scheduled with a dog behaviorist, and a vet appointment too to consider meds (recommended to me by a dog trainer who noticed his inability to settle). Right now, I guess I'm looking for advice. How can I settle him down before our playtimes/walks so that I reduce the chances of him hurting me?

Note that I have tried redirecting him to a toy during walks, but that works 50% of the times. He will still have his sights on me. I feel like he has low frustration tolerance, and I am so frustrating/over-arousing to him that he ends up getting riled up just by looking at me. I don't know.

Sorry for the vent-sesh. Any advice is appreciated.