New puppy parents, come cheer me up!

[Panicmode1]

I was expecting hard work. I was expecting mess. I was expecting the chewing. And the mess. And the poo. But it's way harder than I was expecting and I'm struggling. And we're only two weeks in.

I was at the vet at 2am this morning after she had been straining and straining to poo for over 2 hours and was then violently sick - it seems that she had been eating small stones, even though I thought I was watching like a hawk.....she's still not right this morning so I think I may end up having to go back. DH didn't want a dog and feeling very justified in his "I told you sos" this morning!

I know I am very sleep deprived and grumpy, but puppy parents further along than me, cheer me up and tell me how brilliant it is when they are a bit older - pleeeeaaaaaasseeee!

My 14 week old pup is exactly as Joffery describes! Nothing is as exciting as a foot or the older dog to chew and jump on. The only thing that works is I trained a positive interrupter and he immediately stops and looks at me or comes to me and I give him something else to do or chew on. It took about 10 minutes for him to learn it.

Joining this thread with my 13 weeks lab x lurcher, had a wobbly after 4 days but 2 days later, 4 short walks today, feeling much better about it all. Am going to soak all our gravel in the vinegar /water mix so thanks for that tip

Thank god. I came on this forum to potentially ask would I be an awful person to rehome my puppy. I simply can't see a single positive of her in our lives. Just endless stress with her but maybe I can hang in there.

I collected our 5 mth puppy from the dogs home on Saturday. I had also forgotten the stress of having a puppy. I bought a crate yesterday and am buying a stair gate tomorrow (so glad Gumtree exists!).
It's such hard work, avoiding needle sharp teeth, and mopping up. I think he may be getting the hang of toilet training, sometimes. I have 2 teenagers and I have to keep reminding them he has only been here 6 days, on the planet for 5 months and has not had s good start.
I will be reading this thread avidly for a reality check.

How old is your puppy Droflove? The first weeks are a bit of a nightmare but try and hang in there it will get easier

New puppies are bloody exhausting. It gets way easier once they can go for proper walks so you can tire them out. In the meantime get into as many training games as you can. The pup will love the attention and it's all taking you closer to the dog you want. There will inevitably be days when it all goes backwards - I'm thinking of the time our 8month old puppy ate carpet underlay and needed 24hr observation the day before my due date wih DD. Little bastard. He's worth it though.

I remember those early days well,our pup is 8 months now and a joy to have around it does get better, dd11 took him in a novelty dog show last weekend ,came back with 5 rosettes inc2 firsts we were so pleased how far we,d come. Dp wasn't really a animal lover but you wouldn't believe him now ,totally loves him its lovely to see .

Our dog is now five, so pretty middle aged and sensible, but when he was a small pup his nipping was horrible! It felt like he was out to get us, a little piranha! The best thing we found (we did the standing still, arms crossed, loud yip stuff too) was to always have a puppy chew in our pockets and to stuff it in his face when his mad little face and vicious teeth got too close

It didn't last too long thankfully, but dh did talk about wanting to take him back to the rescue at one point, so I feel your pain. The rewards will be great, promise :)

When mine was a pup (he's 18 months now) the things that worked best were:

1. Regular enforced naps in his crate, he was fed in there, with the door shut and left for 20 minutes afterwards. If he didn't fall asleep he was taken outside but 9 times out of 10 he would go to sleep and stay asleep for at least an hour. Any time he got really nippy he went in his crate for a sleep, he nearly always was asleep within 5 minutes.

2. a regular supply of toys for chewing, I used cardboard boxes and empty milk containers. Every amazon box was saved and chucked on the floor at intervals, messy but effective. Plastic milk bottles are noisy but great fun for them, obviously supervised.

3. Yelping when he went to nip worked for us, and has done for every dog we've owned although I appreciate it doesn't for all dogs.

4. Access to calm well mannered older dogs taught mine doggy manners which have kept him safe and made him much nicer to walk.

5. If I wasn't able to supervise him for any period longer than 5 minutes, he went in his crate with a toy/stuffed Kong. He was safe and so was my house.

I do think that sometimes we use the term pack to refer to a family, in the same way that I sometimes used to refer to my kids as a pack.

We go on pack walks with my training group, it doesn't mean they subscribe to pack theory, far from it, but it just refers to a social walk designed to let the dogs interact in a semi controlled environment. The 'leader' amongst the dogs varies throughout the walk depending on what they are doing, absolutely fascinating to watch and try and understand why they are doing particular things.

Sorry for the essay.

Update from me (OP!) - she's been better with the biting this week - or perhaps we've been better at managing it; we've had several days without any accidents in the house (although she hasn't been dry in her crate overnight, which she was for the first week..!?), and now we can go for walks, it's so much easier!

We did have a nightmare at puppy training on Tuesday though - she went BONKERS at the sight of 5 other puppies and couldn't contain herself, so we were asked to sit in the corner. The training that I'd been doing at home and (I thought) had been going quite well - sit, come, lie down, stay etc went totally to pot and she didn't come to me once! Hopefully next week she'll be better as we've met quite a few older, well behaved dogs. She even came back to me three times during an off lead walk yesterday...so I'm hoping we don't get put in the naughty corner again next week!

She was 12 weeks yesterday - so 4 weeks to go to 16 weeks

I also have a new puppy. We are on day 2 right now and I feel so overwhelmed. My dad was mean to me about it which really hurt me. I've waited so long and really want this dog. Also, I can afford it etc.

I'm a bit worried I might have a mild allergy. My eyes have been stingy since I got him. I thought it was the smoky house I got him from and it still might be I guess cos he has their smell.

I just feel exhausted already. He is 9 weeks and a pom.

My darling threw up in my car today. He was sitting on my daughters lap in the front of the car (didn't want to put him in the back because of stealth chewing). Yet more money spent on cleaning products. Vomit went all over the hand break. Glad he's not on raw food.
Lovely photo of Pom puppy.

Pleased things are getting better OP.

Had to laugh at the dog training, my dog also would go bonkers at dog training to begin with, used to be the highlight of his week but he did start to calm down and it started being something fun to do with him rather than an embarrassing necessity.

Thanks groovejet - however have just had another dog argument with DH - he really isn't happy about her at all. I think if I actually asked if he wanted her gone he'd say yes.....

That's a shame that he feels like that, is it anything specific that is making him not happy?

Things do get easier, having a dog was a lifelong dream for me but the reality was such a big adjustment, I had days when I could have cheerfully returned him. I think it was about 2 months later when ddog was settled with us at home and the effects of dog training was starting to show that I started to feel really comfortable, he still had work to go at that point but I could see the improvements and knew we were doing well. He still drives me potty some days but he has been totally worth the hard work, tears and stress.

He feels that his routine has been screwed up completely - that every time he comes in she only wants to chew/bite/jump up; that we no longer go on long family walks together (although he realises this is a temporary state of affairs), that we can't have a meal without the dog barking/jumping up (am working on this - she's only 12 weeks old!) etc etc etc.

It doesn't help that he has a stressful job and a stressful commute. He's just told me that he's now finding home as stressful too...which is making me question why I've put this pressure on him to have a dog. It would break the children's hearts to get rid of her, but I am genuinely worried about the toll it's taking on us/him.

Could you start a routine of her going in her crate with a kong etc at meal times? We did that as it was a time when we couldn't supervise. Good play and loo stop immediately before then in crate, or make sure feeding times coincide with your meals and feed in the crate.
I did also crate when people came in,( mainly for safety reasons, doors left open, dog getting worked up by the excitement) only letting him out when calm has been restored and teaching a calm greet.

I have worked on the idea that we ignored the dog when initially coming in, not for any weird dominance ideas, but simply because an overexcited dog is more likely to make a mistake, nip, jump or wee, plus they are more likely to get trodden on, run out of an open door etc.

All those things can be worked on and improved, a crate could be a good idea for now until she gets used to the fact that mealtimes is her cue to settle down, didn't take long for ddog to get used to this and he isn't the brightest spark.

Actually quite good that your DH misses long family walks, it won't be long before your dog can join you on these and when that happens that maybe the thing that starts to soften him up a bit. If he enjoys walking is he willing to take her out by himself, if she is good on lead he may find taking her out, even for just a short walk, a way to for him to relax.

Thanks both - the thing is that she IS put in her crate with a Kong or something to do at mealtimes - which keeps her quiet for about a minute - and then she just ignores it and sits there barking and barking and barking. I don't know the best way to deal with that - we've tried ignoring her, we've tried putting her in the garden (she just barks and paws the door trying to come in), or tried telling her to stop.....any ideas?!

We've just been for a lovely (short) walk in a NT place - it was magical seeing the children romping with Rosie - and DH did hold her for a little bit. I am sure that eventually she'll calm down and he'll love her as much as the rest of us do!

I am in a similar place. New puppy, rhodesian ridgeback, joined the family on 22 December after we lost our old 10 year old dog in August. We are doing better, but the first few weeks were exhausting. I had completely forgotten how much work they are! On Monday evening, 3 weeks ago, I was in tears on the phone to a friend saying that I did not know if I could do this or if our marriage would survive. But I think we are going to survive, just! This morning, I had to crate him just to have some "time" with DH - sorry, too much sharing!

Puppy is 13/14 weeks old now, sleeps through in crate from 10.30pm to 6.30am and has not had an accident in the house for 2 days. I have to say, most of the accidents are probably our fault, not reading the signs, but we are getting there.

The only thing that is driving me insane is the nipping. I always have something to put in his mouth instead of my hand/leg/trousers/boots/toes, but it still seems incessant. I know when he gets really bad it is usually because he needs a nap, so he goes straight into his crate.

We are walking him more than the recommended amount, but vet is comfortable, and we are not running, jumping, etc... Twice a day for about 20 mins. I just think he needs to get rid of the energy. We have more chew toys for him that our old dog ever had, the best ones keep him going for ages - elk bone and reindeer horn. He also loves the treat ball and rolls it all over the house for ages. So far so good. And he is learning to use the stairs, because he is now nearly 26 lbs so we cannot carry him as easily any more. Training is going well, he can sit, drop and paw on command, and he is walking on the leash well. It is amazing to have a dog that is food motivated, as the old dog was not very good with food at all.

Sorry - this is an epic post, but I am so relieved to find people going through similar things.

Is her crate covered with a blanket so it's dark? You may have to persevere in ignoring her and never let her out while she is barking, you have to grab a moment when she's quiet, however brief. Is the crate where she can see you, we had to put it out of sight. Is she getting enough naps? We underestimated how much sleep a puppy needs to start with, things got better when we upped the naps.

What breed is she? Apologies if I've missed that.

Hi NCIS

She's a golden retriever. Half of the crate is dark - my very experienced dog owner BIL told me not to cover it completely because they like to see out - but with four children coming and going she doesn't get much peace. Do you think I should shut her in there in the dark when we eat?

I know I have seen on here before that to train a dog to have a quiet command you teach them a speak command first, she sounds like a smart dog from what you say above so maybe introduce this into the training you are already doing.

www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/how_to_stop_barking.html

This site explains it a bit , and maybe someone who has a bit more experience with it will come along soon.

Kikopup has lots of videos on youtube there maybe some that help

this is teaching not to bark at the door, she has some others to do with barking and some on crate training as well so I am sure there will be something that will suit you and your dog.

I used to cover it when mine (border collie) went into sleep otherwise he seemed unable to switch off. He never relaxed enough to stay asleep if he wasn't in the crate as a young pup but will happily do so now at 18 months old.