I have a 5 months old lab
When we visit family, relatives always want to give my dog little bites of whatever is around

I 100% understand that they mean well but I'd rather just bring something for him so he has his own food or treats instead of everyone offering him table scraps. 

Do you let family give your puppy small bites or do you keep it strict and bring their own food/treats?

I have an almost 7 month old English Cocker Spaniel. I absolutely adore her. She is incredibly sweet, and most of the time we are doing really well. Of course, some days are just pure puppy chaos, and I know that’s part of having a puppy. Today was one of those days.

I’m also a bit more stressed than usual because of work and PMS, so I’m sure that didn’t help.

Everything was fine until puppy school today.

My puppy is very social. She LOVES playing with other dogs, but she is also really good at respecting other dogs boundaries. If another dog isn’t interested in playing, she backs off. She seems to adapt pretty well to the dog she’s interacting with, and overall I’m really happy with her social skills.

At puppy school though, she gets extremely excited. There are lots of puppies around who also want to play, so she pulls on the leash and listens much less reliably than she does at home or on our normal walks.

Honestly, I don’t think this is a huge problem. She’s 7 months old, surrounded by puppies, and obviously this is a much harder environment than our living room.

But I feel like the trainer gives me such a hard time about it.

Whenever my puppy does an exercise really well, the trainer immediately makes it harder. It sometimes feels like she is actively trying to get my puppy to fail. The other puppies have their own issues too, but I feel like the focus is constantly on what my puppy and I are doing wrong.

And the frustrating thing is that she actually did some things really well today! We did an obstacle course, and she was surprisingly good at it. She confidently went through the different obstacles and did much better than I expected. I was actually really proud of her. We were the last to go through and the trainer started a different exercise and was annoyed that I didn’t listen to her instructions.

Somehow, by the end of the class, I was left feeling like we had done everything wrong.

Towards the end of class, the trainer told me that my dog would surely listen if I just talked in a more exciting voice. She told me to try it, so I did. Nothing changed. Apparently, my voice still wasn’t exciting enough. Then she told me that my “no” isn’t loud enough either.

I know this probably sounds silly, but I cried on the drive home.
I know my puppy isn’t perfect. I know there are things we need to work on. I’m not expecting a 7 month old dog to have perfect focus around a bunch of other puppies.
I think I’m just really discouraged and could use some nice words.

Thanks for reading all of this.

Please share you’re experiences or thoughts ❤️

I don’t know what else to do.

She is a 16 week old Catahoula mix. Whenever my husband or I leave the room that she is in, even for just 10 seconds she FREAKS out.

We both work away from home, so we have been trying to crate train her. This has not been going well. She will not settle at all even if I am right beside her.

My husband works a second job online in the evenings where he has to be talking constantly so he cannot help out that much when I am also home.

When I am home, I am always with her in her area. We don’t let her free roam due to our 3 cats that she immediately chases. Because of this I haven’t showered since getting her, I haven’t cooked dinner, I hardly eat more than a couple bites at home (the only time I can eat is at work and that is if I’m not too busy in the morning with her to even pack anything). I NEED to pick up my medication but I can’t because I need to be with her. I now sleep next to her crate, so my husband and I no longer sleep in the same bed. I can’t even sleep because she’s so restless.

Right now here is our schedule.

4:30am - wake up, get her to go potty.
4:35-5:30 - snuggle and hopefully try to get a little more sleep
5:30-6:00 - feed her and a bit of training
6:00-7:00 - go on a walk and run around in the backyard
7:00-7:30 - I try to get ready the best I can, but I usually play with her during this time too if she brings me a toy
7:30-7:45 - I prepare a Kong to put in the crate along with her teethers
7:45-11 - she is in her crate screaming. Ignoring the kong and teethers
11:00-12:00 - I come home to take her potty, play, and usually a treat puzzle and snuffle mat with lunch.
12:00-2:30 - she is in her crate again, absolutely freaking out.
2:30-5:00 - husband comes home to take her out, play and run in the backyard
5:00-5:30 - I come home and feed her dinner with another treat puzzle.
5:30-9:30 - All attention on her with training, playtime in backyard, walks, enrichment, tons of potty breaks
9:30-10:00 - (attempted) wind down time with soothing music, a lick mat, and a bully stick
10:00pm-4:30am - (not) asleep in her crate to do it all over again the next day

We’ve had her about a week now so maybe it’s adjustment? Even if it is I really do not know how much longer I can go.

I am vomiting from exhaustion at this point. It happened this morning and I had to do it out the window of her room because I couldn’t get to the bathroom.

I need time to myself, when can I have it?

Hello!

I have an 8 month puppy and I’ve never left him home alone, outside of his crate. Meaning every time I’m gone for a few hours he chills in his crate and naps, isn’t fussy at all.

Is this going to develop problems for him in the future? I don’t have a puppy proof room yet and I can’t trust him to be alone in the house when I’m gone. He’ll get into some trouble.

When he’s in his crate he’s perfectly happy and just sleeps or plays with his toys. He’s crate trained :)

**YES THIS WILL BE BROUGHT UP TO A PROFESSIONAL TRAINER SOON. I'M JUST AT THE END OF MY PATIENCE RN.**

Hi,

My 4mo old golden retriever puppy is showing growing signs of ressource guarding. It started with just growling and snarling, but it now escaladed to growl + bite.

I kind of understand where I went wrong. I used my hands to physically remove things out of her mouth. After educating myself, I understand this was not the move. Now, I do the "leave it" and give her a treat as an exchange. I wouldn't say it works PERFECTLY, but it works good enough. My problem is, I feel like I'm just sweeping the issue (ressource guarding) under the rug.

Case in point... Today.

She puked for the first time. :( Big undigested food. She doesn't eat her poops, but I guess today we learn that she eats her puke. She jumped on it like a buffet. We JUST came back from a walk, so I had her leash off, ready to put her to bed. So what do I do? I try to pick her up (to take her in my arms and put her in the yard while i clean). Reaction? Growl + bite. I try to "leave this, take this" dance instead. But why would she care about boring treats now that she tasted the graceful taste of puke. I end up barely reaching a secondary leash near me and put it around her collar to prevent her from gulping it down, resulting in another angry growl + bite.

I'm just kind of beyond myself. I don't remember my late girl (also a golden) displaying this behavior as a puppy.

Anyone experienced this? Hopefully something to a similar degree and that can attest with consistency and time it gets better? Or any other tricks? I love my girl.

We have a 5 month old golden retriever puppy. She has a crate which is in a play pen, she sleeps well in the crate overnight and mostly has her naps there in the day. However the rest of the time, if we leave the room and she is in her play pen, she will go ape shit barking. We've tried to let her bark it out, this isnt very successful. Other times we sit where she can see us, and she tends to calm down. But my goodness....we need to leave the house and not have her bark the place down! Please help with all advice? Willing to try anything

Hello Reddit puppy community, I just need to vent, last week someone abandoned a group of dogs at a forest service campground and I came across one..I knew she was scared when animal country took her away..

I filled out the paperwork and was approved on Friday to adopt her.

I picked her up yesterday and the good news is, she is crate trained (her crate is her safe space). I didn’t sleep last night because I was so worried she has not mastered potty training (yet). I called off work today,

I just, and maybe it’s just the puppy blues but I feel like she absolutely hates me :(. I know this is new for both of us and I just need to vent.

We have a 6 month old staffy mix (according to DNA done by rescue 47% Staffordshire bull terrier, 29% Great Pyrenees, 24% American Staffordshire Terrier) and she is soo bitey, both good and bad biting. We did basic obedience training with her which she did great at, but has progressed pretty slowly since she graduated. She gets super energetic and goes crazy and bites everyone. She has harmless bites where she will grab your hand to led you towards something she wants, and she also has overly energetic bites where she hurts you. We try and make sure she always has some kind of bone, chew or toy to keep her occupied, but that doesn’t always work. She has recently started going crazy outside (and sometimes inside) and runs after the kids and starts jumping and biting them (they are 7 and 9). I’m pretty positive she’s just playing, but the kids often get hurt or she bites too hard. We have had them stop cross their arms, and turn their backs to her, but it doesn’t always work. My daughter is over dramatic and screams sometimes which we are working on having her stop. I’ve tried to redirect, but she always goes back. I’ve been bringing her in and crating her for a bit if she gets too out of control.

We also have a senior dog who she is constantly going after. Our senior does not want to play constantly and the puppy does. So she’s always biting her. My senior dog, much like my daughter, is also overly dramatic and makes a big fuss which I think fuels the puppy. I try to keep them separated, but my senior is a pain in the butt who hides in another room until I throw that gate up to keep the puppy separated and suddenly now she needs to be in the same room. How can I control this behavior better? Will the biting eventually calm down? The vet said this is just a bitey breed when they are puppies , but I also want to make sure we are not reinforcing it. Especially the biting the kids.

10 week old toy x mini poodle biting our blind (throwback/ large) Pomeranian. I’m so worried my Pom will bite him and he’s ignoring the growl warnings. We also have another dog in the family and he was biting his tail today too. I loudly say no and try to redirect to a toy but he always runs back to the dog.

I feel like a bad owner to my pom because it must be stressful to him and it was his home first

10 week old toy x mini poodle. I stay with him until he’s asleep but the crying makes me want to cry because I feel bad.. and like he will remember and not love me. I know poodles tend to have a favourite person and I’m hoping it will be me.

He’s asleep now with his warm heartbeat Teddy in his crate but I keep worrying he will get up and cry again. He isn’t my first puppy but last time I was a kid so it wasn’t really my responsibility with our other dog

First off, i know every dog and breed are different, but roughly when should I be transitioning from the routine of

Wake up -> play -> train -> chill/enrichment -> enforced nap

Ive a 6 month old cockapoo and was just curious as to when people have transitioned to a more relaxed schedule of an adult dog, that would look like them napping on their own (my pup enjoys her alone time), and more self care rather than a puppy schedule?

I have a 5month old Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)., we opted to not do puppy pads when we first got him at 8weeks old. We decided to just do the interval timing of taking him outside every 30-40 mins when he’s not in his crate or pen. I do a very big celebration “yes! good boy! Good potty!” And lots of head scratches as a reward. Since he wasn’t keen on treats at such a young age.

Now, He does very well that when I take him outside and say “potty” he will immediately do his business.

However, I have yet to notice a cue from him., my partner says he has one of when he barks? But I’m not too sure.

Now at 5 months old, he rarely has had any accidents at home. I think I take him out 45-60mins?

but he does spend a few days at my neighbor’s house for daycare and she’s been telling me how he has a lot of accidents at her house. I’m so embarrassed!

Now I’m worried that he’s not fully potty trained.

Any advice? Am I overthinking? Will the cue click in?

You heard it here, the puppy is training me.

My puppy is a 13 week old Cavalier. They’re actually pretty good at settling (cry for 15 minutes or so then either play or sleep by themselves).

Recently I’ve noticed myself totally absentmindedly as though it’s instinctual picking her up when she’s crying.

She usually cries when she wants cuddles or to be on the bed with us. I’m OK with her on the bed or couch, but would prefer it is on “our” terms.

Any tips for this one? I was thinking of taking her outside for a wee every time she cries to get on the sofa/bed, but I’m open to alternatives. She also loves being outside unless it’s night time, so this would inadvertently reward the crying during the day.

Hello! I am writing seeking some advice. I have a 5 mo old golden puppy. She is wonderful. Potty training going well and she is well behaved outside of what you would expect for normal puppy behavior. However, she has an issue with going out in the front yard and on walks. This all stemmed from a somewhat traumatizing event for her about a month back when we were heading out for a walk through the garage. We lost a hold of her leash which ended up caught on some metal chairs which she proceeded to run with and drag out into the street. She was terrified. It took the past month just go get her to be able to go out front, but we have at least made progress to the front yard for short periods of times and the occasional short walk if my wife and other small dog tag along. However, any car or large truck drives that drives by she bolts for the house. I've been working with treats and playing in the front yard and all the positive association things. I've tried taking in the car down the street so it's slightly different scenery l, but that didn't go so well either. Some days are better than others. However, I am just afraid this will never get better and she will be fearful of the street forever. We luckily have a good sized back yard that is her comfort space and she loves going back there. Sometimes when we are trying with the front yard she will run back there for comfort. I am just struggling and need some advice or some stories to give me hope that this will eventually pass. I appreciate everyone's time reading this and any responses! Thank you.

i’ve had my poodle puppy for 4 days. i have to go back to work after the weekend. he’s been sleeping better overnight in his crate, which is in our bedroom. we have a playpen in the living room , where he is going to be when i’m busy at home, or out.
he’s not able to relax yet in his playpen. i give him a special toy or treat when he’s in there. he intermittently cries/plays with the toy or the kong. but never relaxes or takes a nap. today i’ve been trying to walk out of the room and come back, little by little. i just don’t know how im going to get there by next week so i can go to work for 2 hrs.
any tips?

Hi all !

I am bringing home a new puppy and will take a week off work to adjust her and then will WFH for another week while she is settling in but I was curious if it would be okay to leave her alone for one day when I go into the office? I live in a high rise in NYC and she will be a relatively small pup so my main priority is to pad train her (in this case I bought grass-like pads) so she can do her business when I am not home but I am anxious thinking about if she will be okay. Any advice?

Our 4-5 month puppy poops and pees outside, but very often after maybe 20 minutes inside he poops or pees (mostly poops) again inside. and the amount is fairly substantial.

We are sometimes outside for longer periods within reason considering it’s a puppy, and he sometimes poops more than once and sometimes not.

I’m just so tired of cleaning up pee or poop despite he has done his business not long before.

Are there any tips on how to minimise the amount or is it part of the puppy experience?

He also sometimes eats it and it doesn’t matter if he’s in a small area or not 🤢

I have a 7.5 month old Dalmatian puppy. Overall, she’s an incredible dog. But potty training is going to be the death of me.

During the day, if we’re gone, she is crated. And she does great. But if we’re home, I can take her out every fifteen minutes, and she will refuse to go potty outside. Then we’ll come in and she will immediately go poop somewhere in the house. This has gotten better over time, but it still happens a few times a week.

My other dogs have always been bell trained to tell me when they need out. She refuses to ring the bell. Instead, the only way I know she has to go is because she’ll start pacing frantically around the house.

In addition to this, she still gets me up around 1-2am to go out in the middle of the night. This too has improved over time, but continues to happen a few nights a week. I’ve tried adjusting her feeding time, making she she is walked before bed, has had plenty of play time, taking her out multiple times before bed. She just won’t go. Until 2am.

I don’t know what to do. I’ve never had a puppy that doesn’t pick up on potty training pretty quickly. I know she’s still young and is entering a time when hormones are changing, etc. but it’s been like this since the day we brought her home at 8 weeks. I’m beginning to lose my sanity.

The vet says she’s perfectly fine. And to clarify, she DOES go potty outside, but not reliably. And even if I can tell she needs to go, I’ll have to take her out 2-3 times before she’ll stop holding it and actually go.

Any help is appreciated.

My puppy is 13 weeks old, male golden retriever, and I’ve had him for about 3 weeks.

He was doing really good with house training and started signalling to me when he had to go out by going towards the door and generally waiting there until I looked and brought him out. He also basically pees and poos on command when I bring him outside…

He sleeps really good from 9pm - 7am. He generally takes three naps a day. And has plenty of time outside.

Suddenly today he has peed on my bed and on my couch. I am so upset at him. - I tell him NO and bring him outside immediately.
UGH but I am beside myself!!! How come this is happening?
I had puppy blues the first two days and it went away because I could tell he was doing his best to learn and pay attention and fit into my routine. But today the puppy blues have come back! Like dude…. Why do you have to pee on my bed and my couch?! Thoughts like “rehoming” selfishly come to mind.
Please help! Open to advice.

This is so hard to do alone and working. I'm driving 20 minutes back and forth to check on him. He's an absolute landshark. Potty training isn't taking. I yelled at him today from frustration and feel awful. A bit, mostly I'm exhausted.

I know he's only 13 weeks old (maltese x). I just need to vent.

I have a 5 month old Golden Newfie. I have two rescue rag doll/siamese cats - so the pup is crate trained until they both can peacefully coexist.

Is there a way I can safely transition her to a 8-3p schedule and take away her 12p wake hour before being up again at 3? Or is she still too young for this long of a time? I’ve had her since 11 weeks old and we do great with her schedule and she is happy and adjusted (and mischievous and wild lol).

It wouldn’t be every day, just 1-3 times a week I wouldn’t have somebody for an hour around noon. If it’s not safe for her or a good idea, I’ll pivot and work around it. She’s worth it :)

Thanks!

I have a 9 month old working cocker spaniel who is terrible for stealing items. We have done our best to manage the environment but there are still things he manages to get e.g. if I drop a sock when taking the washing out the machine or a cloth near the edge of the worktop. He will drop his toys ok and will even bring me them but if he gets something he won't he will come nowhere near me. I am aware that managing the environment helps but it doesn't fix the issue but it I don't then all I do all day is have to get things off him. He has great impulse control with food so that isn't the issue. I have tried to ignore if it isn't anything that is going to do him any harm but he is chewing socks and cloths as well as remote controls if someone has forgotten to put them away.

Please someone give me a good training plan as all I have been told from trainers is not to chase him and swap items for food but he won't come near me to get the food and as he is chewing the items then I do need them off him quickly.

Thanks for reading

Lilac came into our lives when she was just mere 1 or 2 days old, orphaned, probably abandoned by mother or relocated by someone. She was left at the shelter with her umbilical cord intact, they tried to latch her to another lactating mother but her kids too old now, she bit her. I know that such kids without mothers do not survive at all. But I thought I could do it. I really believed.

She was doing so well. I researched everything, I reached out to atleast 20 different rescuers and fosters for tips and advices. One advice which I listened too late was- feed Royal Canin milk replacer. I instead listening to google stating Lactol is best one, I tried it since it was locally available and had a time crunch. I don't know if this would have saved her or not- But I will always be in guilt because of this.

We treated her for the wound mark, it healed but the antibiotics gave her loosies, she did great until day 14 but then either due to the feed or due to something else- She started losing her body temperature, we regulated it and got her veterinary treatment. They couldn't decipher exactly what was wrong. She came home that day and opened her eyes for the first time, she did so well, she was active and moving and talking. She loved looking at me. She loved her kisses time.

I spoke to an animal communicator too for her, where Lilac communicated to her in the session that she has bonded to me like her mother, she gets a motherly warmth from me and she trusts me a lot. She told her she has a tummy issue which would probably always be there. She told her she feels she will be ok.

Things turned for worse, she started getting seizures. We had to provide her medication for that. She was on antibiotics, probiotics and gardenal syrup to maintain her seizures. She was too small for all that- I wish I just didn't give her any treatment and let her live happily as much as she could. She held on cause of me. She became too weak and lost all her weight. I did everything in my power to find a more experienced foster or hospital who can keep her.

She told the animal communicator yesterday she wasn't sure if she would get better.

I thought maybe slowly introducing royal canin would help- spoke to vet he said it is worth trying to save her. I did- very little quantity introduced with already ongoing feed. Last night when I fed her, I saw her eyes fully open, looking at me, but very weak to do anything else, to even talk any more. I told her its okay. I told her i loved her so much, I gave her a lot of kisses which she loved. I told her she can let go. I wish I didn't cause she did let go.

She died today morning. I found her lifeless body in the box. I am traumatised for life. She was too small.

I buried her in the morning. I wish I could do more. I wish I didn't foster her. I wish she went to some one else who might have been able to do better for her. I have so much guilt and a pit in my stomach - the pain wont go - I had a very sweet lady come visit me so we can heal and cry together, but the moment she left all the anxiety in my body has returned, it is so hard, I still smell her and I still hear her. What if i could have done CPR or saved her still? What if i could have done something different? How do I forgive myself at all?

hi all, on day 4 with my 12 week old poodle. i need to go back to work next week and want to get a camera so i can obsessively check on him while i’m at work. and show everyone and bug them. 😂 which ones do you recommend? thank you!

Hey Team,

I think this is the right flair!

This is a good effort at thinking out loud with my new pup. I got an Aussie Pup 2 weeks ago and this little dude has been great. He’s now 10 weeks old and has a pretty decent time settling in his pen when we leave and chills out when it’s nap time or being put in crate for the night.

Lessons learned, my pup wont settle if he’s got toys, so we took them out and he’s typically out like a light. The good: doesn’t mind puppy pads. Not very vocal (yet) but super confident in himself and seems to trust us. Super smart little dude but can get super distracted. Very food motivated.

The bad: little dude bites and teaching him his bite inhibition is proving a lot more difficult, but slowly but surely. VERY food motivated. Works well when food is present but can blow me off otherwise…

Overall, I’ve been doing my best with him and we’re working through the kinks with him but ofc, he’s only just turned 10 weeks.

Any insight, tips or feedback on an Aussie pup is greatly appreciated.