Please keep this in mind while reading: he is completely potty trained and knows not to urinate and defecate indoors.
When im home, with JUST me, my dog will signal close to about 10 times a day to go outside. If I don’t comply, he will start sniffing everywhere and because I see him sniffing- I immediately take him out. Once we’re out, he marks maybe once and it’s a few droplets (if that). He rarely potty’s indoors, only when he has health issues like his colitis flare ups. However, when he’s home with just my partner and only my partner, he will maybe signal once or twice a day to go potty… only when he has to. I feel like if I don’t take him outside, he’ll urinate because he’ll start circling and doing the stereotypical pee dance lol. What do I do?! Has this boy trained me to go outside whenever he wants (even when he didn’t have to pee???)

Hi there, sorry if my english is bad it's not my mother language.

Problem:

We got our baby (6 months old pomsky) 3 weeks ago. He's such a good boy, listens carefully and everything and we really love him! there is only one dumb problem..

He only wants to pee and poo on one specific place. This won't be a problem if it would be a normal place but it's the small garden infront of my friends flat. We started to go rounds with him the first day, he doesn't want to pee in 18 hrs after we got him. Took him out every 2 hours just in case but he won't pee. On that day I visited a friend 2 streets away from my home to get a blanked for him and yea.. he peed and pooped in her garden the exact moment we got there.

Problem is its a closed garden and I can't enter it every time but he will hold in until we go there or just pee in our flat. We tried everything to get him to another place but he will only go potty there!

Tried avoiding the spot (didn't pee another 16 hours and then peed inside - tooked him out every 30 minutes that day)

Tried to soak his pee with a tissue and lay it to another place in OUR garden, nope

Digged up a lil spot from her garden and moved it in ours - nope

Waited with him in New spot for hours.. nope

Tried to get our scent with a tissue of pee from us in our garden - nope

NOTHING worked and idk what to do anymore :( We were just happy the first time he finally peed somewhere and I think he remember this now and thinks THIS is the only spot. I know, our bad.. but he can't go potty there now every time but it's even not fine to pee in our flat.

Please help :(

if u only wanna judge, leave it, it won't help and I already know I did bad..

I’ve recently moved to Australia with my two dogs, we live rural and have a decent amount of snakes move through our property (including venomous snakes such as taipans, browns and red belly’s). Unfortunately in my state it is now illegal to use alive snakes for dog avoidance training but the local snake catcher has let me know he is happy to get me some fresh snake shed for the venomous snakes I listed above. I know it won’t be fool proof but has anyone done some snake avoidance training with a rubber snake tied to clear fishing line and shed? How did it work out for you? And is there anything that helped you a lot? I have e collars for both dogs and have ordered a rubber snake + done a whole lot of research on it. Found a 6ft brown in our machine bay yesterday where the dogs like to hang out with us so wanting to get onto this asap!
Thanks

So I got a brand new couch that I havent set up yet. My previous couch hes used 24/7 for bed, napping, hanging out, everything. He loves going on couches and has been doing it since puppy 5 years ago. To be clear, I didnt mind and I allowed it. I dont care, and for the new couch I don't really care if I can't stop him because its so ingrained in him now. I wont be mad if I tried to not allow him on the new couch and failed at stopping him. I'm just kinda curious and wondering what you guys think my chances are of successfully not having him go on this new couch after 5 years of allowing it?

I feel like its not going to be possible, even though hes really smart, its just been his place for his whole life and its so deeply ingrained as his bed. I'm also a single dog parent so any time I'm not looking or I'm out its going to be hard to monitor him constantly and reinforce the training. If I leave for a while one day and I think hes trained to not go on it, then I find him sleeping there for like 6 hours, its going to just ruin everything lol.

Anyone else have success with the scenario I'm describing and your dogs?

I understand that dogs aren't as complex as us but I have a dog, will be 3 this year, who seems to clearly pee when he doesn't get what he wants.

I got the dog for my son, who does a very good job taking came of him, however in the middle of the night the dog will wanna chew and chew and chew, so my son takes the chews away so he can sleep. This usually leads to the dog begging to leave and jumping up and down at the door until usually I get him. If I don't get him cuz I'm asleep or whatever, he pees in front of the door.

Now, I hear you. Why put him in my son's room then? My son really wants the dog to sleep with him and 50% time he does or will even request to go there to sleep but the other 50% he gets bored or hears my TV or talking so he wants to be a part of it. It's gotten to a point now where the dog just permanently sleeps in my room because the peeing got more and more often.

"So why not take him out when the jumping starts?" I have. Many, many times but he will squeeze out the tiniest bit of pee even still in front of the door. I hear and see everyone saying that dogs can't feel vindictive but it sure as hell seems he does.

We recently got a new puppy. They get along GREAT! Lots of playing and fun times, however the puppy gets the zoomies every single night after we take him out to potty. Very typical behavior but he then wants to play with the dog in question, who doesn't want to and he keeps snipping at him. I am not sure if I should let it happen at this point so puppy leaves the boundaries (he hasn't been bitten yet, just warnings mostly), or keep removing them from the situation. This puppy has to be with me at all times because he's being potty trained. Doing very well, actually. Point is, at night I need them to be separated and there is no place I can put this dog where he won't decide I'm gonna pee on the floor now because I cannot be downstairs. I even decided to open my son's room so he and the hallway and even the bathroom to chew his bones if he wants! Worked for a little but nope. Tonight he forced open my youngest son's room (not his owner but then brother) and peed in there instead. I truly don't know why or how to correct this other than keeping him downstairs with me but in his crate. He likes his crate a lot but... The puppy will just bark at him in the crate and I can't seem to correct that either when he's rambunctious.

I just want them all to be happy but I don't know what to do. He is not marking anything, and he definitely isn't just peeing cuz he has to go. Could be anxious peeing but why would he always go in the same spots (in front of doors)? He doesn't even do it in front of the door to go downstairs!! Just bedroom doors even if he's not in them!!

Any advice would be helpful!

I have a 3-year-old long-haired dachshund. Online, I see a lot of focus on dogs pulling on the leash and how to train them out of that so they walk nicely alongside you.

We have the opposite problem. Our dachshund mostly doesn't want to go for walks. Outside, she turns her back to us, going the wrong way, and stares stubbornly in the other direction. Sometimes she also sits down. We never pick her up, even though it would save so much time. We have tried everything, but nothing works for the long term. What are your tips?

Welcome to the fortnightly loose leash walking virtual workshop!

Join us as we compete with the squirrels, cats, other dogs, fresh urine scents and things that go zoooooooom!

Resources

Articles (All have videos embedded)

• Train Your Dog For Perfect Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco. (With links and descriptions of several great videos, which we'll link to below.)
• Loose Leash Walking Tips by Casey Lomonaco
• Silky Leash by Grisha Stewart (blog post + videos.)

Youtube (Many of these are videos which are embedded in the above articles)

• Silky Leash intro video with an excitable puppy
• Clicker Training Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco
• Loose Leash Walking II by Casey Lomonaco
• How to Train Your Dog Not to Pull - Loose Leash Walking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Dog Training Tip- Leash Walking: Go Sniff and Marking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Choose to Heel by Loridressage
• Loose Leash Walking by Stacy Hiebert Greer
• Clicker Training a Heel by Amy Norcal
• Shaping Loose Leash Walking With a High Rate of Reinforcement Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 by Helix Fairweather and Lynn Martin. (Read the text below the videos too!)
• Loose Leash Walking by Turid Rugaas

See our page on leash reactivity for help managing and training dogs that bark and lunge while on leash.

Hey guys, I have a 7 month standard poodle who is working on his CGC right now. The biggest problem we have run in to with this dog since having him (got him at 11 weeks) is that he seems to have very little restraint when playing with people or other dogs.
Today, we took him to a dog park that we go to semi regularly since we live in an apartment with no access to a yard. We NEVER go in to the dog park if there are other dogs, and if someone else wants to use it we leave.
Today, someone came in and I approached him while my partner kept our poodle back/distracted. I asked him to let us leash our dog and leave, but he insisted that his dog could handle our dog’s high energy play. I told him that our dog would come running at his dog and bid to play, and he told me it was ok.
Naively, in hopes that our poodle could have some dog play time, I told my partner to bring him over. Our dog SPRINTED towards the other dog. Of course, the other dog was intimidated and reacted accordingly. There was no fight or anything like that. A couple barks and I grabbed my dogs collar.
The other patron was mad at us and left.
How do I teach my dog that he CANNOT approach other animals or people like that??
I’m at my wits end- he is such a kind and obedient puppy, he just loves playing. With dogs he know, he’s a great player. I just don’t know how to go about improving his reaction to other dogs.
Any and all advice or feedback is appreciated.

Hi all!

We’re picking up a puppy next week and I’m spending some time learning how to train this week.

We want our puppy to settle in pubs/cafes and I’m trying to figure out how you train this?

Obviously we want to reward good, calm behaviour, but I don’t want to feed him from the table and have him then expect food?

Any advice on this is appreciated!

Thanks!

I have had rescue dogs my whole life and never dealt with this and I'm lost. We rescued a new pup a few days ago. She is 2 years old, 15 pounds and seems to be housetrained. She has had zero accidents in the house.

However she is only peeing once or twice a day. She will NOT go pee on a walk, no matter how long we go out for. She is drinking and eating. We take her outside every few hours and hang out outside for twenty or more minutes. She just doesn't go.

When she finally goes, it is after being outside for at least 15 minutes and we praise, scratch and give treats. I know she's not going in the house because she is with one of us all the time as she is a velcro dog. She is in a crate at night and it doesn't seem like she's going on there as I put a white pillow case on the bed to make sure.

Is this normal with a new dog? Does she need to see the vet? Does she just need to get more comfortable with her new home? Please help!

I haven’t had a dog of my own since I was a child, so if I were to get one myself, I’d definitely get help with puppy training but this is an issue with a grown up dog we are sometimes watching.

We’re a family of five with three kids aged 4–13, and for the past couple of years we’ve looked after a friend’s dog for weekends about once a month. She’s now seven and is a Portuguese water dog/poodle mix. She probably hasn’t had much training and isn’t particularly well behaved, but she’s very friendly and playful. Very gentle with the kids.

On walks, she usually doesn’t care about other dogs or people. She sometimes barks when someone runs past us, but it has always seemed more excited/playful than angry. Other dogs haven’t been an issue. Occasionally, when another dog approaches, she lies down and lets it pass. I interpreted this as insecurity or her showing that she wasn’t a threat. I haven’t done much about any of this because she isn’t my dog and it hasn’t really caused problems.

Last week, however, I was with her and my kids at a playground. I was standing outside chatting to another mom while the kids played nearby. We’d been standing in the same spot for about 10 minutes, and several dogs had passed without any issues.

Then, seemingly without warning, she suddenly lunged towards a dog walking along the path between us and the kids, barking very aggressively. The leash went tight and I had to pull her back. She continued barking until the dog had moved another 1–2 metres down the path. Then she simply looked at me, wagged her tail and seemed completely relaxed again.

Because I hadn’t been paying close attention before it happened, I initially wondered if the other dog had given her some kind of signal. That dog and its owner then sat on a bench about 20 metres away until we left, and neither dog showed any further interest in the other.

About five minutes later, though, it happened again with another dog. This time I was watching, and our dog definitely initiated it.

We left after that. The owner of the first dog was walking behind us but didn’t want to pass. Because I had two small children with me, we couldn’t walk very fast. She became annoyed and told me we needed to walk faster because she didn’t want to pass my “aggressive dog.” I was quite shaken and stressed because I couldn’t make the kids run or carry two children while handling the dog. I asked her several times to just pass us and explained that the dog was calm now and that perhaps she was in heat. She replied, “No, she’s just aggressive.” Eventually they passed us, and my dog didn’t even look at them.

Afterwards, I texted her owner, who said this sometimes happens when they’ve been standing in the same place for a while. The next day I went back to the same spot without the children so I could focus entirely on the dog. I noticed that after we had been standing still for about 5–10 minutes, she did indeed start to “lock on” to dogs approaching us but this time since I was focused on her I could distract her with threats and pets without her starting barking or lashing out. I will say it was much harder to get contact with her than normally, she was very focused (locked on is the best way to describe it) on the dogs but at least no more episodes.

She also barks when she sees someone approaching our house through the window. Interestingly, she never barks when someone actually rings the doorbell or opens the door – then she’s extremely friendly. It seems more like she’s alerting us to seeing someone approach.

So, long story short, I have a few questions:

1. Is this aggressive behaviour?
2. Is there anything I can realistically do when we only have her for about one weekend a month? Her owner honestly doesn’t seem to think it’s an issue.
3. If only training for a weekend or month is it something I need to do differently from being able to train daily?

Aside from some great progress in the first two weeks, my dog is miserable to walk. We go for two walks a day every day and never get anywhere. We’re just turning back and forth constantly without ever making it more than four blocks from the house. He doesn’t seem to care how much I turn the other way. My training class taught him ‘heel’, but he only does it inside or in the backyard. He won’t even give me focus outside and refuses to check in unless we’re in the backyard. He completely ignores me when not in a fenced in yard regardless of how low-distraction the place we walk is and how high value the treats are. He’s never gotten anywhere from pulling but he still tries it every time even though I NEVER let him keep going after he pulls. I know if I let him go ahead pulling he’ll realize he just has to try long enough and I’ll give up so I’m consistent. He’s a rescue, and I know he got away with pulling in his foster home, which makes it harder since he reinforced the behavior with them. I turn, and he just starts pulling in the other direction. I’m at the point where I walk him and then leave him in the house to go for a separate walk just to enjoy myself because there’s nothing enjoyable about walking with him. Please send tips if you have them. I’ve also tried different equipment. He chokes himself on a flat collar, he ignores a head halter, and a front clip harness makes him easier to hold in place but does nothing to stop the pulling.

My dog struggles with demand barking. We're working on it and he is making good progress. Often, he manages to sit and wait for his food until I give him his release cue. The issue now is, he barks and growls IMMEDIATELY upon release, as he is scrambling to his food bowl. Is it okay to stop him on the way to the bowl after I have released him, or is this likely to develop resource guarding habits? I don't like this behavior and am seeking help on how to adjust it. I'm asking here because I can find nearly nobody talking about this specific aspect of the demand barking issue.

hi to all!!

i have a 2yo dachshund boy. best dog ever, seriously!!! i don’t have much family and live alone, so it’s always been just us (with the exception of living with a boyfriend for a short period). i got him at like 10 weeks old, and he has always been so pampered. no incidents that i know of to scare him. he is my best friend and comes everywhere with me. we do go to the dog park frequently (which he loves), but he did not grow up around many other dogs.

i don’t know if it’s how he has always been, but he is totally reliant on me for security. he is the friendliest dog, always ecstatic to meet people. he loves being loved. but in the last few months, i’ve realized that unless i am there with him, he refuses any contact at all. if i go out for a night and ask a neighbor to check on him, he hides under the bed. they’ll try to offer him treats, toys, whatever- he just won’t come out, regardless of how many times they come back and try, or how obsessed with them he might be. he doesn’t bark or get aggressive, just refuses to go come out from under the bed.

there was one incident where i was hospitalized (just for a day, but came out of nowhere). we were living with my partner at the time, who he was of course familiar with. i did think he was jealous of him in some ways, and he was not his favorite person, but he knew him. until i came home the following afternoon, my dog hid under the bed. he refused to come out to eat, drink, walk, or use the bathroom (as far as we know). while living with said boyfriend, my dog would refuse to let my partner put a leash on him, let alone take him out to use the bathroom without me coming along.

i don’t know what to do to help him lose his dependence. i am planning on getting another dog so that he has company and hopefully builds some confidence, but i don’t know what to do to help him individually. he loves loves loves people and it makes me sad that he has to hide if i’m not around.

We adopted Rocky (male, probably about 6 years old) from the shelter two weeks ago. He had been staying with us for about 3 weeks before that to try out everything on a sleepover. So about 5 weeks with us total. He is super reactive with other dogs. We have been working with a trainer on that and it's going pretty well.

What we've noticed the last few days is that when my husband goes to pet him at nighttime, Rocky yelps/barks. This is already when Rocky is cuddled up with me on the couch, so it's not like Rocky wants attention. He regularly hangs out cuddling my husband during the daytime, and gets and asked to be pet all day long from him. This is only in the last few days it is happening.

What we know about Rocky's history is that his first family had him get into a scuffle with another dog, and a human got bit when taking them apart. He had 11 teeth missing and had to get 7 or 8 more pulled for chipped/loose. He seemed to have had a skull or jaw fracture at some time because his snout is crooked. He was in fosters on and off for the last two and a half years. Vet checked him out and said he's looking mostly good for all that going on. He seems to be blind or losing sight in one of his eyes.

I try to show lots of affection to my husband and also to my dog, and Rocky doesn't seem to mind it at all. No resource guarding, no barking for attention, nothing. Outside of his barking at other dogs, this is the first thing that seemed strange to us.

What should we do? Is there any way I can encourage him with my husband? Husband was always nervous around dogs so he agreed to Rocky because he got so well and was very low energy all the time.

Anyway. Want to make sure we're doing all we can for him. Thanks.

I just brought home a new foster, a 3 yo spayed Great Pyrenees. She is very sweet although possibly abused. The second I put a leash on her, she lays down and will not move an inch. If I happen to get her to stand up, she will walk one or two steps and then lays down again. She is 100 pounds and I cannot carry or pull her, and I cannot get her to current adoption events because of this. What’s the best way to train a dog to walk on a leash if they instantly lay down?

Hello! I adopted a puppy three months ago from a foster from the south. I have been struggling to train him due to extreme fear and anxiety. I’ve hired two trainers who have helped in some way, but their advice is primarily centered around positive reinforcement, which is hard for him because he will not accept treats in scary situations (men, noises, cars, small children, etc). I’ve tried high-value treats such as cheese, hot dogs, chicken, and Kirby pouches but eventually he gets tired of them or he’s too scared to eat. He will shake out of fear, pee and sometimes poop himself and shiver until I remove him from the situation. The one thing is that he LOVES other dogs, and that is his primary motivator in life. He loves every type of dog and I’ve been trying to use them to get him to do scary things, but whenever it’s just me and him it feels nearly impossible. He’s six months old now and I’m trying like hell to socialize him while not traumatizing him. I’m open to any and all advice because I love this boy and want to make sure I’m giving him the best chance at a good life!

my dog (GSD) never ever ever ever barks when im around and when we're training

even if i hold a high value toy/treat to get him frustrated, he'll just find something else to do/smell

other than that, he's pretty good at everything. basic commands, fetching, biting (rope toy), heel, etc.

asking for advice on how to get him to start barking given his issue of being very non-verbal. Thanks in advance!

Long story short, my boy peed fine for the first 3.5 years of his life, letting it all out during his quick out and in "potty" time. He went on one walk a day and that was the only time he would let out his pee in increments.

However, there was a period of about 2 months where I had to travel a lot this year and had a babysitter take care of him. They would take him out on 4-5 walks a day, completely different from my usual 3-4 "potty" and 1 walk a day. Since then, he has been holding in his pee, only letting out a tiny bit during "potty" times.
By the time we go on the walk (5pm ish), he's saved up the pee accumulated from the night before, and at least 1-2 servings of water (5-10 oz).

After the walk, he relaxes and leaks urine, like due to his bladder muscles being worked all day and then overly relaxing once it's empty. To add on, he continues to hold his pee into the evening. This has been going on for about 6 months now.

He's long since learned the command "potty", but now will only let out a small drizzle each time, even pretending to be all done. I've gotten labs and he's fine. Literally the only thing that changed is the times with the babysitter.

How do I get him to let out all of his pee again??? I'm at wits end and the vet doesn't have any suggestions besides taking him out more.

Hello! Some background on the dogs: my boyfriends dog is a male bully about to be 6 in December. He has had him since he was a puppy. He is 60 lbs.
My dog is a 1 year old female Shiba Inu, I got her a little over a month ago, she has lived with other dogs and cats in the past. She is 18lbs.

We introduced them at a large off leash park and they did fine, they played a bit then did their own things. Then we walked them together after that and they did well with that. Last night went to my boyfriend’s home to walk the dogs together again and it went well again, but after when we were all back in his home there are two issues that came up. The first being that his dog plays rough and tries to jump on my dog, which she does not like and is genuinely too small for. She corrected him a few times but they were still playing at this point.

The second issue occurred when my boyfriend decided to give them both treats, I think the intention was to give them something to focus on away from each other for a few minutes. His dog took the pigs ear to his bed to eat and my dog sat with me and watched while she finished her treat. He finished the pigs ear and got up and walked away leaving a bunch of scraps in his bed. My dog went over to investigate and started crunching on some of the scraps, his dog came back when he heard this and started doing the same, I saw them both stiffen up but I wasn’t fast enough to stop it, they were barking and snapping and jumping at each other. I yelled and they stoped and we separated them, his dog seemed like it forgot almost instantly once it was over but my dog was pissed and barking at his so I decided to leave. Neither dog was injured at all so I think it was more of a loud thing, but I want them to have positive associations with each other, obviously and get along.

My questions are: What is the best way to move forward. So far a lot of what I’ve read says walking them together helps them bond and is a good activity. I think it was maybe a lot to take my dog into his dogs space so soon and the treat was too high value so we won’t be doing that again for some time. But what are the best ways to move forward so they can get past this.

Also what kind of training is recommended for the rough play? My boyfriend says “that’s just how he plays” but my dog is too small for that, and I also have to cats at home who are definitely too small for that, also if we do eventually have children the dog needs to be gentle with them as well. My boyfriend is a very big guy and able to play rough with the dog so I don’t think he realizes his own size honestly.

When we have talked about introducing his dog to the cats he says a leash or a barrier will rile him up more. I want my cats to be and feel safe in that situation, but I do think he knows his dog so I’m torn on what to do with that.

Thanks in advance

Hello everyone,

My dad’s dog seems to like me a lot and at night he will always scratch on the door of whatever room I’m in. I let him in and spend a few hours with him and then bring him to his bed and give him treats whenever I’m about to go to bed. Unfortunately, on the nights that I stay at my dad’s house, he’s been going into the bathroom and peeing on the rug between the time I bring him to his bed at night and the time my dad wakes up in the morning. This doesn’t happen when I’m not staying there. I increased the amount that I take him out to try to prevent this. When I bring him to his bed and when I wake up in the night I take him out and he knows its to pee and pees right away. So I’ll take him out at 9 pm, 11:30 pm, and 2-3 am, but he still pees on the floor and its usually during that window. Last night, for the first time, I let him into my room and after about 30 minutes of petting/hanging out he went over to the corner squatted down and peed on the floor. I’d taken him out and 45 minutes prior to this and he peed. I never yell at him for peeing or for anything and he’s always excited to see me / wants to be near me so I don’t think it’s submissive peeing but I’m not an expert so idk.

My dad said I’ll have to stop hanging out with him from 10 or 11 pm onwards which sucks but he’s correct that the only nights he seems to have accidents are when I spend time with him at night. And even though when I hang out with him at night I rake him out multiple additional times, he’ll still pee. Is there anything else I can try? I feel bad ignoring his scratches at my door from 11 pm onwards but at the same time if I’m putting him in a state where he’s peeing himself then maybe its best for him. I have no issue cleaning up after him but I also don’t want him to be getting upset in some way bc of me which is triggering his peeing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much

My dog is completely blind and has been relying on the sound of her toys hitting the ground to find them after I throw them. Sometimes she can't find them, so I'm wondering if there's something I could put on them to make them smell strong enough for her to sniff them out, outside or inside.

Ideally it'll be something mild (for humans) so my apartment won't smell weird, I'll be able to apply it to her toys (stuffed animals, balls), and it won't be messy. I don't mind if it stains or marks the toys. Safe for her to sniff, obviously.

I recently saw a video of a dog doing VOC scentwork, and it found a grain of rice covered with sharpie in a huge area. Do you think sharpie would work long term or would I have to reapply it every time we play?

Thank you for any advice!