Category: Top Dog

I am looking into getting a dog now, and whenever I look at a given breed's club and breeder recommendation list, they all seem a bit scary. They almost come off as standoffish saying that you will be drilled for questions over a long period of time, and some information I am finding on breeders says that they will occasionally ghost people or just ignore them outright. One specific thread I was reading had a person complaining about this, and another redditor said that you were supposed to keep pestering the breeder to "show you really want the breed"! Another comment I found mentioned that when finding a breeder, expect to wait at least a year, likely more to actually get a dog (the breed being referenced was greyhound, in case that matters).

Surely it cant be this difficult to get a dog? I fully understand questioning and am ready to go through that but the questioning for months, years of waiting, ghosting and the pestering mind games must be an exaggeration, right? what was your experience like?

Where has the best selection of clothing/supplies for a very small dog (1.4kg)? Having a hard time finding things small enough 😅🐶

Hi,

I have a JackChi that I adopted when he was younger, he's always been ver reactive around both people & other dogs. With a *lot* of work & help from a behaviourist we've managed to decrease his reactivity around humans massively and we are continuing to work on this.

So the reason I'm posting is that when we are at home he will bark at any & every sound. Car driving past? Bark. Wind? Bark. Our cats walking around upstairs? Bark. People walking past outside? especially bark. We've tried all sorts- trying to distract him, treating him when he is quiet, having the tv on constantly, even telling him off when he does bark (but it felt awful). It's been 2 years of him going bark crazy over every little thing & of us never being able to settle because we're trying to stop him. I would really really love to be able to sit with my dog and him not explode at every single sound. Please can anyone advise me.

Side note: Im not expecting him to be quiet constantly, I understand if the door goes etc I don't blame him for getting uppity.

My puppy (husky, mom was purebred but dad unknown) is month and a half old. I adopted her 2 days ago and like other puppies, pees and poops everywhere. I immediately started potty training her to do it on a daiper i placed on the ground but we are experiencing few difficulties. I had to follow her with a diaper for her to step on it and do her business on it. Then i bought some drops with a scent that makes dogs do it there. She did it there a few times and everytime i said "Good job Aska" and gave her a treat. But even with her knowing that its the place for toilet she still most of the time go to other place to poop or pee. Once i saw her starting to poop,p picked her and placed her on a diaper, she ran and pooped in the other room. I know shes still young and it takes time but do you have any tips to make her do potty on a diaper. I cant take her out until she get hers vaccines, when she gets em ill take her outside to do it

Does anyone know of any shows, channels, or series that are basically a dog version of My Cat From Hell?

I’m specifically looking for practical, evidence based, real life examples of improving a pup's everyday quality of life, specifically NOT flashy tricks, dominance myths, or influencer stuff.

The two things that get to me and are hard to weed out are 1. A huge amount of misinformation that contradicts basic behavioral science. And 2. A lot of good information that’s so elaborate, idealized, or time intensive that it’s unrealistic for normal people with normal lives

I already put a significant amount of time into my dog on the daily, and I dounderstand dogs require commitment. What I’m struggling to find is clear, reliable “ground rules”.. the behavioral fundamentals that apply to most dogs (even though every dog is an individual of course)

Everyone seems to have different answer, and I’d really like to see real dogs, real problems, and simple, replicable principles applied in normal households, not "ideal" training setups.

Just, less theory and noise. And more grounded, practical examples of what actually works LONG TERM.

Any recommendations appreciated 🙌 Peace. Love. Unity. Respect ✌️

My family has had my 5 year old dog for 3 years now, after a family friend was looking to rehome him. When we got him, he was fully housebroken and trained (sit, stay, leave it, release, etc), besides barking. Over the past year though, he's been exhibiting growingly disobedient behavior. It started out with ripping into trash bags, then grew to counter surfing & ripping into anything he could reach as long as it is edible. The most current issue is he has been defecating inside. At first it seemed to be some stomach issues or something as it wasn't regular, but it has been over a day & he has gone inside the house 4 times. He is walked three times a day, so he definitely gets the ability to do his business regularly, and there has been no recent change to his diet. I need some advice as to what to do here. What actions do I need to take?

Issue: I am nervous about introducing one of my dogs to my mom and dad's new senior dog. I think I know how to introduce them, but I have trouble reading my own dog in these scenarios and tend to assume she is aggressive.

Background: I have two female dogs who LOVE their grandma and grandpa (my mom and dad). They are their favorite people on earth. My 3 year old dog, Charley, is a coonhound mix with a history of resource guarding (food and people), but we trained her early on to help her with that. I'm thinking it's the guarding that comes out when meeting new dogs but I'm not sure. She always meets new dogs while walking in the neighborhood on a leash. She is not hesitant, marches right up to them, makes aggressive sounding vocalizations (the same she makes when she plays), her fur stands up, tail up and wagging. I just have a hard time reading her and am very protective of her on the leash, quick to pull her back. From my observation, if the other dog responds to meeting her without nervousness and is like "okay cool let's play!" she is fine. But if the other dog is intimidated by her forwardness then her noises get scary sounding (very guttural), scaring the other owners, I pull her away, and she lunges (never biting). The other dog (2 year old chow/pit mix) loves any other dogs that Charley "approves" of.

Charley used to be a dog park dog and got along with most dogs in that environment. We stopped going after seeing a couple bad dogfights there (not involving Charley). So I don't understand her pattern with meeting new dogs. I really suspect her vocalizations are alarming to other dogs AND their owners. She really sounds like she is in attack mode but that has ALWAYS been how she plays.

Anyway, trying to make this brief. Mom and dad already have a smaller senior female terrier dog that Charley loves and respects. Now they have a ten year old male black lab and we all want to make this introduction as smooth as possible, because my mom and dad watch my dogs when I'm out of town or have long work days. They have described him as sweet but anxious with walks and seeing other people (he's only been out of the shelter for 3 days). We are going to wait a few weeks for him to decompress and settle in.

Options for introductions:

-On leash at a park where we "happen" to run into mom and dad? Charley will be EXTREMELY excited at randomly seeing her favorite people.

-Go to their house and meet on leash in the front yard then walk? Charley will already be EXTREMELY excited to see her favorite people.

-Go straight to the backyard on a leash? One dog at a time meeting?

-My husband wants to use the e-collar on Charley for this situation. I prefer NOT to.

I know we can make this work! I just want everyone safe and set up for success.

14 days in with new dog. She’s been great so far, goes potty when she should (besides when it was -20° and she didn’t have snow pants yet) she’s been doing great with basic training/commands and doesn’t bark at anything besides the cats. we’ve been rotating the cats and the dog from our bedroom to the whole house so they haven’t really been together yet besides trying interaction behind a gate but I feel like she might have barrier anxiety maybe? Not sure where to go from here, if it lasts much longer without progress we will get professional behavior training but would like to avoid that. They don’t need to be friends but I can’t have the dog barreling through the house chasing them and scarring them. Any help appreciated, thanks.

Hiya everyone,

Just after some advice. My 3 year old dog, who we've had since a puppy, will not stop weeing in the house. It has actually gotten worse in the last year, before that it was occasional but now it's every day.

He can happily go all night in his crate without weeing but outside his crate, he cant seem to differentiate outside from inside when he wees. We have had him tested for any underlying problems and nothing came back.

We have a routine of putting him on his lead, taking him in to the garden and treating him every time he goes for a wee outside. At this point we don't know what to do….

If anyone has any experience with something similar, or any advice it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks