Hi everyone,

I've had my 4,5 month old puppy for a bit over a month now. Until now he has been eating fine. I've fed him his kibble soaked in water until je was five months old and recently switched to dry kibble. At first it was fine but now he refuses to eat it. I have to get up pretty early in the morning and when I put down his food he just goes back to sleep. I use his kibble as treats and he rarely gets something else. Should I shift his breakfast time to a few hours later or go back to feeding the soaked kibble?

I’ve been reading and giving advice to people struggling with puppies for a few weeks now, I just wanted to say that my life has gotten so hard I freaking love it.

Our routine is so persistent I can’t find time to shower, my whole body has bite marks, my house is covered in fur and pee, I’m exhausted, my arms are hurting since he’s still in puppy jail and his poop stinks incredibly bad I cannot even begin to explain.
He’s 13weeks old and an absolute MENACE, to anyone thinking about getting a Dalmatian don’t do it if you wouldn’t own a Malinois.
Im 17 and can go out with friends significantly less.

Given everything I’ve said I LOVE my baby so much, he’s wild, I taught him so many tricks and I don’t remember what I did in my life 4 weeks ago before I had him. I just cannot wait to start going out and having the best adventures.

I hope everyone who’s struggling will pull through and wish everyone the best!

I have 2 dogs a 6 yo 80 lb staffy who is my service dog and a 3 yo pit mix about 45 lbs.. my service dog is very well behaved andbtolerates alot from other dogs especially puppies. Myb3 yo is a very shy and introverted guy. He backs down from any and all aggression. My problem is we rescued a pit mix puppy from a bad living arrangement rather then allow her to to the pound. By the way my 2 dogs are both male the younger fixed the staffy not. We beleive the puppy was not weaned gradually but was just pulled early. We think this because she try to buckle on everything in addition to biting and nipping especially my 2 dogs. The elder my staffy has only once nipped back to reprimand her but she gone back to biting him and still the younger almost always on the face and bowls. My concern naturally us for my boys but I also do not want to see the puppy get hurt. All animals have a breaking point and I fear it will come wen I'm not present

Let's be real my staffy could crush this puppy with one bite I do not think he would but I'm not a dog. Please help. It is a full time job keeping them separated in the house. I have not mentioned I am 70 and can not longer sprint. As stated puppy is about 12 to 18 weeks, female and have had her 2 weeks.

I’ll be getting a new puppy soon and want to get straight onto crate training. My question is about the first few nights as it’s getting used to the crate as a safe space. I’ve seen videos and websites which say not to close the crate door on the first few days whilst they’re getting used to it. But what do I do at night on these days? Surely they’ll need to be shut in overnight whilst I sleep? I do plan to let it out for toilet every 3 hours overnight, but leaving them in the house with the crate door open in the meantime sounds nuts to me. What am I missing?

Hi everyone, first time dog owner here! I’m bringing home my little Golden Retriever puppy in 2 weeks! I’m trying my best to have everything ready before he arrives, but I’m sure there will still be a few things I’ll need to pick up along the way.

My question is, if I need to make a quick trip to the store, should I bring the puppy with me or would it be better to leave him at home while he’s napping?

Also, for his first vet visit, would you recommend bringing him in a carrier or just holding him?

12 wks Cavalier, we've had her for 6 nights.

She's already doing 95% of her potty outside (only 2 accidents in the last 3 days), and she's got a handle on sit, down, come, and drop - and she's walking gently on leash for the most part as well.

We have a pen for her, with her crate open inside of it. When we put her in, she'll go nap in her crate if she's tired, or just relax and chew if she's awake - only ever a few little cries if she didn't want to be alone, before she settles down. She even knows "uppies" means we're gonna take her out.

She gets a bit nibbly from teething, but as long as she has toys/ring to chew, it's minimal - the only furniture shes chewed is a cheap woven rug that she uses as "home base" when playing. As long as one of us is on the same floor as her (stairs are gated), we've had no trouble letting her roam.

She's even been super good with our older cat - she'll occasionally bound after him, but stops short without getting into his personal space. By day 2, we stopped bothering to keep them seperate, and they can both comfortably be on the couch with us.

I feel like she's not napping as much as she should - she seems to comfortably be up 2-3 hrs before she gets overtired, then after a 1hr nap she wakes up refreshed. If we try to put her down earlier, she doesn't fuss - she just lays and waits instead of sleeping.

I guess I'm concerned we're letting her move too quickly, even if it seems to be her comfortable progression.

We have an almost six month old English Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix who weighs approximately 30 lbs. She is an outside dog with a heated doghouse on a covered porch and is so smart and happy! Her nipping has improved a lot, but we are trying to work on her rough play with our 3 year old and 6 year old kids. She has never been aggressive thankfully.

Today she ran basically full speed into my 3 year old son’s head while she had the zoomies. I had been trying to get her to come with me to get her out of the situation, but I could not get her to stop or listen to me. She is getting big and it’s hard for me to get her to her crate, so we are worried about what will come as she gets bigger. The vet said she would be around 50 lbs full grown.

Please please please give me some advice on what to do. I don’t want to give up on her as the kids love her, but they do get scared of her when she starts jumping on them and nipping them. If she is too rough, most of the time I am able to put her in her crate or we go inside if it’s time to go in. I just cannot have her hurting my kids. Today was a pretty extreme incident. I have had several puppies in my life, but never had one as spirited as this one LOL. Thanks in advance.

I have a 10-wk old GSD and I’ve been shifting to the play, force nap, play schedule. It seems to be working and crate training is going well enough.

Legit question though: what are you guys doing with your puppies during play time? I do potty, food and/or training, psychotic free time(?), potty, nap. But I have to basically hover over him to make sure he doesn’t get into shit.

What actually goes down during puppy play time between naps?

Hi guys! I have a beautiful pitty mix that i legitimately got stuck with after being told ‘that is not my dog. I do not need updates.’ by then partner. Out of spite, i tried convincing myself i did not want him…lasting all of about 13 seconds. TODAY, he is truly my best friend and (possibly bias) the best dog ive been around.

Bubba is his name & he 13 months old! We’ve been ‘road dawgs for life’ for a little over 10 months now.

He sleeps in my bed nearly all the time, which leads me into the question that came to mind earlier today. When bubba decides he will cuddle nearly face to face with me, he randomly will begin licking his lips while sleeping.

Just curious as to why? random, i know. lol

hey

So I have an 11-week-old cavapoo; I'll be honest, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed. So I live by myself. I work from home most of the time, and when I'm not, I'll be taking him to my dad's house, who is retired and can be with him for the day.

So I'm struggling with routine and if I'm right or wrong in what I'm doing. I have a crate in a pen that he eats in and sleeps in. Through the night, he sleeps well in his crate and has had no accidents yet. I take him potty in my garden, eagerly waiting to take him out on long walks to wear him out and stimulate him.

So I get him up at 7, feed him, potty outside, and try to play with him, but he turns into a demon, biting me so hard and attacking my feet. Eventually, I put him in his pen for a bit, so I tried letting him out for free rein, but he constantly wees on my floor, but never in his pen so far. he attacks my feet and pulls my curtains; I can't get anything done, so currently he is spending quite a bit of the day in his pen, with regular toilet breaks. While I'm out of sight, he plays or goes to sleep, but if he sees me, which he does as I have an open plan downstairs, he goes berserk trying to get me to take him out of his pen. If I go out of sight, he settles down very quickly. I don't know what this means; is it separation anxiety, or is he just being a puppy? I don't want to affect his development. I'd like him to roam about, but he just wees every single time so far and while I'm trying to clean it up, he thinks it's a game. i bought him a bed to sit on in the lounge with me but he just wanted to rip it so i had to take it away.

I think I'm just overwhelmed, worn down, and am struggling with him, as I'm by myself; there is no one to distract him while I clean up, or vice versa, or someone to help take the load off.

I guess I'm wondering if what I'm doing is bad, or if I'm doing ok and I just need to wait it out a bit until he is safe for full outside walks and I can tire him out.

look forward to your replies; pointers welcome!

My 11 month old labradoodle is a nightmare on his walks, picking up and eating anything he sees on the path, whether that be a leaf, stick, rock, or bug. However, immediately upon coming home, he becomes an angel and is the sweetest. Does anyone have any tips to train my pup to be a good boy on his walks?

Just needing to vent to some fellow puppy owners who might understand. 🫠

We have a 13-week-old puppy who is testing us like no other puppy we’ve ever had. She is incredibly smart, learns commands quickly, and is honestly so impressive when she's focused. She's curious, independent, determined, and has a BIG personality. She can be a very sweet girl and loves being with us. But goodness gracious, the biting and low frustration threshold are a lot with this one.

We're dealing with jumping and lunging at our legs, grabbing clothes and latching on, biting when she's excited or frustrated, and major frustration when she doesn't get to do exactly what she wants. She's also not a fan of being redirected away from something she's interested in. She's not necessarily a hyperactive puppy, either. She's actually pretty good at settling, loves working her brain, and can entertain herself. She's just incredibly persistent and passionate about whatever she's decided she wants to do!

We've hired a trainer, are working consistently on redirecting, boundaries, and teaching her appropriate ways to engage with us. She does a lot of things well but the hard moments are particularly hard. We've definitely seen progress, but some days it feels like we're taking two steps forward and one step back.

I know she's still a baby, and I know puppyhood isn't easy. I've had puppies before, but I've genuinely never experienced one quite like her. The trainer has commented that she’s a very interesting puppy as well. She described her as an “old soul”.

It's hard not to feel discouraged when you're putting so much time and effort into training and still getting bitten daily. I love her dearly, and I can see the potential for her to become an incredible dog. I'm just finding this stage more challenging than puppyhood I’ve experienced in the past. I’m also just venting and hoping to hear from other puppy owners who have had particularly mouthy, strong-willed, easily frustrated puppies who hopefully grew into wonderful adult dogs with patience, consistency, and training.

My Cavalier pup is 5 months old, and I've had him since 10 weeks. I socialized him early (pet-friendly stores, coffee shops, walking trails while in a bag) and we've explored a lot since he was cleared for walks.

He's obsessed with other dogs and plays with every one he meets. But with people, he won't let anyone touch him, including my family, friends, etc. He'll stare and sniff, and he'll even walk up to people who aren't paying attention to him, but if they reach down to pet him, he backs off. He doesn't seem scared though, just won’t let them pet him!

Cavaliers are notorious for loving everyone, but he only lets me touch him. (No complaints, I just want others to be able to cuddle him too!)

Is this something he'll grow out of? I know he’s just a baby and he’s experiencing everything for the first time, so I would like to know how I can help him. Would love to hear your experiences!

Hey there everyone, never thought I’d join you all here but here we are! My partner and I have just adopted a Shiba Inu puppy who is about 4 months old and she’s an absolute joy.

I hope you’ll forgive me for asking a question on the first full day we’ve had her: (as of writing we’ve had her for like 1.5 days!) but I’m just really nervous over her association with her crate.

On night one, I will admit, we kinda forced her in there. We built it out to be very comfy; leaving clothes of ours, her litter mates’ blanket, and a toy, but she just really struggled. I did pick her up from a place rather than a shelter, where she’s been crate trained for her entire life albeit in a different environment of constant care.

On night one, I slept outside in the living room with her while she was in her crate and if she whined I’d just sit next to her, stick my hand in the cage, and let her fall asleep with me. She had a good sleep throughout the night, and had a great potty break with my partner when she woke up at 2am.

On night 1(?) we’re struggling a bit. Part of the incentive of where we got her is her relationship with her crate, but she’s struggling. She doesn’t quite see it as a den or safe space, rather just something she’s uncomfortable in as she really hates the concept of the door locking. How much of this can we attribute to it being a new crate, with no other dogs, in a completely new environment? Or what we can we do to help her build a positive relationship with the crate?

We also tried connecting her pen to her crate, but my partner and I just don’t know if that’s the right move at this time as it’s somewhat telling her that it’s okay to just run around whenever she wants rather than calming down.

Thank you all so much for any help and guidance. This is tough!

Just a vent... because I've been mentally preparing for puppy teenager phase for a long time. And I think it's finally here.

I have a 5.5 month old male labrador retriever pup.

My puppy's always been a crazycake. High energy, dramatic, has a bit of an attitude, and is super bitey. He was starting to do better... but he's almost 6 months now and he's started to regress with his crate. We took so long to train him to chill in there and now he's back to screaming his lungs out when he's in there for even a second! And we're right next to him.

I've got private and public training in place. We work our asses off...

I know it's all normal, but I feel like it's going to be a long road ahead of us.

I just started outdoor potty training my 4 month old puppy. She ate dinner and drank lots of water before I took her to her grated pee pad on my stoop (a recommendation from someone here!). We waited 7ish minutes while she just stood on the pad, then I held her in my arms for 5-10 minutes. Then back outside to try again. This went on for 2.5 hours until she finally started circling the pad and then peed. She got sooo many treats and verbal praise. Then she came in and got free roam time and fun play time.

If she was inside on the pad she would have peed within 5 minutes.

I tried finding stories of other people’s dogs also taking hours but didn’t see anything, just people swearing by the inside/outside back and forth method. How long did your puppy take?? Any advice to cut down on this time?

I need some advice. My 6.5 months miniature pinscher is doing pretty well. He is very social with people and dogs, and he generally settles into a relaxed walk. However, in new neighborhood, parks or forests, he becomes extremely excited. The sniffing and pulling intensifies, he completely ignores me and treats, and never seems to relax. He is specially (positively) obsessed with dogs, which makes busy dog areas even harder. How can I help him becoming calmer and less aroused in these environments? Training tips are very appreciated 😄

6mo (today) large mixed breed we've had since he was 15wo.

He has never liked being in the crate and we have worked to make it comfortable and for him to be as neutral as possible about it. We have him crated while we get ready for bed and he is getting to where, most nights, he doesn't cry at all and will sometimes even hang out in there a bit longer after we open it and release him.

He was starting to be okay when we put him in there (never more than like two to three hours as he got older to go to the grocery stores/errands), wherein he'd cry a little bit but eventually settle and nap.

I also have been working on getting him to hang out by himself while I leave to go fill my water, run out to the car, grab a snack, or go to the bathroom, etc. and he's been doing well with his.

We have a camera with sound to watch him while we're away.

This morning, we took him to potty, like usual, gave him crate snacks, like usual, and popped him in there to go to the grocery store.

He cried, barked, howled, thrashed a bit, dug at his bed and eventually kind of settled with some crying before settling and crying once every few minutes.

I thought maybe it was partially because he hadn't gotten a walk yet. So we went for a walk and got him tired and let him rest for a bit but when we had to go back out (since we only made it to the one store before).

We turned the TV on before we left this time to see if that'd help. He panicked LESS and settled quicker but was still much more reactive about being alone than usual.

Do we stick to the training or is something not working? Are training needs changing as he's entering adolescence?

I don't want to have to crate him forever when we go out, I want him to be able to be neutral when we leave.

Please help

So this is one that I've not experienced with another dog before. My 8 month old border collie has decided randomly that sometimes when she smells my fingernails she is terrified and must run away, to the point that even holding a treat can't tempt her back. This is a dog that I hand feed treats and give scratches to daily, with no problem. She also freaks out if I flick my nails together, like the sound the make if you have something under one nail and use another to clear it out is the best way I can describe it. Literally terrified, tail tucked, running away and snarling from a distance. Has anyone got the slightest idea what could be behind this?

Hi,

This forum is really great for help with puppy issues and I hope this is allowed but I'm just wondering if what I'm going through is normal. We've had our 9 week old boxer puppy for a week now and we are enjoying our time with him greatly. But the lack of sleep has made me a mess. I'm 9 nights into having max of 4 hour sleeps per night because of my wife's shifts and waking up to take him out to the toilet every 2 hours. Mostly he goes back to sleep but sometimes he wont re-settle because with our shifts I think he is struggling to find a solid night routine even though one of us has always been up it is simply impossible for him not to see the other one coming/going at 1am or 3am or whatever. The routine and whether he will re-settle then makes me more anxious so it stops me sleeping more when I could. It's got to the point where I'm hugely anxious and paranoid about daily life stuff that I wouldn't normally think about and I think I've been on the edge of a panic attack once or twice where I've been telling my wife about being tired and I start struggling for breath and get all weird. I hope this passes soon and I wonder if anyone else experienced similar and can offer any advice or re-assurance?

Hi everyone!
My toy poodle just turned 1 a few weeks ago. Over the past month I clearly saw a change in his behaviour with him clearly becoming a male and needing to dominate. He is very nice with dogs at the park when he does not have the leash on but become aggressive with other dogs when walking in the streets with the leash on. Any advice? Any recommendations of dog training. I am based in Brooklyn, NY.

Our almost 12-week old Maltipoo puppy has been with us for about nine days now. We feel that he has adjusted to his new home very well. He is very clingy (obviously very normal, as he is still just a baby and doesn't like to be separated from us). He got used to sleeping in a crate next to our bed almost immediately, and he settles in it quickly. He also started sleeping through the night (6-7 hours) three days ago, which was very unexpected. So all in all, a very calm and easy puppy. 

The only problem is he seems to really dislike his playpen in our living room area. It really surprised us, as he had lived in one with his siblings for the entire time before coming to his new home. It is the most busy place of the house, and he seems to struggle a lot when seeing us walk by, walk out of the room for a few seconds, and then walk back. The first few times alone in his playpen it was horrible screaming and potty accidents, unless we were in it with him or standing right next to it. It appears to be really hard for him to settle on his own in there, and we have tried everything we could think of to make him feel calm in his playpen. We feed him in it, we play with him in it, we teach him tricks in it, we have beds and toys in it, and we also try to encourage him playing on his own as much as possible and without interruption while being in it. Unfortunately, he only ever truly settles if we are very very close by.

We know this is absolutely normal for a puppy his age and are very patient with him. He is also never alone, as I stay at home while my husband works, but I am scared that I might be unwillingly causing our puppy to have separation anxiety issues because I can never leave him alone at all. Not even to take a shower. Have any of you had similar experiences? We would really appreciate any tips and tricks regarding slowly getting him used to being alone for short periods of time until we can manage to build it up over time. Thank you! 

Hi I own a GSD who's 7 months old now

His bitey nature is very clear to me now

But we're facing an issue

U see We don't tie him up all day just 2 times

First when we have to take him for walk

2nd when household help is cleaning the house (he loves chasing the trash)

But he somehow managed to tear apart not 1 But 2 of his leash 💔

He did it when we tie him while house is getting cleaned or when there was some construction work going in the house.

Now usually a person would purchase another leash But how do we prevent him to stop chewing them off. We have one more leash left and it has also seen war days using a metal chain feels inhumane

But how do we overcome this habit how am I supposed to train him for this ? Ao he would stop breaking or chewing his own leash