My 12 year-old dog died unexpectedly and I meant to get a year or two year-old dog and I somehow ended up with a puppy. I thought in six months he would be a dog. I had no idea that I had years of this. We cleaned up the back deck for him and power washed it and made it all pristine and perfect, and I just caught him with a bolt in his mouth. I hope he didn’t eat anything else. I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t imagine doing this for two years.

When does it get better? When does it get to the point where you have a companion that doesn’t eat all your furniture and swallow tool components, and pee all over the house?

I should’ve got a two year-old dog.

I recently got a 9 week old miniature schnauzer. I work night shift and my fiancée works day shift. This means that 4 days out of the week, I’ll be going to be at 8am - 4pm. My puppy has a big area fenced off in the kitchen with pee pads, toys, water, food, and their bed. Would it be detrimental for them to be alone for those 7 hours? Or should I be waking up mid sleep to check on them? I’m worried that checking up on them in between will rile him up again before I go back to sleep.

I’m worried that I’m doing something wrong here. I want to be a good dog parent and I feel really bad for the little guy. He won’t be crated during the 7 hours but he sleeps in his crate at night.

I’m with him all day on my days off especially since I stay up late at night.

I work a high liability job and I need my sleep. Currently my sleep has been wrecked and I just feel sad and guilty about not being the best dog dad.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with this? Thanks.

My mini dachshund, Archie, just turned 7 months old! He’s generally a pretty mellow puppy, and he does great at the dog park. He plays nicely with other dogs there, so I know he can interact well with them in certain environments.

However, recently, I’ve noticed some new behaviors that I’m struggling to understand:

1. Barking at children: He has started barking at kids we encounter, which he didn’t used to do.
2. Reactivity on walks: He has started barking at other dogs while we’re out walking, even though he plays well with dogs at the dog park.
3. Eating poop: He has also been eating poop on walks, and I’m having a really hard time getting him to stop.

I’m wondering if this could be related to adolescence, fear, excitement, or some combination of these things. I’m especially confused about why he does so well with other dogs at the park but reacts to them on walks.

Has anyone else experienced these behaviors around this age? What training techniques have worked for you? I’d really appreciate any advice on how to address these issues before they become more ingrained. I want to help Archie feel comfortable and confident around other dogs and children while making our walks more enjoyable for both of us!

I have a 4-month-old female puppy, supposedly a Jack Russell x Pomeranian, who I’ve had since she was 11 weeks old.

The good:

She’s affectionate, playful, clever, funny and full of personality. She can be incredibly sweet and cuddly, sleeps well in her crate when I’m nearby and has made good progress with toilet training. When she’s good, she’s absolutely lovely, and I adore her.

The bad:

Her biggest issue is being left alone. The second I leave the room, she screams, cries, scratches doors and sometimes tries to escape her crate. She can cry for ages, even after being settled to sleep. I’ve tried gradual departures, reassurance, calming music and consistent routines, but nothing seems to stick.

I work full-time but return during the day. She was improving until I had a week off, and now she’s regressed massively.

She’s also extremely mouthy when playing and sometimes gets so overexcited that she repeatedly bites and won’t stop when told no.

I’ve found that firmly saying “no” and occasionally giving a very gentle smack on her bottom interrupts this behaviour. Similarly, when she’s screaming in her covered crate, firmly shushing her and hitting/tapping the outside of the crate often makes her immediately lie down and go to sleep.

I realise these methods may not be ideal, and I want to understand whether she’s actually learning or just reacting to being startled.

Toilet training is another struggle. She’s generally good at home but completely regresses at my boyfriend’s family home, sometimes having 20+ accidents in a week. She’s also nervous around unfamiliar noises.

How I feel:

I’m honestly exhausted. Some days I love having her, and other days I dread being alone with her because the constant crying and need for attention overwhelm me.

I feel like my entire life revolves around her, and despite trying so hard, we keep going backwards.

I genuinely want to keep her and give her a happy life, but I’m struggling with the puppy blues.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Does the separation anxiety improve with age? How did you manage working full-time, overexcited biting and teaching independence? I’d particularly appreciate advice on alternatives to firm physical corrections that actually work she really isn’t scared of us and this is the only way to actually get her to settle we find.

I don’t want any suggestions ie baby gate leaving calmly as I have ticked all of it off already but she genuinely will just cry and cry unless she is dealt with firmly. I find it a lot easier when at my partners but struggle so much on my own I feel like I hate her when he’s not around even though I love her deep down but I know this is just disappointment and frustration from the lack of progress. I worry I’m not a good dog mum because I’m not as patient as other are.

I have a 4-month-old Australian Labradoodle who's been home for almost a month. We started crate training right away, and he had already had some crate training with his breeder.

He's great in his crate at night! He sleeps from around 8 PM to 5 AM without any issues.

Daytime is a different story.

He sleeps peacefully in his crate if I'm nearby watching TV or reading, but as soon as I leave his sight, he often wakes up and starts whining or barking.

I've tried covering three sides of the crate and partially covering the front, along with white noise and calming music. He doesn't seem to dislike the crate itself. He just wants me nearby.

He's naturally very shy, cautious, and easily frightened, so I spent the first two weeks helping him settle in without pushing him too much.

For the past two weeks, I've been practicing short absences twice a day. We started with just stepping out of sight and coming right back, then gradually increased to 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and so on.

We're now entering our third week of training, and I can step outside through the front door for about a minute.

Luckily, I'm home most of the time, so there's no urgent need to leave him alone for long periods. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm taking things too slowly.

At this pace, getting to one or two hours feels so far away!

I've read that puppies need to learn to self-soothe and that some people simply leave them alone for 5–10 minutes, even if they whine or bark, and gradually increase the time. So I'm wondering if that approach might actually be better than what I'm doing now. I don't want to push him too hard, but I also don't want to be overly cautious and slow down his progress.

Other than this, he's a pretty easy puppy. He stayed with his breeder until 14 weeks old, around adult dogs and his littermates. He's never been mouthy with people, and surprisingly, he only plays with and chews his own toys. He's teething and chews his toys until they're practically falling apart, but he doesn't seem interested in chewing furniture, shoes, or other household items.

He's also very gentle with my children and our senior cat. I sometimes wonder if his cautious personality is why he seems so comfortable staying within familiar boundaries.

Am I doing the right thing by taking it this slowly? Does progress eventually speed up, or should I start encouraging him to self-soothe even if that means some whining? My goal is simply for him to feel comfortable being alone for an hour or two.

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you!

I have a nine month old German shepherd mix in the throes of adolescence. She came to us at four months pretty much fully potty trained. She had a few accidents here and there but most of the time it was because I was a first time dog owner and failed to pick up on her cues.

She usually slept through the night without potty breaks, up until the past few days. Now she wakes me up on average twice a night to use the bathroom, and I don’t understand why the sudden change. I don’t think it’s an underlying health issue because we follow her normal potty routine throughout the day (we go out every 3-4 hours) and there are no issues there.

I just wanted to ask: is this a normal part of the adolescent regression I keep hearing about? Are there some lifestyle changes I can make to avoid these late night potty breaks? Any guidance is so appreciated!

Hi my 7mo old puppy got his neck latched onto by this massive (I mean over 90lb) lab yesterday and now I'm worried about my dog's mental and emotional state. I already filed a police report and took him to the vet and have contact with the owner. Somehow he managed to get out of that with 0 punctures and just a tweaked ankle (i'm sure it's bc he has a lot of loose skin on his neck. Luckily, he still seemed excited towards other dogs considering he kept trying to go up to other dogs in the lobby as we were leaving the vet which I hope this didn't make him even more reactive to dogs) Anyways, when he got home he became so much more affectionate with me which is unlike him bc he prefers my bf and I assume it's so he would feel comforted. He seemed a little lethargic this morning, most likely bc he feels sore and overall sad and I'm not sure what I can do to make him feel better. I can't take him out rn since he has a limp but I also cant rough house with him either bc my hand got injured from the incident. Maybe some kongs and puzzles? I don't know what other low impact activity I can do with him. Are there any games that I can double with training? btw DON'T JUMP IN AND TRY TO STOP A DOG FIGHT

Hello. My Maltipoo puppy is 4month old, had had for nearly 2 month now.
I am trying to potty train her but nothing seems to stick with her. One time she will use the pad and next time she does everything on the carpet. I am trying to be gentle with her and follow her to pad after eating and playing, waking up … but she sneaks out to do it on the carpet. Problem is she is very small and yet not fully vaccinated to go out so I don’t have an option of taking her outside.
Additionally she started eating her poo… i had her to the vet obviously, they gave us medication to use for her to stop but nothing affects her. It is very mentally tiring and i feel like I’m doing something wrong, please suggest whatever is possible.
❤️❤️

My cocker spaniel puppy (9 months old) has always been being naughty whilst I sleep, but I've not known how to stop it. I've finally decided to ask for advice for it because it is starting to annoy me! He does things like take things from under my bed to chew, can take books off of shelves which he shreds, and will knock off the clothes basket at night and chew clothes. The issue is that I don't wake up when he does any of this because I'm a deep sleeper, but he knows he's not allowed to do it because he only does it when I'm asleep, not awake. I have safe chews and a ball that he can't choke on in the room (he shreds any other toys at night) so I know that he does have options for good behaviours. I also don't want to crate him at night because I've been trying to owner train him to be my service dog (which he is well behaved for as it is only at night that I struggle). Any tips?

My boy is recently 6mo old and the teenager period is setting in.

It is starting to be winter where I live (and we get real winter here). I was recently stalked by a man in his car on a morning walk with my puppy and then the next day, someone intentionally drove into a puddle to splash us in 34°F weather. Yes, these were traumatizing. The former for me and the latter for him.

So I'm not enthusiastic about morning walks in the dark anymore. I got him good jackets and can put on warm clothes myself but the walks in the dark don't feel particularly safe anymore.

We, of course, still do plenty of walks (during the day), training, sniffing, and stimulation. Just a lot of it is having to be pushed back into the day when it becomes light and a bit warmer out.

He is just an absolute menace in the mornings (before exercise) and the evenings (when he's tired to overtired from the day but having a hard time settling). Extra barking, running around, pushing his (14yo, tired) sister's and my buttons, generally getting into new mischief, and so much more fuss and attitude when I try to help/get him to settle and rest when I know he needs it.

In the mornings, he will settle after breakfast so I can work (fully remote worker) but the snuffle mat/feeders for breakfast are not enough to take the edge off his morning sillies.

We are looking into a slatmill. I know we'll have to pair it with equal amounts (and probably more) of other kinds of mental stimulation but we need to get the edge off of some of his energy when it is less feasible to go outside. We don't have anywhere we can "try before we buy" so we're really hoping he can enjoy it through careful and thorough exposure, desensitization, gradual introduction, etc.

Puppy teen period is the final boss of self-regulating to not lose it. But man he can be such a wild little goblin.

Brought home an 8 week old golden retriever puppy on the 16th of October. Since then he's been good with toilet training with expected accidents the first couple of days and is up to usual puppy antics. He knows sit, touch, go to bed and leave it and is halfway there with lie down.

Crate training is where the problem lies. Since getting him I've taught him "go to bed" and will lock him in for increasing periods of time and leave the room and he's doing okay with that, the occasional whine but when released is happy to get treats etc.

Through the day I've enforced crated naps however after the other day where we had to leave him alone for 45mins in his crate to go food shopping he's regressed. When we came back his paws were drenched from sweating and his chin from drooling which I know is a massive sign of stress, I felt absolutely awful when I got home.

He used to go in the crate himself during the day and night and put himself to bed but now will only fall asleep on the couch or floor and has to be moved to his crate. He's obviously lost trust.

He also has a bad habit of contact calling through the night. If he wakes up and barks I'll take him out, he'll wake up once for a pee or poo around 1-3AM however wakes up and doesn't need a wee sometimes. I've started learning the difference between an "I need outside" cry and a "I want your attention/contact" cry. When we first got him I'd take him out the crate and let him fall asleep next to me which is where I think the problem lies, he's gotten used to being let out to fall asleep.  I've stopped doing that the past week or so and instead open the crate door and block it with my knees so he has to fall asleep in the crate. He'll grumble and whine but finally settle down. He won't quieten down if I sit next to him and keep the crate locked.

My problem is I can't keep sitting next to him each time he wakes up to whine and he doesn't need the toilet. If he settles in the crate and I move before hes asleep he starts crying for me to sit back next to him. I've been sleeping on the couch since we got him. It's the same when I leave the room during the day even if he's out of the crate - he'll sit at the living room door and cry for 5-10 minutes before settling down - the issue is sometimes he doesn't and will cry until I return to the living room.

I know he's only 10 nearly 11 weeks now but was wondering if anyone has any tips for reducing this behaviour or how I should move forward rebuilding that trust?

Hi everyone!

My partner and I are hoping to bring home our first puppy in about 2.5 weeks. We're going to visit the litter for the first time this weekend, so we're holding off on buying too much until then.

We're expecting a retro french bulldog puppy and live in an apartment with a small balcony.

I'd love to hear your advice on a few things:

What are the absolute essentials we should have ready before bringing our puppy home?

What did you buy that turned out to be unnecessary or a waste of money?

Are there any specific brands or products you'd recommend (or avoid), for things like harnesses, beds, crates, puppy pens and toys?

What setup worked best for you at home, especially in an apartment? Crate, puppy pen, or both?

I'd love to hear your experiences, especially anything you wish you'd known beforehand. We'd rather buy a few useful things than end up with loads of stuff we don't need!

Thanks! :)

We got a pup and she is 14 weeks.

We are using crate and it seems to be working really well. She sleeps through the night, potty training as just accelerated with no mishaps inside the house since past 4 days now. We got her 7 days ago.

We are following the general rule where 2 hrs sleep and 1 hr wake window through the day..

After her lunch and training around 1 we get her into crate around 2 and she wakes up around 4 on her own.

The problem now is that I work and get off around 5.

For that 1 hr how do I make her settle.

I know frozen kongs can work but I want something permanent where she understands that not all wake windows are a playtime outside or her play pen..

If I keep her in crate, she will just bark and scratch constantly..

So, my 12 week old golden retriever puppy has been battling Diarrhea/soft stool for awhile now and we’re trying to find out what the root cause is (fecal and vet check ups were negative for any giardia/worms/parasites). It may be because we were giving him different types of treats and chews, or also because he ended his round of doxy antibiotics about a week and a half ago for kennel cough.

Some high value treats I was trying out:
- Crumps Dehydrated Beef Liver
- Crumps Beef Trainers
- Crumps Duck Trainers
- Chews: Beef Collagen Chew and N Bone Puppy Teething Rings

I’m worried that we have tried too many things and it’s upset his stomach so now I’m looking for any reco’s for high value treats or chews that are gentle on the stomach. He absolutely loves the beef collagen chew but I’m worried it may be too rich for his puppy tummy and causing loose stools.

I have a six month old Morkie. He is a sweetie, but loves to play more than anything, he’s still teething it seems, and bites quite a bit, he was potty trained for about a week and now has forgot. He wants to play, and get into everything he shouldn’t. He does know better because as soon as he does something he shouldn’t he runs away from us because we try putting him in his playpen. When do they chill out a bit? Haha

Our puppy is crate trained and sleeps the entire night inside it. He is 7 month Keeshond.

It is not exactly hot now, but he pants during night and he seems to enjoy the fan blowing partially on him which makes not pant during the night (we have a blanket that cuts off part of the crate so he doesnt get fully blasted).

I'm a bit concerned if this can cause any health issues by having a fan blowing on him, anyone got experience surrounding this?

Yes he has full access to a water bowl that is connected to the crate inside.

I think one of the biggest challenges of raising a puppy is figuring out when to play with them and when to let them learn how to relax on their own.

My puppy is 1yo, a dachshund, and I've had them since she's still a puppy. So far, I've tried walks, training sessions, chew toys, and puzzle toys, but she just doesn't care.

I know puppies need exercise, mental stimulation, attention, and plenty of rest. But I also think learning to settle independently is an important skill. I don't want to accidentally teach my puppy that every quiet moment means it's time for another activity.

I'm trying to find a balance between meeting their needs and helping them become comfortable relaxing while I'm working or doing things around the house.

How did you teach your puppy to settle down on their own? Did you use a specific training method, reward calm behavior, or follow a consistent nap schedule?

I'd especially appreciate advice from people whose puppies struggled to switch off even after playtime.

Puppies bring so much love into our lives, but let's be honest: raising one isn't always as easy as it looks! Between unexpected behavior, training struggles, and those moments when you wonder if you're doing everything wrong, puppy parenting can be emotionally exhausting. Even the cutest little troublemakers can test your patience!

If you're raising a puppy right now, what's been your biggest challenge so far? And for experienced dog owners, what's one piece of advice you wish you'd known when you first brought your puppy home? Let's share some encouragement and remind each other that we're all learning along the way!

I have a puppy 10 weeks old. Some days I feel like my puppy has unlimited energy while I'm running on empty. What activities actually keep your puppy busy without requiring you to constantly entertain them?

My puppy can be an absolute handful at home, but the moment someone else is around, I start wondering if I'm the problem 😂

I know puppies are still learning and consistency matters, but it's hard not to get frustrated when you feel like you've been working on the same thing for days and there's barely any progress.

Some days training goes well, other days it feels like we've forgotten everything we learned yesterday.

I guess I'm just curious if this is a normal part of raising a puppy or if other people have found something that actually helped.

Basically the title says it all. A bit of TMI, but it seems like my puppy just leaks out his anal gland "juice" (?) only when he lays next to me. Other than that, it doesn't seem to happen. Anybody experience this?

Hi, I have a 4 month puppy . She's a Shih Tzu and I had her for 2 months. Potty training has been great except that when she poops she eats her poop. I have to watch her like a hawk to remove the poop from her. She wakes up twice at night to poop. It's been hard for me to wake up twice a night to get her poop. She has different times when she goes. If I don't make it on time she already ate it. I asked the vet and said it was normal for puppies and eventually grow out of it.

Does your puppy eat its own poop, and how did you stop it ? Thanks.

Our 11 week-old Yorkshire terrier is a generally very happy little pup and I think on the whole my fiancée and I are doing a decent job taking care of her. We have a big shortcoming when it comes to her being separated from us, however. She has no problem going in and out of her cage and will do so throughout the day, but she will not tolerate the door being closed at all, even if one of us is right on the other side of the door. Her crying will quickly turn into sharp barks and little proto-howls. She almost immediately will not respond to voice or food which really concerns me. We have a little camera set up to monitor her when we're not around and she will settle periodically but only for spells of 15 minutes max before it's back to torture sounds.

Admittedly our crate training has focused on the little travel crate which she's sleeping in (and she's not a massive fan of that either), and we're only realising recently how much of a problem this is going to be. We've been fortunate enough to be able to string together almost 4 weeks of time off to look after her after bringing her home but that time is coming to an end and to my mind she's not at all ready for us to leave her to go to work.

I've raised this concern with my fiancée who has had dogs all her life (this is my first) and she is of the opinion that we just need to let her cry it out, that she will get used to it, and I'm being too soft hearted about it. I would love that to be true but I suspect that her anxiety/terror is beyond what we should be letting her handle on her own and most of all that this will impact her negatively in the future.

I'd love to get your thoughts on whether I'm being too sensitive and/or what we can do to reverse her feelings towards the cage. If there's a mod approved method of sharing videos here I'd be happy to show some of the camera footage to illustrate my point.

That is all. I’ve had dogs before and this 5 month old rescue is so difficult. I feel trapped in my house and want to cry constantly.

She hates outsides and also screams her head off when I leave the house for 2 seconds.

I feel so defeated. Maybe an older dog would’ve been a better choice, but she needed a home.

We currently put our 6 month old puppy in a playpen in the kitchen when we leave. She does great in it but there are a few things. When we got her at 3 months, she was doing well just being blocked off in the kitchen (our kitchen is quite small). But as of a few weeks ago she began chewing on the chair legs/windowsill/baseboards. And she actually escaped one day into the living room (where our 6-year old dog is).

Since then we have made some adjustments. I bought her a few toys that resemble the feeling of wood (because I figured she was liking the wood texture of things so that could satisfy that urge for her) and we have given her less access to the kitchen. She is now enclosed in the playpen in middle of the kitchen so she can’t reach anything. We leave her bed, a few toys & her water and she does really well! She sleeps, stays relaxed, and plays with her toys.

The thing is we would like to eventually give her full access to the house. We had tested it out a few times and gated them in the living room & every time she would try to chew on the couch and wouldn’t settle.

But then when she snuck into the living room that one day she did really well and was able to settle fine. Also, when I work from home in my office I leave her in the kitchen in the mornings & let her and our other dog in the living room together and she does fine then too. So today when I came to let them out at my lunch I tested it again and at first she was fine. But then she became so excited and started zooming around the couch and started pulling the stuffing out of one our cushions that was already kinda broke. And she could NOT settle. I came home early and put her in the kitchen and now she’s sleeping.

All that to say, does anyone have suggestions on how I can slowly give her more access to the house? Or how I can eventually leave her with my other dog? She seems to be overexcited when she’s left with our other dog but idk how to fix that. Any suggestions or insight would be helpful!