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Hi – I have a 12 week australian shepherd puppy who gets really anxious when I leave him. The only way he feels ok when I leave is when his crate is fully covered, tv on, fan on, and after 15 min of letting him quietly chill out/fall asleep in the crate first. I'm worried the separation training is not helping if maybe he's asleep and doesn't know I'm leaving the house every day for a little bit. How do I transition from fully covering his crate to letting him out and about one day as an adult dog when I leave without him freaking out?

Our puppy is a 3 and a half month mini poodle. The first month, he was an angel in the crate- daytime and nighttime. The past few days it's been such a struggle. I'm not sure what to do… my ultimate goal is to have him sleep on our bed with us anyway but I think he's way too young and I don't want him to have accidents at night. I'm losing my mind and hearing him cry is really hard. What do I do? I have to add that he also never naps on the couch (only in the crate) because he just cannot calm down/chill out on his own. He's either fully awake and hyper and wants to play or is asleep. The only way he chills with us if he's chewing his bully stuck. WHAT DO I DO! Please help.

I have a 3 hr flight tomorrow to see my family for Thanksgiving. I have been socializing him to the airline carrier for a week now. He'll get in voluntarily and even sit in it while I close the top for treats. But if I need him to stay for even a minute he starts crying. After 15 min of me constantly giving treats and trying to calm him he flipped out and I had to let him out. The vet prescribed him 50 mg trazadone. Following her advice I gave him 25 mg, then 1.5 hrs later the other 25. After 2 hrs I still couldn't get him to settle in the carrier. I held it on my lap with a blanket over it and he was better, whining and distressed but not barking and howling. However he started to pant and I was worried about overheating and immedietly let him out. He sleeps just fine on the floor at my feet or on my lap but obviously thats not allowed on the airplane. Im not even supposed to out my hand in to comfort him or give him treats. He is potty trained and can make the 3 hour flight just fine (he will go on a peed pad on command in the bathroom right before boarding) He loves the car and sleeps just fine immedietly the second we start driving. I decided to test the carrier and am driving around right now (passenger seat) and he is curled up perfectly calm. So I am confident he will settle on the flight as it rumbles and moves like a car. The problem is boarding and waiting for takeoff. Im worried he'll is going to scream bloody murder and howl and bark and wine and dig at the carrier door. Now 2 problems here. 1) even though he'll settle for the flight, they may not even let us board if he's like this. Or we'll get kicked off before takeoff. 2) this cant be good for him being this upset. I don't want this for him i don't want him stressed.

I posted to another sub asking for advice and got nothing but outrage that I dare give my puppy the anxiety med his vet prescribed him. Also told I should just rent a car and drive home. That's an 8 hr, 3 day drive both ways. He would be trapped in a crash car carrier for 3 days. Also the military is only giving me 3 days to go home and see my family. Please any advice for how I can calm him long enough to get on the plane safely and/or keep him calm during the flight. Whats the most trazadone your vet ever prescribed your puppy for vet or travel anxiety? feel like 50 mg is already really high. Any advice thankyou

for people with dogs who are big chewers, what are your favorite toys or things to give to your dogs? i have a 1 year old pyrenees mix. thankfully we lucked out where he doesn’t chew up stuff that aren’t toys. i don’t have to worry about him chewing up my couch or my clothes etc. but toys? i can’t find a toy that’s good for him. he chews & eats every toy. stuffies? his favorite but unfortunately off limits bcs he chews through them so fast and the hardest part is he wants to swallow it also. we tried hard plastic toys, it may take him a little longer, but he’s gonna chew those up and swallow those also. it makes it difficult because he’s still a youngin, so he needs toys or something to stimulate him. but every toy he just eats. i’m scared of bones because i know they can splinter or be a choke hazard. i just dont know what to do for him. but i dont want my boy to never have any thing to play with? we do take him to the dog park and walks to let him play & get out his energy that way. but i’d also just like some good things for home that he can have for stimulation & to play with especially now that winter is approaching = more rain / weather difficulties that will limit us from going outside all the time. any advice would be helpful!

Let me say I know it’s completely normal for a pup not wanting to be in a crate, especially when they’re only 8 weeks old. I’m not expecting it to happen overnight or even in a week and I’m thinking realistically, this is just draining because she HAS to be crated when we leave. We don’t care about at night but do need her crated when we leave during the day

I’m a SAHM so more flexible with how long I have to be gone, but the reality is I need to be able to leave the house for an hour or 2 at a time.

We’ve been doing everything, slow introduction to crate with treats, made it nice and cozy for her. Slept by crate with her so she knew we were there. Tried leaving door open. Right now we’re at leaving her in there for 15 min at a time. She barks like crazy the whole time. We have a solid week 1/2 where we’re home and don’t have to leave her in crate at all. But after that like I said I’ll need to leave house sometimes and crate is only option.

I knew this would be hard for a puppy, but I keep reading different advice. Some say you have to just let them whine, others say you’re going to traumatize them, I just don’t know what to do. I know it’s a process but I guess what I’m getting at is next week if I have to leave her in her crate for an hour what if she just barks and cries the whole time? We got a camera for house to watch her but I feel that’s just so cruel to do that to her.

But again, while we planned for a week 1/2 off for pup, we realistically have to get back to our daily life and I can’t stay home 24/7 and we have no one to watch her for the hour or 2 I’m out.

I know I probably sound dramatic, but please be kind, this has all been hard 😭. Very fun and rewarding as well, but just as equally hard to have a puppy lol.

I have a 1yr old German Shepherd and, for the most part, she’s an absolute dream.

She’s potty trained. She’s figured out what’s okay to chew and what isn’t. She doesn’t chase our cats anymore. She doesn’t get into things that are unsafe or jump on desks/counters anymore. And it’s been this way for probably 2-3 months now.

But oh my god, I get so stressed out by her sometimes still. Sometimes, I’m laying in bed or showering while she has a chew. I’ll hear her chewing something and instantly it’s, “what do you have?” Nothing. It’s always nothing. It’s never a big deal. Maybe it’s lingering anxiety from her chewing up my Sony headphones or my boyfriend’s glasses, but I get stressed.

Same with using the bathroom. Sometimes she makes it downstairs before I do and I’m terrified she’s just going to go inside instead of waiting at the door like she always does. I can’t even remember the last time she had an accident indoors.

I hear her running and I assume she’s chasing the cats. Huge anxiety spike. Sometimes I see her with something I can’t quite make out (bad vision) and freak out thinking she’s taken something off of my desk or something.

The poor thing is so good but I’m so doubtful of her behavior sometimes. Does the anxiety go away? When will it go away? When will I stop freaking out over the smallest things with her?

My newly adopted large dog refuses to come back in the house after potty breaks. So far, I have tried: – High value treats – worked only the first few times and no luck since then – praise – not motivating – toys/play – does not know how to play or engage with toys, not sure how to engage with humans

Unfortunately I can’t be outside with him 24/7 and he can’t be outside unattended. I don’t want to drag him into the house or carry him in because I worry it will make him dislike being picked up.

Any recommendations are welcome!

Hi! I have a 16 weeks old puppy and shes met other dogs before I took her to 3 puppy socials and it was a small group. But this is the first time another dog is coming to my house and I’m supervising.

He’s a corgi and he’s my sister’s dog. He is 3 years old and he’s experienced being around other dogs and puppies before, I trust him but I want to ensure this is as positive as possible.

Does anyone have any advice?

Our 16w/o puppy just got her last round of shots and we were so excited to take her on walks around the neighborhood, but as soon as her harness goes on she glues herself to the ground and refuses to leave our yard.

Each time we take her out it seems she gets more fearful of the noises/cars. We Will basically walk 2-4 houses and then she will sit or lay down. We know we can get her to walk long distances because we took her on a hike and she did not want to stop, even after an hour of walking.

We have tried positive reinforcement with treats and that seemed to work for a short period of time, however it seems that it has since regressed.

Any help or other ideas? We are like 10 walks in and it doesn’t seem to be getting better…

We just adopted our little guy from Texas on Sunday (we live in MA). He’s a 9 week old boxer/lab mix. Cutest little wrinkly thing ever.

He’s been amazing with the house training- he’s had two accidents in total and a ton of success with regularly taking him outside (he’s typically eager to get potty over with since it’s cold here).

My only concerns so far have been: 1. He has gotten very very nippy over the last 24 hours. He got me pretty good today (skin broke a bit) but I think he was trying to get my sleeve/a toy. (he loves a good sleeve and goes nuts when I wear my bathrobe). He also does it to our kids (8 and 10) when excited which I know is normal puppy behavior. I typically use a “no”, but more specifically today I used an “ouch!” And removed all attention (being in the ABA helps with this!) and he looked at me concerned/confused and we moved on. At this point he was definitely insanely overtired so we did an enforced nap.

1. He actually does pretty well in his crate, however he does MUCH better when we put his bed in there. He immediately attached to his bed and uses it as a comfort item (sucks it like a baby binky, it’s adorable). I’m off of work this entire week but next week when I go back and he’s home, im worried about leaving it in there in case he gets bored and destroys it, and it also takes up a lot of room in his crate (we have the divider up).

2. Humping- he’s been humping me (female owner) only, and some toys. I know this isn’t atypical behavior at his little age, but it’s not ideal.

3. Growling- he growls a bit during play (especially when we hold the toy and he “pulls” the other end), but today when he was napping and my youngest, who we are working hard on teaching puppy rules, tried to move him when he was sleeping and he did a low growl. I know this is probably normal as she startled him but it scared me a bit.

I’m overwhelmed with all the training advice/articles and really do want to do a good job raising this 4 legged guy.