Blog

We adopted a chihuahua mix puppy at 3 months old and for the first few months we made sure to socialize her a lot and invite people over so she could get used to guests. However in the past month or two she’s become extremely scared of almost anyone new entering the house, near inconsolable for about 20-30 minutes. She barks and hides behind us but never bites or snaps.

We designated a “place” for her to lie down and chew on a bone when guests come over and it’s works alright. I’m just at a loss as to why she backslid so much when she was initially doing fine with guests.

She is otherwise really sweet (though a little nervous) meeting people on walks and at other peoples’ houses. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!

Hi , as the title says i’ve been thinking about getting a puppy for around a year now but i'm not sure if it’s “doable” in my situation. For context I have 4 dogs at home, so i’m used to the puppy stages.I plan on getting my puppy before Christmas break so it can be around my other dogs at home (all vaccinated and regularly checked at the vet), and have an accessible backyard(I will be home for a little over a month) However, after that month I will be taking it back home with me, I live in an apartment with no balcony and no puppy area…meaning I would have to take the puppy up and down to use the restroom. I am free most of the day except for later in the afternoon due to night classes and on Wednesday’s from 8-4. My questions are: 1)Is the transition from an accessible back yard to my apartment going to ruin potty training? 2) Has anyone tried having a grass pad in their apartment? If so has it worked/ does it stink? 3) Are there any recommendations, breeds you suggest for a medium sized apartment, or tips that helped you? I’m willing to pay for training or any other resources that could help this transition. Thanks so much in advance.

Hi y’all, I’m looking for an explanation or advice with this. Recently, when I take my dog out for a walk in the evening (between 5pm – 6pm so I can start with some daylight still out), we don’t get far before she’s pulling back to the house with desperation. It started gradually as we made some distance at first before she’d suddenly pull back around, but today we didn’t even make it out of the driveway before she was pulling back to the door frantically, even biting the leash when I didn’t immediately move.

I’ve tried going different ways as well. Maybe she’s hearing something I’m not. She doesn’t do this during morning or afternoon walks and was excited to go on a walk tonight when I indicated it, so I have no clue where this abnormal behavior came from. I’m not going to force her to walk when she seems so panicked, but I’d love to know if anyone else’s dog has done this or why my dog is doing this in the first place. Thank you in advance!

my Welsh Springer Spaniel puppy (7mo) absolutely loves to steal paper towels/tissues and shred them. i know this is probably a long shot, but can anyone recommend any toys that might satisfy her enjoyment of shredding? thanks!

Hello! I am a student at the University of Minnesota's product design program and dog owner to three dogs! I've struggled with my dogs bringing dirt into the home, I'm looking to see if other have had this issue and if so what experiences may have been had. I attached a short survey to help me understand the issue! Or a simple comment with feedback/experiences would be appreciated!

Thank you all!

https://forms.gle/2Q9PurYzCqPaVbtw8

Hi all! So it’s gotten to the point where having my dog on my bed is causing sleep issues for my girlfriend. So, clearly, time to train my boy to sleep on his bed through the night. (He will sneak up onto the bed after we’re asleep.)

I’ve read the posts and responses on how to train a dog off the bed, and they’re helpful. Fingers crossed

But there are couple of complications here…. Why I’m posting. First, her dog (who is much smaller) always sleeps with her. That’s highly unlikely to change regardless of what I do with my dog.

Second, when the gf is not there, my dog often prefers to not sleep in the bed with me. He likes to be on his bed or out of the bedroom entirely.

Basically, I realize I need to be trained as much as my dog here, but looking for advice on what rules to implement and some best practices. Thank you all!

Hi so for context I rescued a breeding dog a few weeks ago that was dumped, she’s about 10 months old according to the vet. I’ve been doing a lot of research and working on training her and she’s super smart and catches on to most stuff pretty quickly (for instance she could not walk on a leash to save her life and now I’ve got her listening to commands about 65% of the time while walking and only pulling 20% of the time)

My biggest hiccup right now is housebreaking and yes Im very aware it’s going to take some time especially since the first part of her life I’m sure she wasn’t hardly housebroken. I mainly want to make sure I’m doing everything right. I’ve basically gotten pee accidents to become non existent but I’m struggling with poo accidents currently. This week she has had 2 poo accidents both when we haven’t been home. She gets taken out every morning at 6 before I go to work, again at 9ish when my girl gets up, again at 12ish when my roommate comes home for lunch and then again around 2-3 when my girl comes home and frequent trips outside after 4-5 when we’re all home

The first poo accident this week was understandable, she was alone for about 4 hours due to my girl working later than me Monday, but today I worked a half day and came home 2 hours after my girl would have taken her out and she went in the house. I’m using positive reinforcement and treating her every time she goes outside (which is 90% of the time now) and I’m not punishing her when I find accidents in the house. I also have been feeding her in the spots where she has been going in the house to try to show her it’s her den.

When she first came with us she didn’t poo in the house at all it’s a fairly new thing now and I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right. Unfortunately we can’t use a crate it’s pretty obvious she has some crate trauma, and we have tried to confine her to the kitchen but she is an escape artist. Basically the only accidents now are when we aren’t home. Any suggestions?

We have recently adopted a four year old Border Collie who loves playing fetch.

She's a relatively timid dog and was on a farm with four other border collies who were far more boisterous. It seems she learned that when she gets the ball, she drops it and one of the other dogs would bring it back to the person.

When we throw the ball, she will bring it back about halfway then drop the ball and stand next to it ready to be thrown again. Sometimes, if the ball has stopped moving before so gets there, she will just run over it then run halfway back and stand there waiting for it to be thrown again.

We have watched numerous videos on teaching a dog to fetch but none of them have helped and none seem very applicable as they focus on dogs that run around with the ball in there mouth and just not returning.

She is not food motivated and not interested in any treats while a ball is in play so we are unable to use the treats to encourage proper behaviour.

We have tried running away from her when she gets the ball to encourage her to chase us but she either drops the ball and chases us or just stands and stares at us as we run away next to the ball.

We have tried following behind her as she goes to fetch the ball, but she will just pick the ball up, drop it and move further away from us ready for the next throw.

We have tried using a long leash to encourage her to come back, which she has started coming back to us to throw the ball but she still drops the ball and doesn't return with it.

We have tried doing just short throws, but if the ball is thrown less then about 2-3m, she just stands there and stares at us and won't chase it.

Does anyone have any advice on how we can improve her game of fetch?

I’ve got a Border Collie who’s usually well behaved, but he still refuses to go on walks with my boyfriend.. even after months of trying.

If I hand the lead over halfway through a walk, he keeps looking back for me. If he tries to take him out alone, he won’t even leave the driveway. Around the house he’s fine with him, happy, affectionate, takes treats from him, goes over to him for affection etc.. It’s only walks he seems unsure about.

We’ve tried letting him do the fun stuff (feeding, treats, playtime), and I’ve stepped back a bit, but he won’t budge when it’s time for a walk. It’s starting to stress both of us out because we’d love to share that responsibility, but he clearly doesn’t feel comfortable.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Is it a trust thing, or just him being overly attached to me? I will add he does come to work with me 4 days a week and he does allow my boyfriend to walk him when I’m not at home.. also we did move house but this was back in march so it’s been a while!

I’d really appreciate any advice?

My dog started getting spooked by big Halloween decorations in our neighborhood about a week ago. She slowly started refusing to go on our full walk and now she won’t leave the driveway. What can I do to help her recover? Unfortunately some of the decorations are still up.