To ask dog owners - do you remember that a puppy was bloody hard - or do I have a crazy puppy

[MyKingdomForACaramel]

We just got ourselves a little pup after our previous ddog died just back in November. He’s a lovely, spirited little thing - but so exhausting. Me and dh have been swearing blind previous dog wasn’t like this - he was chilled as a puppy - but have been slowly remembering that no - this is just what puppies are like - is there a selective amnesia when it comes to puppies (a bit like labour)

It’s true - it’s like labour

I ended up on mumsnet by googling 'why is my dog being a dick?'...

My jack ruessell was a arsehole puppy I nick named him ASBO and he will still answer to it now 😂.He was the cutest puppy I’ve ever seen but my god he was hard work. I actually think it was because he was (probably still is) smarter than me. He was also my first so I had nothing to compare too or any real experience either but it certainly was a shock and bloody hard work for a good few years. He’s a 12 year old man now and amazing. Stick with it You’ll get to the rewarding stage soon enough.

Oh god, I feel your pain! Mine was always being threatened with being taken away and abandoned! He was a total pain in the arse, moaned in his crate, stole stuff, nicked my phone, ate loads of money, wouldn’t do as asked. He really tested us, but I think has made us better owners.

Aww love everyone’s posts - I think we do all forget how hard puppies are once we have our docile adult dogs - and a special thanks to @littlemisscooper - love your advice - and having lost my lovely ten year old dog fairly recently I know what you mean -

Mines 10 now. Sob.

They are tiny sharks with legs. Ddog was a bloody nightmare of a thing til he was about 8 months. Adorable, but a nightmare. He's 5 now and although he's a greedy bastard (lab), he's chilled and literally the most affectionate dog I've ever met. We all LOVE him.

@ursula - oh am sure yours will be fine - mine was perfectly healthy - got a twisted bowel (which could happen at any time) otherwise I reckon could have gone on for years

Haha I think I may be labelling my dog - my previous was a medium sized breed - this one is little (I love big dogs but sadly we have had to move to a smaller house with a smaller garden so went for a smaller breed) so am worried about the “small dogs are snappy” thing - which I’m sure isn’t the case

It's the luck of the draw, really. My current dog was a dream as a puppy and remains the most wonderful creature in the world. But that is just his temperament, I certainly can't take any credit for it. Puppies are often demanding and difficult. Good thing they are so cute.

You have my sympathy, OP!

We rescued a lovely little puppy last month at only just 3 months old.

She was a tiny little neglected, grossly underweight scrap of a Lurcher/Saluki cross.

Now 7 weeks on, she's a tall, strapping Giraffe and a bundle of never ending energy

Oh and my last dog was a little Jack Russell Terrier and not snappy at all, so I agree a lot of it was to do with the dog's temperament.

@dot I have come up with a theory that being cute is an evolutionary thing- to ensure that puppies are kept by humans 😊

Our staffs have put me off puppies for life ! I said I will go to a rescue if I ever have another after my girl is gone .
No way will I ever have another puppy !

I think coming home to find the boy had dug out the entire 1 part of my sofa and dug a hole in my kitchen wall was bad enough but then the morning I came downstairs and the packet of wall paper paste which had been took off the side and scattered all over the living room laminate floor , along with cotton wool balls from the downstairs toilet and then the puppy had pissed everywhere .... (Wallpaper paste and piss ?!!!) My mind was made up ... No more puppies !!!!!

Just the mention of the word puppy just spells disaster lol

Ah on the plus side - it’s teaching me to be more tidy!

I think I was in shock the first 6 months, then I think I developed post puppy depression!

She’s 20 months now and I love her to bits

The key to my one having any behavioral issues, is tons of exercise to stop her getting bored. When she's bored, she's at her most 'naughty'.

Before her vaccinations was the worst time, as we couldn't take her on the two 1 hour walks that we take her on now (morning and evening) to wear her out.

So she'd spend her time chasing the cat up and down the stairs and appearing from various rooms with random objects in her mouth.

A couple of weeks ago, she casually sauntered by with a pack of playing cards in her mouth and the day before that, a tiny rubber duck that NO-ONE in this house has ever seen, despite us living here for 23 years

I can only imagine she dug it up from the garden or something

5 years ago we got ourselves a gorgeous fluffy German Shepherd puppy after DP told me what wonderful, calm, intelligent dogs they are.
He was the devil.
Chewed standing lamps (yes, really), wardrobe, bed, doors... you get the picture. Refused to eat anything else but cesars - the little tins of pate-like food you’d feed a Maltese, so we used to have to feed him 10 at a time. Pooed right next to training mat thingy whilst grinning at us (yes, really, I have photographic evidence). Hopped in every bit of mud or puddle he could find. Had little teeth (hence my username) like needles constantly drilling in our fingers. I could go on.
Oh and he’s still a sod now but we love him more than anything in the world and nothing is better than waking up to his happy little face in the morning.
Good luck OP, the little shits are worth it!

Definitely evolutionary. Survival of the cutest.

YANBU. It's like wrangling a warp-speed out-of-control toddler with needle sharp teeth at one end and no nappy at the other - still have the ankle scars, shredded trousers and mashed skirting boards to prove it (seriously, the little bastard ate the skirting boards ... as well as one - only ever one - of every single pair of my nicest shoes ).

It's worth it in the end, but I wouldn't hurry to do it again, and I say that with my (now 4 yr old) much-loved gentle, lazy, easy dog cuddled up to my feet on the other end of the sofa!

On the biting thing, we found it often worked to give a really high pitch yelp whenever he did it - it simulates the sound another puppy would make when they play-bite each other, and shocks them into letting go quickly. Stick with it, this will all pass - eventually

We find with the biting thing that always having a toy to hand really helps.

We say a firm 'NO!' then hand her the toy and ignore her. Or if it's a tug toy, we play tug-of-war etc.

But ultimately, she hates being ignored so she gets the message.

She also worked out almost immediately that me and my middle DS will not put up with nipping, whereas my DH and youngest DS are as soft as shit and their 'NO' is definitely not firm enough.

They have the teeth marks on their hands and wrists to prove it

Puppies are wankers.. they look adorable, lull you into a false sense of security, then hump your head while you’re clearing up their poo from the living room carpet. Or maybe that’s just mine..

One of our labs was so hard work when a pup that we used to say she was semtex, not andrex.. she has grown up,into a lovely dog. But oh, the evenings of running, biting, leaping, scratching.. she was never still.

My puppy (now 8 months) has always been easy peasy and a total superstar. He is a chilled out lovely BFG.
The kitten on the other hand is a bloody nightmare and has us up several times in the night and is just exhausting.

Eric was awful it's a good job he was cute because that is what got us through I think. I go all gooey at pictures of puppies posted on here but it lasts about ten seconds until I remember what having a puppy is like. There will be no more puppies here even though Eric as an adult dog is a real joy. I would only ever rescue an adult dog now.