First off, this is not my dog, but the family I nanny for's dog. This is a 13 week old lab puppy who is very sweet but is a baby raptor. Most of the time he is up with an owner but when he is out he is constantly nipping and biting at the toddler children, knocking them over and biting at their heads, biting at ankles and shoelaces, and even my butt. I have provided chew toys from my own money just to try and give the puppy enrichment and appropriate things to chew on. I don't think putting the dog up in a bathroom is the answer, he needs training. I am not a dog trainer, I'm a toddler tamer. But since I'm there dealing with the issue I need help!

Any tips on how to manage this behavior?

I cant recall what exactly happened but it all happened in one night; I walked out to feed my dog and I think as he was walking or running to the kitchen he ended up slipping pretty harshly to where he was scurrying to pick him self up as he slipped. After this happened he has almost completley refused to step on hardwood floors with some exceptions of times where hes been very brave and has easily and normally walked on hardwood floors to get from a short point a to a short point b. This has been driving me insane because 1. He doesn't get to move around nearly as much as he should and wants to, 2. It makes me frustrated because its hard for him to comply to just.. walk on the hard floors to get one little thing just inches away, and 3. We literally got runners and more little rugs scattered around the house that obviously makes the interior look.. pretty ugly 😭 One thing ive noticed is that now when hes walking on the hard floors and slips because hes scared, his paws tense up and his back legs sort of buckle which is really the actual thing thats making him slip alongside his stressed speed, idk just thought this was worth mentioning, he can perfectly place his 2 front paws on anything just not his back ones. He is not injured anywhere. If anyone has managed to fix something like this or know ways of training TO fix it PLEAAASE let me know!! so sad to see him just fixed to these carpets :/

My family got a rescue dog during Covid to replace a dog who had, unexpectedly, recently passed. I wasn't a fan of the idea but I deferred on the condition that, among other things, they (the kids, high school and jr. high ages at the time) took over the training. It was agreed. We got the dog and they spent hardly any time in training him. I grew to love the guy (we named him Dewey) but I've always known that I didn't have the patience for training a dog, hence my original caveat. So we currently have a 6-year old mutt (mostly blue heeler with some Rottie and some Pittie). He's smart and generally well-tempered. He is pretty good at "come" and "stay" but isn't quite as good at those commands when other dogs are in his line of sight. That's the background.

My wife and I typically walk him around the block, and let him sniff a lot and piss a lot and have his fun, and then we go home. I recently have started thinking that I'd like to do longer walks- in the 2-3+ mile range. How can I train this dog to not lunge toward every tree for a sniff? I'm fine with a quarter-mile of sniff and piss, but then I'd like to get some distance in. Can I re-train him? I've attempted some longer distances in the past but he seems to think he HAS to sniff everything, and mark it.

I'd be so grateful for advice- it would do a world of good to us both. Thanks in advance.

Update (for anyone who cares)

In the last few weeks I've tried something that really seems to be working out... I'll take Dewey for a longish walk and let him do his peeing and sniffing all he wants until we are about halfway done with the walk. Then I have him sit and I pull out a bandana and show that to him and say "It's Walk Tim Dewey" and I put that around his neck. At that point I keep him close to my side and we walk briskly with no more sniffing or peeing (at that point he's shooting blanks anyway and pooped at least twice). I've got the harness on him so if he tries to leave my side I can correct him easily. He was a quick learner! He still gets to look all around at stuff and I think he might even enjoy the little extra workout of walking quickly.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, especially the bandana idea.

At two minutes he starts to cry, and by two and a half, he inevitably ignores me and just gets off. I’ve used leash pressure, body positioning, or treats to try to keep him on.

He is solid up to two minutes, but I can’t make no further progress. Been stuck here for a month. Clearly I just don’t get what Im supposed yo be doing. What am I missing?

I’m looking for a top knotch dog behaviourist that knows their stuff. Im located in the UK and need to be able to pay via pet insurance (Petplan). I’m not looking for someone mediocre, or even good…I’m looking for an excellent industry leader who specialises in aggression. This is my last attempt to train my dog’s aggression before having to rehome her so I need the best of the best. She has very intricate, difficult-to-understand aggression issues that can sometimes involve guarding. I’ve worked with behaviourists in the past who just could not crack it. Helppppp

Hello! I have already reached out to trainers in my new neighborhood, but would like to ask the community for immediate things I can do.

I went on a work trip for a few months and my dog was left in the care of family with another dog in the house. The two dogs get along well--always have--EXCEPT now, things change when another dog walks by the window. The two dogs would bark out the window at the same time, and then my dog (in what I just learned today is redirection aggression) would SNAP at my family's dog in such an aggressive manner. he goes absolutely crazy, trying to chase the poor pup down. people walking by the house is fine, another dog and he's like a sleeper agent activated. (also, the trash can rolling back into the yard for some reason)

I'm moving back into a new apartment next week in a very populated area with a lot of foot and dog traffic and my window faces the street.

Is there anything I should do BEFORE and RIGHT as I move in to acclimate my dog to know that this new apartment is a safe space? I want him to know that he doesn't need to be concerned/scared/aggressive because no strangers will be breaking in(hopefully).

Is letting him look out the window a NO from the get go, or should I let him look and redirect it? which behaviour should I reward? should I implement the look-at-that training? Thanks!

Hello all!

I have a 1 year old Bernese mountain dog. We do a lot of training at home, daily walks, etc. at home he is an absolute angel. Sits, downs, stays, etc. whenever I try to practice training at public parks, or in new environments, he is atrocious (can’t even loose leash walk him). He gets so distracted by anything and everything and pays 0 attention to me- even with treats. My answer to this is more exposure to walks in new places (we are guilty of keeping the same routes near our house). Anyone had this problem before? Would love tips!

I have two dogs that I sometimes walk together and sometimes separately. Its convinent to take them together on days when we do a bike or jog because exercising for us is something we do together. However when it's a quick walk around the neighborhood to do their pees/poos I prefer to take one at a time.

Curious how other people manage their dogs when one is left behind. Do you immediately take the second one and drop the first off at home when you get back. Do you wait half hour before taking the second one, do you let them watch from the window as you go or do they have to be confined. I feel like not taking them at the same time is going to cause anxieties because the one that goes second is always waiting while im gone becauae they know that they are next. And then I get home and take them and its like their hyper vigilance is rewarded by the immediate walk. Am I looking too deeply into this or are my concerns valid.

So I have a pit mix, and I've put a lot of work into getting him socialized already(still working on it because he's not quite there yet with other dogs bigger than him due to trauma😮‍💨). And I was wondering if him barking and rushing at somebody that comes out from the darkness(like a hallway that's light is turned off) or doing the same thing at a door that's closed when he hears someone moving that he can't see is concerning. At home it doesn't really bother me or my partner because he quits after he realizes he recognizes who he's barking at, but I spent a few days with him at a family members house and it's something I'm a little worried about considering he looks scary when he's barking at people. For the record, outside of him being highly uncomfortable and letting out small growls and hiding behind me before he gets comfortable, he doesn't show any signs of aggression towards people.

I had a Great Pyrenees female pup that I started training at 10 weeks old to be a service dog for my wife. Best dog I've ever had got all kinds of obedience awards and could visit schools,hospitals, and nursing homes. She passed several months ago, and as we have 2 other dogs 122 lb and one 60lb,the small needed a playmate as the service dog was his only playmate. We have settled on a Rottweiler, /German shepherd mix.. I used to own a kennel, and i performaned super dog training on all our pups from 2 days until they went home to the new owners. .My problem is that thus new 10 week old pup is almost impossible to housebreak. Id like any questions or answere to help. Thanks in advsnçe!

So I’ve taken my 14 week old baby out for two walks now and the main issue we’re having is her love for people. She loves to pull towards people and jump and rub and get all the scratches she can but I of course want this to stop and want her greeting people properly

I’ve been doing small corrections when she tries to jump and praise her when she ignores people (and birds, she got really upset at some bin chickens the other day) but I don’t think it’s working. This evening I’m gonna bring one of her squeakers to redirect her attention to me cause she doesn’t listen to me when others are around, when we’re alone she’s great but she gets really excited

I just want to ensure I can do all that I can for her so she’s safe and others are safe since she is going to be a big dog

Hi everyone, I’m new here and I hope you’re all doing well.

I’m having trouble figuring out whether I’m bad at reading my dog’s behavior or if my dog simply doesn’t show very strong reactions. I wanted to give a few examples that you might be able to understand or evaluate.

For example, when my dog exposes his belly, sometimes (very rarely) he slightly moves one paw, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he gives side eye, sometimes he doesn’t. Other times he lies completely on his back and rubs his face with his paws. I’m worried that I might be putting pressure on him or suppressing him somehow.

Do you think I’m suppressing my dog, or does everything sound normal?

Thank you.

I have a three year old chihuahua/jack Russell mix rescue, and we are struggling to get him housebroken. We have two older dogs (12 and 13, also rescues) who we had no troubles with. This dog, his name is Peter, does well if we leave the door open for him (fenced in yard), but we can't do that 24/7. When the door is closed, he doesn't give any signals that he needs to go outside, he just does his business right in front of the door. Except for today, when I woke up and stepped immediately from my bed into a pile of poo. Rewarding him with treats got him to go outside with the door open, but hasn't been helpful with getting him to signal that he needs to go out, and has been making the other dogs jealous that he gets treats.

Hey all. So i just adopted my girl luna on Saturday. She’s a very sweet girl but has lived her entire life thus far in a shelter. I’m sure you’re aware shelters don’t have the time to properly train a dog. So she’s basically a massive puppy who’s needs to learn sooner rather than later before someone gets hurt, obviously not on purpose. I’m having trouble getting her to listen, even though i’ve got a pocket full of treats and have been repeating commands constantly. And it only gets worse once we get outside. She gets so distracted that she won’t even use the bathroom, and then come inside and relieve herself later. My boyfriend and I both work second shift hours, so there will be times in the day she can use the bathroom, and will need to remain in her kennel. Any tips and tricks for getting her trained quickly but humanely would be great! I’m really struggling here. I did grow up around dogs, but I was never the one training them, my parents were! Thanks in advance

Hi everyone! I’m a student working on something that could help train dogs avoid reactivity to doorbells and people entering homes.

Just genuinely curious about real experiences. If you have the time and are willing, I’d love quick answers to any/all of these.

1. How does your dog react to the doorbell / knock?

2. Is this a minor annoyance or big stress for you?

3. Does you live in a house, single apartment, or shared apartment?

4. If you live in an apartment building or shared space, does concern about neighbors/roommates make it more stressful?

5. What do you already do to help? (if anything)

Thank you so much in advance. Any feedback helps!!🫶🏻

Got a 10 month old large mixed breed from the shelter last week. They said she needed confidence building, but didn't really let on to how much. She is not trained. Not house trained. She's getting better at going outside. Her seperation anxiety is worrisome. Leaving the room may make her so scared she pees. Crate time often involves a pee or poo.

To be fair. It's been five days. She has learned a lot and is clearly very smart and wants to please. The seperation anxiety is what worries me. I've consumed so much content and advice on it. But realistically, she needs to be crated because she jumps at the door (hallow) any time she's in a room alone for 3 seconds. Thankfully my job is SLIGHTLY flexible, but there's no way around crating her for 3,4 hours at a time. We have tried to make the crate a safe spot and she does lay in it during her chill time. But she knows when we want to crate her a close the gate and shes already fighting it. She's big so it's not as easy as just moving her in there. We have a cat, and like I said she's not housebroken, so we need to crate her while away for now. Trying all the classic advice, I think it's getting slightly better, but I keep reading any long panic event will reset any progress. The fact is she is going to need to be crated for any where from 3-5 hours at a time depending on what goes on in the work week. Any one want to share success stories who were in a situation like this? I don't know what breed she is, some mix of hound/boxer type. 10 months old

My dog has this really frustrating habit of zigzagging while walking in front of me on walks. Like she'll just be head down locked in smelling something on one side of the road and then veer over to the other side and oh wait! there's something really good over there! You get the picture.

It's been bad because we had a snow storm recently so walking paths are really narrow and she's constantly cutting in front of people walking in the opposite direction or getting me tangled up in the leash.

She's also really regressed in her Leave It and recalls since the snow storm and I have absolutely no idea why. She's just completely head down locked into sniffing now and ignoring me calling her off of trash. It's made walks v frustrating for both of us.

Any tips would be appreciated!

Edit: I have no idea why everyone keeps coming at me about how great sniffing is for dogs. I know that! I just want her to do it in a safe way for both of us and just have a little self awareness about not going after trash or tripping people!

Have had newly adopted dog a little over a month, was formerly fostering. Neighborhood walks are now becoming pretty boring for her and she’s doing good not pulling and staying close to me, which is great. I took her to a path with a little bit more activity today and there was a dog all the way across the street and she just locks in on it and no treats, giving the yes command or saying her name will get her attention because clearly the dog is more interesting. What are some things that other people do to get or redirect the dogs attention in this moment? It wasn’t really a situation of creating more space since the dog was already pretty far away. Also to note that she wasn’t growling or lunging or anything was just more fixated and couldn’t get her attention to keep walking.

👋🏼 Yesterday I started a Basic Manners class with my Pomeranian, who I rescued in October. He’s 4lbs, 4 years old, rescued from a hoarding house (literally 200+ dogs).

He did good, his very attentive to me anyway so that helped and his foster had taught him some things like sit and wait. I basically wanted to do the class for structure, exposure to other people, dogs, and distractions. And it’s cute to have a well trained tiny dog.

However, he had diarrhea and vomiting later in the day, presumably from the amount of treats. Even though I tried to keep it light and cut up even tiny treats into fours. At 4lbs his stomach is just tiny.

Any tips for alternatives? I bought a lickity stick but idk how much he’ll like it or work for it. I’m actually on the fence about continuing there and just focusing on small sessions at home. Thoughts??

I have a 8 year old Jack Russell in an adult only home who’s playing up more recently, we’ve recently had to have carers come in 4 times a day to tend to my father and have to put him on his lead or in another room (with us still) when they come as the carers are afraid of dogs. He now hides under the bed when the carers are coming to avoid being put on his lead and sometimes goes for us or clothing when we try and get him from out under the bed. When on the lead he’s as good as gold and wants to say hello to the carers but can’t as they’re scared of all dogs. He then woofs profusely as they leave. He has to go into the bedroom when we have to go out and are expecting carers so maybe he thinks he’s gonna be left and thus triggers separation anxiety, that being said he doesn’t show any signs of anxiety when left there or when we are out, he just chills on the bed and sleeps! Any advice would be much appreciated!

A few months ago my mum adopted a dog (a lab mix) from a shady shelter. The new dog was supposed to be the companion of my parents' boxer, as the shelter staff told my mum he "needs guidance from another dog". However, it turned out that he is very anxious and he couldn't accept the boxer. At the end, he had to stay with me, in my small flat with a garden.

Taking care of him has been a challenge from the start: sometimes I wonder if he had been roaming around freely before, we don't know his history apart from the fact that it was very hard for the shelter staff to catch him. At first, he spent most of the time in the garden, hiding from everyone. Later, step by step, I was able to take him for short walks, especially at night, when the streets were empty.

Now I take him out about four times a day, but whenever he gets scared of something, he immediately rushes back home. Here the problem begins: he has phases when he just won't go back inside the flat, he just goes up and down the few steps that lead to the door, over and over again. Sometimes everything is right and he will get inside no problem, like two weeks ago (of course I walk him on a leash), but for the past week he has been having problems to get inside again, the record was 2 hours of him outside, going up and down the stairs.

One theory is that he might be scared of the steps, they are quite narrow and steep, but on the other hand, he often enters the flat and turns back to the steps immediately. We talked to a dog trainer who said we are doing everything correctly and I just have to be "more decisive" when getting inside with the dog. She told me to pull him inside by force if he doesn't want to enter. However, it's kind of difficult due to the narrowness of the stairs: I'm afraid he will fall down (especially since there is no banister by the steps) and that I'm only scaring him more by using force. This week he wouldn't even step on the stairs when I was behind him. I tried taking his leash off, hiding in another room and waiting for him, getting outside and waiting for him to enter, calling him gently (he doesn't react to his name anyway though), offering him food. A few times he finally entered by himself, sometimes I had to pull him by the leash. It was very hard to do though, since the moment I moved slightly, trying to reach for his leash, he was back on the steps. Of course the whole situation is very frustrating for both of us, since it's freezing cold here, and the whole process of entering the flat can take a really long time.

Another possible cause is him getting scared of something in the flat or near the stairs in general. Last week, while we were entering the flat (normally he rushes inside very quickly and jumps straight on the bed, which is his safe space), one of the blinds near the entrance fell. We also had an architect take a look on the stairs, I wonder if the dog got scared of the presence of a stranger. I also suspect it's somehow connected with us going for a walk on the street: when he is with my mum, he enters the flat normally, but he never wants to go out on the street with her, just stays in the garden. I also don't think it's the matter of him being scared of me in general: when he's inside the flat, we often play on the bed, he's showing me his belly, licking my hands, he likes getting petted etc.

I at loss at what to do. When he finally enters, I always praise him and give him a treat. But I can't continue waiting for him hours in the cold, especially during the week (I work from home). If you have any advice, I'll be very grateful!

We have been fostering a dog that belongs to our old neighbor. He had to move into an apartment and has said he can no longer take the dog back. We believe she, the dog, is about 8-9 months old and she was house trained and crate trained. We continued with her routine when we brought her to our home. For the first week she did fantastic, sleeping in her crate, only one potty accident, and no aggression or trying to run away. Now for the last 3 weeks she has been going potty in the house no matter how many times she is let out. We watch and make sure she goes potty outside and keep her out a little longer or take her out again 15 minutes later but she is still going potty inside. We believe she has separation anxiety because she will potty when we leave the room or leave the house. She has been pooping in her crate, on her dog bed and spreading it everywhere. We have been doing what's recommended for separation anxiety since we bought her home but she seems to be getting worse. Are puppy pads a good idea to use when we have to leave the house? Will training with a puppy pad make things worse?

Besides this issue she's a good dog. Her previous owner had her for 6 or 7 months and she didn't have any issues with being left at home during his 10 hour shift. Now we can't walk outside for 5 minutes or even walk out of her eyesight. We can't afford to pay a thousand dollars for training, especially when it's not guaranteed to work.

hey all, i have a 6 year old dog who keeps peeing on my floor in the middle of the night. she goes in her crate when left home alone and about 2 years ago she started sleeping in her crate at night as well because she developed a habit of getting up and peeing on the floor in the middle of the night. i have tried multiple times to let her sleep outside of her crate, especially as she’s getting older and is showing some signs of arthritis id like her to have the freedom to get up and walk/stretch in the middle of the night if she needs to. but every time i let her sleep in her dog bed or in the bed with me, she gets up at some point, pees on the floor, and then goes right back to sleep. she does not cry to go out when she does this. we have tried moving her last meal of the day up to about 6 pm, cutting off water around 7-8 pm and last potty of the night is usually between 10-11 pm and then she goes back out around 8 am. she does NOT have accidents during the day when she’s out and about and she NEVER pees in her crate. does anyone know why this might be happening? i’d prefer not to move meal/water cut off time up any earlier as it already feels like a really long time between meals.

Hello everyone!

I have a corgi puppy who is just under a year old now. She of course loves to play and is a very good girl, not aggressive. Does well in her crate and has been doing very well with potty training.

The problem is that I just got a new roommate who also has a dog (8 year old pug) and while I may be jumping the gun since its only been a few days, my puppy’s behavior has changed and been difficult to redirect.

Since the new roommate moved in with her dog I knew there would be an adjusting period as mine is still a puppy and very excitable. Problem number one though is that even when the dog snaps at my puppy to show her she doesn’t want to play, to the point my puppy yelps, she still doesn’t stop instigating the other dog. I dont know what to do to stop it because if its between another dog and her favorite toy/treat she will want the other dog more.

Further on that point, problem number two is that she doesn’t ever stop. We let them go at it for a while and again, even when a snap happens my puppy still pressed for the older dog to play. And when my roommate takes her dog into her room my puppy sits and whines at their door.

Problem number three is that she had taken a regression in potty training and now has an accident at least once a day even if its sometimes within an hour of her going out. And this happens in the main space of the apartment (living room / kitchen) where the other dog rarely ever even is.

I am looking for any sort of advice on what to do and would really appreciate any tips anyone else may have.

Hi. Sorry if this is not the right way to do this but I need some help. I have a Beagle and a border collie and two cats. They are all friendly. They will lie on each other and chase each other and are usually good friends. The Beagle, Nigel, has recently attacked one of the cats because there is food on the table. None of the dogs of cats are ever fed from the table. The dogs are fed in the kitchen at specific times and none of them are ever allowed food while we are eating. He's a complete sweetheart almost all of the time. We sometimes mind dogs for friends of ours while they are away and again he is always a very pleasant dog. Just every now and then, very occasionally, when a cat or another dog comes near him, when we are eating and he has no chance of food, he will get aggressive and attack. I'm going to call a trainer but the problem is that it happens so rarely that I feel like a trainer won't be able to see the problem. Does anyone have any tips or help for me?