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Our beautiful Golden Retriever, Amber, is 15 and a half months now. We're in this weird in-between stage where I'm not sure if to tell people she's "still a puppy" or now that she's considered a teen she's no longer a pup?

What do you think? Does it depend on the breed perhaps, as I've heard some breeds mature quicker than others?

I’ll hopefully be getting a show ECS soon and they will be 9 weeks when I get them. They are from a very reputable breeder and i’ve been on their waitlist for 2 years so very excited to finally be getting a puppy.

For context, I currently own a ECS and my whole family has Cockers and I grew up with a Cocker so I’m very familiar with the breed.

The breeder uses puppy pads for potty training the puppies, as they’re about 6 weeks old right now. My current dog and dogs i’ve raised before never had puppy pad training like this and it was fairly easy to train them to go potty outdoors.

I don’t plan to use puppy pads when I get my puppy so my question is should I give in and use them for a week or 2 after getting them or has anyone had good experiences with not using them and going straight to outdoor training? I’m fine with cleaning up accidents but I also don’t want to make things harder than they need to be.

I do plan to talk to my breeder about this and get their thoughts but I also wanted to hear from peoples experiences with this kind of transition. Thank you!

I adopted my 8 month old GSD about four months ago. She is a WONDERFUL dog. Very smart and very driven. But I am feeling hopeless. I have been training her since I got her. The work is not a huge problem for me. I have a ton of fun working with her. The problem is she does not meet the key reason why I wanted a dog in the first place. I feel bad for even saying this because she really is a great dog, but she is much more independent than I would have hoped for. At first, I respected that and figured that as the months go on, we will bond better. The thing is, I can tell she has bonded more with me these last few months, but she just is not really cuddly. She also mainly follows me with her eyes, not her legs. Basically, she has bonded with me but is not showing it in a way I hoped for. It stings. We do a LOT together. Agility, obedience training, regular walks, hand-feeding, regular play, place work, the works. But she just seems so disinterested in me. What am I doing wrong?

Even if she does have a more independent temperament, I do not think it is a good idea to rehome her. I just needed a place to vent about this hopeless feeling and see if anyone else here is going through the same thing.