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My 11-month-old puppy was recently rehomed to my parents and me, and she’s been with us for almost 3 weeks. I’ve been trying to keep the 3-3-3 rule in mind while she adjusts.

She came from a rural area and now lives with us in NYC, so she’s still very nervous on walks, especially around loud noises. She also struggles with being alone. In her previous home she was around other dogs and seemed fine, but with us she hasn’t really shown interest in approaching dogs.

I don’t want to overwhelm her while she’s still settling in, but I also don’t want to wait too long to start helping her.

When is the right time to begin training?

My pup is a 4.5 month old maltese. She's eating well ans has learnt basic training commands.we spend about a hour a day playing with her but the rest of the rime she either plays by herslef or just follows us round the house like a shadow. We do have an older dog who she is also attached.to but does not play. How long per day do you play eith your pup? Is it ok for them to play alone and learn how to manage boredom Thanks in advance

I have a 7 month old puppy, when I'm home I've given him full free roaming privileges to living room and office in my apartment since he was 5 months old. When leaving the house I let him have free roaming in the living room if I was gone <1.5 hours otherwise would put him in his playpen for up to 4-5 hours.

Overall he's done great, no issues at all when I'm home and also had no issues when out until this week. I tried to extend his freedom during time alone and so left him in the living room outside of the pen for 2 hours. I came back to my a small portion of a baseboard chewed up.

It was a bad call in hindsight, he was really tired after a long walk so I'm sure that weighed on his behavior. Either way it was surprising to see this. Prior to this we've had no destructive instances, even in the peak of teething, he is really good about sticking just to his toys. He also usually just sleeps on the couch 90% of the time I'm gone when he has freedom.

How should I approach this? First, is there a good way to train that baseboard chewing isn't allowed? I sprayed some lime juice to repel him which seems to have worked. How do I introduce free roaming while I'm gone? Or should I scrap it entirely? Long term I would like my dog to have more room than the playpen while I'm gone but maybe have to just wait until he's older?

My puppy is 6-month-old poodle. I play with him daily, we do commands and hygiene trainings. But i always feel like it is not enough. How much time should i give to my puppy daily?

I have a mutt (border collie, German shepherd, lab, blue heeled and Australian Shepherd) he’s 9 months and a good boy but he won’t stop pooping in my house. He does it everytime we leave! He isn’t in a create because he freaks out and bust through them and I figure since he isn’t much of a chewer we leave him out but it’s constant poop every-time we come home and we are never gone more than 4 hours. We even leave him out before we leave. He does it sometimes when we are home but most of the time it’s because he waits till last minute to tell us he needs to go but every time we leave without fail we come home to poop! I don’t know what to do anymore I feel I tried everything. He’s a good boy besides the pooping.

Posted on here a while ago about struggling to bond with my pup when he was 2mo. Now he’s 6mo and it’s still not massively improved.

Logically… he’s great. House trained, sleeps in the night and through the day, good on a lead. Good off the lead (for now… hello adolescence). Knows loads of tricks, gets all the enrichment and I spend most of my free time lingering this subreddit and thinking about his training etc. I’ve got one dog trainer for general stuff, and another one for his gundog training, positive only.

But despite this all, I just can’t love him. I just can’t. I like him of course. But he feels more like a project to me, to train and look after and to raise him right. Emotionally I’m just detached.

My soul dog died almost two years ago very suddenly from a brain tumour at the age of seven. He knew recall and sit, and that’s pretty much it. But my god he was everything to me. My entire soul and life. The dog I spent every waking and sleeping moment with. The dog whose death ripped me to pieces and I’ve never quite recovered. I hoped that I’d be able to bond with another dog after him, but I just haven’t. My pup just… isn’t my soul dog.

Give it time I know. Stop comparing them. But it’s so hard. And I feel like I’ll never feel that kind of love I had for my old dog again 🙁

Hello! It's been a week since we got our 2 month old lagotto romagnolo. I've read a lot about puppy blues and I know it's natural and okay to feel this way. Before saying more, I also wanr to make it clear that I am a high school student, I turned 18 last month and still, obviously, live with my parents. So, we got our lagotto, Archie, last week as 'a birthday gift for me', and my mental health went downhill after that. I am so grateful that everyone is spending time with him and not just me because I think I'd lose my mind. I feel anxious, stressed and cried once (and he comforted me when that happened which was so sweet). I am more anxious about what might come in the future. So far, he has been good when left home alone – we leave him downstairs in the living room and he pretty much naps. He has been playful, hes learning commands such as sit, lie down and stuff, and he sleeps so good at night. Hes not fully crate trained – last night he slept so nicely in his open crate, but hes not used to it being closed yet and my parents discourage the idea of it because they see no point in him being closed when hes not home alone. I've been reading so many subreddits about how naughty he might get. I'm terrified that he'll become restless at night (because he sleeps in my bedroom) and I'm wondering if I'd be happier if he didnt join our family. I've been so unmotivated to do things I enjoy despite him being so good so far and despite not being the only one caring for him. I know this is all temporary and will pass soon, which I'm so excited for, I just really needed an outlet and hopefully to read some of other's experiences. Thank you for reading!

I just bought another german shepherd puppy from the same breeders I got my first pup from. Two males. Two under two. Pray for me.

A few days ago my family and I (me, partner, 5yr old kiddo) adopted a dog thru a shelter. Almond, two years old. So she spends a hour or so with us just chilling at the shelter while we get paperwork filled out, no real issues there. Bring her home, she's fine, if just a little stand-offish. Eats and drinks little, pees/poops once a day, but we assume it's nerves and will sort itself out. We kennel her overnight (something we're hoping to eventually stop, we just wanna know she won't get into anything she's not supposed to). This morning I'm heading downstairs to pee before taking her out, and she's growling. I think maybe it's a stray cat outside, no biggie. Toilet her, bring her inside, and she is more stand-offish than usual, staying away from everyone and growling at something. Def not towards us, but nothing we can tell. So we gave her space, let her sit at her usual area until we had to leave for school/work, but she just seems off. What could be up? I'm concerned because she hasn't acted like this since we got her, and we wanna help her be comfortable.

Hi guys i'm thinking of getting a dog in the next 2 years.It would be my first pet and my first dog.At first I wanted a shiba for all the classic shiba characteristics especially the fact that he is more like a cat than a dog.But more and more people said that as first dog is a no.Now can someone help me understand what breed should I choose as a first dog?