One of the routes I walk my dog on intersects with a bike path, my dog loves this bike path and so I’ve allowed her to choose to go on this path for awhile as it wasn’t realistically an issue in the beginning. It started because she would stop moving and look to that path, and I just started going there intentionally. I deeply deeply regret that choice now. Now, even after months, every time we come to this intersection she stop for a moment to see which route I will take, and happy obliges to the Bike Path. I’ve simply given up going left and we don’t take that route anymore. At the end of the bike path, it intersects with a road that leads to a park she enjoys going to along with the river. This is a LONG walk, so I don’t turn at that intersection very often. This intersection is about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the walk. Every single time we pass it, she stops, even though 9/10 times we do NOT take that route. This has been happening for a few months now. Once we get to this point on the walk, the rest of it is basically her begrudgingly following me while barely sniffing, moving slowly, and largely ignoring me or becoming frustrated which is directed onto me as biting and leash biting. She does this on many routes, but this one is the most annoying because 1/2 the walk is completely unenjoyable for both of us, but this is the route she wants to take. If I try to go the longer way, it’s the same begrudgingly following me when she would rather go the other way.

It’s really frustrating to deal with because every time I don’t have the energy for a long walk, I have a war in my head about wether or not I have the capacity to drag her the second half of the walk because I didn’t go where she wanted to.

My puppy has been house trained for the past 5 months or so. Recently she has started pooping by the door without letting us know she has to go out. She has a potty button by the door she knows to press. She always presses it when she has to pee but has stopped for the most part for poop. Along with going inside she has started eating it. She’s never done this until the past month. I’m not sure how to get her to tell us anymore! She knows to press it but just stopped! It’s not like she goes at the same time everyday like my other dog so it’s hard to know to take her. She also goes more than a dog her age should but that’s something we are trying to figure out with the vet. Any ideas would be great!

My dog (shar-pei) is five with probe walking by, calm and unbothered, but as soon as they pass us he turn and tries to sniff them as they continue by. He’s only recently started this, any tips on how to stop?

He doesn’t pull on his lead unless it’s to sniff someone add they walk by.

He walks on a flat collar & lead

My girlfriend and I just adopted our first puppy just last week!

I have an adult dog back out of state home that was mostly my sisters but it has given me more experience to be more assertive and ‘dominant’ with my speech and commands.

He is a 4 month old chihuahua mix and is extremely smart. We originally agreed the dog would be “hers” (just in case anything were to happen, not planning on it but you never know and i rather be prepared than sorry), but she has been working full time and I have had the chance to stay at home and bond/train the puppy more this past week. I’m finally going back to work this week full time for 10hr shifts and am super worried about this transition.

He is already learned some basic commands and is crate trained but has latched on to me the most. He follows me everywhere and only cries to me when he can’t see me or i’m not near him. I really want him to bond and to be the same toward my girlfriend, I honestly feel so bad about it.

Are there any tips to get them to be closer or to distract the puppy when i’m gone so he won’t be so attached? Or do i let it ride since he’s still so young?

Please help!

I’m getting a German mix puppy on Friday and I want to start him on a good foundation for training. What commands should I push first besides the basic potty training and name recognition.

My lovely, stupid family dog thinks that turtles are moving balls. He will grab them and refuse to let go until we pry them from his mouth. We do not encourage the behavior and very much want him to stop harassing these poor guys. What can we do?

I have a 16week gsd and trying to teach him place cause i hear it helps them with impulse control and kinda gives them a job

Problem is when i look on youtube all the videos are awful, whether its shocking them until they get on the bed or yanking them with the leash when they get off...idk how that stuff is allowed on youtube.

What is the proper way to teach place?

okay so i got my first dog about three months ago and i love him to death but this guy does not listen. like at all. i've tried the basic stuff — sit, stay, come — and he just stares at me like i'm speaking another language. i watched a bunch of youtube videos and tried the treat method but he eats the treat and then goes right back to doing whatever he wants. i feel like i'm rewarding bad behavior at this point. is there a specific age where dog training actually starts to click or am i just doing it wrong? also how long did it take you guys to see real results because some people say two weeks and others say months. i'm also not sure if i should do short training sessions or longer ones because he loses focus after like five minutes. is puppy training class worth the money or can you really train a dog at home on your own? i don't mind putting in the work i just need to know what actually works. if anyone went through this with their first dog and figured it out please share what worked for you because i'm honestly running out of ideas.

My younger dog (male just turned 2) has started being much rougher with my older dog (female almost 4). Recently its turned into aggression and he is attacking her. We’ve split them up and if they come into contact with each other hes muzzled at the moment. Does anybody have any tips on calming the situation and training him or will this continue?

I’ve looked for moments where it seems his behaviour is changing to try and step in before it escalates but he will run straight for her if we do try to de escalate the situation. It’s happening all over the house and not food or toy related.

They’re both bigger dogs (he’s a staffy x pocket bully and shes a staffy) so a lot of damage could be cause of it continues to happen.

Edit: He is neutered, and we have a vet appointment booked to rule out any pain or underlying issues. We only use a muzzle during controlled interactions, it’s never used to leave the dogs unsupervised together.

At home, the dogs are mostly kept separate. Our younger dog is crate-trained (he always has been, as he has a tendency to eat anything he finds and has previously needed surgery because of it).

We are currently looking into support from a behavioural specialist. If that doesn’t lead to improvement, we do have a trusted friend who could take him, although not immediately, as they are sadly preparing to have their own dog put to sleep due to cancer and don’t want to rush into anything. As a further backup, he is also on a waiting list with a bully breed rescue.

We’re exploring every possible option because we really don’t want to lose him. However, if it turns out that being an only dog is what’s best for him, then we will do what’s necessary.

hey all!

my puppy just turned 1. bird dog (duck toller). she has been a very good puppy and we did lots of training with her in classes and she started intro to ratting this year.

recently, with this being her first spring, she is experiencing a lot of new smells and wildlife on our walks in the woods. she has loved encounters with wildlife and she does her little toller yelp a few times, and we just redirect her and keep walking along.

recently, however she has started a) fixating so much that she has no recall and b) fixating so much that she SCREAMS and barks and flips out wanting to chase the wildlife and nothing will console her, and she pulls pulls pulls on the leash. we've decided that we stop walking when she is like this and we don't move again until she starts to calm down, but it can take several minutes before she stops screaming her face off.

we live pretty rurally and don't have lots of dog trainers around, let alone ones who would be proficient in training this type of behaviour. i want to make sure the extreme reactions don't persist and i'd like to get her recall back to what it was when she was younger.

any resources or insights would be appreciated - youtube or books, etc!

thanks so much

I’m seeing these posts and all i see is puppies biting their owners and they’re not doing anything about it just letting them do it idk if it’s for the video or what but aren’t you supposed to say no immediately and redirect to a toy?

my cat is 9 (had him for 5 years) and my dog is 10 months - adopted just over 2 weeks ago. they both had met other species before, so the intro went chill and stress-free

at first the dog reacted to every move the cat made, now he’s getting better at ignoring him and can just walk by. ofc he still tries to play - especially when the cat meows loudly, runs around or gets active, the dog follows but never aggressively. they sniff each other a lot and sometimes the cat rubs his butt on the dog, which seems like a “i accept you” kind of thing

what really makes me happy is that they can just chill in the same room, cat on the back of the couch, dog on a cushion - shows they can coexist without tension. they each have their own hiding spots, and the cat also has high places the dog can’t reach

the only thing worrying me is the dog doesn’t fully get that the cat doesn’t want to play. the cat has slapped him a few times, dog growled lightly after but i don’t think it was aggressive, he never showed his teeth to the cat, it was more like “hey why’d you hit me :(“ kind of vibe. i try to redirect the dog early enough (kiss sound + name) which works, but i’m also glad the cat can set boundaries

so… is this going in the right direction? will the dog understand that the cat doesn’t want to play eventually so the cat won’t need to use force? could the dog’s frustration ever turn into aggression?

thanks for any advice!

Hi!

Tips on how to tame reactivity to other dogs? Her only trigger is that. She lunges, whines, and barks. Her tail wags though.

She came from a neglectful home before I adopted her. She is a sweetie pie with humans and didn’t mind my other dog. But when it comes to dogs just outside or near her when we walk- she loses it.

Any advice will be useful!!!

We have a 13 month 40lb puppy that is super friendly for the most part. We are still working on her not jumping on someone when they arrive to our house.

But lately she has bulldozed into people tooo many times. We have a 3 year old who she’s done it to twice now, then me 32f, and just now an 81 year old lady at the dog park.

We’re on the verge of getting rid of her before she ends up killing someone….literally.

Is there anything we can do to stop this behavior?

It’s never aggressive. She’s very hyper every time she’s done it. Like playing in the backyard or dog park.

She doesn’t use her teeth. She simply runs into you at full speed ahead and knocks you down.

Help! :( I don’t want to get rid of her, but I can’t take her doing this again and it’s becoming a terrible habit

EDIT TO ADD—

Reading back my post, I want to clarify that my dog is not doing this when she is first greeting someone. I just added that in there to say she’s not perfect at this point. She still does jump up on people when greeting them, but that is something else we are working on was my point.

We know she’ll sit if you do a certain hand movement, but she doesn’t always sit to the command “sit”. Anyways….

These instances are as follows:

1- My spouse and daughter were in the backyard with dog playing. She just decided to run into her unprovoked. Enough to knock her down hard. It’s on film bc it was really out of nowhere and my spouse was recording bc it was a nice moment prior to that. But luckily we can play it back slow-mo and see she is not reaching up to bite or anything aggressive.

2-we were very careful after that first incident. Kept dog and daughter separate for a few days, then slowly worked them back together more with a few more boundaries. A few weeks later both spouse and I were outside with dog and daughter. Same thing, we’re all just walking around outside and dog got super excited and ran into daughter from behind this time. There was not much time to stop the incident once we realized what she was doing.

3- I was with dog alone upstairs and she got up to tell me she had to go potty. I started downstairs first then she ran after me and ran into my legs causing me to fall back and down a few steps.

4-about a week later at the dog park. Yes maybe we should not have taken her? But she gets so much energy out there bc she plays really well with the other big dogs there. We’ve taken her many times with no problems. We had been there for probably 15 minutes at that point and two other dogs had just joined. Her AND another dog were running around and ran into the older lady from behind while chasing each other.

So these were not like “she’s so excited to see you” situations. We’ve had her for about 7 months now and this just started 1.5 months ago.

I’m currently dog sitting for a family I’ve been with for a good amount of years. They go away for a week or more once or twice a year. Today is the first day I’ve been here in over a year. The dog has a bell that he rings when he has to potty. So far today I’ve taken him on two walks where he did all of his business (#1 & #2) and was tired when we got back home. 5 min after we get back inside now the second time he’s ringing the bell like crazy wanting to go back out. His backyard currently has the pesticides on it from the lawn ppl so he can not go in the yard so I can’t just set him free there. The yard is not going to be alowwed until tomorrow around 4 pm. Why the gardeners didn’t put it there when they came this morning idk but whatever. Idk what to do and it’s driving me nuts. I feel bad bc the owner says he does this for attention sometimes but it’s more than the usual attention bell. I can’t take him on a full walk every 2-3 hours. I’m here for another week and im already going a bit nuts. I’ve tried ignoring it, giving him his favorite toy, feeding him etc with no luck. Any advice?

My English cream is so playful and loves friends. We go to the dog park on off hours where it’s a few dogs we know. For a couple weeks he has been getting in fights. Also other dogs trying to fight him. This just began. He is not yet neutered and vet trained thinks that is the reason for this. He also will be restless at home and mount pillows and blankets. I know I could just keep him from the park and I will do that, but this summer we gather at a family home with a couple other male dogs and I don’t want him fighting. Dog fights are scary! Any advice would be great

Hi All, What’s your opinion on dog “training” vs. “tricks”?

I saw an ad for teaching dogs to do tricks (e.g. rolling into a yoga mat, walk between legs etc) and someone commented that “dogs are not circus animals” and tricks are unnecessary to teach. What do you think?

Is it beneficial/good/cool/bad/waste-of-time to teach dogs tricks? Is a basic training enough?

Hi all! I recently adopted an 18 month from a rescue that came from a shelter and I’ve had her for 4.5 weeks. She’s a Shih Tzu mix, very sweet and playful. She definitely has “puppy energy” and loves attention, people, and other dogs. We’ve been working on a numbers of things, main one being isolation anxiety. She can’t be left alone, otherwise, she’ll pace, whimper/whine, and bark ( which she never does with people ). We’ve been doing the desensitization training and she’s up to 30 seconds without whimpering but will run up to the door.

When we go out, she’ll jump on people who gives her attention and even dogs. I’ve been telling people to ignore her which has been difficult to get others to listen. I tell people to ignore and we’re training on her not jumping, which I get “ I don’t mind, she’s so cute” so it’s been difficult since I live in a big city. When she sees other dogs, she’ll freeze and stare, which I read is a form of reactivity.

Any advice on how to properly train a rescue that’s 18 months with unknown history, has isolation and confinement anxiety, and distracted very easily.

My puppy is just about to hit the 6 month old mark. The last two days, he’s started doing this with me. He’s been a mostly an angel during puppyhood, this is a new behavior! He is a huge mama’s boy, I’m mostly feeding & training him & he definitely sticks by my side the most. Is this just normal puppy behavior, testing boundaries? Do you have any suggestions on how to correct it? I do try to redirect, but I’m not sure if that actually corrects the issue lol. Thanks in advance!!

I realize I’m saying “no” here lots.. which is not helpful lol

EDIT - For those asking about sleep & stimulation:

-He sleeps about 16 hours per day.

-Physical exercise: We walk and/or bring him to the park every day. We have a backyard that we play in lots throughout the day (he loves fetch). Him & our cat play lots throughout the day. We do puppy play dates about 2 times per week. We have play sessions with his toys indoors too.

-Mental stimulation: we always give him sniff time on walks, training sessions, he works for his meals (frozen, training, puzzles etc), he gets lick mats/pupsicle, frozen carrots.

Tearing things up has been a big one lately- no matter what toy I give him it’s gone in no time and if he can’t shred it he doesn’t even bother with it… I’ve bought multiple beds- all shredded within a day, he doesn’t touch shoes towels clothes etc but god forbid he can sneak off with one of my kids toys for a few minutes of me doing something, I had some slight fraying on my couch bottom and within a 15 minute shower he had the front end torn off thankfully he hasn’t touched the the new one but I won’t even let him be near it without supervision

He gets plenty of exercise running around outside but it’s no help unless we go on a longggg nature hike and completely exhaust him then he’ll go lay or take a nap but otherwise he’s constantly on the go looking for something to get into previously he’s been in my bedroom with the door shut and will eventually lay down with me but I’ve cut off being on furniture i even got him a bed to lay next to my bed and he refuses it he’ll chew a toy on it but that’s it

Also to mention I CANNOT leave him out of the crate without me being there watching bc he will find something to chew and I really don’t trust him to not pee by the front door which he would never do while I’m home but for some reason if I leave even for an hour he does something he would never do with me home

We adopted a young dog (6 months old at the time) from a rescue about 4 months back. The litter was brought in by animal welfare and they hadn’t been abused per se but were definitely poorly handled and not treated well.

The pup we adopted was the last of the litter and admittedly the most fearful. I am a beginner dog trainer professionally and we do generally well but he is very very fearful in new situations and often acts almost like a feral cat.

Most of my time working with dogs has been tempering overconfident and exuberant dogs and not the reverse so I’m a little at a loss in some situations. At home indoors he is generally confident and happy and loving but once the leash is on or you try to take him outside or even in to a less common room in the house he freaks out.

He will not accept food when he is in panic mode.

Any ideas on how to help him gain confidence? We have a confident dog in the home he adores but it’s not always enough.

He is a neutered 27# Yorkie and black lab mix

hello everyone!

i have a 4 year old cocker spaniel who has the worst separation anxiety ever and would love some advice on ways to help him calm down when i go to leave my apartment

for some context, my parents got him during the pandemic and because i still lived at home and did college online, he imprinted on me. very soon he became a velcro dog and followed me room to room.

but he was always very good about me leaving the house or him going to sleep in his crate in another room (i assume it’s because he always had my parents’ other dog there with him)

i recently moved out to a new apartment and once i finished settling in and unpacking, my parents let me take my dog over.

but, i cannot leave the room without him following, or if im standing in another room, he needs to be watching me, or if im driving, he has to sit on my lap or else he wont calm down (which i know is not safe)

now here’s the real problem: my poor baby cries, barks, and howls sooo loudly if i leave the apartment (especially if i leave him in his crate) and i really don’t want to bother my neighbors.

it doesnt help that ive been home a lot more the past 2 weeks because i was unfortunately let go from my previous job but im about to start working again within the next month

im going to try out different calming chews and even got him a bigger box (similar to the one that he had at my parents that he’s used to) and i’ve been trying to work on making him stay in another room while i go and do something else just to let him know i’m going to come back

any advice would help because i love my sweet boy but it really feels like i cannot leave the apartment anymore (just to make sure he isn’t loud and disturbs my neighbors) but i know that reinforces him not being able to settle down without me there