Blog

Hi! I recently posted a question regarding the 18h sleep with our now 9 weeks old dash hund and so many thanks for all the responses! We put her regulary in the crate so she gets the most sleep but there is a bit of a problem i know she is a pup, a baby, toothing, zoomies mostly evening zoomies (oh god they are heavy)but i just can't calm her down before the naptime…

I always try to slow things down before bedtime. So not going heavy on playing with toys, doing a snuffle game, let her calm down in the pen or just let her run his course till she get tired but it just don't happen that naturally.

Walking doesn't work she is still adjusting to the frontdoor of the appartment building, if she bites something that isn't allowed i rederect her to a toy or put her of the couch but she just keeps getting more energetic. Lately she already starts bit of biting when i bring her to the place where she needs to do her potty and getting wild

Overall she sleeps pretty fast so thats not necesarry the problem but first she bites a lot in her dog basket before settling down, wich i worried about, but i have a feeling by putting her not that tired in the crate she doesn't sleep that very good i think even if i keep everything quiet.

Any tips for making her tired but not more energetic? I have a feeling i do things wrong because my gf and father in law (he had to dogsit for a evening), she gets a lot faster sleepy than with me and it discourage me a bit. If we are with 2 it's a bit easier but if i am alone idk it looks like a iq test

My mini dachshund puppy is getting his final vaccine needed for him to be able to safely go outside soon. He’s been peeing on doggy pads since I got him, which he’s good at. How should I start to transition him to going outside? His next vet appointment is in 4 weeks, so after that he’ll be able to go outside. He’s been outside, but only in a carrier.

I have a 6-month-old border collie. He’s mostly great, a bit naughty and likes to eat anything he finds but he’s already learned the “drop it’s command. My problem is that when I grab him by his collar and try to move him he goes crazy and growls and tries to bite me. It is definitely not playful and only happens in that situation; he’s okay with me grabbing his collar (the problem comes when I try to move him), picking him up, opening his mouth, etc. I don’t know what to do and I’m not sure if positive reinforcement is the solution.

Nobody really talks about how difficult it is raising a puppy in a household with multiple occupants. Don’t get me wrong I am so very very grateful for my parents allowing me to have a dog under their roof. She is my responsibility to pay for and do absolutely everything for – as well as helping out with our older dog as he is the og. But it’s the comments I get from my siblings that really drive me insane.

Trying to establish a bedtime routine is hard enough but what makes it harder is when my sister decides to wind the pup up when I am trying to settle her down for bedtime in her crate. I ask her to stop and just get met with comments about being “too strict” or “just give the dog some freedom” – its not that simple. Bear in mind this pup has free roam around the house all day long!!!

But if I just let her roam at night and she has an accident or destroys something then thats my fault – she obviously can’t see the bigger picture here. Its alright for her she gets to play with her, rile her up and then leave her with me to pick up the pieces. I just spent 45 minutes pacing the floors trying to get pup calm and into bed. Honestly infuriating!!!

I appreciate the simple answer here is move out. Unfortunately right now as a ‘single dog mum’ it is just not possible with the market. One day me and my girl will have our own space with a huge back garden for her to do zoomies in – thats the goal anyway!

Two nights in a row. Dog is about 2, medium sized, mixed rescue. Owner has mentioned being mixed with herding breed. For context I have two cats that don’t leave my room. Roommate says that may cause these behavior issues? Also says me always wearing black? Also that I don’t play with the dog?

My roommates and I were all in living room on coach. After movie was over I got up to leave the living room and his dog came and bit my calf. My roommate said “he play bites me too” and “sorry.” I was left a little shocked.

This dog barks at me A LOT. I can’t pass him to go to my room without him barking at me. He’ll be wagging his tail too. It’s so confusing. Genuinely I don’t do anything to him except try to command him to “sit” “leave it” or “go home” to my roommates room.

Well tonight we were watching something and I was walking over to the coach to sit and his dog came right up behind me and bit down HARDER on my calf. My roommate stood in between me and the dog and told him “leave it” and had sort of a stand off with the dog. He apologized again but has offered no solution, even though I told him “we need to talk about this because I’m worried he’s going to break skin next time.”

While I was watching the movie the dog kept trying to play with me. He kept bringing stuff over. I’m traumatized at this point so I kept a pillow between us. I also felt some pain. I checked and he grazed some skin off my calf. Very light but still escalation and concerning. I haven’t shared this with anyone.

I’m very scared of it escalating. No one else seems to be taking this seriously? What do I do. I keep blaming myself too.

My 4‑month‑old pup had a meet & greet at a home‑based (which is common in the UK) doggy daycare. My gut is telling me it’s not a good fit, he’s too young and not ready, but I’m not sure if it’s justified. I might just be overprotective and looking for issues.

He’s a confident pup, so after a few minutes of nervousness he got along well with all the other dogs. There are 7 in total so far, and he would be the 8th (and the last, as that’s the maximum they are willing to look after). The daycare has decent reviews online.

The owners were honest and set clear boundaries about what can be reasonably expected of them. They kept blowing their own trumpet about their experience.

However, I had zero confidence that they were able to control the other dogs or that they could resolve a conflict amongst the dogs should it arise. The basic corrections they performed seemed just for show because I was there — the dogs paid no attention to them (they responded to my corrections without a problem!). They were also a bit too keen to fill up the last spot, and since they don’t have live cameras I’d have to trust what they say about my pup’s behaviour.

I’m not an expert, but I’ve noticed some signs of resource guarding and dominance in the other dogs that rubbed me the wrong way. Most of them had a terrible jumping habit which I don’t want my pup picking up.

There’s also no space to separate the dogs aside from inside/outside separation. My pup still needs the occasional enforced nap, and I just worry he will not sleep in such a highly exciting environment. We were there for an hour; he played basically the whole time without a sign of switching off. He then slept for the rest of the day (aside from toilet breaks). If he’s there for 9 hours, I worry that will be too much for him.

And to top it off, our trainer advised caution about putting him into daycare as he’s developing reactivity issues, and it could make matters worse and potentially hinder our progress.

I don’t need to put him into daycare. I wanted to because I think he’d have fun, as I don’t have regular access to any other dogs he could play with. He gets to run around with other dogsled bump into on walks occasionally, but I obviously can’t control the frequency.

My gut is telling me to try again when he’s 6 months old. There’s, of course, no guarantee that the spot will still be open.

I’d appreciate a second opinion and perspective, as I’m properly spiralling and overthinking.

Had this puppy for just under a month, shes almost 13 weeks. She understands that she gets treats & praise for going to the bathroom outside (when she goes she will turn around and look straight at you, tail wagging, ready for her party) but she keeps going inside. Obviously shes still little both in terms of age and also literally in terms of size (4 lbs), but im just worried cause im getting a lot of mixed advice.

I have the crate and playpen set up and shes only allowed in rooms im actively in when shes out of it. I try to take her out every time she starts circling or sniffing with intent. Every time she wakes up or eats, before we put her down for nap time, etc. I try to stick to a schedule but its hard to follow it 100% of the time bc she doesnt always cooperate and i want to make sure shes getting enough rest so shes not biting.

When she pees inside it is SO FAST that by the time ive noticed shes sniffing shes already finished peeing so I haven't been very successful at interrupting her. I try to never react and just clean it calmly but I have family members who keep having bigger reactions no matter how many times I tell them not to. Half the advice i see is like "shes little, it takes time, just keep doing what you're doing" and the other half is like "if she pees inside at all you are fucked for life and you have ruined her forever" (okay maybe im catstrophizing a bit lol). I just feel so stressed that im ruining things or not doing enough for her but I dont know what else to do other than take her out literally like every 30 minutes and thats just not feasible for me.

I should add, I dont mind the accidents really and im not upset with her – shes a baby who is doing her best! But I just worry that im handling things the wrong way or that she won't learn eventually and the family i live with keeps trying to tell me all im doing is teaching her to go inside, but I feel like thats not true? Idk, this is my first puppy. Ive read a lot but idk what the hell im doing 😭😭😭 and it feels like the advice online is usually "do this or youve ruined your dog" OR its "do the complete opposite of the other advice or youve ruined your dog". sometimes we will go all day with no accidents and then we have days like today where shes had like 4 accidents in addition to her usual peeing outside.

Sorry this is a lot of rambling and venting lowkey but tl;dr is what im doing okay or am I just teaching bad habits? Will she learn eventually like this or do I need to change what im doing?

Hi all!

I have a 4 month old beagle/rottie mix. He’s been doing very well with potty training, and has only had a few accidents here and there since we got him two months ago.

He’s recently gotten good at signaling when he has to go outside, which has been great. However, sometimes he signals that he has to go outside, and just does it to pick up stuff in the backyard, and not potty at all.

Any advice so that he knows to signal just for going potty? I don’t want to not let him out when he has to go, but I’m also worried I’m creating a bad habit for him by letting him go out every time he signals, especially when he’s doing it for nothing.

I have a 14 month old Maltipoo Shes the sweetest thing ever but has always been full of energy. I usually leave for work for 8 hours but someone checks up on her once during my shift and it has been chaotic. She has been ripping the furnitures, eating cables ,chewing on the beds and pillows , play-biting every cance she gets to . I have restricted way too many rooms that shes only left with her room which is practically empty with a balcony and the corridors. Her pee pad in her room is always destroyed aswell leaving the whole house covered in bits of pads. What can i do? What am i doing wrong? This is my first time with a dog

PS : She has toys i play with her and take her out almost everyday yet she enjouys being chaotic and never answers my commands even tho she knows them already. She ignores me alot and i've been timing her out as a punishment for a chaotic behavior