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I've been privileged enough to get the puppy of one of my previous dogs (who went to a friend when I had to re-home due to DV). My previous dog was a catahoula Leopard dog/pitty mix, and the accidental dad is I guess a Texas heeler. Litter was born early-mid October, somewhere between the 14th and the 18th, I'm not fully sure. My friend selected the pup for me based on personality and I was given an incredibly intelligent little 'Cajun Heeler' male.

Since coming home the beginning of December, he has only had 3 accidents at all, and had taken like a whiz to crate training, potty training, fetch, leashing, and is even starting to wait for permission before eating. I only researched some very basic dog training videos and I honestly don't think its me that's doing so awesome, I really can't emphasize enough how quickly this little guy catches on!

Is this a honeymoon phase? Obviously his needs will change as he grows and develops, but for now it's setting such an amazing precedent… Please, tips on how to continue this?!

Hello! My husband and I got our first puppy, a 10-week old male mini aussiedoodle on Sunday. My husband has no experience with pets. I had a dog growing up but was young when she was trained so for all intents and purposes let’s just say I have no experience either.

Coupled with the cold (low 30s-20s) we also live on the third floor apartment. Right now we’re using turf washable potty pads on our balcony and trying to bring him outside on the ground level for 5-10 minutes on the hour since it’s so cold. He’ll use the potty pad outside and has peed/pooped a few times on the actual grass on ground level. I used to give him a treat for the balcony but now that he’s successfully gone outside on the ground I only give him a treat if he goes on the ground now. Sometimes he’ll go downstairs pee, and we’ll come back inside only for him to pee on the carpet.

I read puppies don’t always empty their bladder all the way on the first pee, so I know I shouldn’t bring him up if he pees once but it’s hard because I can see him shiver (he wears a jacket and I ordered booties for him too) and he cries until I bring him inside.

I’m expecting it to take 4-6 months to fully train realistically but is there anything that I’m doing that I should do differently? Should we do the pee breaks more often like every 30 minutes?

TIA!

I have a 7 week old male staffy x kelpie (8 weeks on Monday). I also have a 8 year old staffy female who is very timid and pretty much sleeps allllll day. My puppy however has earned the nickname piranha because he’s constantly trying to bite everything and will nip at your feet ect. I’ve read here that they get worse when they don’t get enough sleep and I’ve definitely learnt that when it gets bad I need to enforce a nap which he usually goes straight down when I do. Anyway the reason I’m posting is because when he plays with my adult dog he is constantly nipping at her face which she’s pretty good at dodging it but sometimes he does make contact for a couple of seconds and then lets go. As someone who has had their fingers in that mouth I know it hurts but she is so timid that she won’t even react so I don’t know if it’s hurting her. I got a video of it to show but just realised I can’t post media here. I doubt she will ever correct him because she just takes what she gets and looks unbothered all the time. Is this something I should stop him from doing or is it just playing? Part of me thinks if it’s hurting her or if he goes too far she will make it known but I also know how calm of a dog she is.

We’ve had or cats 6 years and added a puppy 6 months ago. Everything was fine at first as he was tiny however now he’s a bit bigger than them. He’s constantly barking at them whenever they come out to join us. It’s gotten so bad the girl cat is always hiding or running. The boy cat is coming out but will jump away. I’m feeling very frustrated and helpless. I need for them to get along.

FYI it did get worse once he was neutered, especially for the girl cat as she never accepted or seemed to recognize him after. I need peace I my house again. And for my cats to feel comfortable again. Rehousing dog is not an option he’s family, but something needs to give. How’d you get your dogs to not pray drive ? Cats were here first so not anything new to him.

Hello everyone! I just got my first puppy, Winston. He is a golden retriever and staffy mix and he is currently 5 months! Everything is going well so far except for some minor 'aggressions'. I've had him for 3 and half months now and just have some questions and would like some perspectives as this is my first pup.

He is a sweet guy however he resources guards his food bowl and bully sticks. He's fine if we're right next to him but the moment he's touched, he freezes and growls a bit. I've taught him trade, and that's been going good. We only trade if we need to fix bowl or bully stick is too small.

We don't plan on petting him everytime he eats or chews on his bully sticks, just discovered this resource guaridng when we pet him once. I'm just wondering if there's anything I should be doing aside from trading as I heard that the puppy years they need to be trained properly so they don't grow up to be brats.

Aside from trading, we've also been hand feeding him for three weeks now and he wags his tail and is very obedient and patient while being hand fed. Should we continue this?

Should we also stop giving bully sticks for now?

Don't wanna mess up my first dog so all perspectives welcome. We also plan on getting a trainer soon!

Our guy turns 7 months next week, and things have gotten a LOT better, but we still have challenges.

Pros:

• MUCH less excitable/quick to get wired and gremlin-y since he was fixed three weeks ago
• Still very cuddly and loving
• Getting better on walks, but still very curious about everything (in mostly good ways)
• still loves meeting people and being with us and following us around

Cons:

• RESOURCE-protective: we're working on trying to get him to leave things for us to get so he doesn't growl or snap at us (we've had a fair bit of growling, a couple of snaps and unfortunately one bite)
• loves to try and get looks on the counter to see what he's missing
• will run away if he gets something he thinks we'll want to take (and we usually will want to get it away from him because it's not good for him)

Also working on crate training since my new job has him being at home alone for a few hours between when I leave and when my wife gets home. How's it going? Eh.

We recently adopted a 3 year old from a lovely family. They unfortunately could not give him the attention he needs and they gave us everything, from clothes to his two beds. I’m just wondering if we should replace his beds? Will he smell them and miss them? Should I slowly replace everything one by one?

I recently (this past Sunday) adopted a very shy dog from my local shelter. She is 8-9 months old and I believe she is a black mouth cur shepherd mix. She’s curious and starting to engage. She follows me, rests nearby, and plays with toys and my other two dogs, but she’s not ready to be touched yet. Progress is slow and non-linear. Some days she has threshold fear and it takes her a long time to come inside from being in the yard, other times she comes straight in. Sometimes she follows me around the house, other times she darts away when I look at her or turn my body toward her. I’ve read a lot about timid dogs and I’m trying to follow the advice about basically ignoring her and just letting her exist.

I’d love to hear tips, encouragement, or success stories from anyone who’s helped a cautious dog feel safe, confident, and hopefully eventually comfortable with touch.

Evening all, I was wondering how much you would pay for a hand made leather collar with a brass buckle for your dog. One that was very high quality with a lifetime guarantee.

My dog has a favorite toy. It's this soft rainbow-colored squeaky ball. He walks around with it in his mouth all day long. He brings it with him everywhere we go. But he has one odd behavior. He'll sit there and suckle on it for hours at a time. The whole time he's doing it, he whines. He doesn't seem to need anything while this is happening. I try to comfort him, give him snacks, play with him but he'll eventually go back to the ball and start whining again.