I’m on a list for a litter. I was second in line so I thought I had a great chance for the puppy I wanted. However my choice was picked by the person with the first choice. I took another puppy but now I can’t stop feeling like I’m settling. At the same time I’m feeling guilty for focusing on color. That’s really the only difference. Should I give up on my dream of puppy I envisioned, or wait?

I have a 12 month old red heeler puppy with a sterilization contract from breeder due by 13 months of age. I am really struggling with deciding whether I should neuter or get him a vasectomy. He is my house dog, and he is never outside without supervision, so I'm not worried about him roaming around. I do love taking him on long runs and out backpacking though. I am super worried about bone and joint health from a traditional neuter and I am surprised that vasectomies don't seem to be more popular. I am also worried about him becoming reactive/fearful as he is a little anxious around new dogs. I want to be clear that this is my first dog and I grew up in a no dog household. So I don't have any personal experience/knowledge about how a lack of reproductive hormones affects them over the years. And from the research I have done, it also seems like it's only marginally more work dealing with sexual frustrations from the vasectomy on top of usual training, and an overall healthier dog other increased c4nc3r risk. Granted this "research" was a couple of random vet websites and petmd, and it had very little on the long-term side affects from neutering. I am very curious what you dog owners have done with your perritos and please feel free to get sciencey. Especially those with working breeds living in the city. Also would love to hear about any issues or quirks you've noticed with intact/vasectomy dogs vs neutered, whether its behavioral, health, and/or anything else.

Right now, I am leaning toward getting him a vasectomy for his sterilization contract, with the possibility of neutering him in his later years for prostate issues. Overall, I love him so flipping much. I just want what's best for him. Would love to hear yall's advice.

Edit: I am planning on talking to my vet about it, I am just curious about your experience with dealing with this.

hiii! I got a 4 month old golden retriever puppy last Saturday. I got him from a vet and they gave some of the kibble he eats, and meat tubes for him to slowly start changing his diet if I decided to. I did change the kibble yesterday, Wednesday, to a similar brand since i ran out of the kibble the vet gave me. He had no problem eating it for breakfast and dinner yesterday, and today he’s refusing to eat. He drinks water and his behaviour seems great, just the eating.

Additional facts: We got him from Mexico City, and I live in a city about 2 hours away. He was anxious in the car ride, but no vomit, no throw up.

He chews on grass, but not excessively.

Ive been create training him, and that’s also caused him discomfort.

His waste was a little watery, just a little, for 2 days, but then solid again. He’s potties twice a day.

I am also looking to make a vet appointment, for tomorrow or Saturday if it gets worse. Last he ate was 7:00pm yesterday. I’m posting this just to see if this has happened to other people, and if it is normal, I’ll of course consult a professional. Thanks!!

I just got my golden retriever few days back. Put him on Royal Canine Maxi Starter. According to the chart, he is supposed to eat 157g per day. He is only eating half of the recommended amount.

We adopted our approximately 5-month-old Labradoodle, after fostering her for over 60 days. I was on the fence about adopting her the entire time, and since she came into our home, I’ve been increasingly depressed, overwhelmed, and unsure whether having a dog is right for me. I have a 10-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son, along with other animals, and most of the daily puppy care falls on me. The puppy is mouthy, jumps on my son, and tries to bite his arms and legs. The most concerning issue is that she has suddenly lunged and snapped toward people’s faces with virtually no warning. While my son was calmly petting her head, she sprang up incredibly fast and left scratches on his face from her teeth. She has also snapped toward my husband’s face while he was gently petting her, and she sometimes does the same thing to me when I pet her head. Her tail wasn’t wagging, and I didn’t notice any obvious warning signs. I’m worried this could be fear, discomfort with head handling, pain, a behavioral issue, or something else, and I want honest advice rather than having it dismissed as normal puppy behavior. My daughter has also been resentful and annoyed with the dog, despite my telling her to not be so hard on her. I’m worried this has damaged my dog’s trust in people or could make her reactions worse, and I’m afraid someone could get seriously bitten. I’m trying to keep them separated, but managing the puppy alongside two children and our other animals is overwhelming. I originally wanted a companion for myself or a pet the kids could grow up with, but the reality has been very different.
I need honest, practical advice: What could cause these sudden face-directed snaps? They happen out of nowhere and there is no warning or body language.
Is this a behavior that can realistically be managed safely in a home with a 4-year-old, especially given my daughter’s behavior toward her?

When my Shiloh Shepard pup was 3-4 months he started jumping and biting when we were outside. Mostly when he didn’t feel like doing something. From time to time it has gotten better, but then back to worse. He’s now 11 months and I’m full of bruises.

Sometimes I feel like he does it because he wants to play. Sometimes it’s more ”random”. Like he alerts he needs to go out to pee, we go out to pee and then when he is done he turns around and starts jumping and biting and growling and won’t stop until I have managed to get him inside again.

The biggest lead as to why he does this (so far) is that he doesn’t see me as his leader and that he’s trying to take control of everything. We have been to training courses and met with trainers and it just doesn’t stop.

He is amazing and cuddly and loves to give kisses and get scratches and play so it’s not an aggressive behavior.

When we play with a toy and we ”fight play”with it a single raised hand and the word stop makes him drop the toy and sit. We’ve been trying for two months now to make him connect that to his biting as well, but when he gets bitey and jumpy nothing gets through.

We’re working continuously with behavioral training, teaching to go on lead and such but for the last four weeks whenever we go out to train he starts jumping and biting. I’ve tried to play with him some first to get of excess energy and I’ve tried not to play with him as to not wind him up.

We’ve tried connecting the stop to praise as well as treats, but as soon as he starts to bite and jump on me it’s like he locks in.

I’m so tired. I love this dog and I just wants it to work. And I’m getting tired of people saying that maybe we’re not right for each other. I just want my dog to work with me so that we can have the a calm life together with play and walks and love and not constantly having to worry about new bruises or that he’s gonna jump on me and we’re gonna fall and hurt something.

Anyone have any suggestions?

My 15-week-old Golden Retriever, Reia, pees perfectly in her tray inside her playpen overnight. But during the day, she’ll pee anywhere except the tray! Even if we keep her in the playpen, she’ll hold it and pee on the floor as soon as we let her out. 🥲
The very few times we’ve caught her peeing in the pee tray, we have rewarded her and celebrated her loudly. But it hasn’t seemed to make much of a difference. We’ve also tried a few different locations but none of them seem to help.

She’s not fully vaccinated yet, so outdoor potty training isn’t an option for now.

Has anyone experienced this? How do I get her to use her tray consistently during the day too?

Hello! My husband and I are getting a puppy soon and trying to decide between a Cavapoo or a Shihpoo. I grew up with a Shih Tzu that I adored but she was very stubborn when it came to training haha. I loved how lazy and cuddly she was though. I was hoping maybe the poodle mix would make them easier to train. I know cavapoos are smarter but a little crazier. Anyone have any insight on their experiences with either breed/recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

hi, i've been looking for tearable or rip-apart velcro dog toys for weeks but struggling to find anything sold in the uk! i have come across tearribles but it seems like this is only sold in the us. my dog loves to rip apart toys and take the stuffing out so i'm looking for a toy that will satisfy this! thank you

Weve brought in a trainer for our 8 month old cockapoo because the last couple months her reactivity with people and dogs has gotten much worse.

The trainers theory is that shes super frustrated and bored of the same routine (i hold my hands up to having a strict routine with the same enrichment and walks) BUT her suggestion is to let her off lead a lot more to work off that frustration, so i did that today, and ended up having to sprint after my pup
because she got way too far away chasing birds and completely ignored my recall. Now the TRAINER says in those moments to turn round and walk the other way (?) and try my best not to recall so much to give her this “Freedom” BUT ive read online stop off lead immediately and use a long line because shes learning to ignore me.

I find this mixed advice everywhere so incredibly frustrating and stressful, as i just want the best for the wee pup but dont know whats right to do and whats wrong.

The trainer has told us to do a lot more freework which has been good for her, but on this topic for reactivity on walks ive just no idea what to do

Hi everyone!

I got a German shepherd/CSV mix 3 weeks ago and he is now 10 weeks old. I have a puppy pen setup for him in the kitchen. No crate, and I will not get a crate unless it's absolutely the last thing that will work.

He's been really happy in the pen until this morning. Now he just screams like a banshee once I leave the room and he starts it even before I'm out of sight. Before this we had worked up to being alone for up to an hour, and just the dogs (puppy and 5 yo dog) by themselves for 2 hours without issues. I don't know what has happened other than my wife left for work at 6:30 like she does every day and since then the puppy just screams. I can't even go to the toilet without him sitting behind the door screaming.

He's had his naps, food and training + playtime as usual and doesn't seem tired or agitated. We keep the same routines every day. Wife works a day job and I work in the evenings, so the dogs aren't alone more than a couple of hours.

I'm not sure if this is normal or not, I've not had a puppy for 14 years and my old dog (RIP) was really, really easy to train as she didn't mind anything at all.

He’s like 4/5 months staffy x he only misbehaves on walks (really badly) with me but not with my boyfriend.

With me he’s completely awful. Stops and won’t move unless he’s going the direction he wants to go in. Tries to slip out of his harness so he can go down the street he wants to go down. Fixes onto other dogs (he’s friendly just way too excited) and will try and pull me in the direction of them. Won’t take treats, won’t listen to commands (obviously) and is just a complete nightmare.

With my boyfriend however it’s completely different. He listens, he obviously has puppy moments but it just takes a slight correction and he’s back on track. Will glance at other dogs but doesn’t particularly mind them unless they’re both stopped at like a traffic light.

We’ve tried going on walks together where I’m walking him and my boyfriend just observes but the second he’s around he just snaps back into good behaviour so my boyfriend can’t even tell where I’m going wrong because he doesn’t do any of the naughty stuff I tell him.

I thought maybe it’s because he walks him during the morning when he’s well rested but we’ve gone for an evening walk together and he was fine.

I just feel upset I can’t walk my pup more than 10 metres without some nightmare unfolding

So much conflicting advice on when to neuter 🥲 my vet said between 6-12month, and I’m thinking I’ll do early December which would land us close to 8 months. I just want to do right by my little guy and I’ve been reading so many conflicting opinions on bone/joint development, waiting can help with fear based or anxious behaviors, etc.

Anyone with another opinion to add to my confusion? Haha

- Currently 6 months old
- Mini Aussie (expected to be 17lbs fully grown)
- Showing lots of crazy adolescent behaviors in the past couple of weeks, barking, chewing, biting, forgot how to loose leash walk, struggling to settle

Im not sure the exact age or breed. Probably 3-4 months old. She seems on the smaller side.

I do have two dogs that I got as puppies and I don't remember them behaving like this or this bad. With both of them I made high pitch squeals and they bit softer and I gently pushed their nose down and they just learned not to jump.

They are the most well behaved dogs.

But this new puppy...that doesn't seem to work. Redirecting doesn't work. Times outs dont work. Positive reinforcement hasn't worked.

She has tons of chew toys and treats that I utilize. But it doesn't help.

I really want to give her the loving home but im getting frustrated. So I need advice.

My family and I have had our 1.5 year old Maltese since April of last year. I started potty training him when we first got him, but my family has been with him mostly for the past year. I am taking him to live with me soon, and I am trying to prepare since I live in an apartment with mostly carpeting. My puppy is not fully potty trained and we are starting over when I bring him to live with me, and I am trying to figure out the best setup for him to be in a playpen at home while I am at work. I decided on a taller playpen that he can’t jump over while he’s home alone, but since he is still prone to accidents, I’m not sure what to use to protect the carpets. Would interlocking gym mats work? Or whelping pads? Has anyone had experience with covering up a carpeted area to avoid carpet damage with a potty training puppy?

We’ve had our 10 week old mini Goldendoodle for about 10 days. He’s doing well in his crate overnight, but only with me on the couch next to him and sometimes my fingers through the door. However, during the day is another story. My husband works from home so puppy is rarely left alone for too long, but obviously sometimes we both need to be out of the house. I finally got a camera today, and he barked/cried/ pawed at the mat in his crate for almost the entire 25 minutes it took me to go to and from my daughter’s dance class. I feel like he’s not getting nearly enough sleep when we’re all home because we can’t enforce naps in his crate because he loses his mind. And our house is very small and very busy so when he’s napping on the floor/couch he’s constantly getting woken up because he’s in the one room we have downstairs (small open plan living room/kitchen). I just don’t know what to do, how can we get him to be one of those dogs that actually LIKES their crate?? I need to be able to live my life and go to the grocery store without worrying that I’m damaging him letting him scream in his crate 😭😭😭

I'm getting a german pinscher puppy in a few weeks, he's a gorgeous black and tan. I'm planning to do the purina pro plan puppy food for him. A lot of people said the "sensitive skin and stomach" kibble, which is a salmon and rice formula, made their black dog's coats absolutely shiny and gorgeous. I'd love for mine to have that healthy, sleek coat too.

My question is, if i start him on the "sensitive" formula from when he is 10 weeks old, is there a chance he will have trouble tolerating other "normal" blends like chicken, turkey, etc. in the future? I'd hate to induce an intolerance just for the coat.

Edit: all the options mentioned above are made specifically for puppies

We got our puppy almost 2 month ago, he was 8 weeks, and I still think it was a mistake.

To give some background, we have 4 cats at home and I'm a cat person. When my sister got her puppy, I toyed with the idea of having one. I talked with my bf about it, we did a lot of research about the breed (spitz), how to educate them and how to make everything go smoothly with the cats. I talked with a lot of people (friends, colleagues, etc.) about what it's like to have a dog because I wanted to be sure I was making a decision with all the cards in hands.

Then we contacted the breeder where my sister got her puppy, because she had a male avalaible and we wanted to know more about him and meet him. We met him, he was really cute and calm. The breeder told us he was the calmest of all the puppies. My bf was sold almost immediately. I liked him, found him cute, but I was still unsure about being a dog person - i have anxiety, overthinking is what i do. Once again, i had a LOT of conversations with people to help clear out what was stressing me out. A few days later we say yes to the breeder and a week later we brought our puppy home.

And ever since it has taken a toll on my mental health :

My anxiety is through the roof because I feel i have to constantly check on him so he doesn't make a mess or pee somewhere. I thought i could handle potty training, turns out it's not the case. I feel like the whole house is smelling like pee and i want to clean everything all the time. The puppy sometimes disguts me because all i can think is him walking in his pee and walking everywhere and thus bringing pee everywhere in the house.

The first few days were horrible. I was overwhelmed and frustrated. He was making the worst parts of me come out : i was screaming, hitting things out of anger. I just wanted him to disappear. But i also felt guilty and sad that i was feeling this way. I was not loving him and i didn't understand why - i still don't to be honest. Those days were really hard on me, i was thinking about having car accidents or violent things in that vein. That way i wouldn't be home and wouldn't see him.

If i had been alone, i wouldn't have kept him that long, i would have brought him back to the breeder. But my bf loves him so we decided to keep trying, at least 3 months (you know for the rule of 3), hoping it will help. We still have 1 month and 1 week to go, and it's still not good. Some days are a bit better but I still don't love him and feel like he's one of the chores. And i still feel bad. Like depression bad (which is pretty bad since seasonal depression hasn't kicked in yet).

And my relationship has taken a hit too. We keep arguing again and again. We even came to the conclusion we should break up, he would take the dog, i'd take the cats. So yeah, there's that too.

I strongly think we will rehome our puppy. We have a friend who would be happy to take him. It would be a good solution for me and my mental health, but also for the puppy who deserves a better home that i can offer him.

I read a lot about the puppy blues on here but nothing as strong as i think i feel. I don't know if my anxiety and depressive tendancies have made for a perfect background to have the worst puppy blues ever. But, yeah, i wanted to say it, even if it's to the void and no one answers it.

P.S. the puppy's needs are still being met. He has a lot of toys, play time, occupational toys, training. We go to local cafés with him, he sees a lot of others dogs. He has a big garden to play and we take him on long (at least for him) walks.

I had dogs growing up in my family home. (Lab/Pyrenees & Beagle) I know how much work they are, but was never the sole caretaker. I am 24 and work fully remote.

I have since moved out on my own (4 years now) and gotten two cats who I love dearly. I have been contemplating a dog for the past year, but never really acting on it until recently. I am now fully remote and feel like I have TOO much time on my hands. I need a more active companion. (My cats are very lovable but LAZY 🤣) I have done research on breeds and have decided on a Shih Tzu or smaller terriers. I found a rescue 3 month old Shih Tzu locally and really want to adopt her.

I feel like I am ready for all the hard work. Walks multiple times a day, playing, socializing. I am well aware of costs (one of our dogs had diabetes so lots of vet visits and insulin) & I know puppies are even more work. I plan to crate train & have a fenced yard. Luckily, this puppy is fostered with other dogs and cats and is house trained and well socialized.

When I told my family I was going to put an application in for this dog, they told me it wasn’t a good idea. I told them how much I have researched, planned and prepared. No matter what, they would poke holes and bring up what if scenarios. It has really messed with my head and now I’m reconsidering it all.

So, how do you know you are ready for a puppy?

Hi guys,

I've picked up an 8 week old boxer this week, it's my first puppy and I'm having a great time learning with him.

So far when he starts dozing off in his pen I've been putting him in his crate, and he's dozed right off pretty much every time. During the night I wake up every 2-3 hours to let him out to toilet either by alarm or if he stirs. I make sure if he's whining I wait for a few seconds calm before taking him out, but at 8 weeks I know it's a genuine need for toilet so I won't ignore it. At night I can put him straight back in and he will settle straight away and sleep. His pen is in our living area and his crate is in the hallway by the stairs so we can hear him during the night.

Yesterday, seeing as he seems to be comfortable in there, I thought I'd test him out for a time when he's not falling asleep. He cried and got agitated, I left him for a few minutes to see if he would soothe himself but he didn't and at this age and stage I didn't want to push it any further so I waited for a quiet few seconds and took him out.

Today my dad was sick and needed some meds so I had no choice but to put him in his crate to go and get them. Again it wasn't a sleepy period for him and I watched him on the camera freaking out for the best part of an hour. When I got home again I waited for a quiet period and let him out. I tried not to make a fuss but inside I was dying so I really wanted to cuddle him up and soothe him but didn't know if this would set us back.

Does anyone have similar experience where they are ok sleeping in their crate but not resting?

Am I expecting too much too soon? Am I being too soft or have I been too hard?

Me and my wife have worked our holiday leave this year in order that for his first 3 months one of us is home nearly all the time to give him the best chance but it's inevitable occurrences like today will happen and he will need to be left for short periods of time so any advice would be great.

Hi everyone! My wife and I recently adopted a puppy and we have been struggling with potty training. He’s a 4 month old mixed breed from a shelter and seems rather pee shy. What I mean is that he seems rather comfortable peeing indoors specifically but struggles to pee when we bring him out to the streets. He does sniff a lot at where other dogs have gone but still refuses to go.

We live in a high rise apartment in New York and it takes us ~5ish mins to get down to the street level from our apartment. So it seems like even though we are stop him mid pee in our apartment, by the time we reach street level, his ‘pee urgency’ is gone (?)

We have just started crate training and we bring him down ~2 hours but he refuses to pee on the streets and sometimes ends up peeing in his crate after our walk.

I know it has only been about a week since we adopted him and understand that he needs time to adjust to the new environment but would love to hear some recommendations to help with potty training to gain some of our sanity back 🫠

Thank you!!

Y’all how much of the day do your dogs sleep?

My 11 month old beagle/australian shepherd mix is crated while my husband and I work. Usually around 8 hours (I know I know “that’s too looooonggggg” spare me). He also sleeps through the night, that’s usually another 8 hours.

He’s a very active guy when he is out of his crate. We play hard and he gets 30 minutes to an hour of play time with other dogs at the dog park almost every day. We also take him on 20-30 minute walks at least twice a day. Additionally we do a lot of mental stimulating things for him. Lick mats, training, things like that.

I guess I just worry that he sleeps too dang much. How much are puppies who are nearing 1 year supposed to sleep? Am I doing enough for him?

My 8 week puppy cries in the middle of the night or when he wakes up early in the morning. I usually ignore him for about 15 minutes. But when he whines more than 15 minutes, I go to him see if there's anything he needs and if he's still whining, I ignore him but I'm still beside him and ignore (I basically just sit across him and not look at him and wait until he stops). Once he calms down I give him treats. Is this a good way not to reinforce whining behavior?

Note: Puppy is 8 weeks old, a pitbull and had him for 3 days. I've had dogs before but they were around a year or more already. They're also street dogs that's known to be intelligent so I never had problems with them. This is my first time owning a puppy this young and this breed.

We have a 9.5 month old great pyrenees/heeler mix who is really becoming a great dog. His biggst issue has been separation anxiety but he's already making great progress. Now that we've addressed that with him, I'm hoping to find out how to get him sleeping longer. He sleeps through the night with no issues, usually 11-6, but even if my husband (night owl) takes him out before bed around midnight he still is crying to be let out at 6. He doesn't rush to go to the bathroom (i usually will change and make my coffee before we go outside) so while I agree he needs to go, it's clearly not an emergency. How do we balance getting him to be comfortable in the crate until WE decide it's time to get up with respecting his needs?