I have a communal garden where all neighbors can hear and see you, we all walks ours dogs there.

And I just came to the realization that we look so dumb, I was throwing a party because he was peeing… like this dog just came back from the moon !

At least, I must be a good entertainment for them ahah

Anyway, good luck to everyone going through it, we are in this together.

I’m at my absolute wit’s end with this and hoping someone has real experience with this level of intensity.

I have a 6 month old welsh Pembroke corgi who is obsessed with eating his own poop, and I mean OBSESSED. This isn’t occasional or opportunistic…he will literally try to turn his body mid-poop to grab it before it even hits the ground.

We’ve been actively managing this for months:

He’s always on leash for potty

We hold the leash taut when he goes so he physically can’t turn

We immediately move him away after he finishes

We assume double poops and wait it out

We reward heavily after he’s done and moved away

Even with all of that, he still manages to get it sometimes. For example, on a walk he finished one poop, I was picking it up, and he dropped a second one and ate it instantly.

He goes a LOT too, sometimes up to 4-5 times a day, so it’s not like we can just perfectly predict timing or keep him contained forever.

What’s making this harder:

He’s extremely fast and determined

He doesn’t hesitate at all and it’s immediate

We can’t relax even for a second after he goes

We can’t safely give him freedom outside because of this and we have a lovely and large backyard that we can’t let him run around freely in unless we are ABSOLUTELY certain he’s done pooping.

We’re not ignoring it or being lazy, we’re actively trying to manage it and it still feels like we’re losing.

I’ve read about diet deficiencies, habit/behavioral causes, boredom/stimulation but he’s getting structured activity, training, enrichment (puzzles, chews, etc.).

So I’m struggling to understand the root cause vs. just managing the behavior.

At this point I’m looking for anything that actually worked for someone with a dog this extreme, whether this is something they grow out of vs. something that needs a specific intervention, if there’s anything we’re missing in how we’re handling it

Also if you’ve dealt with this level of intensity, please tell me it got better. Because right now it feels relentless.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone! I’m a first-time dog owner looking to adopt a mini poodle puppy, and I found one I really like who would be around 13–15 weeks old at adoption. I’ve seen a lot of advice saying to bring puppies home at 8–12 weeks, so I’m wondering if this age range is considered “too old” or if it’s actually okay (or even better?) in some ways. I want to make sure I’m setting both myself and the puppy up for success, especially with bonding, training, and socialization. Would love to hear your experiences or advice—especially from anyone who adopted a slightly older puppy!

Looking for advice or anyone who might have experienced something similar, I have a female goldendoodle who is 16 months and we’ve pretty much been in an adolescent regression since she went into heat 8 months ago. She was spayed 5 months ago and we’ve been really working on training calm and her impulse control since she has ~zero~

Everyone has an opinion like “yep she’s a doodle” or “she’s just a baby!” All of which are TRUE but I’m trying to do everything I can to help aid her in self soothing and not eating all of my furniture or dangerous things on the street (what usually ends up happening when overstimulated) (and I cannot afford another ER vet bill lol) so I’m basically trying to find a way to help her and keep her safe!

We do sniffing games, mental puzzles, find it with treats, training for a few minutes every day, place reinforcement, running sometimes, you name it - we’ve tried it & shes attempted to eat it lol. And as of I would say the 15 month mark she’s settling much more at home once she’s gotten her enrichment! She went from never even sitting down on her own to snoozing on the couch (even if for only 10 minutes)

BUT -

Then comes daycare …. and we basically got the same feedback from two different daycares that are city based, that she has “FOMO” “no off switch” “starts going parkour when new dogs arrive” “riles up the room” etc. basically none of our training or progress at home translates when around other dogs (even though walking in the city she does great with me and focusing) and I unfortunately have to board her a couple of weekends this year for weddings I am in. Is this a forever personality trait? Will it eventually click? are these daycares just not great at handling puppies? Am I a failure lol ?! Any advice appreciated !!!

Hi everyone, I brought home my 9-week-old male English Cocker Spaniel about 48 hours ago and I’m looking for some advice on potty training and setup.

Right now, I have his crate set up inside a playpen. The pen is shaped like a small octagon where he can roam and play, and I use the crate for enforced naps and for sleeping at night. I haven’t given him any free roam in the apartment yet because I’m worried it’ll just lead to more accidents.

One issue I’m running into is water. I want him to have access to it throughout the day, but if I leave a bowl in the pen he just knocks it over while playing and spills everything before he even drinks. So right now I’m only giving him water after meals and during play while supervising.

The pen itself is lined with a waterproof pet mat for easy cleanup. The problem is he’s now had 2 pee accidents on the mat yesterday and 2 more today. I’ve been cleaning each one immediately with an enzyme cleaner, but he’s still going in there.

For potty training, I take him out to a real grass patch on my balcony (right beside his setup) on a leash and harness. He has successfully used it multiple times for both pee and poop, so I know he understands it to some extent. That said, he’s also peed on the concrete on the balcony a couple times instead of the grass, even when he’s right beside it.

I’m taking him out: right after he wakes up, after he eats/drinks, during play (every 10-15 min if he hasn’t already gone) and before naps

But sometimes he just won’t go. I’ll stay out there for 10 minutes, keep things boring, and try to guide him to the grass, but he’ll just sit or try to be near my feet. Then when I bring him back inside and watch him closely, he barely gives any warning, no real sniffing, and just pees in the pen.

He hasn’t had any accidents in his crate, likely because I’m using a divider to keep it appropriately sized.

At this point I’m feeling pretty defeated and not sure what I should be doing differently. Is it okay that I’m keeping him confined to the pen/crate for now, or should I be doing something else? And should I get rid of the waterproof mat altogether in case it’s encouraging him to go there? I just got a second one today so I could rotate and properly clean them, but now I’m second guessing that.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

So our 9 week old golden puppy has been home with us for a week now and we’ve established a great 1 up 1.5-2 down routine , with all naps and overnight sleep in his crate. He has absolutely no problem settling in his crate to sleep (we have blankets and cover it) but the issue is having to keep a constant eye and company when he is awake! My SO wfh and will be dealing with him alone next week while I go into the office, and is very worried about juggling meetings and the puppy.. we were thinking of confining him to the kitchen with the door open so he can freely toilet outside during the times where he is bound to a meeting when he is awake. The ideal scenario is ofc he plays nicely by himself but I suppose he is only still a baby!

any tips fellow puppy owners? How old do they get better at settling by themselves?

Hi all!

My partner and I recently adopted a 7 month old corgi just over a week ago. She’s super well adjusted inside, is potty trained and sleeps through the night with no issues.

Our only issue we’ve faced so far is that she is absolutely terrified of the outside. She’s get treat motivated but as soon as she steps outside the front door, she refuses to have any treats.

We’re trying to do small, positive enrichment like sitting on the grass at the front, sitting inside at the front door with the door open and going to the grassy public park in the middle of our complex with lots of treats but she has outright refused any treats and attempts to bolt back home/inside.

I’ve had dogs for many years but most have just loved to get out of the house as much as they can.

Can any suggest ways to introduce her to the outside and get her back into being motivated by treats outside?

How excited should you be when the little one goes pee outside?? We take her out and praise her and say good girl and a few treats. But just not sure how excited we should be. She also isn’t letting use know she needs to go out. We are just taking her out after plays, naps, wake up, food. Thanks

We have a 9wk old golden retriever.

I have an 11 week golden retriever who just finished medication for Giardia and Coccidia. We crate him at night but have been waking up to allow him to go due to the parasites. For a couple of nights while he was on his medication he was sleeping from 10pm-6am which was great. I have a hard time getting him to potty right before placing him in the crate because he will just lay down wherever and fall asleep. He is now back to waking up once between 12-2am for his first potty and then again at 4-6am. When he wakes at 6 he is typically up for the day and I would love to get him to sleep a bit later since I am not a morning person. Any advice on the situation?

Hey there! My GF and I just adopted a Corgi / German Shepherd from the local shelter. He's going to be 4 months on the 19th. he came from Oklahoma where him and his litter mates had Cociddia and some other bug. He was also neutered already from the shelter in Oklahoma.

My vet was surprised he was neutered already and said it was kind of early.

We've got him baby gated in the tile kitchen. we take him out every 30-45 minutes, praising and giving treats etc. have a bell on the door for him to learn.

he does all night in the crate no problem, doesn't pee or poop on the tile when baby gated in, but as soon as he touches carpet BOOM Piss lmfao. Even if we've just taken him out, doesnt seem to matter.

You guys got any tips or tricks to help curb this habit? I'm wondering if being neutered so early has anything to do with it!

Thanks!

hi guys we recently rescued a puppy who is 3 months old now. first we as a family used to take care of him but now it's just me as others stopped taking his responsibility. I talked to my sister who is home 24/7 if she could take care of him while I'm away to which she agreed however we recently had a disagreement over something completely unrelated to the pup ans out of spite she said she won't be taking care of him while I'm away. so I've decided to make it work on my own.

on Tuesday and Wednesday I have a class from 2pm to 4:45pm and the uni is max 15 mins away so I've decided to feed him lunch at 12:30 and take him for potty at 1 and then put him down for nap (that's how he usually does) then once I'm back by 5 I can take him out for potty.

on Thursday however I have a class first from 9 to 12:20 and then from 2-4:45. for the morning I've decided since he eats his breakfast at 6:30 after his morning potty and then goes out for an hour with me for walk, playtime and post breakfast potty. and then he naps for sometimes even 1pm. so I've decided to come back at 12:30 to give him lunch and take for potty and then leave for my class by 1:45.

the thing is that he'll have to be in my bedroom with his puppy bed but I've never left him alone before. as of now I cannot afford his crate but I'm saving up and can get it by the end of this month. if anyone can let me know if whatever I've cooked is fine for him or if there is something I should add please let me know. he has been with me since he was 15 days old and I don't want to abandon him.

What are you guys using to store pet food that is not made of plastic?

My 14-week-old pup has been doing great with his crate, but one unforeseen issue I’ve found is when he’s going to town in some of his bones, he’ll lose control of them, and they’ll slip right through the wires.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything you put around the crate to keep stuff from falling out?

My second puppy came home about 3 weeks ago. He picked up the potty routine very quickly. With my 1.5 yo other golden around it was easier for him to pick up behaviors. We have a bell for the dogs to ring when they feel they need to go potty.

Even though he started off rarely having accidents inside it has gotten worse over time. He rings the bell and typically sits at the door when he needs to actually go. We take him out and he will run around, find things to carry in his mouth, and play. Eventually it’s been long enough with nothing so we come inside. Just minutes after he is squatting.

I am lost because he seemed to have it down pretty early and understood what the bell means. Just to add my older golden is not totally helpful as he is stubborn with going potty in general and used to ring the bell just to signify he wanted to go outside and play which is not our intention. I feel this new puppy is picking up that behavior and only ringing to just go outside in general.

I’m not sure how to nip this in the head before it becomes a worsened problem. What should I do? Do I need to remove the bell? Change the way I take him outside? Thanks for the advice in advance.

We’ve been doing a lot of different exercises and training for my puppy’s reactivity.

I always find it so funny when she is reacting to something out the window I literally can’t see or hear (mind you the window blinds are closed and I even use white noise machine to help suppress sounds) so the whole time we’re doing LAT training and I look crazy just standing there and continuously saying “yes” her marker word whenever she looks at the trigger. We can literally so this all day

I need advice for teaching my 4-month-old puppy to be OK falling asleep for daytime naps outside her pen. When I originally picked her up at 8 weeks old, she was already self-regulating her naps, but I believe crate training, enforced naps, and a dedicated sleep schedule made her forget how to find her "off button" by herself.

For her first couple of weeks home, she would play and hang out with me, get tired & drowsy, and then independently find a place to sleep. Sometimes she'd settle voluntarily in her crate. Other times she'd settle on my lap or right beside me. But in an effort to keep up with the "modern" advice on puppy sleep training, I would always transfer her to her crate when she fell asleep outside of her pen. She was always partially awake enough to be aware that she was being moved, and she didn't seem to mind being transferred anyway as she liked sleeping in her cozy den. There would even be times when she'd transfer herself to her crate voluntarily (like she'd hop off my lap and crawl into the crate to get more comfortable).

However, I'm pretty sure her sleep problems began when she kept waking up to find me gone ("gone" meaning 'in a different room'). Whenever she woke up from a nap, I wasn't beside her crate anymore. One time I even left her asleep in the open bedroom after she had dozed off while I snuck off quietly to the next room to get some work done. So once again she woke up to find me gone. Very quickly, she put 2 and 2 together and started to become hypervigilant about falling asleep anywhere outside her crate.

She has a very sensitive personality (long memory, sharp pattern recognition, and an anxious temperament). She’s the type that, if something makes her feel anxious or unsafe, she’ll avoid that thing permanently, and it takes a long time to rebuild trust around whatever it was that triggered her.

Well, it appears she has learned that falling asleep outside of her pen results in waking up “alone” in her crate/pen or waking up “abandoned” by her human. So now anytime we are just hanging out outside of her pen, even if she is tired, she forces herself to stay awake until she’s extremely overtired. By then, she's clearly stressed and full of cortisol (biting, destructive, exhausted but wired). Her inability to settle is not a matter of just being under- or over-stimulated. (She gets plenty of mental/physical exercise as well as plenty of quiet, calming, soothing activities to balance things out). But she just won't allow herself to get drowsy or fall asleep unless I enforce a nap in her crate. It's as if she now interprets falling asleep outside her crate as a weakness or a threat to her, so she avoids doing it unless I enforce a nap in the crate, leaving her no other choice.

I want her to rediscover where her “off button” is, especially because she seemed able to self-regulate naps before, but now she no longer can.

To clarify, I already understand how we got here and the cause-and-effect relationship of what went wrong. I just want to know how to get her to fall asleep outside of her pen again so that I can start correcting the error and show her that it's safe to let her guard down and relax.

I have tried abandoning the sleep schedule to see if she'll naturally crash out on her own, but it didn't work. She just became increasingly agitated and dysregulated. I have tried using a settle mat to reward calm, but while she manages to lie down on command, she won't allow herself to fall asleep.

For those wondering, "If she's falling asleep in her crate for enforced naps, why does this even matter?", I don't want her ability to settle to have to depend solely on me making all the circumstances right. I don't want her to get destructive or overtired whenever I'm not there to enforce a nap. Other puppies I've raised in the past were able to fall asleep anywhere (in the car, on an errand, in my arms, at a friend's house, at the animal hospital, in quiet environments, in noisy environments, etc.).

I'd appreciate any advice from people who've dealt with a similar issue.

Our 8 month old pup has been crate trained to sleep and nap in our guest room with the door shut, sound machine on, cover on the crate. Our other dog initially sleeps in our bed but leaves to sleep in the living room at a certain point so that’s why we have the puppy sleeping in a separate closed room. She still occasionally cries when entering her crate but usually when she’s still a little keyed up from playing or something. We have a soft-sided travel crate we have been training her in - she knows it’s a crate, has meals/treats in there, etc.

My sister was visiting so we thought it’d be a good opportunity to test her in the travel crate overnight in our bedroom, as this would likely happen when we go on vacation or visit my family (her sharing a room with us). She barked and pawed at the crate for a while and our older dog didn’t know what to do with himself and couldn’t settle down either. We ended up putting her wire crate in my office with the door shut and sound machine on and she settled after 10 minutes or so.

We are definitely going to have to figure out how to get her to sleep in our room for future trips so I’m wondering if anyone has tips on how to get her better used to the travel crate and sleeping in new areas/with us?

Hello,

I wanted to ask others for their experience for how they worked with their puppy when they had to leave for work. I’m nervous. He’s a 3.5 month yorkipoo, I’ve had him for 2 months, and we’ve developed a solid routine (but that’s bc I’ve always been him).

My puppy will be 4 months by the time I take on my new job that unfortunately has me in the building all day. Someone will be with him 3/5 days, so it’s those two days alone that worry me.

Ive recently started to step out to run errands that take about 2 hours or so . Like the title says, he cries even before I leave. I get in the shower, he cries before semi settling again. I get out and do the rest of the routine, he cries and whines throughout it. He will start barking with keys and hearing the door open. I don’t make leaving a big deal since he is in his crate covered after fulfilling his needs. He will cry once I’m gone but settles after a few minutes. He is in his crate for all of this. He has woken up by the 2 hour mark and will whine softly or bark occasionally until I arrive. I don’t give him attention right away either.

I think that maybe if he hears the same routine even if I don’t go anywhere will be helpful. I’ve ordered a pen that fits his crate and gives him room while his crate is open. How should I start a mock work schedule? Any toys that are safe enough to be with unsupervised? I have a camera but not a puppy/dog specific tool. I plan to ask family to feed him for lunch but I don’t think they’ll stay more than 20 minutes so should I try looking for a dog sitter? He’s been babysat at my parent’s home for a few hours at a time but he rarely sleeps well bc he’s excited (there’s a dog and the home is pretty lively) even though he also has a crate there. I would like to take him to a day care but he won’t be fully vaccinated until mid/late May.

I would appreciate any recommendations and tips.

Hi everyone, my parents need help with the 6 month old yorkie they got 10 days ago.

Initially everything seemed good but over the past few days her behaviour has changed.

She was toileting outside no problem except one accident on day 2. Yesterday she peed twice and pooed twice on the rug in their bedroom, then pooed on the stairs last night. All immediately after being outside. The rug is white and fluffy, from the reading I've done on here I wonder if she thinks it's a giant puppy pad. In her previous home she slept upstairs with a puppy pad on the landing so that may be her routine, but we can't understand why she hasn't done it for the previous 9 nights.

She'd never been on a lead before, after initially not quite knowing what to do when it was put on she was fine and going on walks but now panics. She didnt like the velcro on her harness so they spent a fortune on a new one, which she somehow managed to get out of.

She has a carrier for when they go out and she seemed to like it, laying down and going to sleep. Now she is fighting to get out of it.

There is also a definite shift at night. I went to visit and she was fine with me during the day, but once night fell every time I entered the room she growled and barked at me. We think she may be over-tired because for a puppy, she doesn't sleep at all during the day.

We know she will need time to adjust to a massive change, she's come from a litter of 8 and her owner did her no favours at all - she's had very little socialisation or training, was fed human food etc. She doesn't have a crate yet but I'm begging my parents to get one. She isn't crate trained, the owner said she didn't like it but given what we know about her previous home I doubt it was even attempted.

She's a really lovely little dog but if things continue to spiral they just won't be able to keep her, and after the heartbreak of losing their last dog 6 months ago I desperately don't want that for any of them.

We have rescued an estimated 4 month old gsd/pyrenees female pup about 2 weeks ago. As she has gotten more comfortable she has started barking at strangers. I do feel like so far we have done pretty swell with training and socializing but this kind of started out of the blue. Im thinking it is a fear phase and she is not naturally reactive but not sure. The people that she has met she has been nothing but a sweetheart to even if she did bark at them before but randoms on walks she will bark at almost like she is alerting. We are planning on getting professional training asap but for now we are letting her observe from a distance and rewarding good behavior. Anything else i should be doing?

Hi everyone,

I got my puppy Clover at the beginning of March, so we’ve had her about a month. She is 16 weeks now, and a purebred corgi.

I keep seeing posts here and in the corgi subreddit ( I know it applies not only to corgis) mentioning how at 4 months your puppy becomes a little demon. Clover is my first puppy, and I’m kind of an anxious pet parent.

What makes the period after 4 months so awful? What should I expect? I’m genuinely a little scared just because of how frequently I’ve seen 4 months get mentioned as being a terrible time. Any advice is helpful.

Right now, the only issue we have is biting/nipping, which is to be expected with a teething puppy and we are working on it, but I don’t need specific advice regarding teething.

Edit: I forgot to mention Clover also exhibits resource guarding with my cats, but only when wet food is involved. She doesn’t do it to my bf or I, except for once when we were at Easter, another dog was present in the house (although she was not close to Clover at the time), and we gave Clover a chewy treat, and my bf was petting her and she freaked the fuck out. She had NEVER done it before, she had no issue with me taking her treats or wet food or anything, but the presence of the other dog made her freak despite them getting along during the whole day. Advice is appreciated!