Struggling to feel positive about puppy

[Dogownerwithoutacluebuttrying]

My puppy is just over 9 weeks. The first two days were a total shock despite lots of research beforehand.

Then things settled and were ok but I'm having a tough time today and really struggling with it. We haven't had a single poo accident after the first night and he had done really well but then I found one on the floor by the crate which might have been in the night and dropped out of his quilt on the floor - not sure. He also did a big wee on the floor even though I'd taken him out and he'd done a small one 10 mins before.

He attacks my shoes whenever I put them on.

I feel quite negative about it all and a bit stressed. Tell me it won't always be this way. I find the toilet side of it a bit gross and sometimes it makes me feel sick. He has had soggy poos which hasn't helped.

Also what breed is your dog? Sorry for all the questions.

What about feeding him earlier in the evening to give his food a chance to work through him before you put him to bed for the night?

I do think the toilet training depends on the dog though. My lab boy picked it up really quickly (although a couple of yucky times when he pooed in his crate and then slept in it so it was all in his ears etc, eughhhh), but my lab girl was about 6 months by the time she was reliable (sorry!).

I am trying four smaller meals now but missed lunch out altogether to try and get his stomach to settle.
The last poop was mucousy so not great but the vets still said give it two more days on the new food. If he is still like this then we have to take him in.

With the training I'm pretty sure he has the idea he needs to go outside - he had cracked it with poops and has still done so in the day consistently touch wood. It is that he is in his crate too long at night given the dodgy tummy (until it started again he had been fine for 5 nights) I suppose.

It's not a training issue but an illness issue iyswim.

He is so hungry and I'm sure would like more food but the breeder said to cut down for now.

Just recently, she can go for several hours without needing the loo, but it's taken quite a while for me to realise that. My dh is retired so home all day, but if puppy goes out for a wee/poo about 6.30 pm, I know I won't have to take her outside until about 9 ish. I still go and stand outside with her, so I know she actually goes. We've always done this and it works for us.

She is in her crate from 10 ish (no later than 10.30) until 6 am. We only get up at 6 because that's our timings, not hers. At the weekend I leave her until 7 or even 7.30 am. She hasn't messed in her crate for months now, although often did a poo in there in the early days.

I know lots of people on here will say to get up in the night and take her out, but I didn't. I'm too old and tired, as you say it was just like having a new born baby in the house! She didn't even cry/bark at night when she'd messed, I just came down to find it in the morning, only twice have I had to wash her because it was so messy.

She did cry at night for the first 5 nights, on and off, but I left her. I read lots before we got her and talked to lots of friends with dogs and realised it's just like babies, there is so much conflicting advice, you have to do what works for you and your family.

She has never gone in her crate much during the day, and can reliably be left in the kitchen/dining room with her bed, toys etc. when we go out.
A colleague at school got a puppy in Feb half term and he is happy to be left in his crate during the day, she goes home at lunch time to let him out and have a quick play. She does have 2 adult dogs though, so the puppy has company.

My pup is 14 weeks old. I felt like this when he was 9 weeks old. Only recently have we all started relaxing ( house training now sorted - that helped! - and finally being able to take him for walks, albeit only short ones)

Will we get a decent night's sleep again then?!

What do you mean by decent? My 14 week old sleeps from 22.30 - 6.30 with no interruptions (I do crave a lie in). In a while he should be able to last longer but pups don't quite have the bladder capacity their adult dogs do

'That' not 'their'

Not a midday lie in but maybe 11.45 til 7.45 or 8!

Still got a dodgy tum but luckily nothing to greet us in the crate at least this morning. Just squidgy poop in several places outside including on the back doormat.
Think I'm too squeamish!

Worried about managing the school run on time next week. Hoping we will be in more of a routine then.

It will come, hang in there. I hated Plog's puppy days overall, massive shock to the system and harder than having a baby. We do get lie ins now. I happily woukd have left her with someone who could give her a good home when she was little.

She's a fantastic family dog these days. Off to the vet's in a minute for her to have her ears cleaned under anaesthetic. I feel really sad for her and just want her to be comfortable again bless her. Not quite the same as one of the DC's having treatment but a close second. Never woukd have thought I could feel like that during those awful puppy days. Hang in there.

At about 9 weeks was a low spot here too,it just seemed relentless.Now he's house trained and able to go on short walks it all feels so much easier.
Eric sleeps 11 til 7.30, I get up at 6 though and take him outside but he goes straight back to bed because he waits until the others are up.We had a lie in last Sunday, at 9am he went and got ds up to let him out Not sure ds is quite so pleased he has the downstairs bedroom tbh.

Wynken hope the ear op goes well.

So reassuring to know that it isn't just me being flakey and pathetic and others found it hard!

Off to wash and dry my hair whilst ds supervises. What will I do when he goes back to school?!

If we can just sort out his tummy it'd be so much better. Hard to clear up and he starts sniffing about them and I worry he'll stand in it!

What food is it? There are loads of different ones that work for different dogs. Had he been wormed? A probiotic may help.

Hi, Yes wormed and had it before and after.
He is ok on the prescription stuff from the vets. DH accidentally gave him the other food (Arden Grange puppy) this morning and pup went back to having a problem. Fingers crossed it should revert to being ok again now.

Will get a probiotic as that worked for ds when he had tummy issues when he was a baby!

Not quite as stressed now but not feeling the love either. He wiped his not clean bum on the kitchen floor earlier and is very nippy but the latter is just training needed presumably.

Yes, the nipping is something that should stop soon with training. We just used to always give Lola something she could nip/bite and I mentioned it to the vets when she went for her injections. He said if puppies stayed with their parents for 16 weeks, their parents train them out of it. He said giving them something they can bite is good, but that some puppies need a stern telling off to!

Poor pup - he will sense it if you are not feeling the love as you put it. You have to accept a bit of muck and mayhem with dogs.

Hang in there Eric's lovely now at 16 weeks. Mind you the house training doesn't mean the end of mess unfortunately Eric finds every bit of mud going and has been bathed five times out of the last ten days which has meant the bathroom has been ditched as well as the kitchen every time

Rehome the dog. If two accidents and some shoe chewing have panicked you I really don't think you're suited to puppy ownership. If you got him from a reputable breeder they should be happy to take him back.

Agree that muck and mayhem come with dogs, even when they are adults. And your dog is a very small baby. Your expectations of him seem ridiculously high, he isn't going to be reliably house trained for a while yet. My five month old has got the hang of it, but did a wee in her crate last night as we were late waking up, we felt sorry for her, it was our fault completely. She has the odd accident still, and that is normal for this age. Young and old dogs do take more work, and have more accidents, but all dogs will make a mess, sometimes have accidents when they have tummy bugs, might vomit on your best rug, chew your most expensive shoes, and get mud on the carpet, all that is part of choosing to live with a dog. I wonder if you really want a dog in your life after all? Maybe you didn't realise quite what was involved?

I have to agree with GallstoneCowboy, the puppy deserves a more loving home, he's done nothing wrong but be a puppy. I saw this thread a few days ago and bit my lip, but come on OP, why did you want a puppy in the first place? Return him to the breeder asap now that he is really small and has a good chance of finding another home before things get even worse.

I don't agree Booboo.

I could have been the OP. I now love that little puppy I could have written about as the OP has. He now has a 'sister'. They are currently 7 and 4. It has been a sharp learning curve, but they are a huge addition to the family. I love them to bits and it is a huge success story, for us.

It takes as much getting used to having a puppy, as having a baby, as far as I'm concerned.

Keep going OP. It is worth it.

I do agree with you Bowler, in principle, my only worry, having had many years with a breed of dog that routinely ends up in rescue at about 12m, (as owners find the teenage stage too hellish), is that a small puppy is easy to re-home and a larger dog less so. So if the op really has just made a mistake and underestimated how much work a dog is, then it is better to re-home now rather than in six or eight months.
I love having a dog and hated the long dogless months between the last dog and this one, but dogs are not for everyone, some people just do find the effort and commitment too much.

Bowler it's brilliant that you adjusted to having a puppy but the sad reality is that many poorly thought-out puppy purchases end up in rescue at around 12-18mo. That is the stage that the puppy has outgrown all its cuteness factor, has missed out on training and socialisation and all its more permanent problems are very apparent.

The OP seems to have a serious problem with very standard aspects of looking after an animal. Anything that needs to poop will poop in the wrong place at frequent intervals in its life. My adult dog had gastroenteritis this week (along with my DD and DP - bliss!) and was doing diarhoea everywhere. TMI alert: one lot, at the vets, was so liquid and projectile it went on the table, the floor, the wall opposite, the bookcase/books and the ceiling of the surgery - shit happens, literally. Meanwhile my elderly cat has had a stroke and needs to be hand fed and followed everywhere to make sure she is peeing and pooing as normal. That's life with animals.