Blog

Hi everyone, I am desperately needing ideas. I brought home an 8 week old boxer puppy last week and my gosh does she have some lungs and sound like a baby demon in her crate.

I’m sure some of it is that she dislikes the crate and is used to being with her siblings but I’ve noticed that she absolutely shrieks and makes the most god awful sounds when it’s night time but also when she just is not getting what she wants and this feels like a tantrum (one prime example is waiting for the other dogs to finish their food, she starts this in the crate after she’s finished eating).

I’ve tried moving her into my bedroom, she has a heartbeat puppy, I gave her one of my shirts, we’ve tried different puppy playlists and various sound machine sounds and the crate is covered.

Even with towels stuffed under my door, a fan on high and a sound machine playing another fan on high – I can hear this and she keeps waking me up. I feel like I’m dying a slow death because I can’t nap to catch up during the days because I have to work.

She’s so sweet and cuddly and lovey during the day but yikes. I could see someone else returning her for this, it’s so bad. We love her and of course would never dream of doing that — I just want the demon sounds to stop. Any ideas are appreciated!

long post, apologizes in advance. welcoming all advice on any of these concerns.

my foxhound rescue has turned 1 year old as of this month (adopted at 5 months old) and after a some months of finding our groove and seeing great progress in our training, i’m noticing some regression/areas of concern. i’ve never owned a dog before, and am feeling a bit in over my head, similar to how i felt when we first got him. seeing constant positive dog training videos on instagram make me feel discouraged/like i’m failing, and like i have an insurmountable amount of work to do.

• we made big strides and was so proud of our growth over the past 2 months especially, but leash training has gone down hill again over the past 2 weeks. constant pulling is back with vengeance for some reason.

• he’s becoming toy possessive around his doggie friends (two dogs in our neighborhood he has played with almost daily since he got him), which was never the case before. he recently starting growling while playing tug for the first time this month, but it didn’t seem aggressive. it seemed as if he was just finding his voice. now he shows signs of aggression when another dog tries to get a toy that he has (much deeper growl, will gesture/nip to his dog friend to get away and is unwilling to share toys like he used to). he even gets this way when my partner tries to take a ‘high value’ toy from him now, too (he does well with me and responds to drop it command, but i WFH so i spend way more time with him/have a stronger relationship). is this normal? i know dogs are allowed to have boundaries/communicate to one another to back off, but i’m worried that these things will escalate as they seem to be, and my biggest fear is him biting or hurting any dog/person if we don’t address this ASAP.

• what are your thoughts on gentle leaders and Ecollars? do feel that entirely positive methods for dog training are realistic for you & your dog? do you feel there’s an air of shame around other forms of training?

• do you believe some dogs are just not able to be safely off leash, or can every dog get there with enough time and dedicated training?

• is regression real at this age, or just something we tell ourselves to take less accountability/help us feel better about our dog’s behavior?

• what more can i do? why do i feel like i’m never doing enough/intimidated by the sheer amount of work we have to do to have a “well trained/behaved” dog? do other dog owners feel this way?

Hi! I am getting a mini schnauzer early January, and I am planning on obtaining pet insurance for her.

Currently, I am deciding between Pumpkin, Lemonade, and TruPanion for pet insurance. Does anyone have any experience with any of these companies?

I'm not a big fan of Pumpkin or Lemonade's wellness plans, but I did find a wellness plan with Wag! that seems like it might be a good deal. I have attached the link for people to review if needed. Does anyone have any experience with them? i'm also open to thoughts on if it seems like a good deal to get their platinum plan with flea/tick prevention add-on.

https://wagwalking.com/wag-wellness/wellness-plans

Thanks in advance for your help!

My last puppy I had a great recommended crating schedule per month old. I am expecting a puppy soon and can't find the link anymore.

Anyone have a good resource? Looking for specific times crated vs loose per age.

I have a 6 month old German Shepard mix. Adopted him about 2 months ago. We were living in a house for about 6 weeks until we moved into a new apartment. We’ve been in the new place for about a week and a half. He was very well potty trained in the house. The first couple of days, anytime he peed in the house I ran him to the back door and let him out. He caught on pretty quickly and only had 2-3 accidents after the first couple of days.

In the new apartment, it seems he doesn’t know how to tell me when he’s gotta go. He’s having accidents everyday (sometimes multiple per day). But he’s not squatting down and letting everything go. I’ll be doing something like cooking dinner while he’s doing his own thing. Then I’ll notice a small line of pee dribbled through the rug and then rush him out and he pees immediately. And based on some other behavior, I think he knows he’s not supposed to pee inside but he doesn’t know how to tell me when he’s gotta go. Seems like potty training basics but a slightly different situation because of the move. What should I do? How can I teach him to talk to me in the new apartment?

This morning my dog ate something in the yard when I wasn’t looking, I went to see what it was and it was a small pile of RANCID SMELLING poop, the poop itself was fairly large in diameter (size of dog poop) and had a good bit of hair in it. After doing some research I think it was bobcat poop. I don’t know what to do, I’m really worried for her and also for us living in the house in case she brought in some parasites or something. Should I bring her to the vet?!? Sanitize everything she touches??

Hello! I am currently raising (or trying to) my beautiful 4 month old, female, black and tan cavalier who has been at home with me since 8 weeks old. I am feeling very overwhelmed. I have always owned rescues that are 3+ years old. I was gifted my puppy by family for my birthday, as I have been grieving the loss of my two rescue soulmates over the last two years. This is my first puppy in 25 years. The last puppy I had was a German shepherd.

I love her dearly, but I am feeling very overwhelmed and exhausted and like I’m not doing anything right. Our main issue is defiance and chewing.. I have tried everything to stop her chewing on particular things (mainly I don’t want her to hurt herself 😩). I’ve watched every possible training video, read everything I can, we have been to puppy school. I think I’m a bit stuck with how to discipline her? She is doing fantastic at crate training and she has her own pen which is her chill out space. When she is doing something naughty, I will say “uh uh”, remove her from said item and redirect her with a chew toy or something along those lines. I don’t believe in discipline that causes fear etc or is aggressive or mean, as I don’t want her to fear me, but I wonder if I’m being too soft? My issue is there are things she’s chewing on that I’m scared will hurt her, eg. The ramp to my bed, corners of cupboard drawers, she loves to chew on cement or brick, the corners of walls… I have tried redirection, she has every chew toy in the world, I take her outside so she’s away from said thing and distract/play with her, I’ve put her in her pen with stimulating toys. I have sprayed the areas (ramp etc) with vinegar (diluted with water) to deter her, but that didn’t work either. I don’t know what else I can do? I will show her not to do it and sometimes she even looks at me like a petulant child and goes immediately back to it?!?! (Which I admire because it’s really quite amusing to see her look at me like that 😂) If anyone has any advice I will take it because I feel like a terrible dog mum and I’m doing it all wrong. I am trying really hard to do everything right by her but feel like I’m failing. I just want her to be safe, happy, loved and well adjusted and also having her behave well would be ideal, but I do understand she’s just a baby. I’m doing this all by myself and I think I’m failing her.

Hey everyone! I’m getting my sweet King Charles puppy in just three weeks, and I couldn’t be more excited! I work four days a week and want to make her adjustment to my home as smooth and comfortable as possible for both of us. I am very nervous about leaving her at home while I am at work. I am planning on coming home during my lunch break to let her potty but it still makes me anxious, and I hate the idea of her being in a cage all day. I have a large back yard, so letting her stay outside and play is an option, but the idea of a hawk getting her also makes me nervous.

I grew up with Labs, but this will be my first puppy of my own, so any tips, advice, or suggestions would be so appreciated. I just want to give her the happiest, coziest home I can!

I need some reassurance/advice about my 12 month old large bernedoodle (80lbs). I call her a sour patch kid (sometimes sweet, sometimes sour) she is so good in the house & when we are doing training lessons inside. We go on a walk and she changes – jumps on me, bites my clothes and shoes, barks at me with frustration – I have tried acting like a tree, redirecting & all the treats. The treats make her worse, when I bring them on a walk she than jumps at me nonstop to get them. We are working with a positive re-enforcement trainer and she has given me advice and of course when she is here working with us she is better! I feel lost and in the thick of it with no end in sight. Advice or just reassurance things get better!!