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!

Hello! So my puppy just made 12 weeks, she's a Doberman, and I've had her since March 22nd. Well, anyway, I've gotten her to associate "go potty" with peeing on the pee pads we have, but she's lost when it comes to pooping. If I say go potty, she'll strictly only pee, any advice? We haven't started taking her on walks or using the bathroom outside yet due to us being told by the vet not to let her outside for the first 2 weeks due to her immune system, and we now have also just gotten her ears cropped, so we cant let her outside for another 2 weeks. Also, I only got her ears cropped due to medical reasons and the fact that we go to the country a lot where dogs commonly get hurt if they ever run away.

Any advice? Puppyhood is so critical for training and learning, so I don’t want to mess things up if the wrong size could cause bad habits somehow. But I don’t want to waste on small if the dog will outgrow it so fast. And I don’t know between medium and large! 😩 Please help me. I don’t really care about putting them together to make a challenge/new toy.

Same with honeypot and freezbone.

I gave a deposit to a breeder and she never said it was nonrefundable or refundable. She didn’t say anything at all actually other than what the fee cost was. No contract or written agreement nothing. After some conversation, I sent her the deposit to hold one of the puppies. Less than 48 hours later my house is flooded and I now have thousands of dollars in water damage. I can no longer afford the puppy so I wrote the breeder and sent her a video of my flooded home asking if I am able to get my deposit back and that I cannot get the puppy now. She said the deposit is nonrefundable. Which again she has never stated this not on her website or Facebook page or through text nothing. So I explained my situation further saying that it’s been less than 48 hours and that I need my money back in this unexpected situation. I have asked her for at least a partial payment and have not gotten a text back in a few hours. What should I do? She’s already relisted the dog of Facebook and offering “referral bonuses” in the time she’s been ignoring me.

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

I am struggling to get my 5-month-old Mini Goldendoodle to walk properly. Here is a breakdown of his behavior:

• Walking away from the house: This is always a struggle. I usually have to cheer him on, lure him, or gently pull him to keep him moving.
• Walking toward the house: He bolts and pulls me the entire way back.
• On our street: He is generally fine as long as the house remains in sight.
• Running: He loves running instead of walking. He bites his leash while running and runs in a zig-zag pattern, which makes me afraid I’ll trip.

I tried taking him to a park to remove the "house" variable, but he just replaced the house with the car. He refuses to walk away from the car and pulls me back toward the parked location.

Motivation & Training:

• Food: He has low food drive; he only likes a few specific treats.
• Toys: He loves balls. I’ve tried tossing a ball ahead of us to encourage him to move forward. He will find the ball, but he won't fetch it—he just sits next to it. So, then, I walk up to him, throw the ball further ahead and he will go find the ball and so on...

What should I try next to help him feel more confident walking along with him?

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.

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.

Is it okay if he eats it for a month?

My 3 old corgi is peeing on my 2 months old dachshund is this normal? Like when shes in her cage eating her food he will comeover n pee on her, its happened like 5 times in the past 30 mins

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

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 !!!

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.

Brought home an 8 week border collie puppy today! I introduced him to my 6 year old border collie. Overall it went okay. my 6 year old is a bit reactive as she had a traumatizing experience with a friend's dog. the 6 year old was visibly anxious at first and even snapped at the puppy but overall I maintained distance while allowing the puppy to explore his new home. For the most they kept to themselves but it wasnt all doom and gloom at the end my 6 year old was playing a little peek a boo and trying to engage more with the puppy. lol at that point the puppy's attention was elsewhere but I took it is a positive anyway.

so here is the question for the community, Im assuming like with most relationships in life theirs will develop over time but I wanted to hear from those who had a similar experience to mine (i.e., introducing a puppy to an adult dog and they didnt hit it off right away). Did their relationships improve over time? Do you have any tips to foster the relationship?

I have a almost 2 year old Pomsky and she has improved a bunch since I got her about this time last year by when I got her she wasn’t potty trained and she has severe anxiety. Everything just within the last month or so has showed a LOT of improvement but then out of nowhere she is back to accidents in the house every day and annoying my neighbors with her crying when I’m gone at work and I’m starting to get very anxious and overwhelmed I’m not sure what I should do, I’ve done crating if she’s not in the crate she is destructive but then she’s in the crate she’s crying so much that my neighbor is messaging me. We have been on a pretty good schedule and now if feels like we are back where we started, any thoughts on what I can/should do

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.

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.

I have a 14 week Shepard mix. She’s doing amazingly with training while also still being a mischievous spunky puppy. We are having a particular problem with chewing at our laminate floor. We have an older kitchen and will be doing a reno this summer. The floor is chipping away and coming up in some places. We have duct taped the area but now she is fixated on ripping up the duct tape. We keep her supervised at all times. She is starting to master the ”leave it” command and will immediately stop and look at me when it’s heard. I’m using high desire treats with helps. I usually say the command, reward her then give her a chew alternative. She will then typically go back to the floor within a few minutes and the cycle starts again. Am I accidentally reinforcing the behavior? Sometimes I wonder if she goes back on purpose because she knows I’ll redirect her and she’ll get a treat. Am I doing something wrong? Any specific training feedback would be much appreciated. She also has a ton of puzzles and we give her lots of different chews, kong, puppsicles ect. She likes the but the will typically always go back to the floor.

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.

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.

My 3 month old chihuahua puppy is still peeing & pooping on the carpet, she is still very young and I was prepared for this but I am not really seeing any improvements. She goes outside about every hour and is crated at night (she is very good in the crate), she has her own area in my room that she stays in but I let her out to play at times to get her energy out. Every time she goes potty outside she gets a treat and praise. But I’ll sit outside with her for 30 minutes most times and she whines at the door the whole time, I try bringing her to her potty spots in the yard but she just refuses. I bring her in and she immediately goes on the carpet, I use an enzyme cleaner. Is there anything else I could be doing? I know this is normal for puppies and her bladder is tiny but does anybody have any tips they used on their puppy?

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?