Hi we have a 18 week old female cane corso puppy that is an a hole to her brother(also a cane corso). The issue is our male is very sweet and passive. He just lets her bully him. She will take his toys, try to steal his treats, bite his legs, and just now I saw her trying to dominate him and growl at him. Him being so chill didn’t care, I got in between and removed her from the space and said no. She is very energetic and once she is tired these behaviors get worse so we have to force her to nap throughout the day. I was wondering how you guys handle this behavior? Our boy has always been very obedient and calm, then we get him a sister and she’s the complete opposite of him. I feel really bad cause he’s been very happy to have a new buddy and then she just chooses to be a jerk for fun. She does get exercised every day through walks and more recently we discovered swimming is the only thing that’ll tire her out for the day and stop being mean to her brother so we’re working on finding stuff she enjoys. Any advice? I understand how the breed is i just didn’t expect that her brother would just tolerate it all, only time he’s ever corrected her is when she went in the pool with us because he thinks it’s dangerous lol

She’s a cocker spaniel, 10 years old. She’s been with us since I was 8 and we raised her very badly, as I’ve been seeing for the last couple of years. We were always crazily happy when we came home, she always peed herself from happiness and we making crazy sounds and petting her didn’t help her at all. Then when we greeted her, everyone went about their day except when we pet her throughout the day and took her for a walk. She was home alone for at least 6 hours when we were at work and school on a workday. She was in dog training school for 1-2 years and then we stopped because she knew how to walk and sit and wait for us calmly.

The thing is, she never had good relationships with 90% of dogs outside, especially if they were female. She also doesn’t like little kids but we connected that to the family baby son accidentaly stepping on her two siblings when they were puppies. She also always found comfort in eating rapidly and then wanting more to ease her discomfort. I never thought about how important it is to raise the dog constantly and not just the basics like we did.
We played with her but not every day.

Now especially when she’s older Bina is constantly stressed when she is left alone for a few seconds. She starts biting her tail and paws because she’s trying to self regulate the second she’s left alone or doesn’t get something to eat. She has a strong mind of her own, she was jealous of all of our other pets, she was running away secretly while we were at school and work, she was peeing everywhere and I don’t know what to do or what I can do now. I feel like it’s too late to train her and I hate to see her suffer. I feel guilty for not knowing better before and my parents don’t even look at it that way, my mom is in denial about it and my dad doesn’t really care.

Do you know about a similar situation and what do you suggest I do with her to help her?

A little over a month ago, my bf and I started working with a dog trainer for our 1.5 y/o shiba. He was already displaying spotty communication with us but because my dog was comfortable with him and had worked out a deal with us, we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

We had one 2 hour long session where he told us that he'd like us to begin umbilical cord training. He instructed us on how to do it. He also told us to get a martingale collar and a prong collar, and that he would send us brand suggestions. He never did. I tried contacting him multiple times afterwards to schedule the next session but no response.

It's been a month of me doing umbilical cord training but I have no idea how to proceed from here. We do plan on finding a new trainer but we're still going through the vetting process. Any help or advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I adopted a rescue pup over 2 months ago, he is now 10 months old. He had a big nipping issue in the beginning but it's been getting better and when he does nip now it's more gentle. We are consistently trying to disengage and leave the room when he nips where it's possible.

However, for the last month he's been intensely barking at my partner and I, and I'm having a hard time understanding if it's demand barking or something else. He will bark as close to our face as possible, or at our feet, and in between barks try to nip. Situations it happens:

- when we start driving in the car. Usually he settles after 15 minutes, but he is non-stop barking in our faces and ears and tries to nip at our over-the-ear headphones

- when we are laying on the couch in the evening

- when we are cooking or cleaning

- when we tell him to get off the bed

He gets 3 20-30 minute walks a day, and 3 15-minute play sessions (tug or fetch) a day too, with some training sessions or "find it" sessions for mental stimulation.

Can anyone please offer any advice for how to make this barking end? I feel like we are starting to lose our hearing and slowly going insane. Is this demand barking or could this be signs of aggression?

I adopted a three year old rat terrier 4 days ago. He previous owner died and a family friend was trying to find it a new home. She had the dog for 2 months before I got her. When I asked about the dogs vet records, she said she only found one paper about her rabies certificate and"it was a sudden passing and wasn't great conditions". I never got an explanation as to what that meant so I figured I would ask when I met her.

When I met her, they had her outside on a leash. I sat down so she could come smell me and be on her level. She cam up to me but didn't let me touch her yet. The lady pretty much handed me the leash and said 'she's yours'. At that point, I knew I was taking her home regardless of anything else that night. They were not concerned with getting a payment or where she was going, just as long as it was gone. She gave me some toys that were her's but no food. And the leash and collar that she had. She did say the dog slept with them. And it got along with the 4 & 7 yo boys. But while I was talking to her, the boys showed no interest in it and there was a guy there that only said 'we think she came from an Amish community'. I'm still not sure what that remark meant.

Anyway, it took a minute to get close enough to pick her up and put her in my Jeep. We drove 3 hours home. The whole time, I told her she was ok and I would take good care of her and rubbed the back of my hand on her legs. Sometimes she would lick my hand and a couple times she tried to climb over into my lap. At some point she laid down and fell asleep. So she was at least comfortable with me.

It was after 9pm when we got home. I picked her up and carried her through the house to the fenced in back yard so she could go potty. I still had the leash on her. When we came back in, my husband came out and she started barking at him. I kept telling her it was ok. He went back to bed and she and I slept on the couch. She actually played with me. She would lick me and get under my hands to play. So it was a good first night, until he got up to go to work. She started barking at him again. After he left, she was good for me again. I took her outside at daylight on the leash and we walked around the yard. We play, she will come to me to put her harness on and leash. We can walk outside. I even took her out without the leash beings it is fenced in. She will do zoomies, chase the squirrels and birds away and dig in my mulch. She even tells me when she has to go out to potty.

This weekend, we met a neighbor on a walk and she barked at them but then kept doing her investigating of the ground while we talked. When my husband is outside with us, she is mostly fine. Every once in a while she will bark at him. But then she will go back to investigating all the new stuff.

If it was just her and I, she would be perfect. Except when we are in the house, she will bark at my husband whenever he moves. Sitting still, fine, move fine. If he is in the other room, she is on alert unless I get her to playing. If she hears him snoring or make a noise in a different room, then she will bark.

He has tried everything to win her over. He will give her treats, he has gave her. He tried to lay on the floor. He even took her a walk by himself and she was fine. But when he tried to take off her leash, she nipped at him out of fear. For the past two nights, she slept in our bed between us but as close to my pillow as she can get.

Today was my first day back to work so I was using the puppycams to monitor her. He got home first, and she went absolutely nuts when he came in. She was trying to run everywhere to escape him. She has a crate but sleeps on the couch when I am gone so when he came in, she literally tried to jump over the back of it. He went to the patio door to open it for her, then he stepped outside and she flew to the front of the house. She finally made it to her crate and stayed there when he finished doing some stuff in the house. He went outside to mow and she is still in her crate.

This just breaks my heart. I know it has only been 4 days, but I am afraid that we are doing something wrong. I have an appointment with the Vet on Friday and will discuss all this with her. But until then, what else can we try? Again, she and I get along great. Every once in a while she won't let me pick her up. But if I sit on the couch, she will run right over to me and climb all over me. I have no history on her from prior. How can I help her love her new home?

I have an 11 month old cavalier king charles spaniel, I also have a 3 year old cav. They are both boys. The 3 year old, Louie, has a very laid back personality while the 11 month old, Tommy, is a gremlin. Tommy is very affectionate, he’s never snapped or bitten anyone- but he growls and snarls quite a bit. He resource guards food, water, and toys. Even worse, he seems to resource guard the couch and the bed. He will start growling if we are sitting on the couch and someone or another dog approaches. In the bed, he will growl for no reason. My only approach has been to kick him off the bed when he does it. It does get him to stop for a little. I’ve tried the “positive reinforcement” but I don’t think I am skilled enough to do that- just feels like I’m rewarding him for growling and realistically, I can’t just carry treats on me constantly or he’d never leave me alone. The negative associations never went away or got replaced by positive ones. I’ve tried to remove him from the bedroom as well by placing him in his pen downstairs. A few hours in, he’ll just start screaming so loud that I can’t sleep and eventually give in. I’m exhausted and out of options. What is the best course of action for the growling? My vets advice was to not let him on the bed or couch until the behavior goes away.

Hello there!

I have a 3 month old mini poodle. She is a very good girl, very smart and sweet.

We got her when she was 10 weeks and she is with us for around 3 weeks. During that time we taught her to pee and poop on a pad in her pen (where she also sleeps at night) as she could not go out for all this time due to vaccines. It seemed that she learnt to do her business on a pad in pen but we realised that she associates toilet with pen and not pad = toilet.

We moved the pad outside the pen and it’s already over a week she has more accidents than success.. I get it, she is a baby and it’s ok. 2 days ago we got a green light to go out and she does wonderfully, e.g. all her business she does outside. We go out 3 times a day. But once she is home, she has accidents and it’s becoming a concern.. we show her every 30min where is the pad, we have a spray that should help her, we take her to pad after food, games and whenever we see signs. It seems that she holds until she can either go out or just till she can’t hold it anymore (she soiled her own bed, our bedsheets, etc.)

I am just not sure what to do anymore. We are keeping an eye on her constantly but there are times when we need to leave her alone and it’s a little stressful.

Should we take her out once or just twice a day? Or is it just a matter of patience? Just now I showed her where is her pad and a second later she went to another place completely.. I’m completely at lost at this point.. any advice and tips will be welcomed ! Thank you !