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Hi! Picking my puppy up tomorrow and on Sunday we’re expecting a foot of snow! I know typically pups can’t go outside on foot prior to being fully vaccinated, but if there’s a foot of snow, can I trust letting him play on the deck where I’m confident there hasn’t been other animals? I figured since he wouldn’t even be touching the ground with that much snow, it shouldn’t be a problem?

My ten month old will not stop humping my pillows when it's time to go to bed. I typically have her sleep in my bed with me but recently she's been humping my pillows and will not stop I've tried putting her in time out and distracting her with her own toys but that's only until I eventually have to kick her out of my room because I need sleep. It's only my pillows at bedtime though. I give her enforced naps during the day around mid to late afternoon because I know humping can be caused by stress, over-excitement, or tiredness. Her being tired could make sense during bedtime but I just CAN'T get her to stop and I don't know what to do anymore without her crate being the only solution. We do training and a walk almost everyday and play and run a lot which makes her tired the rest of the day. when she's humping she's also completely uninterested in her toys.

In short, how do I get her to stop humping and trying to tear up my things and still have her sleep in my bed.

Hey all!

i have a 9 week old terrier puppy that I got 5 days ago. He is overall sweet and doing well, great at potty training and learning commands, but he has a temper and is very vocal (growling, screaming, biting) about it.

I don’t want to give the impression that i’m not expecting puppy behavior and I was totally prepared for him to have an attitude, especially as a terrier. But I’ve had dogs and puppies (though this is the first that’s my own as an adult) and they’ve never been this vocally “angry”

I don’t physically discipline at all beyond just moving him to redirect and I don’t scream at him purposefully but I definitely use a stern voice when needed. For the most part we’re using positive reinforcement and timeouts if needed, but God, the biting is insane. We have frozen kongs, lick mats, interactive toys, regular toys, we’re doing training sessions, but he’s obsessed with feet, redirecting doesn’t work very well because he doesn’t care about anything once he remembers your feet. Again, I expected nipping and biting, but with the way he bites, he latches onto you and it’s hard to remember all the tools and tricks, you just want him off because it hurts so bad. I admit I’ve lost my cool and cried or yelled, but it’s just been out of pain. I feel horrible about it but I have bite marks that are bruising. I’ve seen all the videos and posts and tried so much but I feel lost.

But now, he’s started screaming when he doesn’t get his way. if you move him, he screeches. if you take away something, he screeches. if you tell him no, to stop biting, he screeches. If you pick him up during biting, If you redirect him… you get the point. I feel like this is all my fault and I’m raising a reactive dog. I’ve only ever heard those noises from my last dog (same terrier breed) once, when he got really hurt. I’ve felt around his body for pain points and nothing, he’s walking fine, eating, and his first vet checkup went great.

I’m sure people will say he’s cranky and I’m sure he is! I want to enforce more naps but I won’t lie, we’re also having a hard time with the crate training. He doesn’t settle down and again, the sounds he’s making are distressed, not whining. I’m trying to create positive associations with the crate and it’s certainly going but taking time!

To be fair, he’s vocal in every regard, happy or mad. But the sounds he makes when he’s frustrated or mad are so hard to hear. And he seems very happy 95% of the time. Like I said, I expect a certain level of this, and I know I’ve only had him for so short a time and he’s still getting used to things. But I just want to hear if this is normal puppy temper tantrums or something more. I feel like it’s my fault. Any advice welcome.

Hello everyone, I have a Maltipoo name Benji, Benji is almost 5 months old and doing really well overall. He’s crate trained and pretty trained to use a pee pad in the garage since we live in a very cold area and got him when it started snowing. ( he basically collapses to the ground if it’s too cold + we were waiting for his shots and then got hit with -30 Celsius weather) We plan to transition him fully outside once the weather improves.

The only issue is that he pees every time he gets on my bed. I watch him like a hawk and only let him up after he’s already gone potty, but within seconds he’ll pee; without any warning signs. Even if he just peed outside. He doesn’t do this anywhere else in the house. He’s rarely allowed on the bed but more because of this. I clean thoroughly with enzyme cleaners each time, but it keeps happening, and I’m not sure what to do.

27F struggling with whether or not rehoming my puppy is the best decision for her/me or not. a bit of backstory about me, 27F living in a 2nd floor apt in a city with no outdoor space with roommate. have a 27M boyfriend who i do not live with. i struggle with a lot of mental health issues – anxiety, depression, cptsd, ocd, and an eating disorder. i grew up with cats but have always wanted a dog. i wfh and had been living in my apt for a little over a year before i decided that i was lonely during the day and needed a companion. not only to be less lonely during the day, but knowing that having an animal around truly brings me peace and comfort. i decided to get a puppy thinking that wfh i would have the time to commit to the puppy. understanding a puppy is like a newborn/toddler at first. i felt confident and excited in my decision. my 27M boyfriend an 27F roommate were also very excited. prior to bringing her home i did research for months on how to raise a dachshund puppy – crate training, potty training, separation anxiety training. i finally felt prepared.

this first week of january we brought her home at just 7 weeks, not realizing that this was way too early to be bringing home a puppy. my boyfriend and i are both first time dog owners and did not know that this was WAY too early to be bringing home a puppy. looking back this was a huge red flag that we did not pick up on. nothing could have prepared me to bring her home. the first two weeks were so hard. she couldn’t be left alone for more than 2 seconds and she cried at everything. she would not crate train, probably because she was too young at the time and she only wanted to be with me. she was struggling and still is greatly with potty training so this made it incredibly difficult as to what areas of my apartment i was limited to. and she would not nap due to no crate training so it was even more difficult to get her to settle down. I didn’t realize how quickly this would start taking a toll on my mental health. a week and a half in a had a full nervous breakdown with panic attacks. i have a history of having panic attacks but hadn’t had one since college in 2018 when i was considering dropping out. i was at my worst point mentally, worse than i have ever been before. this felt 10x worse, i did not eat for 4 days and was mentally and physically drained, i couldn’t sleep or work or do anything. on top of that, i go to therapy biweekly, weekly when im struggling, and have not been able to go. making all of this that much harder. my anxiety and depression have been triggering my ocd and eating disorder in ways that i have never experienced before. my eating disorder is fueled by lack of control in my life. it is my one way for me to take back control. and since getting her i have lost all control of and my eating disorder has been at its worst in years. i was not ready for this kind of change in my life.

basically i am doing this all on my own. except for the help of my roommate and boyfriend who come home at 7/8PM and give me relief for an hour or two, i am completely on my own. pottying her at night, caring for her during the day, training her, vet appts, all of it on me. not only that but my roommate and i have completely different schedules which is making trying to get puppy on a schedule even harder. and it is really becoming a lot. i am struggling both with work and personally to find time to get anything done. i have had close friend coworkers make mention of how much less work ive been producing over the past two months and have personally noticed how little i take care of myself anymore.

i told myself that despite how i was feeling i needed to give her and myself a chance. from the moment i picked her up i have loved her so much. i am her mommy. but almost 2 months later i am still struggling SO much and i don’t know when to say this is taking too much of a toll on my mental health and i need to stop. my parents and my best friend, the only 3 people who in depth know my mental health history have told me that this is too much for me. but i am afraid also that her and i have become so attached to each other. she is about to be 14 weeks and i have had her since 7 weeks. i want to do what is best for her but i don’t want her to just think i’ve abandoned her if i rehome her and i also don’t want to regret my decision.

included a cost/benefit analysis chart done at the request of my therapist to see where my head is at logically. i am upset with the outcome, but was kind of expecting it. i think i am just having a hard time coming to terms with it. him

Hi everyone, I really need some advice because I’m feeling quite overwhelmed of his barking when he is alone at home 😢.

I tried gradual leaving 10 minutes to 40 minutes with/ without shoes/keys and it isworking fine . However when I have gone downstairs and I am really leaving, he starts barking about 10 minutes later 🥺.

Even we did the exercise of leaving him one room upto 1 hour is working fine.

So it’s not instant panic, but it builds up after a few minutes.I’m worried about his stress level and also about disturbing neighbors.

Should I reduce the duration again?

How do I stop the barking once it starts after 10 minutes?

I would really appreciate practical advice. Thank you 🙏

Please help! 😩

Hi all, as the title says, I’ve been having some bad puppy blues and my little guy is biting at me and my partner.

hes a 10 week lab/collie mix who we adopted 2 weeks ago. He came home with us and 3 days later had reduced appetite, turned out to be parvo and he was hospitalized for two nights but survived (we hadn’t even had time for our insurance to kick in yet). Hes been so bitey with us, and it’s terrifying me as my sister adopted a pup who is 5years now and he has serious biting issues. I dont know what is “too much” for a standard puppy. He’ll start nipping and we’ll try freezing and saying “no” so he’ll eventually learn this word. When he’s jumping at us and biting, we’ll hold his collar still to first off save us, but to calm him down. He hates all things that involve not continuing to bite us and usually will just keep at it, so then comes the difficulty of time out. We’ve tried a leash in the door to refrain him from running around, he doesn’t get it and just pulls till his neck is sore, so I don’t like doing this as it hurts him. He goes in his crate well with bribes at night and doesn’t moan. He also doesn’t like going in his crate during the day, so we have used it for time-outs since his leash doesn’t seem to work, and he hates this scenario, so thinking we’ll just have to keep doing this. I don’t know what else to do to stop the nipping?!

to top it all off, I’ve had horrible puppy blues. I am just wracked with feelings of guilt every day, and feel so nauseated about it that I can no longer eat. I hate this so much.
I know it will get better, but just really looking for reassurance and helpful suggestions at this point. How long will this last? I want to be excited about him being with us but I just feel so upset all the time, and when he starts biting I just feel angry.
PLEASE HELP 😩

Not to sure if I posted it in right category, but maybe this will help some pup parents. There is a DOG TV on YouTube of dogs playing with calm music in the background and we found out that nothing else calms our puppy down like this. No matter how sharky he gets when he is overstimulated, once we play it, he gets so locked in and falls asleep within like 5 minutes.

He is 13 weeks and he loves watching TV in general, especially actions and fights, but that and Bluey are the only ones that help him settle. Do your puppies love watching TV too?