Blog

Brought our 12 week Weimaraner home 2 weeks ago. She is now almost 14 weeks and we are still struggling with crate and potty training.

She will scream and scream and scream in the crate at night and I’ve had to sleep on the kitchen tiles to get her to sleep in it. We have tried all the normal positive conditioning but she freaks out when we leave the room.

As far as the potty training, she came from the breeder trained to puppy pads. We have never had a dog use puppy pads and always trained “puppy out” out the dog door and they would copy our other dogs. Now we don’t have another dog besides her and she’s not getting it. I’ve been taking her out every 10 minutes and removed the puppy pads and she peed right when came back in.

All help appreciated

Hi all! I'm planning to have my puppy spayed in the next few months. I'm not certain of his breed as he was a rescue but they think he is a mix of Chihuahua and Maltese at the very least, so he is a small guy. He's currently 5 months old, and is about 6.5 pounds.

I'm wondering how much time I should be planning to take off work (if any at all)? My partner and I share responsibilities in terms of his care so on an average day, he is never alone for more than 3 hours at a time. He's not crated – he has a gated off area where he has his bed, a few toys, a turf patch that he's very good at using when he's alone, and water. He's great at entertaining/playing with himself and does not really have separation anxiety in general. He sleeps throughout the night.

Will he need to be monitored constantly for the first few days? What was your personal experience when your puppy was neutered? Any advice will help, thank you!

My roommate and I both agreed to take care of our new dog. He is a 3 month German Shepherd mixed with Belgian Shepherd. Hes been crate training for 3 days.

We both feel horrible because we're both at work for 8 hours and we don't have anyone to help us dog sit. I can not afford to hire a day sitter, and we have been training the pup ourselves.

Once I get home, he is an absolute angel. Very calm and curious puppy, but I do hear him crying as I walk up to our apartment. I don't know if hes crying this loudly throughout the day or if its just because he can hear me walk up to the door.

If he is crying throughout the day…hes probably crying from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m….and I just feel like shit about it.

Positive crate reinforcement: we've been giving him chew toys, playing around/in the crate, leaving the crate door open while im home to give him freedom and access to a place to chill, lots of snacks/treats. We've got a bed in there for him along with a water bowl and a good bowl.

I know our situation is not ideal. Maybe I should just surrender the guy. I'm really stressed about him and I just want to make sure hes okay while we're gone. If anyone can give advice on how to help him get used to being in his crate for such a long period of time I'd be grateful.