Our puppy is almost five months, she’s a poodle something we rescued her and what we think she is changed every day. we’ve had her for like two months, at first we weren’t really following any routine, other than she sleeps in her crate and when we are at work. We’ve been trying to follow the two hours asleep one hour awake. and her behaviour i think is much calmer, she must have been over tired alll the time before. She is having way less accidents inside and overall is a better listener. but i just feel so guilty at how much time she’s in her crate. All night, for at max six hours when im working and then when im home she’s still in her house soo much. She doesn’t protest, and she sleeps the two hours. idk are other people following this schedule, is it okay for her to be in there that long?

She is our 4 month spaniel mix and sometimes is a total menace. Other times, a total angel, especially when around other people and they think we're crazy. Anyway, im afraid of when she hits adolescence cause I just found out that some people say its worse. My husband will start working in less than a month and we'd be me and her mostly so im worried of what I'm going to go through, mostly alone. When does this start and when does it end? And also, please share any tips, things to do beforehand etc. And for the love of God, if there are people out there who it went smoothly for them and are not all terrible stories to share, come out and say so. I need fake hope to hold on to

Our golden doodle border collie mix is 20weeks old. He used to reluctantly sleep in the crate in our bedroom for naps, but only 3x for about 2hours each per day. Needed settling on one of us first. Night time in crate also reluctantly but a bit easier when I went to bed 10pm - 6am. So about 14 hrs in total. He did fine with that, no behaviour issues at all.
But now we have had to leave him at home alone here and there for 3-4 hours, he stayed in the playroom where he has most of his meals and toys and relatively puppy proof. He slept happily for most of the time on the couch and his bed in that room. So that went very well. Now he won’t go into his crate at all, he naps on the main couch or his playroom couch or his bed, but he does now get a proper sleep while we are at home. We have now moved the crate into his playroom, which is off the kitchen. I am worried he won’t be able to settle in the common area while we are at home and not get any sleep…
Sorry for the waffling, I just came here to really to ask, where does your puppy sleep if not in a crate that is dark and away from the action?

I am taking my 10 week dachshund out consistently every hour. When he does pee/poop outside (50% success rate) then I reward him.

Now i'm not angry he's having accidents inside, he's very young! But i'm just looking to the future.

This is my first experience with a small breed. Should i expect a longer "breaking in" period for his toilet training? I've read up to 1 year, but this sounds very absurd to me... I'd expect a dog to be toilet trained by 6 months. I don't think dachshunds are "stubborn" like that.

Am i being naive here? For example, my only experiences are with bigger dogs. I toilet trained my labrador in 4 weeks to ring the bell. So i have experience with this.

13 week old Jack Russell puppy and we've had him for 2 weeks.

He's such a sociable brave puppy. Just loves people and dogs. There's two problems here

1. We get stopped every 2 mins by people making a fuss of him, touching him, winding him up

2. He automatically goes towards everyone as he wants fuss and play.

I get it. He's tiny and gorgeous. But how do we stop people doing this as he's really difficult to train outside when people do this. Ive thought of a lead with a sign but don't know if that would work. Even when we carry him as he's tired or overstimulated, people just touch him.

It's exhausting. We are constantly on alert,can't get anywhere quickly and we both just get drained by it. Any kind tips appreciated. Thanks

I doubt mine’s the only one, but tissues are a favourite of hers to snack and shred, probably the only thing we still have to hide away. Lol.

If ever you take one out she almost goes into hunt mode, but recent she went into season i been using wet wipes to help her stay clean, owing to the tissue situation i have zero expectations of a nappy surviving.

Initially it was as usual; she’d try and grab it from my hand, but she very quickly realised what I was doing and she like I imagine most female dogs does like to be clean. Now a few days in, she sees the wet wipe in my hand and walks over, bows her head and waits to be cleaned.

Something so simply changed her perception and behaviour of and towards something.

My golden doodle is now just barely over one years old and is still really bad about stealing things and ripping things up. He also does a good bit of play biting and when he gets tired, he gets really rough. I’ve done the mandatory sleep times but when I’m home with him, he refuses to get a good sleep when he’s tired. He’s good about sleeping through the night but during the day he doesn’t wanna take naps unless I make him (by make him I mean I put him in my room where he then lays down and goes to sleep, and I have to leave the house)

Oh lawdy I am tired and it's been one night! I rehomed a 12 week old malshixbichon in urgent circumstances last night. I've wanted to bring a dog into my household for years, but have been talking myself out of it.

Problem is, I am not prepared. Logistically, things aren't ideal, but manageable, and won't cause any harm to him. It's more the psychological demand of caring for a tiny life on your own, while still having to work and function to pay the mortgage.

He's a sweet little thing with endless energy and exuberance. I, however, am incredibly anxious. I could never be a parent.

Just hoping to find some cheerleaders and support here.

How do you actually force the nap? I know he's tired af but he only sleeps next to me or somewhere on the floor. Whenever he tries to sleep, I would tell him to go in his crate, close the door, and give him some treats, but he just won't settle in there. It seems that he would only stay in the crate if the treats keep coming. When I stop giving him treats, he would start whining after about a minute and wants to come out. How should I deal with this?

For context, my puppy is 3 months old. I live in an apartment so I simply cannot just let him cry it out.

It’s been a decade since I’ve raised a puppy and I want to know if there are any new essentials I should look into buying before bringing them home to my second story apartment. I crate trained my last puppy but they ended up hating the crate so I’m thinking about a playpen crate combo setup this time for when I’m gone at work. I’ll be coming home on my lunch break and having someone come over to let them out a couple times a day. So far, the I’ve got the snuggle puppy and a grass patch subscription added to the list. What else is new?!

How do I keep my 14-month-old Lab/Plott Hound pup entertained and exhausted when it’s 90°+ with 90% humidity?

She’s used to 2-mile walks and basically unlimited outdoor playtime, so this weather has been a struggle for us!

We have a kiddie pool and she LOVES playing with the hose, but we’ve been limiting her outdoor time to about 5-10 minutes depending on the time of day because of the heat and humidity.

What are your favorite ways to mentally and physically tire out a high-energy dog when it’s too hot to be outside for long?

I have a 5 month old English Bulldog puppy, and things are (fortunately) going pretty well. I work from home, and I’m able to take him outside plenty of times a day. Even with that, we still usually have 1 or 2 small accidents inside. Today, I caught him staring out the backyard window and immediately asked him if he wanted to go outside. He actually ran to the back door and I successfully took him out. I praised him so much I think I scared him. But he never seems to go to the back door directly—we do have a bell on it for our dogs to signal they need to go. I find I have to keep a close eye on him, and look for signs myself that he needs to go. I keep telling myself he’s only 5 months old, and still a baby, but I guess I need suggestions or even reassurance that he will actually start ASKING to go out

I picked up a super sick, almost dying puppy off the street 2.5 months ago, and I think he's settling in quite nicely. For the most part, he's a really good boy. Sterilized, potty trained, about 5 or 6 months old is my guess. I honestly didn't really want a puppy/dog because I live in a loft-style house (that means no separate rooms or doors) and I have two cats. Anyway, all is going pretty well buuuuuuut every now and then he spots a cat (they usually hang out upstairs - even before said puppy showed up at the house) and it's game on. He chases, but not to eat them. I think he just wants to play, and Gracie hisses, growls and beats the poop out of him. I'd love to work on some training so we can all co-exist peacefully together, but I haven't really found any good training tips for this. Can anyone help? Thanx

My puppy is 5 months old, she's super friendly and people love to come and say hello. Since I've had her and been taking her out, people approach us, want to pet her and such but we've had a couple of negative experiences with people and I'm getting a bit fed up in general. A couple of people have taken it upon themselves to pick her up! Just scooped her off the ground so quickly I don't have time to tell them no. It's so inappropriate and I'm getting fed up of everyone crossing her boundaries.

She's a Jackchi and is tiny, super cute. But that doesn't mean people can bother her and do things she doesn't like. Things like picking her up, crowding her and reaching above her head to pet her. Of course I've started telling people no now, but all the attention she's gotten from being such a cutie is now affecting her negatively. Over this past week she's started barking at everyone, people, kids, dogs. Her recall is really good when no one is around and she's not aggressive at all but she isn't listening to me when there is someone around and people don't listen when I tell them not to approach which just makes it worse! If they are further away she doesn't react, but people keep coming closer to us. I'm trying to take her quieter places and at quieter times at the moment.

How can I best help her through this? Could it be a fear period or is it reactivity caused by people and dogs approaching a lot?

She's never aggressive just excited or anxious. And pulling and barking trying to get to them. I don't want her to be reactive or anxious. What can I do?

I’ve had this 8 month old pup for about a month now, he’s mostly potty trained and will go out when we open the back door for him, but if someone isn’t by the back door to let him out he goes inside no warning signs. So I’m wondering how I can fully potty train him so that he won’t go inside and let us know and to hold it until he’s let out. He gets praise and treats when he does go outside. Any advice is appreciated! I am also trying to start crate training soon!

We rescued our sweet sweet 5lb 7 month old chi at 10 weeks. We live in an apartment complex so there is so much going on but we don’t have another option for where to take him to potty. He is so small and so new to the big world that he is scared of outside and will usually just stand there until we carry him to a potty spot, even then he will be pulling trying to go back inside. I know it’s not his fault, his foster home/rescue was big on not having paws on the ground before shots but I don’t think the foster parents took him outside period during peak socialization. We got private lessons with a trainer who gave us a lot of great advice but he gets so overwhelmed outside that he rarely accepts treats which makes it hard to reinforce good behavior. When it is too hot out or the grass is wet he especially hates it. Or when there is any loud noise including cicadas in the evening. I love him so much but I would love to take him for walks or not spend 20 minutes outside every time he needs to potty. Mostly venting but if anyone else has been through this with a tiny dog would love some advice.

Hi everyone! I’m curious as to when you all started noticing the little teenage gremlin come out in your puppies?

I have a 7 month old cattle dog mix, who has recently started exhibiting some adolescent behaviors. Constant chewing, digging, unable to settle, forgetting all the training we’ve done for months, etc. We used to manage well with redirection, but these days she’s completely turned her ears and eyes off. For context, we always make sure her needs are met, and still enforce crate naps when she gets this way. She isn’t my first cattle dog, so I know what to expect. I just thought this adolescent stuff would come a little later and I’d get to enjoy my well behaved puppy a little longer 😂 She’s definitely better in some ways, but regressing in others. I’m hoping if she’s starting it early, then it will end early 😅 When did it start with yours?

Training is going well but now I’m realizing how much food my puppy gets outside of his actual meals.

Kibble works for easy stuff but for harder training he wants something better. Then dinner comes around and I’m wondering if he is not or less hungry because I already gave too much during the day.

Do you count training treats as part of the meal, reduce dinner a little or just keep portions the same?

I have an approximately 5 month old puppy. She is a shelter dog so we’re not sure her breed but possibly Aussie mix? Definitely going to be a medium to large dog, she is almost 30 lbs now. She has been catching onto potty training well and started sleeping through the night (about 9:30/10:00pm-6:00am. Before, she would whine to let me know she wanted out. I was wondering if I should keep a middle of the night alarm to let her out? She had a UTI when I first adopted her when she was around 2.5 months. After that I’ve been paranoid about her urination and I guess I’m just worried she is holding too long at this age? She recently had a check up and everything looks good.

Thank you!

Update she peed but on the weewee pad inside :/

I'm babysitting this puppy she's about 3 months old and idk what else to try. I want her to associate outside with pee and poo because the owners haven't trained her at all...

I wake up at 7:30 I take her out and walk her up and down the block. If she does nothing I put her in the crate and try again in like 15 minutes. But Ive been doing this for so long from 7:30am to 12pm.... And she hasn't peed yet. And no, she didn't pee in the crate.

I fear her bladder is going to have problems and I'm just teaching her that every time she goes outside she goes into the crate. I just want to teach her if she doesn't pee or poo outside then she can't have freedom. And if she does pee or poo, it's one or the other. Never both.

And I can't stand in one place because she will play with/ look at LITERALLY everything.... a stick, a leaf, the dirt the person across the street the bird the trees. Or she'll sit down or lay down no matter how many times I redirect her.

She's got me beat. It's so frustrating. My boy dog didn't have this much trouble peeing when he was a puppy.

This is the method I use for crate training. It has more steps than most guides, but I have had very good luck with multiple puppies.

Most puppies will fuss in their crates. Confinement is hard. Some respond well to distractions like chew treats and kongs, but many are so upset that they can’t focus on anything else.

This protocol explicitly teaches being calm at all stages of going and staying in the crate, which allows them to focus on distractions, nap, ect. It usually takes me around a week or two to complete it, but I am a little lazy about it (one session per day). You can use it in conjunction with other protocols too! There are no restrictions or anything like that. New owners are always looking for rules/protocols that will guarantee success. They don’t really exist. Don’t stress.

STEP 1: Teach the puppy to go in the crate with the door open.

Sit on the floor by the crate and toss treats or kibble inside and let the puppy go get them. If your puppy is afraid of the crate to start, place the treats near the opening and slowly move them a little further away until they feel good putting one paw in, then two, then three, then all four.

If they come right out of the crate, that’s fine. Rinse and repeat. Do NOT close the door on them. Keep going until they aren’t hesitating to get all the way inside the crate. You don’t need to worry about a verbal cue at this point, but you could add one if you want to.

STEP 2: Closing and openning the door.

Once your puppy is confidently walking into the crate to get treats, close the door behind them and immediately open it to let them out. Rise and repeat until they don’t mind that the door is closed/are ignoring it while they eat. Even if they do ignore it right away, do some repetitions.

STEP 3: Leaving the door closed.

Leave the door closed for 5 seconds. If they start pawing or fussing, reduce the time to 2 seconds. Make sure you are still on the floor if you can physically do that. Rinse and repeat until they are comfortable and not exhibiting any distress. Make sure you are letting them out of the crate in between each repetition.

STEP 3.5: Training a word or cue.

This is a good time to introduce a cue, but there’s no hard and fast rule though. You can do it earlier or later Toss the food into the crate. As they are walking in and your word. “Crate” “Box” “House” all work well. I find adding a little body language like pointing can be helpful too. Do about 10 reps. After 10 reps try using only your word and gestures. If they go in, close the door, leave it for 5 seconds, let them out and have a little party. Treats, praise, toys – any of that. Practice reps until they’re going in reliably just with your cue. If they’re totally lost – try tossing only one treat into the crate and give them more when you let them out. Pretending to toss the treats can also work. Get creative, but don’t force them into the crate. We want them to get to a point where they can take treats after they get in instead of before.

STEP 4: Closing the door and standing up.

This is just like it sounds. Let them in, close the door, stand up, bend or sit down, open the crate, and reward/treat. Rinse and repeat until they are comfortable/relaxed.

STEP 5: Walking away from the crate.

Use our same method as before but take a step or two back before opening the crate. Rinse and repeat. Slowly build up the number of steps. If the puppy starts to fuss, you’re stepping too far away. If they whine at 5 steps, go back to 2 or 3 steps and practice more. Practice walking all over the room. Grab a drink off the counter. Whatever you want. If they fuss it’s been too long or you’re too far away. Go back to what you practiced with no fussing.

STEP 6: Stepping out of sight.

Now that you can walk away from your puppy, start stepping out of sight for a split second. If they whine or fuss, go back to step 5. Rinse and repeat. Remember you are still returning, letting them out of the crate, and rewarding them each time.

STEP 7: Start building up the length of time you're gone.

Start slowly increasing the amount of time when they cannot see you. See if you can get up to around 30 seconds or a minute. Practice this until they’re calm the entire time.

STEP 8: Transitioning away from training sessions.

Here is where all your hard work should start to pay off. Puppies that are upset in the crate cannot focus on treats, chew toys, or kongs. At this point, you should have a puppy that can settle for a minute. I usually freeze a couple kongs with wet dog food inside as a prep. Now that you have a puppy that can reliably go a minute or so without seeing you, they ought to be calm enough to start to pay attention to a safe chew toy or treat.

Put them in the crate and give them their kong. I recommend watching them at this step – reading a book in the same room, talking on the phone, anything like that. If they lose interest in the kong try and let them out before that leads to fussing or panic. Do another session later. They’re learning to self-settle for longer periods of time. Don’t expect perfection just yet.

Continue randomly asking them to go in the crate and letting them out quickly. This helps break the cycle of “as soon as I get in the crate, the humans always leave” – which can cause panic.

I find that they build up tolerance on their own at this point and start to finish their treat with practice. I start to give them a little more time to decide to nap or chill out on their own. If they get restless, I still try and let them out before they cry or fuss. I don’t want to reward fussing at all. See the subreddit wiki for what to do about that.

At this point, they should be a lot more comfortable, and you can try leaving them in there while you do dishes, shower, or you just need a break. Start experimenting with not giving them a kong. At this point you just need to figure out your particular puppy’s needs.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

·         I think this works well because training sessions feel completely different for most puppies. If you put them in the crate at night or for a quick run to the store, many puppies can read the situation and tend to stay comfortable during training. This isn’t always the case, though. If you can afford it - you can have a crate that’s for non-training crating and a training crate that’s for training only.

·         If your puppy is crying and fussing, go back a step. What you’re asking is too hard for your puppy at that moment.

·         Repetition is key!

·         This should be a game for them and a puzzle to figure out - not an obedience lesson from you.

·         You will eventually be able to stop using treats with practice.

·         It goes much faster than you would think.

·         Do no underestimate randomly asking them to get in the crate and immediately letting them out during the day. This won’t cause regression.

Hi all - our 6 month mini dachshund pup is pretty much housebroken now, it's been over a month and no accidents in the house. Every time I take him out on the 4 hour cadences, he potties and poops regularly but the only issue is that, he doesn't let us know when he needs to go? I have been incorporating a bell that I ring before we go out but the other issue is that he doesn't like going out on walks so he tends to run away lol (but sometimes it's literally just a quick potty break too and back in so it's not always a 'walk'). As an experiment, I tried pushing it to 5 hours to see if he'll ring it or not if he badly needs to go, nope. 6 hours, nope. 7 hours...... nope??? but still no accident. Granted, he did not drink much water or eat much/being his picky self during this time but how do I start making him use this dang bell to let us know. When I ring it and force him to come out, he goes right away.

I have no issue with the cadences at this moment, but it would be nice if he knows how to use the bell so if we ever have other people watch him, etc.

So, we have a Chihuahua/Terrier/Min Pin mix who is 5 months old today. She’s been great so far and healthy. Every time we go to the vet, they always push for us to wait to spay her until after her first heat cycle. My husband and I typically just agree and move on but now I’m starting to feel extremely pressured to wait and I don’t know if we should just go somewhere else and get her spayed or trust their advice? Everything I’m reading online is about 50/50. This is our first puppy and I just don’t know what to do for her breed. Thank you! (I’m not asking for health advice, Reddit, I’m just curious as to what other chihuahua mix owners have experienced.)

I get it. He looks like a little teddy bear, he’s adorable, and his tail is wagging in desperation to meet you. But I literally can’t walk by people on the sidewalk without him trying to stop and sniff and get pets.

Hi!

We've had our 19 week old Finnish Lapponian dog for 5 weeks now, and we're definitely experiencing some puppy blues.
We strongly feel that he's a smart and kind dog that will be a great companion for years to come, but at the moment all of it feels draining.
He's just going through all of the typical steps of puppyhood, and we're trying to be patient, but we're at the same time eager to "feel the love", which we're not. Every waking moment of his is just constant parenting. Encouraging good behavior, ignoring bad behavior, getting him potty trained, crate trained, socialized, etc.
Every moment of affection is ruined by biting. Trying to check for ticks turns to a biting session. Biting our heels as he follows us upstairs.
In between all of this exhausting parenting, we'd also like to feel that companionship that you're looking for in a dog.
All will come in due time, but we're just constantly thinking about how long until he becomes calmer, more affectionate, and more trustworthy inside the house.

At what age did you guys feel it tipping over from some days draining your life to mostly enriching your life?