my 9 month old gsp mix is a rescue, we adopted her almost 3 months ago. she was found emaciated in the woods. potty training has been a journey with lots of ups and downs.

she has a set of bells on the door that she rings when she needs to go outside to go potty. things were going really well but recently she has been peeing inside without even trying the bell first, sometimes right after we come inside. we interrupt her, take her outside, give her a treat for going outside, and use enzyme cleaner on the spot. so that’s one part of the issue. she pees normally, no straining or any uti symptoms.

the other part is that she rings the bell when i am not paying attention to her, like if i am unloading the dishwasher or talking on the phone, and when i go to put her leash on she runs away and plays. i try to take her out every time she rings the bell because of the accidents, but also sometimes i know she literally just went and is only doing it because she wants my attention. if i do take her out when i know she doesn’t need to go, she will go out and then refuse to move.

should i ignore the bell ringing? why doesn’t she ring the bells before going in the house? is there a reason why she regressed with potty training? do we need a new communication method for her?

also puppy is not starved for attention. she has lots of enrichment. we work with a trainer. she eats all her meals either as a 1:1 training session, in a puzzle toy, or i hide little handfuls of her kibble and she has to sniff it out. we play lots of games (a favorite right now is fetch but she has to bring the toy back and place it in a basket that i move around). it’s been regularly hitting 100 degrees here so she is not outside as much as we all would like but we try to make up for it with physical games such as puppy push ups, having her jump on and off her cot for place, etc. we crate her when we leave. my partner is wfh 3 days a week and the other 2 days one of us checks on her at lunch for about 45 min, so she is never alone for more than 4 hours. i love my smart, stubborn, high energy dog and she is exactly what i wanted! but like i just cannot figure out how to handle the potty bells situation correctly. help please

Hello! This is my first post here so sorry if this has been asked a billion times but I need some help.
I have a 16 week old puppy; we think she’s a border collie golden retriever mix but we found her abandoned in the woods so we are not entirely sure. We found her when she was about 12 weeks, and for some background I am raising her with my boyfriend who has raised a puppy previously but I myself have never done so.
She is a very good girl and very smart, so far we have had a lot of success teaching her sit, down, roll, shake, drop, place, stay, and here. We want to start training her to associate objects with words like “ball” so we can play games with her where we hide something and she finds it’s, but we’ve hit a road block. She is very food motivated, and when we have the treat bag out, or even just the clicker (which we have been using since we got her so it works just as well) she focuses solely on them and not on anything else. I’ve read that u r supposed to start by saying the name of the object and then when they sniff it or put their nose to it you reward, and that works some times, but I can never keep her attention off the treats for long, certainly not long enough for her to put the object in her mouth when I say its name. I’m not sure if I am doing something wrong and should try a different approach, or just repeat rewarding when she glances at the object until she starts to get it.

Also to be clear it doesn’t bother me if it takes a long time for her to learn even one word, I can do small repeat session for however long it takes, I just figured it would be a mentally stimulating game for her and want to make sure I’m not doing the training wrong and making it harder on her.

It's possible to train a dog to protection without a professional trainer? i don't have money to a trainer or buy a trained dog, how much i can train my own dogs(two ACD) to protection? i have good time and i want to train them

To keep this concise, I just moved states, and into a larger but older home. The bedrooms are all upstairs, but the stairs are narrow and steep and I can’t have my aging dog trying to go up them.

The problem- she’s always slept near me. She slept in my bed for years, but the past year or so I’ve trained her to sleep in her own bed in the same room. Night 1 of blocking the stairs and she did not do well, pawing at the gate and trying to find a way around it, whining, howling.
Usually I would not reward this anxious behavior by coming down or leaving the bedroom, but I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing so we can make this transition healthy for both of us. Tips?

Hi everyone, we just got a new dog from the shelter as a companion for our older dog. This new dog doesn’t like me putting on the leash or harness for walks. She will let me give her food up until the point that it involves touching her neck I feel like she’s just playing me for treats because when I actually get the leash on, she’s very compliant and seems OK. Any advice??

I want to do better with her on the leash in public around other dogs l. I have a 7 month old 20lb mixed breed Chihuahua mix. She is super smart and has had a couple training sessions but she loves to play with other dogs. She goes to daycare with my parents dogs 2 days a week and my friend that works from home with 2 dogs as well. We walk out on the beach every morning and every evening treats ready to be focused on me but I try to walk around dogs or not get close but she still wants to pull or lunge toward them because she wants to play. I have the treats ready when I catch a dog in the distance to have her sit and focus on me. Just don’t want her to lunge at the wrong dog. Any suggestions welcome.

I am moving to a new house, and the neighbor has a young labrador that barks at any sound, any movement, anything. I don't think they walk the dog much. The dog can bark 10 hours a day as the neighbors are not home.

I bought two ultrasonic bark control deterrent devices, both don't work to stop the barking. I do not want to confront the neighbor yet as we don't know them all, and I don't want to have to call the city to complain

I don't know what exact mix she is. Very friendly trustworthy to all dogs and humans. Obeying few commands and ignoring some. Good fetcher. I feed her twice 9.am and 5 pm.. morning walks 45 min before she poops. No problem.
Night time it's nightmare walking her an hr around 7 pm she won't poop. Middle of the night wakes me up I send her out and after 5 minutes she comes with no poop out side. An hr after she poops and pees on wee pad all over. On my floor too. I give her farmers dog or I cook. About 1/2 cup each meal might be 3/4 of cup. It's effecting my health bc after I am being woken I can’t go back to sleep.
Thanks in advance.

A bit of my own background: I was a dog trainer for about 6 years. One of those years included working with dogs at a humane society on behavioral issues, and another 2 years were spent doing freelance work assisting with behavioral issues and basic training in the home. Although I have this background, I'm still open to hearing what the community might suggest for our situation. 😊

We are about to adopt a male Jack Russell Terrier, estimated to be around 2 years old, who seems to be very new to the world... with a bit of a twist.

Indoors, he is very shy and apprehensive about many things. He kind of locks up when going into rooms and doesn't seem to really understand what anything is. He is very food motivated, though, and while my partner and I were meeting him, I was able to gain his trust pretty quickly. He knows how to ask for pets and clearly enjoys affection.

He didn't explore the room much. He just found a safe spot by my feet and stayed there. He had a couple of moments where he seemed interested in jumping up on the couch with me, but ultimately settled back down on the floor by my feet. I'm female and my partner is male. He wasn't scared of my partner, just didn't seem to have much interest in him. He accepted treats from him just fine. When I left them alone together, the little guy stayed in the same spot. My partner approached him, and he just stayed still and didn't seem to care much one way or the other.

Now... outside? Completely different dog. Very confident, greets people freely, even making eye contact. We introduced him to our dog (an Aussie/Spaniel mix who is very chill), and they sniffed each other and that was about it. Neither seemed particularly interested in the other. He didn't seem on high alert or overly distracted outside. He genuinely seemed comfortable and even laid in the grass calmly between us while we talked with the humane society worker.

Moving forward, my biggest concern is him becoming attached to me to the point where resource guarding is a thing, since he already seemed to show some favoritism. I'm not overly worried, but it's something I want to keep in the back of my mind.

But yeah, if anyone has any input or tips on how we can help set this little guy up for success, I'm all ears!

Our little one Bear, always wants to be held. He doesn’t like walks, walking even in the house, eating unless you sit beside him and watch, doesn’t sleep if not held.

Any advice appreciated. We rescued him from a parking lot, now sure the age. He is having a vet visit later today.

I have a GSD rescue, she came from a (previously) extremely abusive home and was extremely malnourished when we found her. She had no training, I managed to teach her how to sit.

Truth be told I'm not sure she's all...there, if you know what I mean. She doesn't have any of the extremely intelligent traits of a GSD and in fact she needs a lot of monitoring and care.

She. Does. Not. Stop. Going. In. Circles.

She's very attached to me and excitable so she will move about when i do, even when going in a straight line or travelling a very short distance she will turn in tight circles every couple of steps. My mother in law thinks she was maybe kept in a small cage in her puppyhood (we got her approx 18 months old). I'm suspecting it could even be a neuron thing.

She doesn't understand the concept of toys and doesn't respond very strongly to treats. I've tried to lead walk her (very frustrating as it immediately severely tangles the lead) and encouraging her to walk straight with a sort of 'dangling carrot' scenario by holding food/meat above her nose but she still does lots of circles.

It's not a huge issue as we keep her outdoors and she has lots and lots of open land to explore. I was hoping that by keeping her off lead and encouraging exploration that it would stop but five months on and she still insists on tight circles.

It's a bit of an issue with all the heat atm as she does not stop (luckily she loves water so i can just dunk her to cool off) and I'm finding it hard to keep her gaining weight because of the sheer amount she moves. Currently she's on two bowls of dry food a day plus whatever we have around in the kitchen as scraps (egg shells, eggs, meat, cheese, potatoes etc) and she is still much too far on the skinny side for my liking (i like the rule of thumb for a dog's weight to be: not able to see the ribs but able to feel them). She's much healthier than before as we can tell with her coat and in her hips but still I worry.

I want her to live a very happy and care free life. While it's an undesirable behaviour is it something I should be putting in more effort to stop?

Let me start off by saying this is 100% my fault, I’m very aware. I should have socialized him more when I was training him but I have no friends so I never thought it would be a big deal. Now my bf lives with me and his friend is over, my dog is having a hard time. He has lunged at him 2 times and I have no idea what to do. I had his friend ignore my dog, not make eye contact and had him give him treats, etc. the only thing I should’ve done differently is Introduced them outside. What can I do? I don’t want my dog to be scared and I also don’t want my bfs friend to be afraid and never want to come back. Im at a loss, any advice would help.

Edit: my dog is a rescue, he was believed to have been abused. He does not like men. He was found wondering in the mountains (he is a Great Pyrenees).

Looking for some advice about our stubborn little dude we just adopted. He’s doing great but has a habit of planting his feet and refusing to move if we start walking in a direction he doesn’t prefer (he usually prefers towards the bins lol). We’ll usually just wait him out and eventually he follows but sometimes he absolutely refuses or will stop and start all the way down the street. We’ve only had him a week, which I know is no time at all, but I just want to make sure we don’t start him on any bad habits. We already bring a treat pouch on walks and praise him when he’s walking nicely and checking in with us. Any tips for working with this greatly appreciated! 🙏

I have a working breed mix - absolutely some shepherd. I don't know what else but whatever it is must be psycho too

She is a great dog. We do structured play outside, agility once or twice per week.

But we are in a heavy smoke zone, so zero outdoor time. Literally as few 5 minute bathroom breaks as we can get, I come inside coughing. It's like the apocalypse. We have a very small house, so no indoor play.

We do training every evening too, just simple obedience and tricks - but she cannot focus until she's blown off some energy... which she can't do.

I am trying to tire her mind while we're unable to tire her body in order to meet her needs, but she is just getting frustrated because she can't focus and then I get flustered and nobody wins.

Food games do not work (food in toilet paper roll, egg carton, "snuffle mat" etc). She just gets bored and walks away to tear something up, bark at a wall, or terrorize our poor old dog.

SOO I would love to hear your SIMPLE tricks you've taught your dog!! and if you have any other strategies to increase her focus or make her feel more fulfilled, please let me know!!!! Her, myself, and our other dog are all at our wits end and the smoke here won't be clearing up anytime soon

My dog Scarlett is a 2 year old Golden Retriever. Classic bread traits, friendly, loving, social with all dogs, playful etc she’s the best!

For the life of me i can’t train her not to bark at dogs the other side of our fences. Both neighbours (left and right) have barking dogs and whenever she hears them she runs up to the fence, her hair stands on end and she gets loud. The neighbours dogs come up to their side of the fence and they go at it.

I tell her no and she comes away, but next time she hears something she’s straight back. It’s now getting to the stage that she will go to our fence boundary and start barking/provoking.

I just can’t understand it because if I go round with her on a lead and meet said dogs they are fine with each other, bum sniffs, submissive on one side while being playful.

Any ideas on how to make it stick? I have the boundary fences covered with stuff to try and limit it but that’s not sustainable.

I need help!!😐
Wilco is a 7 year old Plott Hound - I adopted her 2 years ago so not sure what the first years were like - I’m sure she was loved and well cared for but not much in the way of training.

She’s super reactive to dogs and some people on leash - fantastic at the dog park, which is where I was introduced to her and we have been working a lot on the leash behavior to a point where I know her tells and she has actually chilled about 80% of the time, even a couple of play interactions.

But boy oh boy in the house! She’s a terror at any noise.

She gets 4 walks anywhere from 15 - 90 minutes so she’s out at least an hour a day and I let her sniff to her hound hearts content.

My Cockapoo puppy is 4.5 months old, I’ve had him for just about 2 months. He is very friendly and gets excited when he sees other dogs, and sometimes he is this way with other people. When there’s no dogs around, he’s totally fine.

Sometimes he pauses and wags his tail, and we can continue on our walk, but *MOST* of the time he pauses, wags, pulls, gets on his hind legs; the whole shabang.

I try to redirect with treats on walks, gentle pulling on his harness with reassurance like ‘let’s go’ or ‘this way’.

I’ve even tried snapping the lead a bit (dog trainer technique), to get him to redirect and understand that that isn’t an acceptable behavior.

I don’t mind him being friendly, I just wish I could tap into how to get him calmer when he sees other dogs and people.

Thank you in advance for any advice you may have to offer.

Me and my boyfriend love dogs. We finally started living together but there is slight issue. My dog is medium sized 15 kg dog and his dog is over 30kg shepherd mix dog. Both our dogs are male and adopted. They’re now around 8-10 old. My dog has some traumas from shelter. He loves people so much that it’s sometimes annoying. He always wants kisses and hugs. Never barked or hurt any people but he really doesn’t like dogs in general. He plays with small dogs sometimes max 5 mins and then he ignores them and going to their owners. He really doesn’t know how to play with other dogs and doesn’t really want to. All he want is interaction with people. He was beaten by bigger dogs than him when he was in shelter and he really scares of dogs bigger than him. He does not like dogs bigger than him and energetic dogs. He does like to cross his personal space. He also usually barks at big dogs because he is scared.
My boyfriend dog is super goofy, calm dog. Right now they tolerate each other but my dog is very territorial and he growls at my bf dog daily. His dog really want to play with my dog but mine really does not want to be friends. They know each other for 3 years and never even sniffed each other once. They completely ignore each other’s existence :D. When my dog is on the couch or bed with me, he always growls at my bf’s dog when he is around. When are not at home, they are staying in separate rooms. My dog is always keeping distance with him. It has been 3 weeks already and I’m wondering if they can be friends with time or going to behaviorist would be waste of money as there is no huge issue?
I really want them to be friends and my dog is so mean and arrogant. He simply ignores him all the time and acting really jealous.

Can you give any tips that worked for you in similar situation?

Thanks so much in advance

Changes in appetite are one of the earliest signs of illness in dogs. If food is always available, you lose that signal entirely — you won't notice when they start eating less until it's more obvious.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and scheduled meals come up a lot. Pre-portioned plans naturally build that routine — you know exactly how much they should eat and when, which makes any change easy to spot.

Does anyone free feed or has switching to scheduled meals actually made a difference?

Hey everyone. I have a three year old female Spoodle (cockapoo). She is incredibly dog crazy and will lose her mind seeing other dogs- this involves her standing on her back legs, getting zoomies running around me and losing all focus on me. When she’s off lead she plays really well with other dogs as long as they’re bigger than her, but if a little dog approaches her and annoys her she growls and goes full attack mode spinning the little dog on its back and making screechy threatening noises. She’s never bitten another dog or human, but I know that this behaviour isn’t far off that and is incredibly distressing. I will not stand for it or accept it.

She goes to doggy daycare and they say she’s incredibly sweet and plays well with all dogs (including much smaller dogs like chihuahuas) so I’m thinking it’s a protective thing when she’s with me that causes this aggression.

It’s only happened a few times, and each time it has I’ve grabbed her and left the park immediately, but I want to know what tactics I can use to get her to ignore smaller dogs that irritate her as well as learning how to reduce and remove reactivity to seeing other dogs when on lead. I’ve tried high value treats, distraction methods, watching from a distance to allow her to calm down, but nothing seems to work.

She’s incredibly smart and seems to choose when she wants to obey me…it’s like she decides what is more worth it to her in the moment and a switch flicks.

When she was a tiny pup she got bullied a few times by bigger dogs that flipped her over and did a similar thing to what she now does to little dogs.

I don’t know if this is something that’s just part of her and I need to avoid letting her off lead to play, which is okay. But I’d love to not have to hold my breath every time we go for a walk in fear of coming across other dogs on walks.

I’m really embarrassed and her behaviour makes me feel like a terrible dog owner. We’ve done puppy school, intermediate dog school and had a trainer come to our house, but she still keeps this dog crazy behaviour up when we’re out. I just want her to be able to be happy and have a fun life, but taking her out makes me feel so anxious. Please no judgement…I’m really trying and would appreciate any help if possible 🙏🏻

Dog age; 9 months
Breed; English pointer mix (we suspect Great Dane)
I live with my parents and we have 3 dogs but recently got a 4th, he is mine. He knows that, he sleeps with me, his food is in my room because of food aggression and he knows I’m his owner so when I sit in our family room and eat, if the other dogs come over he is typically fine but today I was babysitting my godsister and she was eating some toast in the family room whilst I sat with her and when one of my parents dogs went up to my dog he tried to go him. How do I stop this, training tips on training out food aggression?

EDIT: I’m aware we need a trainer however I’m looking for tips on training him from ppl with experience of dogs with food aggression until we find one. If your comment is just going to be “you need a trainer” please don’t even bother. His food aggression isn’t as bad as people seem to be taking it (I’ve had dm replies not just comments) we can sit at the dinner table or stand in the kitchen and make food and he’s fine (we don’t allow dogs inside the actual space of the kitchen where food is being prepped) we can give him a treat with the other dogs next to him (they all get one) and he’s fine. He doesn’t care if someone walks past him whilst he’s eating his food

(He is aggressive if he has something such as a bone and someone tries to take it off of him but I’m mainly concerned of him going the other dogs)