Puppy is 9 month old, cat is 4. We don’t allow any cat chasing or biting/nipping, but is this kind of play okay? Or would it be confusing for puppy

They were going to put her down bc she’s so skittish/shy/fearful. I’m trying to work with her so she feels safe and comfortable around people and can hopefully be happy in a home. I don’t have much experience but I felt like i needed to do something. How am i doing?

My dog is barking every time he hears a noise in the hallway of our building. Everywhere says “reward him when he stops” but I don’t understand how to do that

1. How do you know when he’s done?
2. Usually it’s just one or two barks - if he barks and I reward him “for stopping” how does he know that I’m rewarding him for stopping, not for barking in the first place?

We rescued a cute poodle mix of something witehaired, and from what we gathered his owner was very old. Well they died in their apartment and the landlord found them after the smell so I assume quite a bit of time went by and they found Mojo extremely emaciated and vets thought he had mange but I guess he didn't idk.

Well we're trying our best to give him a loving home but despite all my training efforts he won't stop peeing on all the fabric. Every couch, every bed, every blanket, pillows, carpets, bathroom mats; everything he continuously pees on and Its destroying our home.

My wife and I have always been successful pet owners in that our pets behave and are happy. I haven't scolded Mojo too rough given his timid nature and trauma in the past. Do you guys think I should ramp up my response to this behavior? More stern yelling? It's been over a month with almost everyday having an incident or more.

Fixing this issue will be the difference of keeping a loving family pet and Mojo going back to the adoption system. I'm trying so hard. All of our beds are ruined and I don't think comforters are meant to be washed everyday.

And yes, Mojo is taken out every day - 6 times minimum. I'm a stay at home dad and we spend roughly an hour outside every morning for the school bus (this'll be the second time of the day he'll be taken out.) About 30 min outside for the bus on return. Pre dinner i take him out, after dinner, before bed, and sometimes middle of the night if I hear him stirring at all.

No apparent UTI. Seems to me to be completely behavior based. I'm thinking old owner never took him out and he got used to pissing in fabric to retain his pee.

I'm at a loss, any ideas are welcome. Thanks.

My dog (1.5 y/o larger mix) has a friend (7-month lab mix) he likes to play with. But whenever the other dog plays with him, my dog lies on his back while the other bites his neck, and they roll around together. He (my larger mix) is always the dog on his back, not the other one. After a while, both dogs will start showing their teeth to each other. Sometimes his friend gets excited and starts growling while wrestling, so we usually break them up after that. Is this normal?

Edit: Forgot to add that my dog loves the dog beach. He starts pulling when he gets close, and as soon as I let him off leash, he starts saying hi and playing chase with other dogs.

My dog is the smaller tan shepherd mix. She's 2 y/o (not a puppy), and we adopted her from the pound about 2 months ago.

In this case I could see this big dog was totally chill with my dog, but I'm worried she might try this behavior with a different dog at the dog park, and it could escalate. It's the neck biting that I'm worried about in particular.

Should I be okay with this play, or take her on a timeout and tell her to knock it off?

My partner and I recently adopted a 7mo male puppy. For context, my partner grew up with dogs and I did not. This is his first dog as an adult, but my first dog ever. I love dogs but am not sure if my expectations are unreasonable since I didn’t grow up with them.

The puppy’s foster said he’d been sleeping on her bed, but when we brought him home, I only had to redirect him once or twice before getting him to sleep in his dog bed or his crate. He sleeps comfortably in either and doesn’t really try to jump on the bed anymore. I would eventually like for him to sleep in our living room, since I am a light sleeper and would prefer for our bedroom to be pet free (we also have cat who is not allowed in the bedroom). My boyfriend said this would stress the dog out and is not fair to him. I feel like since he’s young, I would assume we can still train him to feel comfortable sleeping separately but I also don’t want to do anything that would hurt him. Is this a reasonable training goal?

Hi, I’m looking to adopt a pup and went to visit him recently. I’m by no means a dog trainer, but looking for some thoughts on the "meet up" from more experienced people. Hopefully this is allowed in this forum, if not feel free to remove.

This particular dog has a hard start to life and struggles with generalization, separation and self regulation. He has been in a board and train program for a couple weeks and this was my first time to visit and meet him there. His current foster was also at the meeting (who he hadn’t seen since starting the program).

When we both arrived the trainer and dog were out walking around the yard on leash. He was doing pretty well self regulating on leash, listening to commands and eventually the trainer brought the dog over to greet us. As you’d expect, he was over the moon to see the foster. After being allowed about 20 seconds to greet them, he was tethered to a fence about 100 feet away because he was ‘too excited’ and the trainer explained that he would need to calm down before he could rejoin the group. 

The dog spent the next hour and a half yipping and pacing while tethered to the fence, while all of us remained within partial sight and earshot of him. I eventually had to leave due to time constraints (3+ hour drive each way) and he never did settle, so I never did meet him.

Like mentioned above, I’m no trainer, and I understand that there are probably reasons behind the approach the trainer took, but it was hard not to feel like the situation was making things more difficult for him rather than helping him succeed. Most dogs I know would be excited to see their person/owner after being separated for weeks and would probably have a hard time settling and react similarly.

I keep thinking about the experience and wonder if it might have made more sense for the foster to leave to give him a chance to settle, or alternatively, to allow him a little more time to greet the foster before creating distance. Keeping the foster so close while he was tethered and unable to get to them seemed to leave him frustrated and stressed for such a long time.

Lastly, (and this is more about me) as the potential adopter, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to meet or interact with this dog. He's been in foster for almost a year with no interest. Poor little guy.

Anyway, this has been on my mind a lot over the last few days and I feel like I spin myself in circles thinking about it. Just looking to hear thoughts on this approach from y'all… thanks. 

I was at the local dog park at a nearby lake which includes a dog beach. It's Tuesday afternoon and not very busy.

When we got to the water I wade a few feet out and start to play fetch with my dog by throwing a tennis ball further into the lake. As is normal, I attract a few other dogs that want in on that sweet, sweet ball fetching action. No big deal because it always happens but one dog in particular is way more excited than the others, jumping over other dogs, jumping onto me, trying to take the ball from my hands, etc..

Once he starts jumping on me, a behavior I consider unacceptable, I stop throwing the ball and go passive to remove the fun. The dog's owner sees his behavior and starts calling from shore but he doesn't respond so I start to back up to shore.

Suddenly, he jumps up onto me and tries to take the ball from my hands. I put the ball in my pocket, calmly take the dog by the collar to control his jumping - an e-collar, I will note - and walk the dog to his owners on the shore. They look horrified but say nothing as I let him go into their custody.

I heard back out to the water and pull the ball back out and as I'm about to throw it the dog jumps onto my back and tries to grab the ball again. I'm soaked but again - no big deal. I put away the ball, handle him by the collar to control the dog and walk him back to his owners who are again calling him.

This time, the owners lay into me for handling their dog - "Don't touch my dog!"

I explain that I can't let their dog jump on me and point out that none of the 3 other dogs trying to play with me are jumping on me or trying to take the ball and that he doesn't seem to respond to their calls and that I'm not going to just allow him to jump on me - especially from behind.

They excuse the behavior by saying that I'm playing with him and that he wouldn't jump on me if I threw the ball to which I explain that I'm refusing to throw the ball because I don't want to play with their dog and reward his jumping, grabbing or poor recall behavior.

They had a few more choice words for me and walked away to try and play with their dog elsewhere but after the dog exhibited the same behavior with a few other people at the park they eventually left.

Note: The dog wasn't aggressive or growling - he was just playing in a dangerous manner for such a large dog (about 50-55 lbs). I never verbally disciplined the dog or made recommendations to the owners.

TLDR: Am I the asshole for using my training techniques on a strange dog jumping on me at the dog park? What would you have done different?

Long story short. I grew up in a Muslim household so I never had any experience with dogs, things changed since the Covid lockdown where I fell in love with dogs after looking after my neighbours dog which made decide to get my own dog.

First day I'm in the park with my small Westie dog trying to train him to come to me when I call him without a lead, and I noticed this Greyhound running around the park without a lead. His owner said to me he's just trying to say hello and he's harmless, so I trusted him and then our of nowhere the Greyhound went straight to my dogs neck and he just wouldn't let go.. I thought that was it, my dog is gone but thankfully my dog injuries weren't fatal.

Since that accident, I feel my confidence has took a nosedive and I don't trust anyone. It got so extreme that other dog walkers think I'm rude or nasty for not wanting their dogs near my dog. So my question is: is my reaction normal ? If not how do I get more conformable around others people dogs ? Because right now if I see someone with a big dog, I completely panic and switch to the other side of the road.

Hey guys, I have a 7 month standard poodle who is working on his CGC right now. The biggest problem we have run in to with this dog since having him (got him at 11 weeks) is that he seems to have very little restraint when playing with people or other dogs.
Today, we took him to a dog park that we go to semi regularly since we live in an apartment with no access to a yard. We NEVER go in to the dog park if there are other dogs, and if someone else wants to use it we leave.
Today, someone came in and I approached him while my partner kept our poodle back/distracted. I asked him to let us leash our dog and leave, but he insisted that his dog could handle our dog’s high energy play. I told him that our dog would come running at his dog and bid to play, and he told me it was ok.
Naively, in hopes that our poodle could have some dog play time, I told my partner to bring him over. Our dog SPRINTED towards the other dog. Of course, the other dog was intimidated and reacted accordingly. There was no fight or anything like that. A couple barks and I grabbed my dogs collar.
The other patron was mad at us and left.
How do I teach my dog that he CANNOT approach other animals or people like that??
I’m at my wits end- he is such a kind and obedient puppy, he just loves playing. With dogs he know, he’s a great player. I just don’t know how to go about improving his reaction to other dogs.
Any and all advice or feedback is appreciated.

Edit: I for some reason did not get any notifications that I got this much feedback- thank you all SO much for all the advice!! I really appreciate it. Right now, we are working on teaching him that he was to be sitting and calm to be approached- it’s working with humans VERY well and will be trying out with familiar dogs this weekend :)
I do want to add that: Yes, we know he is high energy and needs plenty of exercise. Yes, we know dog parks are controversial. Yes, we understand that repetition creates these habits. We are first time dog owners, and are taking advice from our dog trainer who knows our dog best- first. However all these comments were SUPER helpful in gaining new perspective as well learning some tricks that will help in the moment! Thanks again everyone

I’ve had a 2-year-old Labrador/Collie mix for 5 days now, and I am hitting an absolute wall trying to train him. He is a rescue, and while you always know there's a risk with a rescue's background, he actually seems settled in the house. He is unbelievably gentle, but when it comes to training, he is completely unresponsive.

I am an experienced dog owner, but I have always raised my dogs from puppies. Dealing with an older rescue who has no foundation is a completely different ball game. Meanwhile, my Spaniel is ultra-keen, responsive, and learns fast, which makes this bottleneck even more frustrating.

Here is exactly what’s happening with the new dog:

• Zero Marker Retention: I have run a marker word 100+ times. I’ve tried a mechanical clicker, and I’ve tried verbal markers. He just does nothing. If he does look at me when I say the word, I’ll test it with random words in the same tone, and he looks at those too—meaning he’s just tracking the sound of my voice, not connecting the marker to food.
• Refuses to Sit: The only way I can get him to sit is by physically luring him with a treat directly above his nose. Without that physical lure right in front of him, he does absolutely nothing.
• Lying Down: Instead of engaging or trying to figure out what I want, he just opts out and lies down constantly during sessions.

Some background: He’s not fresh out of a shelter environment, but his last 2 months have been a little chaotic—he’s been bounced around several different homes before coming to me.

I really want to train him myself and build that bond, but my patience is wearing thin and I only have so much bandwidth before I just get a professional trainer in.

For those who have transitioned from puppies to older rescues—is he just totally shut down from moving homes despite seeming settled? How do I get a dog like this to actually engage and process a marker word when he currently gives me zero feedback?

I have a beautiful 9 month old English chocolate lab who is super smart. I, however, cannot figure out how to communicate to her that she needs to walk with a loose leash.
I have tried to everything I have seen on fixing the issue. The big issue is that my pup could not care less about treats on a walk. If I want to reward her behavior, I would have to physically push the treat into her mouth. And, yes, I have tried bringing the good stuff.

Maybe I have not found the treat so good it overrides her desire to pull.
Please help!

Update: better treats helped! I still need to work on our communication, but she was so eager for the treats I brought today. She loves the Zukes lil links, so I cut them into 4-5 pieces and took a little baggie with us.

My dog just turned 1 (aussiedoodle) and is incredibly smart and well-behaved in the house. However, he has major leash reactivity when it comes to other dogs, squirrels, and sometimes people. When there's no one around, he does really well on walks, but as soon as he sees one of the above, it all goes out the window. He got away from me earlier this week and today almost knocked me over, both times while chasing a squirrel. He barks relentlessly at other dogs on walks and through the fence.

I know he's still a puppy, but it's starting to make me nervous to take him out. If a squirrel ran into the street he would certainly drag us both into traffic. I keep hearing that he'll calm down by the time he's 2, but we were told the same thing when he turned 1.

We've tried socialization classes, training classes, an in-home trainer and nothing has worked so far. He goes to daycare regularly, and seems to do really well. He also has playdates with the neighbor's dog and does really well with her. Training has included clickers, treats, and establishing who's in charge, among other things.

The in-home trainer has been helpful for other things, but hasn't solved this, which is our main issue. Nothing so far has dulled his reactivity at all. It feels like the only options at this point are to wait it out or try an electric collar. I'm certainly open to other feedback, but I'm mostly wondering if an electric collar is worth a shot at this point.

Edit: Thank you everyone for the feedback. This is my first dog, so I'm still learning as I go along. I will definitely be using some of the methods mentioned in the comments. I think I knew that the answer would be not to use an electric collar, it's just good to get confirmation as I've been given a lot of contradicting advice up to this point. Sorry if I haven't responded to everything here, but I'm reading through it all for ideas. Thanks again!

I feel completely hopeless with my 14-month-old golden retriever. I HATE walking him- he is by far the worst dog I have ever experienced in regards to his outright defiance and inability to learn. My wife and I have been consistently training since we brought him home as a puppy, we took him to training classes as well as working with him daily since the day we got him at 8 weeks old. He isn't food-motivated (unless he's indoors and there's nothing better going on) and he also isn't toy-motivated. The only thing that has ever made a difference for him is time-outs in his pen and, as a result of this, we have a perfect dog indoors (it's literally like Jekyll and Hyde). Outdoors however is HELL due to pulling, whining and lunging at everything and everyone. We have tried almost every method in existence to help with his walking, including but not limited to:

1. Head collars (despite slowly conditioning, he never got used to them and spent weeks jumping and trying to paw it off with both paws)
2. Double leads. 3.Turning in the opposite direction when he pulls (runs in circles trying to guess the direction)
3. Stopping entirely when he pulls (incessant whining and starts running again as soon as we move)
4. Avoiding other dogs as best we can (impossible as we live in a very dog-friendly apartment by many other dog-friendly apartments to the point that 1 am isn't even a safe bet to be alone)
5. Having him sit before greeting people (we try not to let him greet anyone at all but when he does we make him sit but it doesn't make a difference for people walking past or future encounters)
6. Lure training (doesn't care about anything other than sniffing)
7. Using sniffing as a reward (he loves to sniff so this helped improve the pulling when we're alone on the street but as soon as he sees dogs it's out of the window and the pulling and whining ensues)
8. Almost every YouTube video tutorial under the sun (kikopup, Zak George to name two from my head)
9. slip collars (he'd rather strangle himself)
10. leash pressure training (this made the biggest difference but once again, out of the window when there are people/dogs)
11. super high value treats (cheddar cheese is his favourite but no interest around dogs.

He does know the heel command but only chooses to listen to it when we're completely alone. I live in a city so I don't have a car so it's not even like I can drive him to a remote place to train. Every single time we step outside the door there are so many inconsiderate people with off-leash dogs that just make him crazy, then he's too overstimulated to listen to anything and spends the entire walk whining incessantly and lunging at anything with a pulse. I try my best to avoid people but he even jumps up on strangers that come out of the elevator. I don't think I can afford a private trainer but I feel like there's been no progress in the walking regard since he was about 6 months old. I miss when he used to be scared of dogs as a puppy. I guess the only thing I have to be thankful for is the fact that he doesn't bark. We honestly feel like the only reason he is so well-behaved indoors is due to the fact he knows we will put him in the pen if he isn't- he knows that can't happen outdoors so he doesn't care at all what we say. Is there anything that I'm missing? We can't avoid dogs or people due to where we live so that's not an option.

Been 3 months of training at the park at home. Not much progress. I know he knows the cue because when he was younger he would readily drop anything for treats. Now he values toys much higher. At the park I bring two different throws led and alternate only throwing the second when he drops the first. Usually takes 45 seconds to 2 minutes for him to drop it. At home…he kinda just stares at me.

I feel like his goal in life is to hold as many tennis balls at once as he can

My husky (Ares) bit my son on the 8th. My son is almost 3 and is developmentally challenged. I think the bite happened because Ares was corned on the couch next to our other dog (Maya) and my wife and daughter (9 months).

My son was shoving his hand in our dog's face asking for kisses. Something he had done in the past (but not when a dog was stuck on the side of the couch.) They would lick his hand and he would giggle and excitedly rinse and repeat. I think (not an expert) that the excited doing this while Ares felt crowded is what triggered the bite. My concern is a lack of warning, no growl or anything. Maya (the other dog) immediately attacked Ares. Wife moved my son and daughter away, and I was in another room, went in to break up the dog fight.

My question is what now. We were going to rehome the dog and had some in-laws that would have loved to but are not in a position to take him. I attempted a craigslist ad, all but one seemed to be interested in getting a bait dog, the other one was fine, but they had an 8-year-old and I felt like letting them take Ares would be like handing a problem off to someone else.

Currently, we keep him separated by using gates, letting him lay in the bedroom, or having him in the kennel. We are not walking him with the kids right now, and they are not in the back yard together.

I know this is probably my fault. Treating areas like a family member instead of just a dog. I am asking for help and suggestions on how to move forward. I will not kill Ares. I do not want to rehome him, but I don't know how to make it work at home where my wife, children and I feel confident playing with Ares. We are not rich, so sending my 9-year-old husky off to training bootcamp is out of the question. Advice, criticism and suggestions appreciated.

edit: fix bit vs bite originally posted on r/husky

To be clear, the baby is completely fine. It was more of a nip resulting in a small scratch. However it's on my baby's face and I don’t want to ignore what happened or minimize the issue.

Context:

I have a 3 month old baby, and two dogs, a 6 year old Lab and a 3 year old Golden. This happened with the Lab. I was feeding the baby on the couch and the Lab was sitting next to me, curled up and resting. I moved the baby to my shoulder to burp him and the dog sat up and started leaning forward to sniff the baby. I should have stopped it there, and probably shouldn't have been next to the dog at all. The dog looked curious and was moving towards the baby slowly, and he had every opportunity to leave the couch. Then he growled and made contact with the baby's face and got off the couch. Afterwards he sat at my feet. I wanted to rationalize that maybe they just collided heads and it was an accident, but the dog growled and showed his teeth.

The dog’s history:

He has been around children in the past with no issues. We've had puppies and he was gentle and attentive. He loves people and has never been aggressive towards anyone. He doesn't guard food or toys, but will guard bones. He will allow me or my partner to take the bone, and allows even our other dog to take it from him. We discourage this and give them bones in separate rooms and generally let him have space. He plays with the other dog outside, and they sleep together, but he otherwise keeps to himself in the house. He goes to doggy daycare every week and they love him there.

He is a nervous guy. He shakes at loud noises and doesn’t love his feet being touched. He loves the vet but does get scared when they move him, take blood, etc. Never growled, never put up his hackles. Just shaking and licking, which they are cautious about, obviously.

He's very much MY dog and loves me very much. He seeks comfort from me when he's scared and shows signs of depression when I'm gona from the house for more than a few days. I know he's an animal and we wanted to be cautious of that with the baby no matter what was their disposition. Overall this dog has always just been incredibly sweet and happy most of the time.

Our prep:

Since bringing the baby home we have focused on two things, #1 we kept them separated, and #2 we maintained the dogs' routine and tried to keep up with their exercise. The dogs were not allowed to sniff or be near the bassinet, or any baby items. There is a gated off area in the living room where we (normally) feed the baby, he plays on the floor, and sits in his bouncy chair. We have allowed the dogs to sniff the baby's feet a few times while we hold him, always surpervised and only if they're curious and approach us willingly. Alos only for a few moments before we redirect them and usually give them treats to encourage leaving the baby alone, and just positive interactions while the baby is around.

We have a huge gated backyard where they get daily play, fetch, and run around. And they also go to doggy daycare regularly, which we made sure to take them to, even during the newborn stage. It was hard, but they seem over all happy.

What to do now?

I am already going to take my dog to the vet to see if he's in any pain, has anything going on, and to maybe address his nervousness with meds if they suggest it.

I already have a trainer we've worked with in the past who helped us with barking, walking on leash, positive reinforcement, etc. I plan to call them immediately and see what they can help us with.

I have the resources and the time for training, keeping them separate, and getting medical care for the dog if needed. My partner and I work from home, and he is also willing to do whatever it takes. My mother helps with the baby in the house during the day. She loves dogs, and has fostered multiple reactive resuces in the past. She also can take my dog to her house from some baby free time.

HOWEVER... in my brief searching here on Reddit, it seems like there's so many stories of people doing everything right with great dogs, and still their children get bitten and hurt. Does any one have any success stories? I know it will only get harder when my baby starts crawling, walking, eating food at the table, and generally being a kid. Part of me thinks that the internet is only doom and gloom, and we can work it out. But the other part of me thinks it's inevitable. My dog is going to bite my baby again only worse. Then it will be even harder to rehome him or I'll have to put him down, which will abolsutely break my heart. My baby's safety is obviously my first priority. I'm willing to rehome my dog becuase I want him to have the best life, but do I have any hope at all of things getting better?

TLDR; it seems like from searching here that even if the bite was small and the dog is generally well behaved, that it will happen again and I have no choice but to rehome my dog. Does anyone have any success stories with a dog and baby living amicably in their home? I don't need them to be best friends at all. I just want everyone to be safe.

I was walking my 7 month old golden retriever at an on leash trail tonight. There are multiple signs throughout that say dogs must remain on leash. I turned a corner and saw people walking two dogs, both off leash. We were probably 200m from eachother so I stopped and distracted my dog with treats to give them time to put their dogs on leash. One of the dogs bolted towards us and was growling, snarling, snapping it's teeth, and it's hackles we're all the way up. My puppy is already afraid of most dogs because she was attacked twice already by off leash dogs so she dropped to the ground right behind me. I put my leg out to block the dog from my dog (I would rather it bite my leg than my dog) and accidentally "kicked" it. I put that in quotations because my shin touched the dogs side with barely any force. The owner finally came over and asked if her dog was growling. I responded "yeah and he was also snarling and snapping". Her response was "well you didn't need to kick him". I wanted to say something about it being an on leash area and I was genuinely scared her dog was going to bite my dog but I could tell my dog was really scared so I just walked away as fast as possible. I figured it wasn't going to change anything anyways. I will be the first to admit that my brain froze and I completely forgot what to do when a dog charges you and I probably could've handled this better. But was I out of line by "kicking" the dog, even if it was an accident? I will accept as much advice on how to handle this better next time as you all are willing to provide.

Second part, I'm going to go get some pet corrector spray so I'm more prepaid when this happens again. What's the best way to condition your dog to the sound of it? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: thank you for all of the affirmations and suggestions. With that being said, please don't comment if you're just going to suggest I hurt or shoot their dog. I would do anything to protect my dog except cause deliberate and excessive harm to the other dog

I'm not sure if i should be intervening more or less. Older dog is about 3. 50mg trazodone 2x a day for anxiety and definitely has some issues w excitement threshold.

So puppy is with us about 2 weeks and shes perfect. My pit came with some excitement reactivity from the shelter and I'm working on it still. She and the puppy are my first adult dogs though ive had many dogs growing up.

I think the play looks like my pit is TOO excited and the puppy isnt giving any vocal hints that its too much. She did a weird twist once and yelped and my other dog immediately stopped. If we separate them the puppy is immediately ready to reengage

- like immediately.

This is also the first time my dog has had a size equal dog want to play with her so i think she gets too hyped and forgets shes about 40lbs heavier.

They cuddle, chew on stuff side by side, and are otherwise perfect. The older dog gives really appropriate corrections, no resource guarding, potty training took 5 minutes, and the puppy is learning commands pretty quick

Thoughts? I guess I'm wondering id I'm overthinking it or if my instinct to help them calm down a bit is correct.