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So my family is fostering this 7 month old dog right now and he is not potty trained. He pees on the pee pads sometimes but i want him to go downstairs. I am supposed to have him for the next 2 months and so i feel i could make some progress with him. His previous owners neglected him and would let him pee about the house. I live on the 20th floor in an apartment and cannot get a grass patch, but i can train him to go in the balcony. My main goal however is for him to only go downstairs.

My family is planning to get a Rottweiler we can’t seem to find any decent names

I was having trouble with my puppy eating his kibble after just soaking It in water is no longer appealing to him so I tried freezing it and he really loves it (probably because he’s teething). Is it ok for me to continue feeding it to him or will it cause digestive upset ?

My dog just turned 9 months old. Up until then… things were okay. Not perfect, but manageable. He had his “puppy moments,” sure, but I was always so proud of him. Despite being a little troublemaker, he never cared about chewing cables, destroying furniture, or doing any of the stereotypical “chaos puppy” stuff.

And then he hit 9 months.

And he became zoomies on four legs.

He always used to steal things here and there, but now? The stealing has reached a completely new level. This dog steals literally EVERYTHING. If you take something out of his mouth, you barely turn around and he already has something else.

You cannot leave anything at his eye level — phones, headphones, clothes, decorations, NOTHING. He’ll grab it. And yes, stealing dirty laundry is one of his absolute favorite hobbies (right next to stealing phones, apparently). And now he’s started chewing furniture.

My soul left my body when I saw the couch. Then the chairs. Then the baseboards. I genuinely don’t know how to get him to stop. I can’t gate off the entire house. Sometimes I put chairs on top of the table just so he can’t reach them. I feel like I’m living in a puzzle room designed for insane puppies.

Humping also kicked in at full force. Sometimes he jumps on me with so much enthusiasm he almost knocks me over.

And the leash pulling?

God. From the outside it must look like I have zero control over my own dog. He pulls like crazy. My hands literally get cut from the leash because he’s so strong. I can’t even take him on a normal walk most days. When I try to take him on a longer walk to burn energy, I come back more exhausted than he is because I have to fight him the whole way.

He’s very reactive to dogs — not aggressive at all, just insanely excited. He wants to play with every single dog he sees. And while I’m glad he’s friendly, it’s also a huge issue. I’ve had to change direction so many times because he simply cannot handle walking the same way as another dog. He squeals, pulls, lunges, acts like he’s losing his mind from excitement.

Please… someone tell me this eventually ends. I adore him. He can be the sweetest, most wonderful dog in the world and I love him more than anything.

But right now?

It’s really, really hard sometimes.

If you’ve been through this stage, please share your stories because I genuinely feel like I’m losing my mind 😭

How was it for you? When did it finally get better?

Any tips on how to actually tire out a teenage large-breed dog? Walks, lick mats, training sessions… none of it seems to make a dent right now.

I’d love to hear what helped you, or even just to know I’m not alone in this teenage chaos spiral.

My bf has a golden/Bernese puppy, almost 6 months old now. He got him when he was 4 months old. At first he was in the thick of the biting phase just always gnawing on my arm and leg etc. He’s still not house trained – maybe 60%. Whenever he’s awake he’s running around bouncing off of the walls.

I have a smaller dog and I know they mature faster than large breeds. At what point can I expect the puppy to calm down a little at least to the point of not having to push him off of me all the time and have him sit still for even 20 min rather than bouncing around non stop.

I’m trying to be patient but it’s not my dog so I have a lot less patience than I had w my own pup 2 years ago. The puppy is cute and not bad for his age but I’m wondering if there’s an end or hope in sight…

Hi all,

I need a bit of advice. Our 4.5-month-old smooth collie puppy has been doing well with sleeping through the night until now. For a few times now he's gotten up at 3 AM, walked to the yard door and waited there silently for us to let him out. We've been dead asleep and our poor pup has had no other choice but relieve himself on the living room floor and we wake up to the smell of poop. The poop has been solid, so I don't think his issue is a an upset stomach.

Now, I've researched this issue already a little bit and people often suggest teaching puppy to ring a bell or something like that. That seems great, but I'd like for him to sleep through the night and not have to let him out at all.

He's fed at 8am, 2pm and 7pm and we usually do a longer walk or visit the dog park before his 7pm dinner. After dinner we usually do some training and then start to wind down with a chew. He gets drowsy at roughly 8:30 and before he falls asleep I take him to the yard for potty at 9pm. My partner wakes him up for last potty at 10.30-11pm. This has worked well until now, and now he poops before dinner and then no poop until the wee hours.

So, what should we do? Give dinner earlier, or try a smaller portion? Try feeding twice a day? Longer walk after dinner to get bowels moving? Crating is not an option (illegal in my country). Puppy sleeps in our bedroom in his own bed, and we can't really close the door because our cats are used to coming and going at night. All advice is welcome!

Puppy tax 🙂

just wanted to give some positivity amongst the puppy blues. I’ve had my girl for about a month, I almost didn’t pick her from her litter but my mom at the last second urged me to choose her instead of the boy I was about to grab. I didn’t want her at first because she had the most energy, most mouthy, and smallest of her litter. I went back out and changed my mind and took her home, and I’m so glad I did. The first week was hard. She had a UTI and had to pee every 10 minutes and I would get headaches around 6pm from how exhausted I was from the screaming, peeing, pooping, biting, all of it. It lasted about a week and a half and a month in total to get her potty trained and now I can confidently say I love her so much and she’s the best dog I’ve ever had.

Genuinely, I didn’t know it was possible to love an animal this much. I grew up with my parents dogs my whole life and loved all of them too but it feels so different when you know that THIS is your guy, your best friend and it’s so gratifying to have your guy love you just as much. We’ve got a long journey together and I’m loving every second of it.

Does anyone know why my puppy (13 week old pom) will run off after I give her a treat. She doesn't react negatively when she's eating from her bowl, and will let me pet her while she eats. She'll even let me take the food from her bowl and she will eat it out of my hand. But when she is given a treat she will run off to either the bed, or the couch. If I try to follow her she will get up and move to the other one. For some reason she wants to be alone after I give her a treat.

Me and my husband is considering getting a puppy. I’ve lived with dogs some but he’s a dog rookie. I just want to make sure I’ve done the most possible to prepare myself if we go through with it.

What are things we have to know?

What are things we need to get? What are things a new puppy owner thinks they need that we should skip? What are things we need to read?

What are things we need to do?

What do you wish you knew before getting a puppy?

Is there any online guiding that you have felt were extra good?

What else?

I know it’s like getting your first child – nothing can really prepare you for the real thing. I just need to be as prepared as can be!

Thanks!