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In January, I will be bringing home my second dog, an 8 week old male Doberman puppy. I had no trouble house training my first pup through a combination of crating, tethering, and careful supervision to try to eliminate all accidents and interrupt those that do happen. However, I am now living in a second floor apartment with no yard, it will be the middle of winter, I will have a full-time job (I will WFH for a couple of weeks but still). Basically, I expect interrupting accidents and getting my dog outside in time to be way harder this time around.

I’m curious if anyone has experience using belly bands or diapers to prevent damage from accidents while house training. Would a belly band be enough to hold in a puppy accident while I rush my dog down the nearest staircase? Will it teach bad behavior like peeing inside because there’s a layer of protection in place? I am not expecting the belly band or diapers to take the place of house training, just want to know if it could help limit the damage due to accidents while I’m working on it.

I do not want to use pee pads as I believe teaching a dog to pee inside in a single place is confusing and leads to less solid house training long term. If my dog always had accidents in one area (ex. by the front door) I could place down a pee pad there, but I’m trying to find a more consistent way to prevent messes.

My pup is an 11 month old mixed breed (DNA test called him a supermutt). He understands that outside is potty time. As soon as we hit the grass he starts peeing. Poop takes awhile for him to go but he understands that he is to potty outside. Issue is that if he is left to wander the apartment unsupervised, he will pee or poop in random spots on the living room carpet. I clean with an enzyme cleaner as soon as I find the spots but he will find other spots to go on. Even if we just came from outside he will still do it.

So I have started to keep him in my room all day since he won't potty in my room. I work from home and every time I leave my room, I take him out before I do anything else. When he goes outside I praise and treat. However, he will still pee in the living room if, for example, I am making food in the kitchen. He never does it when I can see him, only if no one is looking. It might be worth it to mention that I hardly spend any time in the living room.

Any tips would be appreciated. I want him to be able to free roam the apartment and play with my roommate's dog more freely. Would spending more time in the living help him associate it with home more?

I recently realized I rely too much on my vet's internal system to hold all my dog's history. I want to move away from the chaotic folder of papers in my drawer to something digital and accessible on my phone in case of emergency or when switching clinics.

I'm thinking of using a Google Drive folder shared with my partner, but I’m curious what works for everyone else. Do you use a specific app, a cloud link, or do you stick to a physical binder?

I'd love to hear what organizational systems have saved you time (or headaches) in the past!

Assuming they've had all their needs met prior to going in, what is the longest you've left yours at this age? My pup sleeps throughout the whole night in her crate without needing to potty (9-10 hours). The longest i've left her in her crate so far has been about 5-6 hours during the day.

I WFH full time, so she is not in her crate much at all anymore during the day… so i'm mainly asking for those one-off times on the weekend where I need to leave my pup longer than 5-6 hours.

I recently realized I rely too much on my vet's internal system to hold all my dog's history. I want to move away from the chaotic folder of papers in my drawer to something digital and accessible on my phone in case of emergency or when switching clinics.

I'm thinking of using a Google Drive folder shared with my partner, but I’m curious what works for everyone else. Do you use a specific app, a cloud link, or do you stick to a physical binder?

I'd love to hear what organizational systems have saved you time (or headaches) in the past!

I sadly have to rehome my Xolo. We had tons of time for him but due to some unfortunate life things I have had to pick up more shifts at work. Therefore not as much time and I feel he not getting the time and effort he deserves. Any advice for the process would be appreciated. He is about 8months old and the breeder won't respond to me.

Whenever one of my housemates invites someone in, she not liking strangers follows them close behind through the living room and bites them on the foot.

I dont think she’s a vicious or violent dog, she’s nice as anything if she sees a person enough, but strangers coming in just set her off.

It doesn’t draw blood, she’s just trying to get them to leave because she doesn’t know them, but she really shouldn’t and I’m afraid she’s gonna hurt someone if she keeps doing this.

Hi all,

I’ve recently picked up Sprocker Spaniel, she’s 10 weeks old today and the biting and nipping is getting quite intense!

So far I’ve tried redirecting to a toy/chew, using frozen treats, teething gel and putting her in her crate for a time out period… non of these have worked sadly. She tends to nap when in her crate for most of the day but when she needs the toilet or if I’m doing some puppy training with her she nips at me.

My hands are starting to hurt from the bites!

Any advice would be much appreciated!