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Shih-tzu, 4 months old female humper. Seems early. I've had her 3 months. I have an other shih-tzu female that just turned 9yo. She's a humper, she's a marker, but most of all she's a chill gal; both are. My question is essentially nurture vs nature– is this learned or inherent.

I'm looking to take my 1 year old Chihuahua /Rat Terrier mix in for some socializing and obedience training and was hoping anybody in the area had any recommendations?

I was looking into Chicago Canine academy, but when I went to check it out the place seemed… Off? The "Boss" came out to greet me in pajamas of all things. After reading some of their Google reviews, I decided upon not enlisting my dog there. Many thanks for taking the time to read this.

My partner and I moved to the country after living in the Dallas area with our 4 dogs (GSD, Small Pittie mix, Shitzu mix, and Chihuahua mix), that were sheltered with a wooden 8 ft fence. Now we have about 2 acres of yard that we share (with 4 other GSD dogs) on our family compound. It took about a week into the move to figure out that 2 GSDs on the property kill anything smaller than them (besides my pittie), which lead to the death of our shitzu, who loved being outside…. Now MY GSD took a while to warm up to the country, but it has done wonders for her after about 3 yrs now, my pittie loved it from the start. My chihuahua is an adult, and poops inside regularly unless we take her to work and she gets to be outside; we do take her for leashed walks on our property, but she simply doesn't have the safety to relieve herself. She's always been an inside dog, so I'm afraid that at this point we've let her poop inside so long that she won't respond to new guidance.

We have the freedom to build onto our existing house, or possibly create a 10 ft tall, fenced area specifically connected to the house with a doggy door (which is the current goal although it'll take the longest), or a bell for when we're home with her. I don't want to cage her when she's home alone, my partner is very against that, and I'm not too keen on it either. She's had the freedom to do as she pleases pretty much all the time, which includes pooping and peeing during the night and early mornings.

I've tried using potty pads, we keep a towel on the ground, I've tried indoor turf, or sectioning a place for her to minimize the "spread". I haven't tried leashing her and waiting because she'll refuse to go once she realizes she has to go outside on a leash or be micromanaged, even though she knows she prefers the leash ANY other time. (I think she realizes its more for protection) She's also super picky about her pooping habits; (i.e. once she pees or poops in one spot, (whether on the floor, potty pad, or towel) she won't use the area in about a foots distance in either direction, so she finds a new area (in the same room). The pee is sometimes hard to find if it's in a different spot than the poop.

Thankfully my partner is mostly great at cleaning up after her, as I've already told him that if he isn't interested in a solution, it's his chore. I prefer being barefoot so my feet are always dirty, I just don't want dog fluid residue to be the reason. She's a good girl a with a long life ahead of her, and I could live with her poop and pee if that's the case, I'm just reaching out to the internet for outside perspectives…

Edit: It's been 3 yrs already because I've been trying other temporary soltutions, to no avail, and otherwise no ways to be the problem solver by myself. My partner is happy to help me follow through with my ideas, but I am currently the only one bothered enough to care about having ideas or solutions. My partner is IN LOVE with our lil girl, and so am I, he's just not bothered at all by her habits, except when I tell him it's his chore alone. He still does it, he just thinks I should get over it and have a constantly dirty floor.

Hi there, would sincerely appreciate anyone’s help and advice. Please read everything before commenting, the situation is a bit complex.

I have been to our vet multiple times, and each time prescribed a different sort of calming method, e.g. l-theanine pills, cbd treats, pheromones spray, etc. tried it all.

My dog is a rescue mixed breed, he looks like he could be a mix with a collie or mini aussie. I adopted him about 4 years ago, and he was estimated to be about 10-12 months old.

Let me preface that I love my dog very much. I’m going to list some bad qualities of his but he is not always this bad.

He has always been a difficult dog from the beginning, he’s quite quirky and reactive. I honestly would describe him as to having a sort of dog autism, very sensitive to food and textures, very sensitive to sound, has obsessive behaviors, strange reactions when overstimulated (barking very loudly while chasing his tail, multiple times per day when he hears normal noises in the house), etc. He’s a bit quirky, but quite lovable in his good moments.

Another thing to preface is that he doesn’t seem to respond to normal training methods very well. He learns commands quite easily, but doesn’t respond at all to any negativity. I’ve tried using only positive reinforcement for certain bad behaviors (him biting my clothes when I put them on, to initiate play, for example), and i’ve tried negative reinforcement (scolding, putting him in another room, even those high pitch sound makers when I was really desperate in the past) but he does not respond at all. Just doesn’t care. He has never shown an ounce of guilt or shame.

When I first adopted him, I was adamant about him sleeping in his crate at night as I had a small bed. At the beginning, he didn’t like it, but he slowly got used to his crate. It was in my bedroom so we were still close.

Then, we moved abroad (for personal reasons) to Italy. In our new apartment, I moved his crate to the living room as there wasn’t space in the bedroom. He was fine with that transition for two years. Then, we moved apartments again. In the new apartment, same thing, he slept in his crate in the living room. No problems for about 3 months.

Then all of a sudden, he started crying in his crate at night. When he cries, he really screams and is extremely loud. I didn’t understand what caused this, and some nights I would have to cave and let him sleep in our bed. The problem is, he is not a nice dog to sleep with. He growls every time we move in bed, he barks at noises outside, and he wakes us up early. It’s a nightmare honestly.

For probably 2 months we dealt with this, moving the crate into the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, anywhere. I’d put on music, a podcast, or white noise for him to drown out noises. I’d give him herbal anxiety meds from the vet. Spray pheromones in his crate. Put a worn t-shirt in his crate. Gave him chews and lick mats in his crate. All with a 50% success rate.

Eventually we decided he did better outside of his crate, and we kept him in the living room with the door closed. This seemed to work well, he didn’t feel constrained anymore, and could sleep on the couch or his bed freely. This has worked for about the past 7 months.

This week, all of a sudden, he can’t take it anymore. He cries when we put him in the living room for bed like 70% of the time. I always play him white noise and give him a lick mat, but now that doesn’t work. Some nights it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I try to keep track of what’s different, how long we spent outside, if we played a lot or not, to gauge if it’s because he has too much pent up energy. No patterns have emerged.

So now I’m at my wits end, coming to Reddit. Please, any advice welcome. TIA for reading to the end.

We got a puppy about a month ago when we had 2 senior dogs (both 10) one of them was not a fan of the puppy (oldest) and the other was mostly indifferent. The eldest dog passed last week and now the other is not attacking, but lunging at and barking at the puppy. Is this my life now of having to manage between the two? We love the puppy, BUT my elderly dog comes first and if this is stressing her out that bad I don't know if keeping the puppy is a great idea. I don't want her to have to live her last few years of life like this. I do separate them when necessary, crate the puppy if he's doing too much or send her to the bedroom to rest. They play together at the park fine and go on walks together fine also. Could this maybe just be a phase of her grieving her sister? She will go after him even when he's across the room and not bothering her at all. Her and her sister would occasionally fight, but until the older one developed dementia it was rare. She's never been aggressive towards other dogs. I worked in vet med, rescue, and pet sit when she was younger and recently started again after having kids so she's been well socialized. She is on joint supplements and pain meds. All bloodwork was good. Kidney function was just checked and it was also within normal limits.

I don't think it's fair to either one to have to spend time being "cycled" through the house. Other people can and have, but I don't want her spending her last years that she should be relaxing to be full of stress. I also have young children and have had a reactive dog before so I know management can and will fail. I don't fear for my children at all and she's not attacking the puppy per say. I would almost say correcting, but she does it when there's nothing to correct just if he's walking in the same room. I partially think that she wants to protect the kids because he jumps on them and is normal puppy nippy.

Hi Everyone, I’m hoping for some advice. I live in an apartment and put my dog in a crate while I’m at work (he goes in around 7:00 AM, and I’m home between 11–12). My dog has separation anxiety, and while we put him on two anxiety medications, he still barks nonstop when I’m gone. Recently, I saw a post in our community app about a dog in the building barking all day starting around 8:30 AM, and I think it might be ours. I thought the meds were helping, but clearly, he’s still stressed. I really don’t want to cause issues with neighbors or risk eviction. I’m wondering if he might have confinement anxiety in addition to separation anxiety. I’ve tried giving him Kongs or bones and leaving the TV on, but nothing seems to stop the barking or distress. I’m considering whether letting him free roam in the apartment might help.

Has anyone dealt with this? Any advice on managing this behavior I’m at a loss at this point and this is making me stressed, keeping him calm, and making sure he’s not stressed while I’m at work would be so appreciated.

by which I mean I'm looking for international/european certification boards and organizations that give certifications to COURSES/SCHOOLS, not single trainers that pass their exams etc. all I've found so far is directed at trainers themselves. any and all help is welcome, thanks a bunch in advance💛

To be clear, the baby is completely fine. It was more of a nip resulting in a small scratch. However it's on my baby's face and I don’t want to ignore what happened or minimize the issue.

Context:

I have a 3 month old baby, and two dogs, a 6 year old Lab and a 3 year old Golden. This happened with the Lab. I was feeding the baby on the couch and the Lab was sitting next to me, curled up and resting. I moved the baby to my shoulder to burp him and the dog sat up and started leaning forward to sniff the baby. I should have stopped it there, and probably shouldn't have been next to the dog at all. The dog looked curious and was moving towards the baby slowly, and he had every opportunity to leave the couch. Then he growled and made contact with the baby's face and got off the couch. Afterwards he sat at my feet. I wanted to rationalize that maybe they just collided heads and it was an accident, but the dog growled and showed his teeth.

The dog’s history:

He has been around children in the past with no issues. We've had puppies and he was gentle and attentive. He loves people and has never been aggressive towards anyone. He doesn't guard food or toys, but will guard bones. He will allow me or my partner to take the bone, and allows even our other dog to take it from him. We discourage this and give them bones in separate rooms and generally let him have space. He plays with the other dog outside, and they sleep together, but he otherwise keeps to himself in the house. He goes to doggy daycare every week and they love him there.

He is a nervous guy. He shakes at loud noises and doesn’t love his feet being touched. He loves the vet but does get scared when they move him, take blood, etc. Never growled, never put up his hackles. Just shaking and licking, which they are cautious about, obviously.

He's very much MY dog and loves me very much. He seeks comfort from me when he's scared and shows signs of depression when I'm gona from the house for more than a few days. I know he's an animal and we wanted to be cautious of that with the baby no matter what was their disposition. Overall this dog has always just been incredibly sweet and happy most of the time.

Our prep:

Since bringing the baby home we have focused on two things, #1 we kept them separated, and #2 we maintained the dogs' routine and tried to keep up with their exercise. The dogs were not allowed to sniff or be near the bassinet, or any baby items. There is a gated off area in the living room where we (normally) feed the baby, he plays on the floor, and sits in his bouncy chair. We have allowed the dogs to sniff the baby's feet a few times while we hold him, always surpervised and only if they're curious and approach us willingly. Alos only for a few moments before we redirect them and usually give them treats to encourage leaving the baby alone, and just positive interactions while the baby is around.

We have a huge gated backyard where they get daily play, fetch, and run around. And they also go to doggy daycare regularly, which we made sure to take them to, even during the newborn stage. It was hard, but they seem over all happy.

What to do now?

I am already going to take my dog to the vet to see if he's in any pain, has anything going on, and to maybe address his nervousness with meds if they suggest it.

I already have a trainer we've worked with in the past who helped us with barking, walking on leash, positive reinforcement, etc. I plan to call them immediately and see what they can help us with.

I have the resources and the time for training, keeping them separate, and getting medical care for the dog if needed. My partner and I work from home, and he is also willing to do whatever it takes. My mother helps with the baby in the house during the day. She loves dogs, and has fostered multiple reactive resuces in the past. She also can take my dog to her house from some baby free time.

HOWEVER… in my brief searching here on Reddit, it seems like there's so many stories of people doing everything right with great dogs, and still their children get bitten and hurt. Does any one have any success stories? I know it will only get harder when my baby starts crawling, walking, eating food at the table, and generally being a kid. Part of me thinks that the internet is only doom and gloom, and we can work it out. But the other part of me thinks it's inevitable. My dog is going to bite my baby again only worse. Then it will be even harder to rehome him or I'll have to put him down, which will abolsutely break my heart. My baby's safety is obviously my first priority. I'm willing to rehome my dog becuase I want him to have the best life, but do I have any hope at all of things getting better?

TLDR; it seems like from searching here that even if the bite was small and the dog is generally well behaved, that it will happen again and I have no choice but to rehome my dog. Does anyone have any success stories with a dog and baby living amicably in their home? I don't need them to be best friends at all. I just want everyone to be safe.

Any recommendations on a food dispenser that my dog can activate? This is the first dog ive had that eats sporadically, whenever he's hungry, throughout the day. So, his food often just sits in his bowl for long periods of time. I didnt mind this at first but its beginning to attract bugs and other pests. Almost all dispensers I see require me to activate it remotely or set a timer and I'd rather train him to be able to use it when he's hungry.

My wife got a mini Australian Shepherd a couple years before we started dating. The dog is about 6 now. She’s very chill with my wife, but whenever I try to leave the house she completely loses it—barking like crazy, biting my ankles to try to pull me back inside, even pushing the door closed before I can open it.

My wife suggested I start a routine before leaving, like sending her to “place” and giving her treats right before I head out. Is that generally the recommended way to handle something like this?

I’m assuming I’d need to do it every time I leave, even if it’s just stepping out for a minute to check the yard. If anyone has dealt with something similar, how long did it take before your dog got comfortable with you leaving? We’ve read that she might just see me as unpredictable and is trying to guard/control the situation.