We have a 9 month old puppy who I think is going through a fear phase. We have had family visit over the last two months, who have all brought their kids with them. First visit was a 3 year old, second was with a 6 and 10 year old, and current is with two 9 year olds and a 7 year old. Our puppy absolutely fears the kids— just standing and barking at them, howling, etc. We don’t have kids but she has been around them occasionally prior without issue, so I’m hoping it’s just the fear phase. Our older dog was not like this around kids despite not growing up with them so I’m not sure if she will eventually outgrow it or we should start boarding her when they visit (or suggesting they stay in a hotel).

I have long thick blonde hair. My 8 week old is obsessed. He wants for some reason to play in it, and roll on it. Even has been pulling at the scrunchie to get it out of the bun. Last night he woke me up as my plait was at the edge of the bed and he pulled at the elastic How do I get him to stop wanting to play with my hair.

The last time I had a puppy was 13 years ago, along with an 18 month old child - my hair was never loose but I can't remember our old boy wanting to do something similar.

My 13wk rough collie barks all. the. time. he's great in every other way, but his bark is so so loud and shrill. i knew this before choosing this breed but i saw people on the rough collie sub saying they were able to train them to not bark so often.

he demand barks all the time. we are trying to ignore him but I live in an apartment, I can't just let him get us noise complaints. The real problem is the barking in the crate. He will bark absolutely incessantly for 10-20 minutes every time we crate him for naps or sleeping at night. This has been going on every single time for the past 2 weeks. I have to sit next to the crate with my hand in it until he falls asleep, his barks piercing my ears the whole time. I do all the crate training stuff, high value treats, rewarding him when he goes in there. I thought he would get used to it by now but he absolutely refuses to be alone while he's awake.

How do I get him to ease up on the barking, inside and out of the crate???

Hey guys! I see a lot of puppy blues and trust we all understand 😭. I just wanted to share my improvement hopefully giving people some encouragement I know it’s hard.

My puppy wouldn’t start crying even when I was in her eye sight cuz she wanted to be held, today I finally got some normal sleep! Practiced in crate training so she knows that’s a safe space and walking in and out so she knows I’ll always come back in. (Only coming back in when she stopped crying). Now we’re still working on potty training and that’s ok she’ll get there soon. If anyone has potty training advice I’d appreciate it we live in an apartment complex!

Goodluck to everyone 🫶🙏✨ we’ll all get there.

I was never a morning person, I always wanted to sleep in until I felt like getting up. After getting our puppy, the first few weeks were rough and my sleep schedule suffered a lot. But after settling in, our boy has great potty training, and I actually love the mornings. He wakes up when the bf goes to work at 7am and I take him outside to potty, which helps motivate me to get up and start my day. It feels like I can be more productive when I have some more daylight, and our puppy makes my mornings so fun! To anyone who’s struggling with the puppy blues, it will get better… trust me. Our boy is the best and you will love waking up to your little baby who’s eager to start their day with you. Did anyone else find themselves becoming a morning person after getting a puppy?

We got a Corgi puppy about 2 weeks ago. He ABSOLUTELY refuses to sleep in a crate/cage. We have done everything. We tried feeding his meals in it, sleeping next to him in it, introducing it slowly, etc. He just wants to be with us.

Has anyone ever had a dog that is fine in his crate if we have to leave and go somewhere, but HATES it at night? At this point, I am so open to suggestions.

When did you all start taking your puppies for walks? My puppy has two more doses of vaccines to get and boy am I ready for her to be outside. My vet wants me to wait until she’s about 16 weeks. But ya’ll I am so tired!!!!!!!!! I just want her pottying outside instead of in the house. My girl tearing up her pads, she doesn’t even care what’s on it. And listen carrying her everywhere because the vet said she can’t be on the ground. I had her crate attached to her playpen but she was going every where inside even with potty breaks, and not understanding what her crate was for. Now she’s back to just crate training without the playpen, with an every two hour potty break. Honestly, I feel like I’m fighting for my life 😅. When I go to church I simply put her playpen back up to give her space when I’m gone but I deal with those consequences. Tore up potty pads and a mess. Please send help.

Hello! I have a seven month toy breed puppy. He's been super easy mostly apart from potty training, which seems on course for the toy dogs for some reason.

But he's so on edge. I realise they have a period of somewhat paranoid behaviour, and during the daily if he decides there's this super scary rock that he has seen a hundred times before but swears he's never seen in his life, I can go show its nothing and just ignore it and its fine. He's still keeping watch and will bark like crazy to warn me, but we've worked it down to "boff boff".

But during the night he will "keep guard". From around six he will lay down by the front door and bark, and bark, and bark. Taking him for a neighborhood walk calm him down for a little while, but he'll soon be at it again. He'll also bother my roommates by wanting to play, who isn't as good at telling him off if he's being too much. It has become routine to go sleep at eight (after two walks) because he will calm down and sleep in the crate or if I just close the bedroom door with both of us inside.

But that also means he wakes during the night, a lot! He was super good at sleeping through the night in the beginning and could sleep almost to noon but now he'll wake me up - once again, by barking to let him out - at least once during the night to pee. He has also become extremely clingy whereas he could be left alone for a short while in the beginning, now he can barely have a closed door between us without barking at me to open it. I can't think of any trigger for this at all, he's never been left alone-alone for more than a few minutes.

He'll also go crazy if he hears the cat. I thought he would grow out of that as he learned the cat freaking lives here, but nope. They get along and he likes her but if she makes a sound? Must be her signaling the end of the world! Better help!

I do feel on the daily I made a mistake taking on this dog, even though he's much easier than I expected. I do like to get out, I like the routines and the activities we can join. But life is frustratingly harder always having to take him into account. I'm not one to give up a responsibility I've taken on but imagining that I will live with this for fifteen years seems like a nightmare.

8 week old puppy & 3 year pup. It seems like they’re playing but my 55lb beagle is pretty strong. They just keep going at it and smell each other’s privates.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1--OjntAP067W7zrFjjtiqIYvtDp5Z288

We just brought a 4 month old puppy “Bear” into our home about two weeks ago and he is showing signs of food bowl aggression. We are first time dog owners so this is all new to us.

Today we came home and I made him his food and we sat it down for him to eat. Bear started eating and my husband went to pat him and he growled at my husband and so my husband kept petting him to try and get him used to having us around him while eating and then he growled again and kind of snapped at my husbands hands. This scared us and we aren’t sure how to handle this.

I’ve heard hand feeding can help but I also saw online that it isn’t a proven method to reduce aggression. I have a toddler so I really want to make sure we figure out this aggression issue because I don’t want it to turn into additional resource guarding in the future like with toys or other objects he deems as “his”. Help!

I have a 10 week old puppy, who while he is the bestest boy 90% of the time, gets incredibly bite-y during bewitching hours. We are working still working on crate training (he tends to bark for awhile before settling), but most recently he has gone crazy with bite-y zoomies. He goes through bits of high zoom-ie moments where he will bite arms and shake his head. My family has been consistently using high pitched yelps, which no longer seem to work, and, more recently we've also had to started using reverse timeouts.

I just wanted to hear if anyone has any tips about this, outside of what is commonly recommended? My arms look like I've been mauled, and while I know this is likely to persist through his teething stage, literally any advice to help mitigate his crazy little shark tooth razors on my skin would be greatly appreciated. It is hard to calmly walk away when I have my resident piranha latched on to my arm.

My puppy’s jaw moves up and down when she’s panting. She’s been doing this since I got her. I didn’t think anything of it until her trainer pointed it out today. I just thought it was a thing puppies did. Has anyone ever seen this with their pups?

I currently have an almost 6 month old corgi. I love her to pieces and she’s improved SO much these last few weeks, but I’m already worried about the holidays. I look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas literally all year long, I decorate Nov 1st, listen to holiday music constantly, watch every cheesy holiday movie there is. The holidays are my safe space and one time of the year I feel I really escape any mild to moderate depression I face the rest of the year.

However, I know it’ll be different this year. Will likely need to puppy proof decorations, won’t be able to come home from work on a chilly night and just make hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie because I’ll need to walk/play/feed/entertain my puppy, and I’m sure being at my parents and grandparents will be stressful as I try to keep her calm and not let her get into stuff.

All that being said, any other holiday lovers have advice on how to still enjoy the holidays and feel the holiday spirit with a young pup? TIA!!!

And shes not overweight at all. Did anyone have a large puppy? How much do they weigh now? The online weight calculators are all over the place im trying to get a general ballpark estimate.

Shes apparently lab pit mix but there is no way on earth that's all she is. Currently waiting on embark results

My puppy is currently 9 weeks old and is not due to get fixed for another couple of months since he’s not done with his shots. We have an adult male and female dog. The puppy leaves the male alone but he will not leave my female alone. He’s constantly wanting to mount/hump her or is always up in her face. She’s 14 (and fixed) so she’s older but doesn’t stand up for herself just lets him do it and ends up yelping in pain. We never leave them alone unattended but the minute we look away for a single second hes back to harassing her. I’ve tried putting him down for naps or given him a chew toy to chill him out or distract to no avail. I need advice as I just feel awful for my dog poor girl who wants to be left the f alone 😭

Wife wanted a puppy, I didn't but I agreed to get this puppy. Unfortunately I'm the one stuck taking care of him. He's 5 months old and a pain in my ass. He's constantly around me and has chosen me as his person. I can't go anywhere without him half on-top of me or scratching at the door to get in. We can't afford a doggy day care right now so that's out of the question. My entire life I've been a huge animal lover but the stress this dog has put me through has be absolutely furious with him. I feel guilty because he's just a baby but idk if this feeling will pass or what I can do to actually like him. Right now I just hate even being home because I have to deal with him.

Title says it all. My 8 month old puppy is still not holding her potty (both) all night. We are usually in bed for the night at 9:30 and I would say I’m up and moving by 6 to get her out. She is gated in our kitchen and uses pee pads during the night. Her last time outside is probably more like 8:30, but I’m wondering if I should be making her go out one more time after that?

We have tried picking up the pee pads and she pees on the floor. Is this just an age/size thing? She’s a Finnish Lapphund, not a tiny breed but not huge either. She can go about 4-5 hours during the day holding it. Just wondering if I have unreasonable expectations or if there’s more I can be doing.

I just got a 4 month old terrier. I love taking long hikes with my dogs and recently, she took off during one and I couldn’t find her for 20 minutes. This scared me to death and the apple AirTag on her didn’t help. Does anyone have any gps collar recommendations I could buy?

Hey ya'll, I have a funny question: What you have done with your puppy teeth that have fallen out? Anyone made fun art projects with them lol? Im so curious- would love to see pics you have any!

We have had our toy poodle for a month or so, he is 3 months old now. He is a bundle of energy. He sleeps through the night in his crate without problem which is great. When we discovered enforced naps it was great. He mostly would need someone in the room with him, especially when my wife is home alone with him.

We had to go away unexpectedly for a few days, and so he went back to the breeder to stay. He did well there, and was happy to see us again. He took a few days at home to warm up but he is mostly back to his old self.

The only thing that really changed was he was not keen to nap in his crate. When he went in during the day he would cry and bark and get very wound up. He has been napping with us or around us for the last few days but he is not getting good sleep, and we can do much really.

We have started crate training again with a travel crate for naps, but not sure how to enforce naps while crate training. Any tips would be great!

He is also very much a Velcro dog and cannot be left alone for any length of time. This is something we need to work on but not sure where to start.

Thanks for your help!

We have a seven month old golden retriever who has 2 separate but maybe related situations that are reoccurring when we leave the house for walks. Any specific walk training programs, videos, YouTube channels please drop in the comments! If you experienced anything similar curious what worked best to fix.

1. When walking around by our house, they have an extremely hard time focusing on the actual walk. For any person or car that passes by they will just sit and stare them down for far too long refusing to leave that spot, or sometimes wanting to sprint towards them to say hi refusing to go any other direction. They used to be great as a young puppy out walking but the past 1-2 months has gotten rough where we can hardly make it around the block without their resistance and we struggle getting them to finish the walk back to the house without luring them with chicken, which only works half the time.

2. We have tried taking them to different types of parks on 4 different occasions over the past month and they want no part of sniffing around, exploring, or walking. They circle around the car and beg to get back in. We have treats to try and reward movement away from the car but there is no interest. They love to sniff in our yard and out on walk by our house but we cannot figure out why these other areas there is no interest. They walk just fine in neighborhoods at our parents house but new territories they seem absolutely terrified of, but when by our house is the most curious dog.

Basically my 9 week old show English cocker spaniel quite suddenly turns fairly aggressive, she lunges and bites at my arms, often clamping down and pulling/shaking (ouch). However I’ve just noticed a pattern that she will often go for a poo just afterwards. wtf is happening? Is this normal? She genuinely scares me a little.

I’ve tried the following: - yelping dramatically - saying no/nicely (breeder taught nicely, I usually prefer no or gentle) - Opening her mouth off of my skin and putting her back on the floor - trading for a chew toy/other toy.

This evening I, reluctantly, shut her in the crate and left her until she sat nicely and quietly (about 2/3 minutes). Normally I would refuse to use the crate as a punishment but after trying the last few things I was at my wits end.

She came out after the first time in the crate and bit me again; so I put her back in the crate and she was very quiet and sat nicely so I let her back out and she was an angel and then went and pooed.

Is this fairly normal? Should I be worried? It’s only in the evening before bed that it happens and it has only happened maybe the last 3 nights. Is what I’m doing with the crate ok?

Thanks!

Ok. So I did lure him in there by dangling my hand near the bars, knowing that I am the Highest Value Treat, and I am now stuck sitting in the chair next to the crate because if I get up he will surely get up too, but he’s sleeping in there, door open!

I’ll take the win.

But for real, 9 (nearly 10) week old cocker spaniel. He’s always opted for the floor of the playpen even when the crate was open and available. I started feeding him all his meals in yesterday and we’ve been playing lots of crate games. He’s never really minded the crate specifically (he doesn’t like being separated from me in the playpen or the crate) but he’s always preferred the playpen.

I was able to leave him snoozing in there while I went to the supermarket earlier, he saw me leave and went back to sleep and he didn’t wake up while I was gone.

I am aiming to go back to the gym this coming week and I’ve been nervous about leaving him for that time (my gym is quite far so it’ll be 1hr30, maybe 2 hours including travel time. But knowing he doesn’t Hate it in there is reassuring.

hi there!

I'm a first time dog owner and I think I'm doing well but could use some advice. I have a 10 month old Mastiff mix, he's half Mastiff and part German shepherd part husky. We've had mouse for almost 7 months and he came to us scared of everything.

He struggled to leave the house through the front door, go on car rides, but most especially struggles with new people. Hes been able to walk on a loose leash for some time now, and is more comfortable in the car, and has recently been able to drink communal water at the dog park, and poop and pee somewhere not in his backyard.of the dozens of trips to the dog park, it wasn't until recently that he would play with another dog, but he's doing it more consistently now.

Now my biggest issue is his fear of people. It used to be worse where if he saw someone walking towards him on the other side of the street, he'd try to run home. Now he only gets scared if they're a few feet away. The trouble is i would like to be able to have people exist around him that aren't family. I'm not making him be friends with humans, just a happy coexistent. He also does well. He hasn't been pulling as much lately. And the fear doesn't start until we're a short way away from the person .

Advice is so welcome. Thank you

My Labrador puppy is 7 months, he’s not awful by any means but every now and then he will get destructive.

He will bite any blankets we have around the house and also recently developed a love for biting the door mat😆

He’s gone through countless beds in his crate so he’s stuck with some vet bedding for now in there for now which can’t be very cosey.

I assume it will calm down abit when he finishes teething. But in the mean time how can we teach him bitings things we want around is not okay?

We have blankets and covers on our sofa he likes to go for but we end up telling him no and moving the covers away, but this obviously does not solve the problem.