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my parents have an 11 month old standard poodle and she has been really good so far. we are still training on leash reactivity but overall we trust her in the house, she's potty trained, etc. we like to play fetch but at home, she has picked apart a few toys and she likes to take the stuffing out of them. i had her at my apartment for a few hours while my parents were out and i have a doormat made of cloth pieces and she was able to pick some pieces out (idk if i'm explaining this right). it's not exactly shredding because it's like she knows something is inside and is trying to get it out (and unfortunately eating it). she used to have a puzzle feeder where she would have to nudge at the rotating layers to get to her food. but she's grown out of her feeding schedule so now my parents just free feed in a bowl.

are there any toys you can recommend for this "picking apart" behavior? or do we have to train her out of it? i know snuffle mats exist but i'm worried she'll just rip it apart or try to eat the snuffly stuff.

I have a 12 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. Aside from the typically puppy woes – things are going well! We do enforced crate naps so typically 45mins – 1 hr awake, 1.5-2hrs asleep.

Sometimes I don't know how to keep him constantly entertained. He gets bored of his toys after a day or two, if I let him on the couch he bites all my cords, me etc.

I know theres things like lick mats and stuffed kongs but he 1- has a very sensitive stomach and 2- hasn't quite figured out how to indulge in a Kong haha.

Any tips for how you keep your unvaccinated, small pups entertained? TIA!

I have a drought resistant yard, and my new puppy is taking really well to potty training, but without grass that can regrow or be hosed down, I’m concerned with how sustainable it is to have her keep peeing and pooping on the tanbark.

Ideally we train her to go in one spot and have a different, replenishable material on the ground for easy clean up, but I’m not sure what to go with. All dog litter products I’m seeing are clearly for indoor litterboxes, so I’m concerned about how they’ll handle the rain and wind, and the environmental impact of course. Also concerned about whether the puppy will actually want to go on it or if she’ll try to eat it.

The best option I’ve seen online so far is cedar wood shavings, but I wanted some outside insight. What do you have for your puppy? Any ideas? Any thoughts or experiences would be helpful!

I took in 3 littermates about 5 days ago. They’re about 8 weeks old now, chihuahua x dachshund mixes. 2 girls, 1 boy.

The original owners didn’t expect a litter from their 1.5 & 2 year olds. The father is now neutered and they will spay the mom soon. They couldn’t keep all the dogs in their apartment, but they wanted to keep the siblings together.

I was told about the situation and, here we are now. I have plenty of room for them. I own a house with spaces to dedicate to them and so much yard space.

I work from home, so am trying to figure out this new balance for the household.

I raised 2 litter mates before, in my original pack of 5. My old ladies are now on the rainbow bridge. They were very gentle, quiet and overall calm girls.

I still have two older dogs: 10 yr old chihuahua x staffy , and a 6 yr old pit. The pit has taken to “supervising” them and barking when the boy bites the others too hard. She’s very sweet, playful and careful stepping around them. We think she sees herself as a mama.

The ChixStaffy does not care for them – he’s a bit jealous right now but he’s still getting lots of cuddles and attention. He keeps his stance and only engages in playing with the shorthaired girl (fo 2-3min tops)

So the puppies ::

The long haired girl is the most alert, independent and behaved. Listens to commands easily and sits by me for direction.

The shorthaired girl is the quieter of the three and most timid. She’s picking up on commands.

The BOY, is also picking up commands but is the most rebellious of the three.

He wakes up crying and barking. So I still move around in the morning for a few minutes to ready myself, and wait for a quiet moment to then let him out. He then whines often through the day.

He bite the other pups too hard. I’ve noticed he sometimes tries to hop and bite his sisters when I praise them and give them attention.

Or for play time, he gets carried away and bites too hard.

When he sees the older dogs in the morning, he excitedly approaches them but then stays nipping at their legs. He got their cheeks on his second day and they shoved him off well with a deep bark. Now they keep their distance for the most part.

– but I really want to understand how to train him and his particular behavior.

I have separate crates for each of them. They have independent training, group training, independent playtime, and of course have group play.

I’m still figuring out a routine outline.

Right now, I feel overwhelmed and unstructured.

I feel like I messed up having potty pads inside the house for the first 3 days. My mother’s been recovering from surgery so placed those to help with any moments I couldn’t focus on them. Yesterday I removed all pads to train them only to go outside and signal – but this far they’re going randomly around the house and don’t make it out the door on time.

Any advice for a schedule and training is appreciated!

My 8 week old lab puppy gets the zoomies somewhere between 7:30 to 9 PM everyday for about a solid minute. The flooring in the house make its slippery for him so sometimes he slips and falls but gets back with full energy and runs again. I try to calm him down with a frozen kong but he runs again. We only got him a week ago so he’s still getting adjusted to the crate. I guess he’s still getting adjusted to our new home so he sleeps a lot less than he needs to, around 12 to 13 hours a day. Just worried if it’s okay to get these zoomies everyday. I want my poor fellow to be okay. Any advice pls? TIA.

Hey everyone! I have a 3-month-old Pinscher puppy and we live on a property with a big backyard and other animals (mainly tortoises and chickens).

The little guy has already learned not to eat his own poop, but he’s obsessed with "wild" snacks. Every time he spots dried tortoise or chicken droppings, he goes absolutely feral, he will grab it and bolt, trying to hide so he can eat it in peace lol

Does anyone have tips on how to train him to avoid this? It’s becoming a daily struggle.

Here is your text corrected:

So I’m going to check this. My husband never grew up with dogs, but I did, and I always wanted one. We’ve been married for two years. I got a dog, and it’s just me and my husband in the UK. We don’t have family here. He’s a puppy and is going to be nine weeks old. My husband doesn’t touch him or play with him. Although he helps me buy things for the puppy, is concerned about his vaccinations, and is willing to drive us everywhere, he doesn’t play with him, say hi, or bond with him yet. Am I making a mistake by forcing him to play with the puppy, or should I just let it be and hope it naturally grows on him when the puppy is a little more trained?

I’m in desperate need of some help regarding inside toileting from my 9 year old Chihuahua yorkie male dog.

He consistently toilets inside during the night. And occasionally during the day. He’s quite an anxious dog, he paces at night and has a few signs of cognitive dysfunction.

I’ve tried reducing his water intake at night by only leaving a small amount in his bowl.

I’ve also tried walking them just before i go up to bed, to get anything out of him, but he still toilets inside.

It tend to be up the washing airer, but if it’s not there it’s usually up the sofa. I’m worried that if I remove the airier he’ll just wee up the sofa instead, which is an absolute nightmare to clean as it just gets everywhere, atleast with the airer it’s just in a puddle on the floor.

He eats 4-5 hours before bed and does go out to the toilet.

What can I try? Should I try a calming medicine? A dog litter tray?

I don’t want to limit his space during the night as I know most people recommend that as they don’t like toileting in their own space, th sofa is in his own space so this clearly isn’t too big of a factor. His anxiousness is also why we don’t do this as he’ll just cry or scratch at the door. I also don’t think it’s fair to trap him in his crate overnight.

Buenos días.

Tengo un perro y le solemos dar pastillas para desparasitar.

Lo que me tiene preocupada es que nunca le he encontrado una garrapata clavada al perro, pero sí me las he encontrado sueltas por casa. Dos veces una garrapata en el sofá, y otra dos veces una garrapata andando por mi, una en el pelo y hoy un en el brazo. No clavadas. Simplemente buscando…

No entiendo bien porque pasa esto. Es decir, el perro o yo la metemos a casa durante el paseo, supongo. Pero ahora estoy paranoica con la idea de que vivan (crien o lo que sea) en casa).

También tengo gato pero le pongo pipetas, no es un gato que salga de casa. Y tampoco nunca le vi nada al gato.

We have an inherited shizhu & he eats his own poop & sometime my collies. I’ve tried different sorts of food but he still does it. Freaks me out tbh & makes me heave. I have to keep him away from me for hrs after he’s done it. I try to get him in once he’s pooped & clear it up but don’t always have time to watch him. Any ideas why & what ideas can I try to stop him. Tried adding stuff to food to put him off eating poop but hadn’t worked.