As the title says, I am debating on moving forward with either doggy daycare or a rover sitter. When I originally adopted my corgi puppy, I thought daycare would be a good option after 12 weeks and found a dog daycare in the area who were open to take him. Fast forward to his first vet visit (with me). The vet gave him his second round of vaccinations and said doggy daycare should not be an option until 16 - 20 weeks. I had already taken 2 weeks off of work to reach the 12 weeks so I am not able to take off more time. I have found a rover sitter who is able to drop in 2 times a day for 30 minutes to let him out and play, but I am worried about him being crated for the remaining time while my husband and I are are work. So the question is, would the doggy daycare or the rover sitter be a better option? Or are the any other options to help get us past the initial weeks until he is fully vaccinated?

Our 9 month old golden retriever went for a 2 week boarded training class. He did great! Trainer and vet have advised me no unsupervised time outside as he can eat problematic things/ sticks, pinecones, etc… My SO puts him out in the yard unsupervised. We now have holes, and the pup has tummy trouble. SO believes the puppy should roam freely. Am I being over protective? Any guidance is appreciated.

Hello Everyone! So I have an almost 4 months old Mini Schnauzer that I've had for 3 weeks. In that 3 weeks we've come leaps. She started puppy classes, she sleeps all night in her crate quietly (with the exception of the few nights she had an upset tummy last week and cried to be let out which is the proper thing for her to do) and she will go into her crate quietly and stay there while I'm gone. Our one thing we're still having issues with is if I have her baby gated into a room with me (let's say the kitchen while cooking) and I run to another room she will start whining. If I'm gone long enough it will turn into a scream. This isn't consistent and honestly mini schnauzers are known for letting people know they're unhappy so I'm not even sure it's anxiety. Have any of you experienced this and what did you do to make it better?

This might be a long post but I want to give some background so bare with me please🙏

Our good boy is 10 months today (adopted so unsure of his breed but he looks a lot like an Ibizan hound/Podenco) and I noticed today that he has been reacting to men on our morning walk. My husband can't remember if when he took him out yesterday he did it too so, I'm not sure if this is only with me or not. We have been practising him being neutral around other dogs in walks since we realised he had non-aggressive reactivity towards other dogs (he ALWAYS wants to say hi to them and even when he spots them in the distance, his back legs begin trembling with what I assume is excitement because he isn't afraid if I allow him to say hi, he wants to play). However, he has never reacted in a defensive way towards people.

As far as we can remember he hasn't had any bad/damaging encounters with any man and in general, he is very good with people. For example, I teach in the afternoons at home and we trained him to be neutral around kids and he does very well (he says hi to them and then goes back to his place and stays there, not bothering anyone).

We have contacted a couple trainers to get an aprox buget. We're going to one regardless of the money but I wanted options.

In the meantime, what can we do to help him now? We try to redirect with food on walks but it doesn't always work and I feel bad for him. I want him to be able to enjoy our walks and also, I'm a bit worried if he runs up to someone since atm he's almost 25kg and I already need both hands to hold him still.

Any help will be appreciated! Thanks :)

Hi everyone!
We've just gotten a Dachshund puppy (10 weeks old). We have had him for a week now and he has (mostly) been wonderful. We've had a lot of 'wins' - he understands that he should do his business outside, he sleeps well at night and he has no issues with his crate and sometimes even puts himself to bed in it (instead of us carrying him to his bed in his crate when he falls asleep somewhere else). BUT, when he gets tired, he goes crackers. I know this is normal for puppies, but I'm trying to find the best way to deal with certain behaviours. For example, when we start to notice that he is passed the threshold into 'overtired' unwanted behaviour, we start to take his toys away so that he is not overstimulated and can start to calm down. It doesn't always work, but it does clearly limit his options which seems to help. We also try to ignore him when he gets into this mode, so that he doesn't feel enforced in his behaviour. He has started pulling his bed out of his crate and gnawing like crazy at it. This is one behaviour that I am really unsure of how to best deal with, as all options that I can think of don't seem ideal:
- Do we take it away and put it back in the crate and close the crate so he can’t get to it? But then I feel awful doing that because it would be taking away access to his ‘safe space’ right? And we are so happy that he has positive associations with his crate at the moment. I don't want to ruin this?
- My most recent way of dealing with it is to ignore him because I think he is doing it to get my attention. This does work but only after a while. He still does gnaw at his bed for ages (until I guess he realises I’m not paying any attention to him). But then my question is - am I not reinforcing that behaviour then? As in, I am allowing him to pull it out?
- So really should I just take the bed away until he has calmed down and place it out of sight/reach? But then, what if he is ready to put himself to bed and his bed isn't there?
Any advice or similar stories would be much appreciated so THANK YOU in advance for anything you can share or advise!!!

Morning all

We have had our 14 week old male CockSpan for 2 weeks and he's been an absolute dream so far, the only issues we're coming across is being left alone for any length of time leads to whining then Barking.

We're crate training him and he has no issue coming and going from it, and will sleep in it at night without a peep as long as one of us are in the room with him.

He also naps in the crate during the day to get used to it.

Realistically, how long are we going to have to keep sleeping near him on the sofa until he's comfortable to be left? Should we try sneaking away once he falls asleep or will this cause anxiety once it's discovered we're gone? Or will he just get better naturally over time about being left alone?

Thanks!

My boy had a tempter tantrum tonight that lasted about an hour. We left him alone for bedtime in a puppy proof room as we usually do, turned the lights off and went to bed. He cried and barked like we were torturing him.

I know he was like overtired and cranky, and that we go to bed earlier than we do on weekends so there was some routine change too, but I’m hoping this doesn’t keep happening so I’m wondering a few things:

• how can I encourage him to self soothe without encouraging separation anxiety?
• this time I checked on him a couple times to make sure things were okay, is this a no no when he’s throwing a tantrum in a safe room?

I eventually sat with him until he fell asleep which was in minutes. I don’t want him to be like too used to not falling asleep on his own but also he’s a baaabbbbyyyy

Hi all, I have a 7 month old small husky mix and I'm having a really hard time with him. I'm feeling stuck and lost, and I could use some kind advice.

This is my first puppy. We have a 9 year old pittie that my husband brought into our relationship, and she was a way different pup so our current pup is kind of a new experience for the both of us.

Anyways, he HATES his crate, and I mean hates it. We've tried just about everything I can think of and I'm honestly exhausted. I've done high reward treats/toys/chews in there with him, we've got blankets in there, there's a canvas cover on it, we've played music in the room, etc. He just won't settle down when he's in it, unless it's at night and he's sleeping in it, but even then he's been having issues with that as of late. He whines and whines and whines and I seriously don't know what to do about it! We don't ever use the crate as punishment, and it's certainly big enough for him. I'm just really anxious because I don't think there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We can't leave him home alone, because he completely freaks out, and I cant keep asking my mom/MIL to babysit for every occasion.

When did your pup get used to the crate? What helped? What didn't? Any advice is helpful! Thanks 💖

Hi guys! I adopted a mixed breed (half chihuahua, half i’m not sure) puppy named biscuit a month ago, he’s about to turn seven months now. When I got him, he was pad trained and I’ve been house training him to go outdoors for a week and three days. He’s been really good about it, we’ve definitely had some accidents but they were all due to my inability to take him out on time. Now that I’ve learned him and our schedule is set, it’s a lot better.

So our current schedule goes like this: He wakes me up at seven, I take him out quickly, I sleep another hour and a half and he wakes me up at 8:30 sharp then he has breakfast and a potty break. Then he goes out around 11, then 3, then dinner around 7 and i take him out again, then 10 then before bed around 12. When I have to leave him at home, he can hold it for up to 6-8 hours because he usually naps and when we’re out he’s even refused to go until we’re back in my complex’s garden up to 8-9 hours.

The thing is I live on the ninth floor of an apartment so doing this is really time consuming so I guess my question is when can I start reducing the amount of times I take him out? I have a friend who has a medium breed that she only takes out morning and evening, but she also only feeds him and gives him water once a day so I assume that plays a role in it. It would be ideal if I could take out Biscuit thrice a day, I know twice is pushing it with a small breed.

Thanks!

i have an 8 week old mini dachshund and he is currently refusing to poop at night, but he does go pee right away. during the day, he poops about every other time we go out (i take him out every 1-3 hrs depending on if he just ate, played, or slept) but for some reason at night he’s like NOPE. i’m thinking that maybe he gets scared being outside at night.. he gets spooked super easily and zooms to the front door even though i have a bit of lighting out there, so it’s not like pitch black. we go to bed at 10:30-11:00pm and he knocks out until 6:30-7am. i feel like that’s a long time to hold poop (and even pee) for a puppy. should i be waking him up in the middle of the night to try again or should i just let him sleep?

i might just be overthinking, but i really want to do this right. he’s my first dog that i’m raising from puppy stage 🥹 any advice is appreciated!

eta: he also hasn’t pooped or peed in his crate during the night (gotta give his bed and blanket a smell check every morning to make sure) but once this puppy is out, he’s OUT lol. i truly wish i could sleep like him.

so, one of my coworkers/friends dog accidentally got pregnant from her brother‘s dog, long story, but anyway I will be getting a German Shepherd puppy in February because she wants to give them all to whole us that she knows don’t be taken care of at and I have never personally owned a German Shepherd nor a true puppy. I’ve owned other dogs but I’ve never had them below six months because typically I will get shelter dogs, I’ve been doing some research, but any advice you guys have or tips would be very helpful!

just editing to say it can be broad advice to owning a puppy that young or specific to the German Shepherd breed!

Idk where to start. My boy is 18 weeks old, and seemed to have potty training down by about 9 weeks old. We had quite a few accidents the first week when I got him at 7.5 weeks and up until about 3-4 weeks ago we RARELY had any accidents. We even had a 15 day streak without a single accident in my apartment. He would sit at the patio door and scratch when he had to go out. Starting a few weeks ago, we try to take him out and he won’t go and it’s almost like he forgot how to ask to go out now. He has looked me in the eyes 3 times in the past week and took a huge pee on my floor. Crazy bc he can make it 12-13 hours during bed time without even needing a potty break (I try but he won’t get up in the middle of the night now) on top of the excited pees he gets multiple times a day I’m starting to get really frustrated. I lost my temper and yelled at him and now I feel so guilty and like a horrible dog parent. I love him so much and he doesn’t deserve it. I know he’s just a baby but, fuck, this is so hard. After that I sit and cried and pet him for like 20 minutes apologizing. I’m really struggling rn. I thought I had this perfect pup who had potty training down SO early and now it’s like he forgot everything he’s learned. I don’t get it! Please tell me I’m not crazy. My eyes hurt from crying so much tonight

My 7 month old pup has taken a liking to outside. Lately it's starting to feel impossible to get her in. She will walk up to the door sometimes but stand there ignoring me. Anyone go through something similar and have advice on getting through it quickly?

I have a 4mo ACD x BC who I think might be teething. I'm a first time dog owner, so there are some things I don't know what to look out for. She's become a land shark and very much wants to eat my toes, but also seems to be chewing on any and everything she can sink her teeth into. She's also been whining randomly with no reason why that I can see. She will also wake up in her crate in the middle of the night and start chewing on anything she can get (we've gone through 2 beds and I've started putting a snuffle ball and a rope wreath in with her at night). It's also been a couple of really hot summer days (Australia, south east Vic), so I've been giving her some ice to munch on which she seems to really enjoy.

Is this teething? If yes, how can I help her?

Desperately need some perspective/insight/feedback. I rescued a 7 month old Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua mix and she's been home with me only a little over 48 hours. The first night I barely slept from the anxiety of just having her here with me and the reality of the decision sinking in. The first full day was complete overwhelm, again because of the gravity and permanency of the decision and then starting to train her. I immediately felt regret and concern that I made a mistake. Today was all the same.

I grew up with dogs and have always loved them. I've lived with roommates dogs in adulthood and have dog sat many times. I've wanted to adopt my own dog for years. Everyone in my life knows me to be a crazy dog lover. I felt totally prepared and thought this was the right time. I went through an unexpected breakup from a serious, longterm relationship 1.5 months ago and thought this would be the perfect time for the companionship and structure. I talked about it with my therapist who thought the same.

I had totally unrealistic expectations for how I would feel once I actually had a dog here (basically didn't really expect any negative feelings at all), which is my own fault and now I feel stupid for not considering that I'd feel this way when I have a history of anxiety and depression. Everyone in my life is so excited for me and I don't feel excited at all. I've barely eaten from the anxiety and feel completely consumed/unable to focus on everything else going on in my life. She's cute as can be and overall doing pretty decent behaviorally, but I never expected that after 48 hours, or ever at all, I'd be legitimately worried I made a mistake and that rehoming is the right decision. I'm starting training classes with her this week and it's an 8 week program. I've told myself to give it till the end of the 8 weeks and then reevaluate but truthfully I feel like I'm already drowning and 8 weeks feels so far away.

I know it's still so new and the advice is always that puppy blues pass, push through it, give it time, but is this normal? If yes, any concrete tips for how to cope with these feelings is so appreciated. I'm of course going to be consulting with the trainer and my therapist too, but needed to send these thoughts and feelings out somewhere in the meantime.

I have a 18 week old puppy we just got him a few days ago he just cry’s and cry’s and cry’s. We have them in a crate with a blanket on top of part of it lots of toys and enrichment chews. He won’t stop screaming and crying I’m at my Witt’s end did I make a mistake? I don’t know what to do but cry we like in an apartment and it makes things really hard. Sorry for the vent I’m just so tired.

My puppy is nearly 10 months now and in the past few days, maybe a week, has started peeing in the house again. We have a bell he rings when he needs to go out and he is also vocal and I can tell which whine is for what. I feel like we have to resort back to the taking him out every half hour again.

I’ve heard that puppies do go through a stage of having to relearn things and we’ve been doing our best on keeping up with his training. But tonight for example, my husband took the pup out before dinner. Making dinner took about 30ish minutes? Puppy peed in our bedroom (he has access to the entire house so he can use his bell). He takes him out again. It’s been another 30ish minutes to 45 and he peed AGAIN.

Our last dog who we put down in March had diabetes so of course I’m incredibly nervous. I haven’t seen our pup drinking excessively like our other dog or other behaviors. He is eating well, we play with him, he gets cuddles.

He is just peeing in the house 🫥 Does taking him out every 30/45 minutes train his bladder to be so short? I’m afraid if we don’t he will pee anyway! If you can’t tell, I’m a bit exasperated and would love some help.

Hi everyone, we have a 10 month old cavapoo who has been sleeping in our bed for the past few months. We originally crate trained her (took a very long time - she hated it originally) but when she went into heat at 6 months she regressed with her training and refused the crate again. We caved and let her into our bed (rookie mistake lol) and now we can’t get her back into the crate.

I tried starting from scratch but I think it’s a no go. I am currently pregnant (due next summer) and we need her out of our bed before the baby comes. We have tried just leaving her in the living room but she barks and scrapes at our door. We don’t necessarily need her in our crate and would be okay with her sleeping on the floor in our room (not ideal) but we don’t know how to do that.

Any tips?

I have a 13 week old Basset Hound puppy that I just can’t seem to entertain. She does not have all of her shots yet and I live in a condo complex so we keep walks/potty breaks outside fairly brief.

Each morning and evening I give her food with a few treats in a puzzle feeder. She also has bones that she loves chewing on and she has tons of toys she plays with both with me and without me. I also give her a lick pad with pumpkin once a day.

All that being said, she still seems so bored especially in the evenings. She chases her tail or barks at me anytime I’m not playing with her. Does anyone have recommendations on what to do? I feel like she wants to be entertained 24/7 but without long walks due to risk of illness, I am stumped on what else I can do without giving her tons of treats and foods that may hurt her stomach.

Help please!

Ok so I'm not remotely new to dogs. I had dogs as a little kid. I got my first dog that was just mine at 12 ,he passed 2020. I have a 8 year old I got at 6 weeks old,and a I'm assuming around 10-11 year old dog based off what the vet said when I found him as a stray in 2016. I just got another puppy at 5 almost 6 weeks because the momma dog was killing the puppies so the woman separated them and asked me if I wanted to get him and because Ive taken care of young bottle aged kittens and puppies I didn't even think twice because it's nothing new to me. I've had him two weeks now, He's overall doing great. He's been taken to the vet, got his first check up and shots, he's basically fully potty trained,never wanted a bottle but has been drinking milk and easing into soft foods and kibble and wet food. He's thriving and happy and seems well adjusted. But his teething is HORRENDOUS. My oldest that passed was a golden retriever,other two are pit mixes (pit german shepherd 8y old and pit and thought to be boxer as well 10-11y old) ,so beyond my dog that I found as an adult I've been through the teething stages with big breeds and all three are/were heavy chewers. But even then I don't remember a single teething experience with them that was remotely as wild as this. He's a pit (daddy) and possibly catahoula or German shepherd mix (mom). He's not aggressive,he's even tempered but his teething is terror. I've bought him a actual puppy teether,I've given him large bones and treats that he can gnaw without choking or anything. I've gotten him toys to chew, I give him tons of exercise to wear him out, etc. Nothing is helping. He's constantly tugging on everything,he's obviously uncomfortable and when I check his teeth you can see his milk teeth still coming in so I get he's definitely in pain from it. Hes driving me bonkers and I know the teething is far from over so I need to find something before he rips everything apart during it 😂

My almost 5 month old dog is eating (not just chewing on, actually eating) everything in my house that is cardboard like or wood like and I’m constantly trying to stop her from eating sticks in the backyard. Shes also obsessed with all rugs. Anyone have toy recommendations?

Also considering moving her toy box out of reach to give more value to toys when she does have them. She’ll have 10 toys or bones out around the house and a full toy box and still go after the furniture. Thoughts?

My pup is 6 months, almost 7 and I have a serious love/hate relationship with him. He’s a little demon but then he’s a sweet cuddle bug. I want that “I will die for my dog” bond but I’m not yet feeling it..when did you begin to absolutely love your puppy?

Feel like I needed to edit this to add: I love my pup but I don’t have that to die for bond yet. I wish I was as lucky as some of you day 1ers but I’m not.

Basically the title. My girl (4 mo BRT), is getting squirty guts whenever we take a car ride

I’m talking like 5 minute car ride to the park, not a long drawn out journey. I’ve tried traveling with her crated in the trunk, uncrated in the trunk, and also in the cabin. This hasn’t been an issue until recently.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙏

Hi all,

I just adopted an 11lb, 5mo old beagle/dachshund mix yesterday. Training has been a mixed bag so far, but mostly positive. Some accidents in the house, but also some potties outside. VERY excited to be with anybody.

Last night I tried to put him next to my bed in a pen with chew toys, his bed, etc. After 30min of barks and pushing at the pen’s walls, I caved. I brought him up into bed and got the most part he was great. He quietly barked at a shadow a couple of times so I let him outside both times. He was PASSED OUT from 4am-8am. We woke him up at 8am to help him adjust to our schedule otherwise he would have been knocked out all day.

This backstory leads me to the question— is it alright to continue with this? I’ve created him throughout the day today on the same room as me and he’s doing a lot better (he’s asleep on his bed right now). However, I don’t want the crate to be a punishment and know that he’ll be upset with me if he’s in there through the night.

My little girl is still a heathen and a landshark at 4.5 months old. However, she doesn’t mouth everytime I pet her anymore, only when overstimulated. She is starting to walk next to me more often (still gets distracted and starts pulling). She doesn’t destroy things as much, and is happy to get a chew and can relax for an hour or so. I can have her in a study hall with other dogs all around her and she will mind her business. As much as I still feel like I’m in over my head, sometimes I got to stop and see the improvements, because she has had many.

She still has a tough time at dog parks, I’ve decided I won’t go anymore if there are other dogs in there. She doesn’t, as far as I can tell, start any fights. But when other dogs disagree with her and bite/snap at her, she will go after them. I don’t want any situation to escalate and create a truly dog aggressive dog. She doesn’t know how to communicate with other dogs clearly, but idk how to approach fixing that. If she is happy ignoring dogs outside of a dog park, then ignoring dogs is what we will do.

Hi!

I have a mini dachshund who’s going to be 5 months old tomorrow. The breeder started her on Royal Canin dog food and we’ve been feeding her that but she HATES it. We have to soften it, crumble a very small amount of benny bully’s in AND on it as a topper (half of one bully), and essentially do a whole choreographed routine in order for her to eat it. It’s been since we’ve gotten her where she’s been supremely fussy with her food. I know it’s not a health issue as she will always have the appetite for treats but she hates her kibble. She’ll often sniff it and decide it’s not to her standard then walk away from it and sometimes not even eat an entire day unless we give her exactly what she wants.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any other alternatives to try switching to? I’ve heard Hill’s is a good brand.

We did try her on wet food when she was a bit younger but I think the sudden switch made her stomach upset and she threw it all up. So, we stopped that.

Thanks for any recommendations/advice!

My 4 month old mixed breed pup will not stop biting. It has gotten better but he will still bite anytime I try to pet him or get my hands too close to his face. Will it ever end?

Hi! I have a 8 month old puppy. He won't poop in our back yard (only pee). He used to poop outside in the yard, but has stopped the past few months. He will only go poop on walks now....any advice on how to make him go #2 in our yard again?

I try to reward him and get excited when he poops in our yard, but it's so rare these days.

I have two cats, one can tolerate being in the room with the puppy, and only swats at her if she's invading her space. There is still a lot of growling and puffy tails when the puppy is running around and acting out inside, but the puppy luckily knows boundaries with this one since my older car knows how to stand by them. However, my younger cat cannot stand being in the room with the puppy, and runs for her life when she sees her (which prompts the puppy to chase her). When the puppy wakes up, I bring her over to the cats so they can sniff each other and say hello in a calm way and they all seem to receive that well, but day to day I'm starting to feel guilty for bringing a dog into the home and disrupting my cat's peace. My puppy is only 5 months old and I've had her since September, I'm assuming once she's older and learns better manners they'll get along better. I just wanted some reassurance, or any helpful advice so that they can all at least co-exist peacefully.

Shadow is now 11 months old and still is peeing in his crate. I got a smaller crate and now he lifts his leg and will pee outside it or still in it but on his blanket. I’m tired of this!! I’m going to take the blanket out as I think he doesn’t mind going in the crate since that soaks it up, but I feel so bad leaving him with nothing. Please help! Am I doing the right thing? Any tips??