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We have an 8.5 week old mini Goldendoodle who we’ve only had for 5 days. We’ve been putting him in the crate at night but he absolutely hates it. When we put him in the bed he falls asleep right away and doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night. I just don’t find it necessary to train him to be ok in the crate, since he’s perfectly fine not being in it.

Can I get some opinions on crate training vs no crate training? TY!

I have never successfully trained a dog with any kind of decent recall so we’ve always been stuck on leash even when we have access to acres and acres of land. I now have a 4 month old gsd who we’ve been working on training constantly since 8 weeks old, just started heel today and knows “between” where he sits between my legs. After I was out training him in the yard today we were just walking around and the leash got wrapped around my leg and I forgot to grab it, he was probably 20ft away from me at that point. When I called him to heel he actually did (with some extra bunny hops mixed in). I call that a success with my previous track record. My question is, how do I keep this going? He knew I had treats in my pocket, I’m sure he was just performing for food but I want him to always come back to me.

My 7 month old golden has been getting up way too early! He goes to bed at 10pm, sleeps in our bed and then at 4:15am jumps down and is a bit wild. If I ignore him, he'll have an accident. I take him out and he pees and sometimes poops. Then, we go right back in – I keep it boring and dark and keep him gated in the kitchen until breakfast at 5:30am. He gets exercise during the day and doesn't drink too much water before bed. He eats dinner around 5:30-6pm. Please any suggestions?A few days ago he slept until 5:15an but that’s only been once

I recently got a 15 week old Cavapoo and have not had much luck with the potty training aspect. I’ve only had him for just about a week but am struggling in the potty training aspect. I know you’re supposed to reinforce good behavior (I’ve potty trained a few dogs) but this puppy just will not go to the bathroom outside. I’m not sure if it’s too cold (I live in Michigan and it has been 30-40 degrees). We talk him out on an interval schedule every thirty minutes. He will walk around for twenty minutes or so but will wait until he gets inside to use the bathroom. When he uses the bathroom inside we tell him no and immediately take him outside to signify the correct place to use the restroom. Nothing is working. Is there something else I should be doing? I want to correct this behavior before it forms too much of a bad habit.

Looking for recommendations for toys / activities that will actually keep a 3 month old puppy busy for longer than 10 minutes.

We’ve tried:

Frozen Kongs (sometimes even 2 at the same time)

Snuffle mats

Lick mats

A variety of chews

He’ll go at them enthusiastically… for about 10 minutes. Then he’s bored and back to being relentless.

For context: we play with him loads, do short training sessions throughout the day, enrichment games, etc. He’s definitely getting attention and stimulation. But he just never seems to switch off. It feels constant.

He’s absolutely fine in his crate overnight, sleeps well, no issues. But during the day if we crate him he yelps and protests. We’re trying to build it up gradually, but it’s hard when he just doesn’t seem to settle independently at all.

Honestly… our intimate life is suffering because there is just no off switch 😅

Is this just normal 3-month-old chaos? Are there magic boredom-busters we haven’t tried? Or is this more about teaching settling rather than finding the perfect toy?

Would really appreciate any advice from people who’ve survived this stage!

How many accidents did your 8week old have? We brought him home 3 days ago. He has slept all night each night and not woken up to pee (I’ve actually woke him up and took him outside to potty. Slept 10pm-730am ish.

He’s had 2 pee accidents (one today and one yesterday) even after just going potty. I feel discouraged, but he’s went poop and pee almost everytime we go outside and gets lots of praise. Tell me the accidents are normal and we are still on the right track.

My puppy just turned 6 months, and for about a week or two he's been very much disinterested when it comes to eating his kibble. Since we got him at 3 months old he'd eat his kibble for breakfast, lunch and dinner, now when it's feeding time he'll just look at it and leave.

I've tried leaving it out for 15 minutes then taking it away, tried different bowls, but he's still very disinterested. He's acting completely normal, has a ton of energy, loves playing and cuddling, and will 100% eat any treats we give him immediately, so I'm not sure what to do.

His kibble is this very expensive one that his vet says is the best in the market and he used to love it! But two nights ago he even had the hunger pukes in the middle of the night and now again he's refused both breakfast and lunch.

Have your pups gone through something similar? Any tips?

I’m in that “am I doing enough?” phase and it’s mentally exhausting.

Food, toilet routine, vaccines, chewing, sleep, socialization. I keep feeling like I’m one missed step away from a problem.

How did you make this manageable ?

If you had to pick one thing that helped most, what was it:

• A fixed daily routine template
• Better reminders
• Breed-specific guidance
• Vet support/community
• Something else?

hi all, i’ve recently read that rough and tumble games are not the best for before bed with my 8 week old puppy (poodle) and have been suggested lick mats as an alternative. i’m worried because previously, i had a kitten and switching his food caused him lots of problems (my own miseducation as i was a child), i don’t want to repeat this mistake and was wondering how to introduce new foods with the lick mat and what foods people recommend. thank you all!

Hello everyone, I have a 10 mo old, big breed. He was the sweetest puppy and barely misbehaved but that changed since he became a teen. I understand that teen dogs are difficult, but I think this is getting out of my hands.

He wants to play all the time, and he behaves fine while playing, but the moment the play stops he bites me so I have to continue playing.

But this evening he started fully attacking me after I told him no. Full force bites that have injured my arms, and I had no way to stop him despite how much I tried. Until he eventually seemed to tire down and stopped.

I don't know what to do, I have tried everything. Please help.