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Original poster

How did you feel after getting new puppy?

28 replies

Greyhorses · 19/03/2015 19:05

Firstly he isn't going anywhere so don't worry!

But...did anyone else feel stressed/worried when you got your new puppy? Little reacue from previous thread is doing well but he is very hard work and into everything at the moment! Everything I do takes 100 times longer than before and takes much more planning. I have to plan to leave the house now wheras before I would just up and go. I think I didn't realise how hard it would be!

Poor dog 1 is being very patient but has told him off a few times.

I think I forgot how difficult it was after having 14 years of my perfectly trained and easy last dog- starting again is hard Grin

He is great in most ways though and his training is coming along well but he is taking up most of my time at the moment.

Any stories of success greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 19/03/2015 19:12

There were tears about a week in, full fledged sobbing of, why did I get this?...

He's not exactly a success story (it's a long story) but he is a dog rather than a little bitey peeing machine, lol.

I have however decided no more puppies, I'll go back to older rescues like I had before him.

MostAmused · 19/03/2015 19:16

Yes, I had a big teary breakdown one night after I got him to the back door, went out and instead of following he ran to the living room and pee'd there! That was about a week and a half in. He's wonderful now has been clean in the house since around three or four months and is a joy to be around. Love him and wouldn't change it for the world!

HcachumBabow · 19/03/2015 19:28

Ah, the dreaded "puppy blues".

We've had four puppies so far (three of them in the last four years, we must be mad......) and it happens every time. The first couple of days are lovely then the little monster starts to find their feet, the effects from the interrupted sleep kick in and however well prepared I felt before the puppy arrived I'll be rocking in a corner wailing to DH that we've made a terrible mistake. Usually in an evening when they're having their last mad half hour before bed and it's like watching a little tornado going round the room destroying everything they touch.

It's obviously been worth it though as we've kept getting them after the first one!!

Seriously though, it is definitely worth it. The three most recent pups we've had were all male whippets (youngest is 16 months old now) and they're mostly utterly fabulous. I had the three of them out over the fields in the sun this afternoon and it was positively blissful Grin

frozenmad · 19/03/2015 20:00

For the first few weeks/months thought it was the worst decision we'd ever made. When pup turned 5 months old, life became much, much easier. At 12 months old, think it was one of the best decisions we ever made Grin. Good luck!

Humansatnav · 19/03/2015 20:08

Yup, sleepless nights with a bitey poo and piss machine.
Now 13 weeks, still working on the sleeping, other things much,much better . Would consider a rescue 2nd dog in the future, but cannot do puppy stage again.

OttiliaVonBCup · 19/03/2015 20:10

Stressed, exhausted, worried.

But it's been all worth it.

aleto · 19/03/2015 21:01

After a week I was ready to return him! I was sleep deprived and very weepy. The constant watching him and taking him to the garden every 20/30 minutes was starting to take it's toll as well. He's 8 months now he's become my 4th child and I love the very bones of him!!

Notreallyawaitress · 19/03/2015 21:40

Our puppy is 12 weeks today and there have been several moments when we've thought it was a terrible mistake. I'd forgotten how exhausting looking after a puppy is - 18 years since the last one. But he is now sleeping 8 hours through the night, mostly house trained and is a lot less bitey than he was. It's a huge responsibility though and I feel pretty stressed about making sure he becomes a well trained dog. And I feel guilty that we didn't give a rescue dog a home instead.

SistersOfPercy · 19/03/2015 23:12

I'd forgotten the hard stuff. As you say op 14 years of well trained little dog then "OMG PUPPY!!"

The bit that tested my patience I think was when he was 'zorbing' down the hall in his fabric crate as I was trying to serve Christmas lunch.

He's 16 months now and quite lovely, however I have made mental note to not block out the bad shit in the future.

SirVixofVixHall · 19/03/2015 23:23

Yes to stressed exhausted and worried. My puppy seemed to spend much of her time trying to find things to kill herself with. It was more stressful than a baby as she was so much more mobile. She has just turned 16 months, and although still very much a work in progress, I do love having her and she is miraculously still alive.
Here she is at about 7 months old with her friend from next door. She is the bigger one.

How did you feel after getting new puppy?
LokiBuddyBoo1 · 20/03/2015 00:39

Perhaps it's just me but I love the puppy stage, wish they were puppys longer.
My ddog is now 20 months and I can honestly say he wasn't hard work as a pup at all he slept all through the night from day one, Was quick to house train and has never chewed or destroyed anything he wasn't supposed to.
Was a little bitey at first but that quickly stopped, and I expected that with him being half JRT.

BitOfFun · 20/03/2015 00:46

I felt totally in love.

I don't say that to make you feel shit, but is there anything you can do to enhance the fun aspects of it? I used to enjoy taking her out and about in my handbag, and having to stop every few minutes for strangers to coo.

LikeABadSethRogenMovie · 20/03/2015 00:51

YES! I had puppy regret with every single one of my dogs. But I had baby regret with my children too! And then they look at you with that heart stopping look of love and you're smitten. With both the babies and the dogs.

HopSkipCrash · 20/03/2015 01:00

We've all been there! I remember crying on the phone to my husband on his first day back after Christmas when we'd had her a few weeks. Now I can't imagine ever not having a dog in our lives. Flowers[dog sausage]

StayGoldPonyBoy · 20/03/2015 01:15

Yep. Stressful and lots of sobbing. It's like having a bitey toddler who doesn't speak your language and you can't just put in time out! I loved the puppy cuddles and laughing at his antics but I also wanted to send him back about a thousand times and thought we'd accidentally bought a hell hound.

I love DDog now. He's wonderful and he wears a bow tie which makes everything better. He's still a baby, he's only 9 months old but he's come a long way and now listens most of the time. He's better trained than DD tbh!Grin

shabbs · 20/03/2015 01:25

'Rescued' our currently 9 month old pup on the 15th December. Good friends daughter had bought her thinking she was a 'full blown' Staff. She is staff/lab. only way you know she is not a black Lab is the white blaze on her chest.

The one major regret I have is not knowing what the previous owner wanted for her - money wise. Good friend said she wanted rid asap. Two weeks later found out friends daughter wanted 170 quid for her. Am currently paying a tenner a week because we are not 'well off' in 8 weeks, when we finally own her I think we will have a small party.

She is now totally house trained - took us about 4 days. Just finishing her first season and is a total delight.

GraysAnalogy · 20/03/2015 01:47

£170 quid for a mongrel? Whilst I advocate people paying for dogs because it prevents people getting them and using them for horrible things, or not valuing them properly, if it was a good friend how could they charge you that much Shock

So is the reason she didn't want her because she isn't a 'full blow' staff? Well she can go to any dog rescue and find one there! She's very lucky that you were able to give her a good home, because you easily could have gotten one for free!

pigsDOfly · 20/03/2015 09:37

Absolutely no regrets when dog was small as she was just about as perfect as a puppy could be; even at 8 weeks she slept all night from the word go, was pretty much house trained from the start, never chewed anything that wasn't hers etc. Wonderful.

However, when she was about 8 months old she decided that as she was now a teenager and knew everything about everything, as teenagers do, she didn't have to listen to me any more. That was when I started wondering what the hell I'd got myself into. She was still perfect with house training and chewing but suddenly became very disobedient about certain bits of her training.

I came close to tears on several occasions. The worst being when my previously perfectly behaved dog refused to let me put her back on the lead; just keeping herself out of grabbing distance, for hours - she's small and fast so not a lot of dog to grab. She was on a trailing lead for months following that.

I think most puppy owners for one reason or another at some stage will have murderous thoughts and tearful regrets but you just keep plugging away until one day you realise that you have a wonderful well trained dog, that you couldn't image being without.

moosemama · 20/03/2015 10:14

I found the puppy stage a shock to the system this time around. It had been 8 years since I'd had a pup and he came to us at 4 months, having been fostered by a fantastic family who'd done really well with his training, so we didn't have the very young stage to contend with.

If you search mn for the 'New puppy mummy' threads from summer 2013 you'll find posts from lots of us detailing all our ups and downs with new pups. It helps to have the support of others going through the same thing, so perhaps you could start a similar thread for everyone else on here that has a young pup at the moment.

By boy is almost 2 now and an absolute sweetie, those puppy days seem a million years ago.

I have resolved to not forget what hard it was this time around, but I'm pretty sure I'll be daft enough to do it all again at some point. Grin

bottleofbeer · 20/03/2015 10:33

With my big boy I was so in love I forgave him anything. With little dog I was at my wits end within a week. I still have real moments of wondering why the hell I was so stupid to get another. Should have quit while I was ahead. But they do grow up and calm down. Remember that!

SirVixofVixHall · 20/03/2015 11:25

I want to see pics of all these puppies! Smile

tabulahrasa · 20/03/2015 11:32

I can do pictures...of course he's no longer a puppy, but there's one from the other day and a puppy one.

How did you feel after getting new puppy?
How did you feel after getting new puppy?
Chattymummyhere · 20/03/2015 12:23

We have 9 puppies at the moment and the worst part is when they are at that stage of wanting to learn what everything is yet destroy it in the process. Lovely bundles though. Every dog owner has at least one moment of what did I do but it passes quickly and back to just pure love for the animal.

TheHumancatapult · 20/03/2015 12:32

i felt like that outside in the snow at 2am,3am,4am and 5am first few weeks I was so tired could cry and trying get anything done impossible

At now almost 15 weeks defintley improoved and do love him to bits but he will be my one and only puppy

Its also the resposiorability am I doing it right aware people judging a sin a wheelchair and not going eb a small dog either
and now its feeling guilty as he seams not want to walk on a lead reluctant to go out .Though had good moment other day as he was off lead dog came from nowhere started to run of to play but came back when whistled

Longworth · 20/03/2015 12:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.