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Hi everyone! First, just want to say thanks to this amazing community of supportive people—I've learned so much from all of you on our first puppy journey.

Our 13-week Golden Retriever puppy is making good progress. She sleeps on her bed through the night as well as during the day in her play pen, is great with potty training, and is improving in her overall calmness. It feels like all the positive reinforcement methods we have tried are paying off!

One issue that I am seeing conflicting advice on is demand barking. She starting doing this more recently (maybe adolescence pushing boundaries?), and the worst is when I am cooking or when my wife and I are eating dinner or hanging out and we put her in her pen to settle. She won't settle and will keep barking and ask to be let out. (If we put her in there and go do our own thing, she settles much more easily.) We also tried having her settle on a mat next to the table so she can be closer to us, but then she barks at us for food (though she's been fed).

I've read the advice of ignoring them to teach them that barking won't get them what they want. On the other hand, I've also read that barking is self-reinforcing and that we should give her a job to do instead (e. g. "stay"). If we ask for a "down" or "stay," she does do it and stops barking… but only for 10-20 seconds. So, we are a bit stuck because we can either:

1) Keep asking for down and stay and give her a treat every 20 seconds, which seems unsustainable and unhealthy.

2) Ignore her barking, but I am not sure if that's the right thing to do.

I would love to hear what worked for you. Thank you all for your generous help!

Hey everyone! We have a wonderful 14 week old mini dachshund (our second – our older dog is 4) that has been adjusting super well. He has every nap in his crate (including when we leave the house for 2-3 hours at a time) and sleeps overnight in there, usually staying in there from 8:30pm-6:30am with no crying or issues.

We are planning to go camping at the end of May, he will be 18 weeks then. We sleep in a tent, our older dog sleeps in his bed in the tent but there is no space in our small tent for the crate for the puppy.

Here are my thoughts:

• Bring his crate and leave him in the car? I don't love this option because I would like to be able to at least hear him
• Have him sleep not in his crate, in the tent with us, in the bed with the older dog
• Have him sleep in his crate, in the tent (we would bring 2 tents and each sleep in one)

I'm worried that a few nights outside of his crate will mess up all of the amazing crate training we've doing. Will 3 months of solid crate training/sleeping in his crate survive a few nights outside of it in the tent??

We didn't crate train our older dog and are soooo happy that we decided to do it with puppy.

Any advice welcome!!

Golden retriever (not born yet)

I’m preparing to bring home a puppy and want to approach it in a structured, informed way. I have a few months to prepare and have been going through YouTube videos and podcasts, but the information feels scattered. I’m looking for something more systematic.

**Is there a resource that lays out what to do in common day-to-day scenarios with a new puppy?**

Ideally something that covers the first ~26 weeks in a practical, decision-based way so I can respond consistently instead of guessing in the moment and correcting mistakes later.

I’m trying to anticipate situations ahead of time so I don’t accidentally reinforce behaviors I don’t want.

Examples of the types of situations I’m thinking about:

– Puppy looks at me and barks — what’s the correct response?

– During socialization (e.g., calmly working on a toppl in a public setting), the puppy shifts from settled to wanting to wander — what then?

– Picks up something like a pinecone — how should that be handled?

– First instance of whining in the crate — what’s the right approach?

– Balancing meals (e.g., feeding in the crate) with training treats without overfeeding — how to structure that?

The context is that I’ll be owner-training this dog as a service dog, so I want to be deliberate and consistent from the start.

I’m seeking high-quality resources that cover what to expect and how to respond across a wide range of situations.

Thank you!

Hi all, I’ve just got my first dog after having family dog my whole life, she is 8 weeks. I have had her for 3 days. She is a Labrador. I have seen a lot of posts about their puppies crying, does anyone have any success stories to make me feel better? We have been practicing since I got her 3 days ago being in her pen alone incrementally but I went to the shops briefly and she was still loudly crying when I got home. I have already tried and have dne a lot of research and am doing the right things like giving her high value treat/ toys, not coming in when she’s still crying etc. Any stories of people surviving the crying phase would be helpful, I’m about to join her in crying atm 😩

Having my first actual experience with being overtired with this puppy, I recognised the signs and put him in the crate, it's covered, he has a bed and a kong. Usually that's enough to settle him after 2-5 minutes of crying but this time he went for nearly 10, I was giving it just a minute before I got him out when he finally settled. Just a couple minutes later he's up crying again. If he settles and goes back to crying do I restart the 10-15 minute rule or like combine whining time if that makes sense?

Like I said he's never been actually overtired before and he never whined this much even when first introducing the crate.

I'll point out this was an hour or so ago, I left him in and he settled but I want to make sure that was the right decision?

Hi everyone. I live in Texas and have my first puppy at 29. It wasn't planned. Found in the woods abandoned with his other 2 siblings. The other two have homes now. We kept him cause he was the most skittish and stuff. First few days all he did was shake and lay down. Started warming up when I brought him to bed with me at night. We are not sure of his breed and age. With think 6 months and he kinda looks like that dog shiloh from the book well shiloh. He is definitely not gonna be as small though. HUGE paws. Basically boxing gloves lol. Anyways we are having an issue. We've more or less house trained him but at times he gets bloated and becomes a poop machine. Just left and right pooping. I literally took him out at 10pm, he pooped in the house infront of my closet at like 11, and just now at about 12:10 he pooped again near my ac vent. I have no clue what's going on. Any help appreciated. Have a vet visit planned already btw for Friday for a possible ear infection issue he seems to have.

Hey everyone. I have a 9 week old goldendoodle with extremely high energy levels and was wondering what would be the best way to slowly introduce her to the idea of being left alone. Not for long periods of time. Maximum 1 hour. I understand she's still very young.

So far, she is great when we are around and she is in her crate. When we are out of sight but in the house, she whines for a little bit, but after hearing our voices, seems to relax. The problem is when she's awake and she can't see or hear us. How am I supposed to run errands? I'm trying to reward her whenever she's chilling in the crate, and going out of sight for brief periods of time, but I'm not seeing that much progress.

Share your stories, what you did, and how things are going! Any info is useful!

Thanks!

I’m a first-time dog owner and recently got a Golden Retriever. I’ve wanted a dog for a long time, and finally got one after starting my job.

The only issue I’m facing is potty training. Because of my work, I can’t always be there to guide him, and I feel like I’m not being consistent enough.

I do try to take him out when I can, but accidents still happen inside the house.

I’d really appreciate any advice on:
– how to build a routine with a full-time job
– how to handle accidents properly
– what worked for you in a similar situation

Just want to do this right for him.

Oh, hello.

My husband and I are planning on two puppies, some time between this year and next year. (No, we are not planning on getting them at the same time. It all depends on when we find the right ones) We are currently looking, though, and have communicated with a breeder who has plans for a litter this year.

So, we've begun making a list of things we would want/need to get for the puppies, and researching the vets/groomers in the area, and looking into which dog food is best.

We're planning of going to school with the puppies, as well as training at home beginning as soon as we get them.

All of this is fine and good and all, but the mild intimidation is there, you know?

We both grew up around dogs, and the dogs he grew up with were much better trained than the ones I grew up with. We have our perfect world scenarios planned out, but perfect world and actual reality are not the same. (Like the plan to train the dogs to bathroom in a specific part of the yard-> prolly can do, but difficult)

So, what advice would you give to someone who wants a well mannered couple of dogs that have great recall and can go off leash without worry.

What advice would you give for puppy-proofing the house?

What toys are best, in your experience?

What smart accessories are worth it?

What food is best for your dog?

What should I be asking that I might not know to ask?

Its been a couple years since I've had a dog, and I've never owned a puppy in my adult life. We both understand they're a lot of work.

I currently have the book 'The Complete Dog Care Manual's by Bruce Fogle. I've read through a few pages, and all in all it seems well rounding. There were some pages that had me a little concerned, such as showing, breeders, etc. The book does seem to be ASPCA approved though, however much weight that carries.

I'm wanting to get books that cover big varieties of topics. Such as body language, diet, breeds and their characteristics, coat, dental, Paw, etc care, diseases and cancers, training, enrichment, etc etc.

I'm not necessarily looking for everything in one book, though if there are any great books that cover all, that's definitely a plus. But I'm expecting to have to buy a few books that go into deep detail about each topic.

I would prefer something newer that's more up to date, but if there's older books that still hold up quite well that you'd recommend, I'd also love to hear about them.