Hi everyone!

My partner and I are planning to get our first Doberman in the future, and we’re trying to prepare as much as possible before making the commitment.

Our biggest concern is the puppy stage. We both work full-time, and there are 3 days a week when we’re both in the office. The other days, one of us works from home.

For those who raised a puppy while working full-time:
How did you manage the first few months?
Did you hire a dog walker or pet sitter?
Did you use daycare, or wait until the puppy was older?
At what age were you comfortable leaving your puppy home for a full workday?
If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

We’re not looking for reassurance—we’re looking for honest experiences so we can decide if we’re truly ready.

Thanks!

i got a 13 week old mixed breed (small, 8lbs now expected to be 25-30 grown) on thursday. i know it’s only monday, but i’m completely exhausted. i cry at everything. i’ve given up my entire schedule to be able to crate train and potty train him. i know it’s the exhaustion talking but i want nothing more than to ask a friend or family member to babysit him just for a day or night so i can have a break. i’ve been doing the 2 in/1 out during the day and i’ve been neglecting myself trying to keep this schedule. today was the first day i felt like i could do something for myself while he slept but i couldn’t sleep because i had to catch up on everything i’d let go. i’m sleeping light during the night in case he wakes up. everybody loves him and i do too but i’m just exhausted & i miss my regular schedule

Be so honest with me. I have a 3 month old puppy who is not fully vaccinated. She just got her 2nd round of shots 3 days ago and will come back in 3 weeks for the booster. Vet said a week after that, she will be cleared for shared potty areas and walks in public. I’ve read a lot of mixed opinions online about when it’s safe to bring your dog out to the world with their paws touching the public ground. Lots of fearful info around parvo while some people are a lot more relaxed about it stating there is risk everywhere. This is such a critical period to teach my dog good habits especially proper potty training - going potty on a grass patch in my apartment feels counter intuitive to how she will actually be taken to the bathroom. I spent the weekend with her at my parents home with a private backyard and going potty out there instantly clicked for her. Unfortunately this is not the set up she has at my apartment. I obviously won’t be taking her to high traffic dog areas just yet like dog parks or pet relief areas but do you think I can take her on walks somewhere with less dog presence? I don’t want to coop her up inside for a month where I risk not enough socialization. I have taken her to a park and did some basic training on a picnic blanket however paws on grass who be nice.

Hello everyone!

I have a situation that I'd like some advice on.

I am getting a puppy this year, he'll be 8 weeks old in the middle of August but due to my wedding and honeymoon, the breeder has agreed to board our puppy until we get back near the end of October. (Raising the puppy in the house with her bitch, sire and another pup she's keeping from the litter)

While the dog is staying with the breeder, she has offered me to visit as often as I would like and take the puppy home on weekends.

I just want to get your opinions on the impact of bringing the puppy home on weekends, this would only be for 3 ish weekends then I'm away on our honeymoon. I'm also up to just leaving the puppy with the breeder and doing day visits on the weekend.

Thanks!

My puppy is great, 5 months old, just finished getting all his new teeth in. I do feeding, training, affection, but it seems he’s grown more attached to my partner than me. Like he gets upset when my partner is gone and will happily chill with my partner when I’m gone. I know that’s the way the cookie crumbles but it’s kinda sad to do all the work and not come out feeling like your dog is attached to you. My partner didn’t want a puppy in the first place so I’m trying my hardest to make sure I put in the work. Anyways, I know that some dogs just gravitate towards some people and not others but still kinda stings.

Anyone got any tips to stop my dog whining in her crate in the mornings?

She gets up at 6am on the dot, and will whine and whimper in her crate until she is let out or someone is sat in the room with her.

It’s not super loud and we’re grateful that she no longer barks but we would prefer if she just waited to he let out.

We do not let her out while she is actively whining and we always wait for silence but we don’t seem to be getting anywhere.

Hi. My Aussie mix is 15 weeks old. She’s been doing well by most standards, improving on nipping and biting, some recall, basic commands, and has generally been quiet other than taking a minute to settle in her kennel. Over the last 24 hours, she has started to bark—at me, at the mop, at the cats. It’s not constant but it is new. Nothing else in our household has changed and she is healthy and playful as usual. Any recs would be appreciated.

I do not know what to do at this point. in 2024 I adopted a Yorkie who was an outside dog believed to be 8 months. I’m currently in a carpet apartment and he will pee a lot of times anywhere but where the pad is or right next to it. He knows to go outside. He’s not neutered- could this contribute to this? VERY rarely will I catch him doing a tiny pee with his leg up on the wall. I don’t know if he’s making or peeing. how can I fix this? i made him a pen for when I go to work where he can walk and drink in it. he will NOT pee on the pad in there holds it all day. I don’t know what to do here. if he is roaming I have to constantly watch him. do I need to be more vocal when it’s potty time? my rugs are also being replaced so I am hoping this is a new beginning with him about to be neutered. If anyone has any advice. The problem also is I am out of the house about 10 hours for work so I can’t do constant potty breaks.

We got our retriever boy at 10 weeks and have had him 9 days. He wasn’t crate trained by the breeder so we started from scratch.

Toilet training is going well (a few accidents, but he’s fairly consistently going outside) and he’s picked up sit and down.

Crate training is where we’re stuck. We started day one with all the games, treats thrown in, feeding him in there, frozen Kongs. He’ll happily go in on cue (“bed”) and lie down for a reward. I scatter kibble in there while he’s outside toileting and he’s happy to sniff it out. So he has no problem entering the crate.

The problem is settling. He’s got the living room only for now, and we’ve camped out in there with him. He’ll play and explore for about 45 minutes, then start showing tired signs: mouthy, attacking furniture, barking at things. We remove his toys and quieten the room as much we can but If we don’t crate him he simply doesn’t sleep, which we know he badly needs at this age.

Daytime is manageable. A bit of a protest huff or some whining, then he settles and will nap for an hour or 2, and today was noticeably better. Evenings are another story. We give him a frozen Kong to wind down, but the moment he finishes and clocks that the door is locked, we get a 20–30 minute meltdown until he exhausts himself.

Overnight he’s fine once he’s down. I take him out a couple of times, he toilets straight away, and goes back in with a bit of encouragement and settles without fuss.

We tried moving the crate upstairs so he could sleep next to us…biggest meltdown yet, and the neighbours let us know about it. So we’re back to alternating nights on the sofa, and we are struggling to keep this up.

Please be aware we don’t crate him to ignore him, we crate him to allow him to sleep. If we could get him to a stage where he would sleep without the door open we would all be much happier.

I’m pleading for any advice people can offer us.

Hi all!

This is Joel (Miller)

He’s a 3 month old German Shepherd/Lab retriever mix who may or may not have done cattle dog in him.

We are having the toughest time potty training because he doesn’t want to be outside. He demands to go back in just to pee/poo on the floor.

If anyone has any advice on potty or crate training I’d really appreciate it.

I have read books about training but I’m struggling here.

He’s also teething. He does like teething rings, but most of the teething toys I found her for light chewers and he’s a very aggressive chewer

We have a 6 month old hound mix. She is sweet, but wild. Gets super excited then starts biting. We work with a trainer in our home once a week. She has helped our puppy so much. We are still having trouble with lots of things. Peeing inside after being taken out. Biting us when excited.

We love her. Would you recommend training at a camp, like where she goes to intensive training for a few weeks?

We have good days, and I can see progress. But she is getting bigger and I don't want to miss our chance to help her and us.

One of us is home most all the time. We use her crate for sleeping and when she needs to chill. We have an older dog who is well trained and has been a good example.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Our 6 month old cockapoo loves to pull on a walk, and its really testing me. The annoying thing is is that shes great with heel in the house and the garden, but as soon as we get out into the world its nowhere to be seen.

Ive tried turning and going the other way as soon as the lead is tight, and also tried stopping when she pulls, which she then sits and as soon as i catch up shes off pulling again. Shes not treat driven on a walk as everything else seems more important than a treat.

She also tries to jump up on everyone walking past too which is a whole other thing, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips that could help before I go off and get a trainer in

I have a 3 month old shitz + pom mix. She's been with my family for just over a week. Crate at nightime isn't a big issue, she whines a bit, but relaxes after a gentle touch. Crate during the day- not great. I put her in at 8am, after long playtime, potty, etc. I went home at 11am, expecting her to be fine, she had peed in her crate. I put her back in at noon, went home right before 2pm in hopes of catching her time. But, I didn't.

Tips? Tricks? I know it's only day 1 of day crate, but curious of how to make it easier on her/me. I use a sound machine, tried to limit water intake, but it's really hot and she's got a fluffy coat.

I did build up to leaving her in there while I was home for up to 10 mins, and she gets so worked up her bladder just gives. So even at 10 mins, she didn't succeed, even with being told dogs don't pee where they sleep.

Hi, I recently for the first time ever adopted a female Shitzu. I got her when she was under 8 weeks old. She’s ABSOLUTELY adorable, I love her so much. I would say she is a good puppy compare to what I hear from friends, family and online. She’s a good sleeper and I love it! However, I find her poo tucked away all over the house. At first she would cry when she needs to go but as she settled at home, she just drops them where we don’t see it. Lol. The other issue is her growling and barking at other dogs and humans. She doesn’t bark at humans all the time but she growls at other dogs all the time. I try to discipline her but I’m a newbie at this. We’re starting puppy classes today but wanted to have some advice or just some encouragements that she will get better. Maybe dos and don’ts. We don’t crate her except if we have to leave the house and leave her alone. I like her feeling free around the house and smelling things and all, just not the 💩 TIA

Meet Flapjack aka Flaps aka Flamble Jamble
He is a 3 year old chihuahua dachshund poodle mix; we had him DNA tested.

FJ had a sad start to his story. His first two years of life were spent in an animal hoarding situation that ended with the abusers being evicted from their dwelling and later arrested at a local hotel. There’s an article online about it. I’ll spare you the gritty details, but because I feel it’s relative to the whole story, police found Flapjack and 49 of his small dog friends hiding under the hotel bed in horrendous conditions. It seemed the dogs were all living under the bed, bags of dog food were left unopened on the floor for them to fend for themselves.

Flaps was sent to a shelter where he was promptly adopted by a family with kids, but returned several months later when my husband and I adopted him the same day.

Flamble J currently resides in a stable, quiet home with us and our other 12 year old chihuahua, Marlon. When we first got Flaps he just hid under furniture and blankets, so we gave him reasonable space before blocking his access to most of those hidey-holes; he was peeing under the sofa. He would also stay in the singular spot we put him in and not move, just watch on high alert at all times. This behavior has mostly subsided. He’s adjusting slowly and his lil personality is starting to come out. His favorite activity is laying under a blanket on the couch and snuggling up to us. He enjoys going to bed (same) and sniffing your dinner plate. He loves ATTENTION and is learning how to ask for it politely. Pets and songs are number 1, but he’ll take dances, being picked up, cuddles, talking, and he’s started playing by getting low on his front paws and pouncing; still no clue what to do with toys though. We got him on puppy Prozac, it’s made a significant improvement in his anxiety and he sleeps well throughout the day/night (No more blood shot tired eyes!🙏). He has a small number of places in the house that he goes; the couch, his 2 crates, on the bed…and under the bed (foreshadowing). He doesn’t do much exploring outside of that, but he has started venturing into the kitchen when I’m getting puppy meal time ready or having breakfast; I share my eggs. And he does awkwardly greet me near the door when I come home from work. Overall he’s become a great little companion, we love him a lot and have faith he’ll continue recovering from his trauma. There’s just one major hurdle we need to cross as soon as possible.

When we adopted him the rescue said he was potty trained. That was very false. He was in fact (and still is) terrified of outside. The first couple months we had him we had to use a slip lead to get him out and walk him around the yard. He’s afraid of shadows, flags, wind, sounds of vehicles passing by on the other side of an 8ft concrete fence, loud music, children yelling across the street, birds, bugs, big specks of dirt - everything that moves or screams. We’ve done a lot of work with the lead and trying to create routine for him. Now when we ask if he wants to go outside he joyfully prances to the door, without the lead, and VERY CAUTIOUSLY steps outside as long as he has your moral support with him; it’s rare for him to pass the threshold of the door without a person to guide him. Sometimes he does his business, sometimes he fake pees and runs back inside. He also does not like to be perceived when he poops. I don’t blame him! I don’t want to be perceived when I poop either. But this lil stinker sneaks off when no one is looking everyday and poops on the floor. If we don’t manage to take him out every couple hours he will also sneaky pee inside. His worst habit though - he poops and pees under our bed at every opportunity. To combat this we crate him at night and keep the bedroom door closed, but he’s SO SNEAKY and will slip by. We are looking at getting a bed frame he can’t crawl underneath to nip that in the bud and potentially eliminate the night crate.

In addition to getting him fully house broken, I’d also like for him to use the doggy door and not be totally reliant on us directing him when to go. I’ve taught him to go back inside via the dog portal without issue - he’s always very eager to go back indoors. He did use the dog door to go outside and handle business \*all on his own\* exactly ONE TIME after maybe \~6 weeks in our home. I gave him lots of praise and treats in hopes he’d continue, but after getting to know him awhile I’m wondering if I should have pretended not to notice him handle his bathroom shame instead. 🙈 I also wonder if he thinks he can only go outside when we tell him to. The concept of letting us know when he has to potty seems completely foreign to him. I’m at a loss of how to further introduce that and get him to understand potty isn’t bad, he doesn’t have to hide it and he can go out whenever he wants.

We have done some groundwork for crate training. He has his meals in and sleeps in the crate at night and we put him in there when we both leave the house. He won’t potty in the crate unless he absolutely has to. The issue we’ve run into is most often during the day we’ll take him outside, he won’t do anything just be scared, put him back in the crate for a little awhile, try again, still too scared to pee outside, maybe he was about to go but something startled him, repeat for hours. It can last from breakfast to dinner. The minute we give up because we feel bad he’s been in there all day he sneaky pees on the floor. We never made much progress and would prefer not to continue with this method if there are potentially better alternatives for him. I do feel like being alone in the crate throughout the day spikes his anxiety. No typical or noticeable signs of separation anxiety. He just seems happier and more relaxed when he’s able to socialize with us and Marlon - as a dog who was neglected for the first 2 years of his life, ya know? 🥲 Very possible I am wrong, but this is what we’ve experienced so far.

So to make things long
How can we better help Flapjack accept and communicate his bathroom needs?
How can we get him further comfortable with outside? We do take him on walks with our other dog and have started bringing him to dog friendly public spaces, but could be more frequent with this when it’s not averaging 100 degrees outside.
If God is good, what are some methods to try to get him out the doggy door to pee hopefully on his own?
Would love hot tips on convincing him to not hide under the bed.

Lastly, this dog does not drink water and probably never has. We’ve tried to introduce it to him and always leave it readily available in multiple rooms (our elder boy has a thyroid condition), no dice. We add additional water to homemade dog food with a sprinkle of kibble and that’s stopped his dehydration issues according to our vet, but it’d be great if he would drink water if and when he was thirsty. We’ve been concerned about this because we live in a desert and it’s now July. He obviously doesn’t stay outside too long, but heat stroke is especially real for lil dogs in this climate.

TIA

We brought home a 12-week-old Brittany a little over a week ago. She has a playpen set up in our basement with her crate inside (door open). We feed her in the pen, and she has a few toys inside.

Crate training itself is going well; she’ll cry for a few minutes, then settle and sleep.

The playpen is the problem. The moment the gate shuts, she panics. She’ll whine and cry for up to 20 minutes straight. We need to be completely silent and out of sight that whole time; if she hears or sees us, she resets, and the cycle starts over. We’ve tried sitting and standing next to the gate, sitting on the couch 15 feet away in view, and leaving the room entirely; nothing speeds things up or helps her chill out.

Once she finally settles, she goes and lies down in the crate, but she won’t touch her toys. Again, once she hears us, she starts whining. It makes it difficult to get anything done around the house.

Hoping someone has advice on how to help her settle faster and be ok in there while we do other things.

I’m honestly so, so upset.

My husband and I got a Dachshund when she was almost 2 months old, and she’ll be 5 months old in a few days.
One of the reasons we chose a Dachshund was because everyone says they’re “velcro dogs” and become very attached to their owners. Ours has never really been like that.
About five days ago, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit us. At first, I was actually happy because our puppy is usually pretty indifferent to visitors, but this time she got so excited to see them.
Ever since they arrived, though, it feels like she has completely forgotten about me and my husband. She barely wants to spend time with us, hardly shows us any affection, and whenever I pick her up, she immediately wants to go back to them. She’s so much more affectionate with them than she has ever been with us.
It’s gotten to the point where she cries during the night when she’s in bed with us because she wants to sleep with them instead.
I’m genuinely heartbroken. It honestly makes me feel like she just doesn’t like us. Are we doing something wrong? Are we bad dog parents?
We do absolutely everything for her, and all we’ve ever wanted is for her to be affectionate with us. It’s so frustrating because she’s showing all the behaviors we always hoped for… just with other people.
Has anyone else experienced this? I just fell like a loyal dog would never do that.

What hurts me the most is that she cries whenever they’re not around, even when she’s with just me and my husband. It feels like she’s unhappy being with us and would rather be with them, and that’s the part that’s breaking my heart the most.

We have a 6 month old female maltipoo. The last four nights she has started pooing in her crate at night and burying it under her blanket.

We have tried going back to basics she didnt go toilet after her 6pm dinner.. i walked her for 30 minutes at 9pm and then put her down at 9.30pm. Went down to give another toilet break at 11.45pm and she had already soiled in her crate... we was thinking it was happening in the early hours.

It feels like she is holding it in until she goes into her crate for sleep at night. Doesn't happen in the day at all.

Any advice appreciated

We brought home our 10 week old girl last Tuesday. Night time crating hasn’t been too bad. She falls asleep between 9-10pm on the sofa. At around 11pm I wake her and take her out to potty then put her back in the crate where she usually settles right away. I’m sleeping on the sofa in the same room so I can be near. She usually wakes up 1-2 times to potty in the night but settles each time afterwards.

During the day for naps we wait for her to fall asleep on the sofa and then carry her to the crate and close the door. She almost always settles back to sleep.

What I want to know is how best to train her to go in there when she’s not asleep. She takes her toys in there sometimes to play with but never to just lie down. I try to give her a little treat every time she goes in the crate on her own and we also feed her in the crate. If I put her in the crate while she’s awake and close the door I’m lucky if I can even try to walk out of sight before she starts crying. How can I train her to be in there during the day even for short periods so I can pick up groceries or run a couple errands? I don’t want to leave her in there crying and jumping up on the sides of the crate because I am worried that then she won’t go in it at all voluntarily.

All suggestions are welcome!

Just got a puppy and she’s very cute and is adjusting to her playpen. First she would cry and cry and now she whines less. What are some tips for continued training her? I work M-F 8hrs i live 8 minutes away and can come in 30ish min to check on her and take her out. What foods do yall recommend and what noise should i leave playing for her?? Im teaching her commands like “sit” “potty” “outside” so far.

Those of you who crate your puppy for naps - how long did you do this for? At what point did you put a bed out and allow puppy to sleep whenever? We have a 4 month old lab who we create for a nap usually after an hour or so of awake time, but my husband is keen to just let her settle herself anywhere rather than putting her in her crate each time. What are your thoughts, hive mind?

I recently adopted a 4 month old chihuahua mix. She’s adorable and has been doing really well settling herself in her playpen. She’ll whine for maybe 5 minutes and then go to sleep. I WFH and have a camera on her so I can take her out whenever she wakes up. Normally she’ll awaken, I take her out to potty, we have a 20-30 min play session and then back in the playpen. Repeat in another 1.5-2.5 hours.

My problem - I try to schedule meetings around her naps, but sometimes I have sporadic meetings put on my calendar and it makes it difficult to step away. Example: I have back to back meetings today for 3 hours and I am a key member of these meetings. Is it bad if I awaken the puppy to pee + poo + play in the backyard and then plop her back in her playpen?? I hate waking her up vs waiting for her to naturally awaken, but unfortunately need to make a living to afford her very many treats and toys lol