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Okay so, I feel like I’m going crazy here. My puppy literally can’t stay alone for even 5 min without freaking out… crying, whining, trying to get to me. And honestly I feel like crap every time I leave him 😅

Like, I don’t wanna mess up his little mind or make him scared of me… but also I can’t be stuck at home 24/7 😬

Am I the only one going through this?? How do you even start teaching them to chill alone without going insane??

Would love to hear if anyone has gone through this, cause I’m losing my mind a little haha

My 1 year old golden testing boundaries. Took him out to play fetch. He's usually decent. He brings the ball back and drops it (not at my feet but we're working on it) so I can pick it up and chuck it again. Eventually he's not dropping it. Ignoring drop it commands and evading me when I approach him. I try walking or running away from him to see if hell chase me. He just stands there like a derp. Eventually I come back and manage to grab him and put him on the leash and leave. I did have to take the ball from him too, which I don't like to do. Fortunately he doesn't clamp down hard and it doesn't really become much of a thing with him trying to take it back. Just looking for tips for these scenarios.

So I think we definitely messed up with our puppy. We are very new to this and got our rescue puppy when she was around 4 months old. We didn't emphasize crate training enough early on because she would hang out with us in our living room and be okay sleeping in the crate at night. However as she became less fearful and more comfortable she started to want to just sleep on the sofas in the living room. This is where we messed up because we let her. Eventually she started jump off the back of the sofa and we let her wander in our downstairs space that was puppy proof. The issue is now she's gotten what she wanted and keeps jumping on and off the furniture. She's able to be left alone at home and will just relax on the sofas with a kong. We were wondering is it too late to crate train? We've been trying more for the past couple of days but she barks incessantly and never relaxes even with high value treats, her favorite toys. Wondering if anyone has dealt with missing the boat on crate training earlier and had to do it later in their journey with their puppy. We know we messed, but would appreciate any guidance.

Two weeks ago we adopted a 5 month old german sheppard mix. It has been a rodeo. Apart from all the normal puppy things that for sure is a hassle, we discovered that he is VERY reactive to people and dogs. Even from very far away. Seeing dogs makes him go completly bananas. We live in an apartment in a city area, and taking him out has become very hard, and givs us stomach aces. This is our 4:th rescue dog, and we have had reactive dogs before, but never to this degree. He scares people in the neighbourhood even at 5 months. We have tried to ease him in to his new enviroment and have hardly left the lot of our aparment/house. We are considering re-homing/returning him because this just feels insurmountable when living in a city. Thoughts?

Hello! I’m looking for some recommendations for my new lab puppy. He has been pretty good but when I take him out to go potty he automatically wants to go back inside. We have a completely fenced backyard but I still keep him on his leash. I do sometimes bring him into the middle of the yard but he just thrashes on his leash to go back inside and looks visibly uncomfortable. He does go potty outside but wants nothing else to do with it. So when I’m trying to just walk him around to go poo he isn’t having it.

My pup is great with other dogs and we’ve only had one real minor incident as far as a bad altercation with another dog. Other than that, I’ve been fortunate enough to MOSTLY having good experiences with dog parks with the other pups… It’s not the other dogs I’m getting tired of. It’s the people. As I mentioned, my dog and I have personally only had 1 bad altercation. However, the amount of times I’ve witnessed a dog that’s bad with other dogs is a pretty decent portion size. If your dog is terrible with other dogs, keep them out of the park. Our babies aren’t your subjects to train your dog socially. It’s extremely selfish. My dog is pretty docile and would absolutely not be able to fight back against an aggressive dog. I have all the confidence in the world that as her owner I could stop the fight, but it really takes one good bite for something fatal or severe to happen. This is something I do tend to worry about. On top of that, poor etiquette is common. While I haven’t had my dog truly attacked, I’ve been in a good handful of heated arguments with other owners for being a dick. Some of these arguments I was standing up for another dog owner and not necessarily myself (I have no problem with confrontation when it comes to someone being a POS to someone’s child or pet.)

The trigger that was the reason I’m posting this… recently a man kicked this girls dog for interrupting them playing fetch. Myself and others immediately got on him about it. He then flashed his gun. Too often than not, some real garbage people show up to the dog parks… and I’ve been to a lot of them. I love the dogs. I hate the people.

Early on, I did a lot of training with my little guy (now 7 months) because he was extremely eager and caught on so quick. I trained the basics and trained some tricks just for mental enrichment whenever it was a crappy day. Everyday we do some form of "review" training on important skills (stay, leave it, etc.) and maybe one or two from his list of tricks. Never more than a few minutes.

Since he had so many commands down, I didn't really try to teach him anything new for a while, but a few weeks ago I tried an another skill just because it was a super rainy day and he hates rain. He sorta was following along, but then would lay down on his back almost asking for a belly rub or hide behind my legs. It seemed he wasn't feeling it, so I stopped. Well this week, we've been cooped inside because it's a sheet of ice outside, so I attempted a new skill again just for some mental enrichment and I'm getting the same response everyday. He engages one time and then the next time, he lays down on his back, hides behind my legs, or goes in his playpen. His vibe almost seems fearful, but he's never ever been in the slightest bit of trouble when training. He always gets so much praise, treats, and pets. He was even hesitant to take the treat. If I try to go over a skill he's learned, he jumps right at it, so it seems that it's only with new skills.

It's not the end of the world at all that he doesn't want to learn to back up or play dead, but I don't understand this change in behavior and worry what it means long-term if he shuts down.

After browsing this sub and plenty others, I’ve learned a lot about my new 9 month old puppy.

For short, she is an unknown mix but assumed Jack Russel/border collie/lab(?).

During playtime and when she’s tired she can get very overstimulated and overwhelming. She gets very bitey and toys do not get her attention. She will steal shoes, blankets, clothes, etc.

If after a few attempts and reverse time outs she still isn’t redirecting, I’ve been giving her crate time. I still try to make it a positive crate experience, and I do not use any negative words before putting her in there. I wait until she’s not crying to take her out, which is usually under 5 mins.

What age might this behavior stop? Almost every playtime turns into this.

It’s only been 5 days with her, so she’s probably still overwhelmed in general. She sleeps about 8-10 hours every night and gets a couple of long naps during the day.

Am I going about this right?

Hello!

I recently rehomed Winston, our beautiful pup – incredible temperament, super loving, great with kids and great fun.

Previous owners said he had a lot of accidents which we quickly learnt, he's improving during the day with some days none, others 1-2, but he does it randomly I'm questioning if I'm doing something wrong, or if he's not developed proper bladder control yet or his previous training was poor.

I've taught him to ring a ball at the door when I take him for "weewees" which he sometimes uses, overnight in his crate he will hold it all in, but when out and around the house he will randomly just squat and pee or poo without any alert, no barking, no pestering nothing. I praise him like crazy and give him treats when he's finished doing his business outside.

I'm more worried than I probably should be as I assumed by this age it would be something he'd have learnt.

Should I keep him crated more during the day and be much stricter? Should I always leash him when going out?

I want him to be free roaming and live freely in the home, but I don't want my carpets and furniture ruined.

Desperately seeking advice. Anything else you need to know that I've forgotten, please ask and I will provide.

Thank you!