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I don't know where I went wrong. About a month ago my pup has started to hate her crate, she'd bang on the door and cry and dig a bit for a few minutes before settling to sleep. So I consulted a vet and her trainer and they said to ignore her and kinda restart crate training if I was worried and I did that and it worked for a bit but then it stopped working. I've tried ignoring her and it's just gotten worse. I dread going to bed now cause she'll go on and on crying and biting and pulling the cover into the crate until my boyfriend takers her out calms her down and puts her back in. Then she'll sleep through the night.

So I started comforting her like we did when she was a few months old, we moved her back closer to us and put our hand on the crate to comfort her but now she doesn't accept that.

I'm at my wits end and I don't know what happened I feel like I need a break through or something cause I have tried everything and she is having the worst reactions I have ever seen from her.

There's other things that have also changed like she won't eat food from bowls and she's become agitated with her own reflection and sounds and stuff like that.

I work really hard to make sure all her needs are met and that she's exercised and enriched, but yeah she's become a bit of a tyrant and I need some advice rn that's not just ignore her because that clearly didn't work (like I understand the sentiment but I think she has crate related anxiety or smth and I really don't believe ignoring her as she's actively panicking is a good idea)

Me and partner trying to do 2hr enforced naps for pup in crate. Generally he goes down easy enough, but other than the evenings, he doesnt really do 2 hrs. He will do around 1- 1hr 45 and then wake up and bark. Generally if hes done 1hr+ we let him out and have some time with him, but is this wrong? Should we potty and then straight back in until 2 hrs is done?

My 10 mo pup is mostly white with liver and tan, But I live in the desert by a creek. My pup enjoys running in the creek and then along the dirt, back and forth until she is muddy. Lately she has become tannish-colored instead of white, even after a bath. What shampoo successfully removes mud staining and is also gentle enough for a puppy?

Some background- the pup in question (Willow) is a 6 month old MAS- toy sized, she’s about 7-8lbs. We also have an 8 month old mixed breed pup, 17lbs, who is 100% potty trained and has been for months. We’ve had them both since they were about 11w old.

Daytime: I work from home. I let both pups out every 30-90mns or so just because I know Willow pees every single time and I don’t want her to go on the floor. (These are leashed outs, our yard isn’t fenced. We do have a small penned area and the back porch they can play on, but I don’t let them out there to potty, I don’t want her going on the deck) During the day she’s pretty good about it, but I think it’s only because I’m constantly letting her out. I do reward and praise. Her only ‘tell’ is sneaking off, she’s velcro. So if she randomly walks off that’s a sign she may need to potty. She usually only poops on a walk, but sometimes when out on a leash. I cannot get her to use or understand the bell on the door. I’ve tried and tried, she just looks up and me and wags her tail and flops down to show me her belly. It’s like she’s afraid of the bell or refuses to look at or touch it. Our other pup uses it.

Night time: Willow is not in a crate. I know. That’s another thing we failed. We did try for weeks, but she SCREAMS for hours, literal hours, she won’t stop. After weeks of this the entire family was in tears and anxious. I have her penned now, down in the living room. She will sleep in her bed in the living room, but wakes up crying or jumping on the pen 1-3 times per night. When I come down to let her out, 75% of the time she’s already gone potty on the floor next to her bed. So I let her out anyways, sometimes she’ll pee again, and then she’ll wake up and do the same thing an hour later. 😩 I KNOW she can hold it longer than that. We do crate her when no one will be home and we leave the house for longer than 20mns or so. We’ve had to crate her for up to 4 hours and her crate was dry. She is screaming like mad when we get home, but doesn’t potty in her crate. Our other pup, again, likes her crate and sleeps in it willingly and quietly.

What do we do wrong? It is becoming so frustrating that she’s almost 7 months old and still not getting it. We reward, she’s let out all the time. Is it because she’s such a small dog? I expected her to be larger and have never had a tiny dog before. We love her so much but I need her to hold it through the night and alert me when she needs to potty during the day. Or at least just hold it longer! Please help.

(Please don’t suggest we try crating at night again. We literally did for weeks and it was a big mental health drop for everyone.)

Pretty much what the title says. He’s 6 months old and barely barks. He instead whines CONSTANTLY. He’s is pretty quiet besides that. There is nothing wrong with him health-wise. He’s very healthy and not in pain per the vet. He is just a damn cry baby and I’m losing my mind. If we are not playing and if he is not asleep, he is crying. It could be a 20 second break for me to take a sip of water while playing and he will whine the whole time. He will be happily chewing a bone, come over to me, cry, and then go back to chewing his bone.

Right now I’m sitting at my desk working from home and I’ve given him a stuffed Kong, his favorite chew bones, a new toy and he is just sitting outside my office crying. He doesn’t want me to work. I haven’t even been sitting here for 45 minutes! I’ve already taken him for a walk and we did a training session this morning to help get some energy out. I play with him on and off throughout the day and even take him to the dog park. I don’t think he’s bored, I think he cries if we are not doing what he wants. Maybe that is boredom. Maybe I’m doing too much with him and his expectations are not being met?

I can’t handle this anymore. He does go to daycare twice a week but today is not one of those days and I’m losing it.

I am a very literal person so struggling to understand development markers and how we should adjust pups routine as he gets older

We have an 8 week old puppy that we’ve had for 4 days so far and trying to crate train her. During the day, she can now settle in the crate with the door closed with one of us being close by (I know we will have to get her used to us not being close but still working on crate training) and it takes her about 5 mins to settle down when we force her to take naps during the day. At night, she normally goes for 2-3 bathroom breaks, but when we bring her back and put her in the crate, she tries to play and chew instead of settling down. One of us tries to stay close to the crate to make sure she doesn’t bite on the crate and to re-direct her with the toy (except then we have to open the door so I’m not sure if that’s confusing her). It always takes longer at night for her to settle (15-20 mins) after a potty break, so does anyone have any tips for this? The vet recommended putting toys in the crate so she can occupy herself, but I don’t know if this will confuse her that she thinks crate is for playtime instead of sleep. Any advice appreciated!

After 5 years we are back in the puppy phase. We promised ourselves to not do this ever again. But then some years later you think: how bad could it really have been? So now we are ready to experience how bad haha. Starting today we now have two dogs! Pip (5.5yo) and Billie (8weeks)

Looking forward to spar with everyone!

So I recently purchased a big backyard for my two dogs to run around in (there was also a house included with the sale) and I've been using tie-out rope cords for them, as the regular steel cables were too inflexible for them while they were playing (they really like to roughhouse. It's like watching two lions fight over a piece of meat.) Well it just started snowing where I live and lo-and-behold the rope cords froze.

So I was wondering if anyone had any tips for a first time backyard owner as far as winterizing cables go. Are there specific materials I should be looking for? Should I be lubricating or rust-proofing any thing? The cables stay outside all the time as the dual runner stake I have for them is situated in the middle of the backyard, away from the house, and they go out (always supervised) fairly frequently.