Need a bit of support - new Puppy.......

[inmypants]

We got our Border terrier puppy on Tuesday and on the whole has been OK however yesterday afternoon and this morning just feel so overwhelmed by it all.

She is very clingy and needs to be with me permanently when I am at home or cries like mad. Obv this isnt ideal as I need to do all sorts in the house and she is confined to the kitchen and playroom. When she starts crying I thien find she is doing loads of wees which must be stress related as she is being taken out at least 1x/hour after sleeping playing, eating etc etc so if I then crate her she cries in there but does on occasion just get into her bed to lie down - but I have to shut her into it.

Our 2 adult ( but young 2yr old) cats hate whats going on and confine themselves to upsatirs - I miss them sitting on my lap and they show no signs of accepting dog - dog in turns thinks they are amazing and wants to chase them....

On top of this dh working really long hours so fairly useless at helping although I did just take myself to bed at 9 last night and told him to deal with her.....

Aaaargh i'm just worried we've made a huge mistake even though she was much wanted..

Please give me some support - feel like i've got baby blues!

she hates the car and cries constantly.....

Sort of jumping on the back fo this thread but, as a first-time puppy-owner-to-be, how much 'maternity'/puppy leave would I need to take to settle a puppy into our routines/home etc.? Do you really need to be there 24/7 for at least a month?

My work (from home) is flexible and at most fills about 4 to 5 hrs spread out over each day on 4 days a week. I'd imagined taking off a full week to acclimatise to the puppy and puppy to us and then starting back slowly - up to my own version (as above) of f/t within 2 to 3 weeks.

But from the OP's post and responses, it really sounds as if I need to be completely there for the puppy 24/7 for a month minimum?

I've got plenty of time to plan ahead (not getting puppy till next March earliest) so it'd be good to know what people think, given the responses to the OP here?

I work similar hours and have managed with new pups. I moved the laptop to the kitchen.

Not sure I am allowed to say this. I run Puppy Training classes in Crouch End. (website: www.puppyschool.co.uk

I can help you with all these issues and more.

Pen

inmypants hope things are going a bit better for you. Just following up on my earlier suggestion of taking the pup with you in the car, there's an thread elsewhere in this section which suggests that dog theft from cars is a real problem - something to think about.

Not a problem for me because of the design of our car/crate which means you couldn't see the dog is there but worth bearing in mind - covering the travel crate with something innocuous like an old towel might help? Take a look at the thread and see what you think.

Solo I think you'll be fine. If you could do one week 100% pup and no work, then a couple of weeks with just a couple of hours work a day and still lots and lots of focus on the pup, you'll be in a much better position than loads of people. SLightly depends on how many other demands on your time you have, but if you can get your DP to cook/ignore the housework/or similar for a few weeks you'll be absolutely fine. Like abr1de I work from home and worked in kitchen/dining room with the dog for a few weeks. Struggling now I need to get back up to 7hour days in my office (With dog, naturally!) a couple of months on, but if you don't need so long to do your job you'll be sorted!

Thanks 30AndMerkin and abr1de. There is no DP - I'm a single mum and do everything all of the time anyway but therefore no one to complain about state of house or types of meal for a while except twin sons aged 9 who hopefully will not mind some disruption.

Can't take work into the puppy area, as it involves meetings with people but puppy will hoepfully get use to me leaving him for an hour and then returning for lots more play and cleaning up messes etc etc!

Hi Solo, sorry didn't mean to make any assumptions, just meant dump anything non-essential and/or delegate it! Am sure your 9 year olds will LOVE the disruption a puppy brings!

I know have people requesting to have meetings at my house rather than theirs purely so they can meet the puppy

OP - I have a 22 week old lab. First few weeks she followed me round the house like ' a lost puppy ', which in a way is exactly what she was - taken from her family and put with another .

She also whinned, howled in the car , at bedtime , in the middle of the night . Now all that seems is a distance past . She is more than happy in the car , we have dispensed with the crate , and at night she now sleeps all the way through on her bed under the radiator.

I do take her alot in the car and happily jumps in the back of the car and now she is bigger she can see out the window.

Ignore the whining , when you come back into the room ignore her , no fuss . Spend some time bonding , playing with her.

regarding her treats - if she is on dry food just give her some of her daily food ration .

Again thankyou all - we had a better weekend (prob because there were 3 of us) but I have started doing the leaving the room thing for short peiods and either shutting gate or door and ignoring her when I come back in and this seems to be improving her whining.

We threw loads of treats in the car/crate y'day when we went out and again this improved a little bit her whining - am going to start taking her on the school run with me this week - although have to crate her this morning for an hour as ds needs dr!