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So we have a nearly 8 month old golden retriever/blue heeler mix. She initially did really well with potty training and didn’t have any accidents in the house for months, but recently she has started having regular accidents in the house again. We got her spayed at 6 months, btw. And the consistent pattern that we’ve noticed is that she only seems to have accidents when my boyfriend and I walk away from her and leave her in the living room/kitchen alone. She knows damn well that she isn’t supposed to go in the house but it’s like she just… does it anyways. This makes me think it might be behavioral or maybe some potential separation anxiety?

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated because I just don’t know what to do anymore.

I have a 14 week old puppy who I just can’t seem to get her sleep right. She’ll wake up any time between 4 and 430 in the morning except this morning. She was up at three. When’s your dogs last nap and when’s bedtime? I’m worried she’s over tired then she’s waking early because of that? We’ve been working on this because for a couple days I was scared she would be bored or need more stimulation and I definitely accidentally made her overtired and she would chew my hands to death. Basically, I want to know if she’s resting too much in the evening. She sleeps 4:30-5:30 and have dinner at 5:30. Then she’ll play for a bit and sleep 7ish until we wake her up for the toilet and we all go to bed at 9. Are her evening sleeps too long?

Hi all, got a new puppy on Saturday after a stressful two nights finally getting on a good routine. Dinner at 7, bathroom at 8 and 9 and he usually takes himself off to sleep then. I have to wake him at 12:30/1 for a bathroom and he is up at 4 for another. Issue he cries at 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30 and once he has calmed down I let him out at 6. I usually just talk to him through the cover or pop my fingers through. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks

Since my last post and the helpful advice we got on here there's been a big momentum shift around bedtime. It's still not perfect but between the advice and getting a larger crate bedtime has been becoming easier so we're back for some more guidance.

Our puppy has just crested the 6 month mark and we're struggling with biting. For much of the day she's decently good but in three scenarios she turns into a little shark. 1) When coming back from a walk upon removing her harness. 2) While playing fetch in the backyard for more than a handful of throws. 3) Around dinner time both before or after eating typically after having been relaxed for a while.

Her biting doesn't seem to be particularly aggressively motivated, and more a reaction to being excited or seemingly coming out of nowhere, but there seems to be little we can do to get her to stop. We've tried: redirecting by scattering treats (even with our highest value treats this doesn't get her to stop as she's not food motivated at all), yelping/yelling/making a loud noise (seems to make her more excited to bite), reverse time outs (upon returning she'll typically go straight back to biting), and redirecting with common commands she knows very well like Sit/Down/Place (she may listen but then immediately goes back to biting)

Sometime we can get her to calm down by enforcing a crate nap (which works well when we know she's tired or has been awake for a while prior to biting) but other times she'll have woken up from a long nap maybe 30 minutes prior to a biting spell. Throughout the day she gets an abundance of things to keep her stimulated (Puzzles, Kongs, Pupsicles, frozen washcloths, plush toys, squeaky toys, single protein chews) but after 6pm they may as well not exist. She gets 3 walks a day ranging between 15 and 45 minutes in length (typically one short one in the morning, a long/medium one in the afternoon, and then a long/medium one in the evening) and we sprinkle in training throughout the day in 10~15 minute chunks to make sure she gets both mental and physical stimulation.

Puppy is 8 weeks, just come home with us. Tried crate training the first few nights and she has just screamed her head off- she’s waking us all up (including my toddler) – I’m writing this at 5.45am and we are all awake because she was screaming so much.

I work until 11pm so get home about 11.30pm. She woke up when I got home, so I took her outside and then tried putting her back in her crate so I could go to bed and she went ballistic, and woke everyone up. I have a crate upstairs too next to the bed so we tried her in there but it was worse – even with my hand on her and shushing her, she just screamed.

Anyway, long story short, as I am sure you know where this is going, I let her into the bed. She slept through till 5.30am and then my husband took her out when he was getting ready for work. She was just burrowed into me but was a bit excited when she got up..

With working nights, a toddler being woken up – I don’t want to mess this up but I can’t be awake all night with her howling 🫠😩 but have I messed this all up?

I have a three month old male border collie/kelpie cross puppy, and sometimes he’ll bark in his crate, but he doesn’t want anything? I open the crate and offer food, toys, outside time, a potty break, etc. but he just stays in his crate, then when I try to close it and walk away he starts to bark again?

I don’t know what the cause could be. Judging by his behaviour, he’s not hungry or bored or lonely or in need of the bathroom. What could it be? Might it be a breed trait? I know that kelpies are very very barky dogs, and that’s good for me, I like a dog that barks and can let me know when it needs something, but it’s been confusing lately since my boy has started randomly barking and seemingly not wanting anything.

Any of you had this problem? If so, did you figure out what it was?

I have a 1 year old boxer and live in an apartment so I typically take my dog out to use the bathroom in the front yard. He’s leashed and I always watch for people/dogs because sometimes he can be dog reactive.

While I watch my surroundings I’ve noticed people tend to stare at him a lot. I don’t know if this is because people like dogs and think he’s cute. But it’s starting to make me uncomfortable. Today I had a car circle my house twice watching him both times.

Does this happen to other dog owners?

Hello all, I am asking for any information/advice/tips anyone has to offer as I am ready to make the next step and get a dog I am 22m, work 7p-7a 3x a week, previous cat ownership experience. My heart is set on a golden retriever puppy. I know it will be a difficult journey but I believe it will be rewarding. As someone once told me “there will never be a perfect time” I’m really welcoming any and all input anyone has to offer