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  • New Puppy, crate and potty training not working! Help please!

    I just got a 10 week old border collie male (got him at 9weeks old).

    It’s definitely been a learning curve no matter what kind of research I’ve done before getting him.

    I’m currently extremely overwhelmed. I’ve had him over a week now and things feel like they’ve just gotten crazier.

    We are currently in the middle of crate training and potty training, and honestly those are the main things that make everything so difficult.

    Potty training: No matter how much positive reinforcement I provide when he successfully goes potty outside he just doesn’t seem to grasp that he’s supposed to go outside. When I bring him inside sometimes within 5 minutes of being in he’ll go potty inside even though we’ve just been outside for a long period of time (I do admit his diet has been fluctuating as we don’t think wet food digests well and gives him diarrhoea, so he currently does have diarrhoea) however it’s not just pooping but also peeing inside. I don’t know how to train him any better, I already give him treats and positive reinforcement. I currently can’t add any new foods/treats to his diet as we don’t want to cause more stomach issues. Any advice would be massively appreciated!!!???

    Ok, here is the most difficult part.

    Crate training: Here’s a quick run down of his first week with me. First 3-4 nights I’d allowed him to sleep wherever in my room (not a great idea, he pooped and peed everywhere even though I took him out every 2-2 and half hours. The fifth night, I had him in a pen, next to my bed where I could just put my hand into, but after that night he figured out how to climb out. So the sixth night I kept the pen but it put a blanket over it and still stuck my hand into it, however he learned how to climb out of it (I rlly don’t know how).

    That lead to today, today I got him an actual crate, with a roof and everything, it’s wired and I have a cover over it to create a den, and as well as the pen I have his beds/ blankets, and favourite chew toys and just toys, as well as him having been fed in the crates/pens. I’ve tried leaving him in it throughout the day for short periods, me being in the room and me being out of it, he just whines and whines, than starts yelping and barking like crazy, he might eventually calm down for a few mins, but than he’ll start up again, and if I’m not in the room a sound outside of my room may start him off again (I usually have the tv on as well as a air con as it’s quite hot where I live, and he sleeps well with it, as his day naps are usually outside of the crate as he won’t willingly go into the crate unless for food and I don’t want to force him into it as I’ve been told to make it a positive place for him. ) We have a routine for him and it’s worked well the last few nights however I’m worried as the new crate cannot fit next to my bed and instead has to be at the end of it. That he’ll just repeat what he’s done all day and bark and howl like crazy especially since it has the cover on. I need some advice ASAP please! I’ll try anything, putting the cover door down to completely block out the outside world, waiting long periods of time, literally anything!!????

    Also I’ve tried saying firm no’s, tapping the cage to interrupt his barking, putting my finger though it however he just starts whining again usually straight away no matter how much praise I give him when he’s being good.

    I’m extremely overwhelmed, and a little sleep deprived, I’m stressed a lot and worried I’m giving him separation anxiety by allowing him to be with me all the time (I’m in between semesters so I spend usually all day with him) and it’s also making it difficult for me to do personal and school stuff as he won’t spend time in the crate.

    Please help would be massively and greatly appreciated, all responses and advice are more than welcomed and highly encouraged!!???

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  • How much time a day do you spend playing/entertaining/training your 9 months puppy?

    My Norwich terrier is turning 9 months soon. She is rather active at home and also has some separation anxiety. I spend about 30-45min playing with her (including short training games) a day. I also walk her twice a day, 40-45min each time. She will spend about 4-5 hours hanging out around the humans. Rest of the time will be either in her playpen or we will try to go back to our rooms and leave her alone in the living room for a short period of time to try wean off her separation anxiety. I want to check how much time do you usually spend entertaining your pup at this age, and what is good so that she don’t develop an over reliance on us. Thanks!

    submitted by /u/yayalele33
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  • Sudden change in puppy behaviour at 11 weeks old.

    We adopted a golden doodle at 8 weeks and from the beginning he was incredible. Well behaved, adjusted quickly, absolutely sweet and potty trained outside. Within the first two weeks I taught him 8 tricks and we had a good routine.

    Now at 11 weeks several concerning behaviours started appearing, it's like he isn't the same puppy anymore.

    1. He started peeing frequently in small puddles then obsessively drinking his pee. These aren't accidents but seemingly intentionally similar to marking behaviour. We can tell from size and there was a time where he peed 4x in 20 minutes. We ruled out UTI as he was able to hold in for an entire night.

    2. Aggressive nipping and biting. He would randomly snap or nip at us when petting, or if I hold him back or even during air jail. Doesn't like being touched while playing or exploring. He never did before and it's very concerning and hard to correct. Definitely not playful biting as we are able to catch his snout and discipline him, but he really tries to bite us.

    3. During training if not rewarded immediately or following any action, gets aggressive, growls and barks, and completely walks away or disassociates.

    I've had puppies before although a very long time ago as a child, we read up a lot and he attends puppy school too. He gets frequent naps, good mix of food, and we treat his teething issues with toys, frozen yoghurt, dental chews and frozen carrots.

    Only two things have changed. First my partners sister who used to spoil him moved away. Second, I took him to meet my sister's puppy to play, which turned out well. With my partners sister gone, there's less spoiling and nonstop attachment, and unless my sister's pup "taught" him bad manners I doubt it's that.

    Now what are we doing wrong? I accept may be crucified here but as mentioned this initially didn't cause any bad behaviour.

    He sleeps with us in bed. We dont crate train. We found this helped quite a bit for potty training. He has full access to the house and we let him in the backyard to play and potty. We free feed but honestly he doesn't eat much at all and leaves food in the bowl.

    submitted by /u/lailide
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  • Teenager phase struggles

    From a perfect puppy to the teenage dirtbag 😔 My teenage dog suddenly decided shes the devil. Started reacting to anyone, anything and everywhere. There are better days and worse days, but genuinely i could take her anywhere as a puppy and she would walk with a loose lead, now i cant really take her to places with a lot of people (or dogs). Shes suddenly scared of kids whereas before she would just ignore them or interact with them lightly. Im not giving up or anything but its so tiring and also so disappointing.

    submitted by /u/NoPineapple8309
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  • I hate my mother in law’s dog…

    No advice needed, I just need to rant.

    For context, we live with my mother in law and brother in law. My MIL has some significant mobility issues and has for a while. My FIL passed away in June from dementia.

    So about a year ago my MIL's beloved dog died from old age. And she impulse bought a puppy. She found it on the AKC website and instead of vetting the breeder she met the breeder in a parking lot and bought the puppy there. She was told he was a Yorkie but he's clearly some kind of mix.

    So you can already see the problems.

    This dog just… Well he sucks to have.

    He couldn't stay downstairs at night because of my FIL, so we agreed to help out with the puppy at night. Which somehow turned into us taking care of this puppy all the time.

    Now he's basically our responsibility instead of my MIL's. She sees him for about two hours a week.

    The nightmare part is the barking. He starts at 5 in the morning. This morning it was 4:30. And she won't pay for a trainer to come in to help with the issue. My entire sleep schedule revolves around waking up because of this dog.

    And if he gets bored or has too much energy during the day, it's more barking. And it is so obnoxious. We finally got sick of him yesterday and took him downstairs for my MIL to deal with and it was amazing.

    By contrast, my wife and I have a basset hound dog. We vetted the breeder, didn't impulse buy. She's about 2 months younger than my MIL's dog and is so much better behaved. Especially with the barking thing.

    I want to re-home the Yorkie but at this point he and the basset are a bonded pair so we really can't without stressing her out too much.

    I'm just exhausted and hate this awful little dog that I didn't choose and would never have chosen but am responsible for.

    submitted by /u/Jahaili
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  • Rehoming dog advice

    Hi all,

    After some research, I wanted to seek some advice on this subreddit too.

    We have one dog let’s call her dog 1 and we decided to rehome a dog from a charity, let’s call her dog 2.

    They both get on very well and we have had dog 1 since she was a puppy. Dog 2 is very sweet and kind, however has issues around resource guarding which we are working on. But today I took both dogs for a walk and dog 2 was very defensive to runners, almost reacting towards them? Is this due to a lack of exposure? Is it trauma of the dog?

    Dog 2 has also taught dog 1 to be very very barky when dog 1 isn’t initially quite barky, I’m very anxious as dog 1 has a good routine (obviously I know due to her being used to it) but I’m afraid that it’s chopping and changing her routine too much and dog 2 is teaching her some unnecessary traits. We have a dog walker that comes and I am petrified that dog 2 will be aggressive to other dogs that our dog walker has which then will make it very difficult for us as we need our dog walker.

    Additionally, we know the 3-3-3 rule and dog 2 has been with us for a few weeks but just overall very anxious and want to give dog 2 a great home.

    Edit: just wanted to add in that she meets a lot of dogs and is ok with them but some she’ll lie down then launch and them and show some teeth? Again is this trauma to something? Dog 1 is 1 years old and dog 2 is 2 years old!

    Open to any advice!

    submitted by /u/A14400
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  • Could my dog be developing dementia?

    She’s a very chill doggie, unproblematic and loving. Although she’s always been sensitive and rather careful in the way she interacts with other dogs, I’ve noticed in the past few days some behaviors that concern me. When we are walking on the street she gets easily scared at unanimated things like streetlights, palm trees, even hearing dogs barking in the distance, she flinches and immediately seems disoriented, shaky and looking all around.

    How can I help her calm down? She’s used to going on a lot of walks and is rather sporty and healthy overall but I’m afraid this fears are becoming so strong that it changes her way of interacting

    submitted by /u/WorldlinessAlone9307
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