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We’re planning to bring home a new puppy in the future, and I’m trying to be extra cautious about preventing parvo. I’ll be discussing everything with a vet, but I also want to hear from people who have gone through this.

We live in an end-unit townhome. We have a deck, a side yard, and a front yard. The front yard gets regular foot traffic on the edge and some people let their dogs potty there, so I know that’s not the safest spot for a young puppy.

The side yard is technically shared because we have another townhome next to ours, separated by 100 feet and there are neighbors behind us as well. In the five years we’ve lived here, none of them actually use the area right next to our unit. I can’t guarantee that people won’t ever cut through, but it basically never happens. Can I make that space “safe enough” for early potty training if I carry the puppy straight there and straight back? Our previous dog (now passed) used all of our outdoor spaces, was fully vaccinated, and never had parvo, but this will be our first time raising a puppy and I want to do things correctly.

Also, when we pick up the puppy, we’ll be driving 7+ hours home. For those who’ve done long drives with under-vaccinated puppies, where did you safely take them for potty breaks during the trip?

Any experiences or advice would be really appreciated!

I just need a bit of advice from other people. 1.5 weeks ago, my husband and I brought home our new puppy (Lab/Australian Shepherd mix, 11 weeks old). To be honest, we both pretty much immediately fell into puppy blues because we realized how easy our life had been before (no kids) but after two or three days we acclimated and seem to be getting along quite well.

We have been crate training her which is going well but we're struggling a little with her sleep schedule. She will not put herself into bed when she's tired – in the mornings and during the day she might lay down to take a nap (we have been motivating her to take those in the crate as she otherwise changes place every 3 minutes). But in the evenings everything we built up just goes flying out the window. She becomes a literal demon, barking at us and nipping at our feet and calves. I have been reading a lot about how that comes from them being overstimulated and overly tired. The issue is: that is starting around 6pm and will not stop until we actually put her in her box (usually around 9pm). These 3 hours are just pure horror as we can not interact with her in any way. In general she is not able to play calmly. I've read so much about how we should be playing with her in the evening, most sites tell you to engage in light interaction, snuggles etc. If I snuggle my puppy in the evenings I can be glad if I go out there with all my fingers and both of my eyes. She is just really wild (or probably not wild but just overly tired and overstimulated).

Which leads me to my question: is anyone here putting their puppy to bed significantly earlier than they go to bed? I feel like we should be crating her at 6 but I'm scared this might mean she will want to get up at 3 in the night.

Oh and yes, we have just bought a play pen and will try to have her there but I'm really struggling here as I feel like I'm not allowed to interact with her from 5pm to night time, otherwise she will just get wilder and wilder.

Sorry for the vent, maybe someone has some recommendations for us. Thanks!

I lost my baby to parvo at 6 months a few days ago and I can’t move on it hurts so bad. My vet at first didn’t think it was parvo so I had hope until he finally confirmed. I don’t even know where he caught it I’m always strict on making sure my dogs aren’t exposed to risky environments at an early age. I just can’t get over it I wish I could go back in time to prevent this from ever happening. I feel like I failed him I literally raised him straight from the womb, I miss him dearly. I can’t get over this I hate parvo what an evil sickness I’m so angry, hurt and mostly afraid for my other dogs. I’ve thrown dog beds, blankets, carpets, bowls, leashes, my clothes and even his collar away. I’ve bleached the home, outside concrete and even grass because I never want to experience this ever again. I can’t even mourn him in peace because of this fear of risking my other babies although they show no signs. I’m scared to walk or even touch them so they are isolated with another family member. Is there any other steps I should take to make sure this never happens again?

2 year old Chow/Rott mix. She was a rescue dog early on, and has been mostly great, shes a bitcautious when people come over and goes to daycare once a week (where shes never had any issues and loves it there.)

However, she is a bit reactive in higher stress situations (trying to take her to a groomer for a bath/vet appts etc.) As of now, in my opinion, it was all pretty understandable reactivity, but im just worried about the problem growing or getting worse, so im wondering if professional training will help? I would like the ability to be able to drop my dog off at a groomer or a vet or someone without having to worry about her being aggressive/reactive, but im not sure how realistic that is.

I got a puppy about a month ago. I have wanted a dog for a while now since my last dog of 12 years passed away from health issues. Since I have brought the pup home -Layla is her name. She’s a pit tick hound mix. She has been nothing but trouble. I cannot get her house broken no matter how many times I take her out she will pee as soon as she gets back inside. Never in the same spot so puppy pads where she peed last are pointless. I play with her and walk her so much through the day. It makes no difference. She will still destroy my sons things -4month old infant. She has eaten so many binkies, teething toys, socks his play Matt. I don’t know what to do at this point. I have been trying to get her crate trained for when we are not home and at night time. She will howl and cry like she is actually being beat and tortured while in her crate until I either let her out of yell like a lunatic. I live in an apartment. My neighbors are complaining that the dog is keeping their kids up at night and I’m she she is because she keeps mine up too. I have never hated a dog , or any animal for that matter. But I think I hate her. I just get angry when she does anything at all. I am not going to hurt her to be clear , but the thought has crossed my mind. I am looking for a solution I guess on how to get her to stop peeing in the house and destroying it if she is left out of her crate. Is post partum rage on a dog a thing ? Because I think I may have that. I’m exhausted and really ready to just throw in the towel and get rid of the dog

I am bringing home an 8 week old lab puppy on Monday and I am absolutely dead set on getting crate training right as a first priority. I have bought two medium sized crates that will give him enough space to find a comfy sleep spot, but not so much that he can run laps. My plan is to have his crate in my room for the first 3weeks or so, just to help with any overnight toilet needs to avoid accidents, but in the day, it’s not overly practical as my room is at the other end of the hall down a lovely cream carpet. Would it be super confusing for him to have a crate in the kitchen and my room? Or am I better using one crate and lugging it about the house?

For context: My dog is a 2 year old staffy mix, he loves other dogs and is usually very excited to be around them. However some behaviours I’ve noticed about him -he likes to jump and growl (I’ve been told this is okay behaviour but have been trying to correct it regardless) -he sometimes pushes boundaries (we have been working on this too and he has gotten better) -He likes to play rough sometimes but has never actually tried to cause harm to another dog

Today however he did something he’s never done before. We were at the dog park with 2 dogs he knows well. One of the other owners brought a ball for them to play with. He is usually the dog that likes to steal it and keep it for himself but will always engage in play and is good about sharing toys/get chased and chase in return. Today however while the other dog was playing with the ball, he out of no where ran at her, growled (aggressively) and pinned her to the ground with his teeth around her neck. He also chased her to do this after she let go of the ball. She was yelping. We separated them, I asked him sit immediately which he did (I think he knew I was mad) and leashed him. After checking on the other dog (thank god she was unharmed and totally fine) I made sure her owner was okay as well and we left. He walked way better and very close to me the whole way home. However does anyone know why this could have happened and tips on how to deal with it or better correct it? He has never done something like this before and it was terrifying. I feel so bad for that dog and her owner (I also know them so very embarrassing) but that’s beside the point. If anyone has any advice for any of the behaviours mentioned it would be greatly appreciated, we definitely won’t be going back till these are corrected. Thank you!

We received our dog, Urkel, from a friend who was fostering him because he was being picked on by the other dogs in her house. His breed is undetermined but we think he's mostly american bulldog. We are pretty sure he was originally from a dog fighting operation due to old fractures but you would never be able to tell from looking at him because of how friendly and amiable he is. He is now about 2-3 years old and he loves playing with other dogs. Only problem is that when he goes to greet another dog he tends to come off as very intense (lots of face sniffing, jumping, etc) and when the dog starts growling at him to back off he doesn't really "get it" and will continue his behavior until the other dog snaps at him, which causes him to snap back, and then they start tussling. After that he'll seemingly just forget it happened and try to play again.

I figure he probably did not have enough positive dog socialization in his puppy days to model his behavior after and when a dog tries to correct him it triggers a self-defense instinct which leads to a fight. He's a very non aggressive dog outside these interactions and I have genuinely never heard him growl. He doesn't even chase our cat. Is there any way we can help him be more polite with other dogs to avoid these situations in the future, or is the behavior too ingrained to change?