please tell me it gets easier - new puppy

[newpuppypanic]

I am so tired and sleep deprived I can barely keep my eyes open. We picked up our new puppy 2 days ago. She is a 10 week old Labrador. We have a crate for her to sleep in although during the day she appears to prefer a mat on the floor in the lounge.

Last night we were up every 90 minutes with her. She's not house trained and we're struggling to get her to go in the garden - she wanders around, does a lot of sniffing then comes in and wees in the house.

I am so tired I can't think straight. Please tell me it gets easier.

Sorry to be so blunt but you need to get used to waking up every 90 minutes.

Take her out and don't come in until she does something. When she does, lots and lots of praise! It's the same during the day, you need to be taking her out every half hour, after every meal, every drink and every play. Lots of praise once again when she does something.

The sooner you stick to this the quicker she will learn. Within 10 days my pup was house trained. It was bloody tiring to begin with, I felt like an absolute zombie but I am so glad I did it.

Dog training advice and support group on facebook is brilliant. Often recommended on here. Look for the puppy files

I always take puppies out on the lead to toilet - otherwise they wander round and play and are too busy to think about their bladder till they come in. You stand there boringingly saying 'get busy' or whatever till they do it - and if in 10 minutes they haven't and you go back in, you stick to them like glue, ready to rush them back out when they circle/sniff.
You have to be out there with them, otherwise you can't praise them immediatly enough.

My kids are being troopers - the teen has been looking after her this morning while I've snoozed on the sofa. Every 90 minutes last night was killing me, worse than the newborn stage with a baby. It's all very well saying just to suck it up and get on with it, but that doesn't stop the knackeredness.

She's not used to a collar yet - we're working on that as the breeder had started using a collar with her. We're seeing the vet on Friday for her first vaccinations, it seems like a LONG time until we're allowed to get out and aobut with her which I think will make things a lot easier.

How does she react to a collar? We put one on pup on the way home in the car. She wasn't fussed.
I was so exhausted with wolfie pup I wasn't far off from hallucinating. There's a reason sleep deprivation is used as torture. Now she goes to bed before 11 and can sleep in until after 7. You will get there.

She is ok with a collar, she's currently mooching around the garden with one on and it doesn't seem to be bothering her.

Sorry you said she wasn't used to one. Work on getting a lead on. Use treats.

Having a wee immediately after coming inside is really common. If your puppy hasn't done anything outside (and you're pretty confident they need to) but wants to come back inside then pick them up, carry them around inside for a minute or two then take them back out and pop them straight on the ground. Chances are they'll go almost straight away but you can repeat the process as many times as necessary.

It's well worth having a read through the articles on this list and the group as a whole has lots of other excellent information in their files section.

It absolutely gets easier. Puppies are seriously hard work - I think most people question their decision in the early weeks/months, when sleep is disturbed, the kids are getting nipped, you spend half your time cleaning up wee and poo and then your house is chewed to bits.

But the time goes quickly and before you know it you have a gorgeous, well-behaved member of the family that nobody could imagine being without. I'm sure you're doing everything you can do, you just need to ride it out...

Our previous lab took a while to house train but was quiet at night after a week, crates not really a thing 15 yrs ago though. Our new lab was house trained very quickly but was a nightmare through the night. She would sleep for a couple hours then bark to go out, although usually by the time I got downstairs she had relieved herself on the kitchen floor. When she was big enough we let her use the dog flap ( had it fitted when we had both cats and dogs) which helped but she would still be up at 5.30am barking. She is now 18mnths and sleeps all night and only barks if we are late up. So it does get better.
She was crate trained although we didn't lock her in until she was 4mnths old. I think if you read up on crate training they don't suggest locking them in for long periods until they are older.
I did spend a great deal of last summer watching the sun come up and early morning walks were great.
My DH thinks it's karma since we never had sleepless nights with DS who was and is a very easy child.
Is it all worth it? Of course it is,my beautiful lab now tells me when she wants to go out by gently taking my hand and leading me to the kitchen. She tells me when I need a walk by bringing me my dog walking shoes and she goes to bed with my DS and stays with him until he is asleep, then takes herself back to her own bed in the kitchen. DS has occasional night time seizures ( childhood type of epilepsy) and we realised, when he had the last cluster, that she would not settle with him on the nights he had a seizure and kept coming to find me and grab my hand. Labs are real family dogs and yours will get better although you will have many days through the next 12mnths when you will use all the sweary words you know. It is just like having a child but condensed into a couple of years.

Hi. We got our cocker spaniel puppy at 8 weeks old. We first visited him at 3 weeks old. We couldn't wait to get him home and with in days i regretted it. I carried on tho but had many moments i considered returning him to the breeder but cant do it as the kids love him. He's getting there with his training but its such a tie. We can't leave him for too long as he just barks. We can't just go out for days like we used to. I know i should have thought of this but in reality its so much harder. Im really wishing he wasnt here but feel so guilty. Feel like its the end of the world :(

@Babadeo this is a zombie thread so you might not get many replies.

Come and join us on the puppy support thread. We’ve all very much had the puppy blues, you’re not alone. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3443583-Puppy-support

We have a 5 month old golden retriever and wow the first couple of months were HARD. WORK. But... don't worry, it gets so much easier!
Now he is 5 months he is toilet trained and a delight 95% of the time. The rest, he is super excitable and nipping us, but he actually stops most of the time when we tell him now.

The best things we have taught him is sit... obviously, wait for food (we wont give him food until he is sat patiently, if he goes to move, we stop for a moment and take away. Now he is very patient), and Go to Bed (perfect for making him go away for a moment if we are cooking / he is biting us. He is very smart so knows if we ask him to go then he is doing something we don't like).

The first few months are going to be trial by fire unfortunately, but imagine what a human baby would be like if he had 38 sharp needle teeth, could run at 8mph, and desired nothing more than to bite you and eat your house. It doesn't last though, and suddenly you will realise they have turned into an angel.

Best times I found to take them in the garden is a little while after a meal, then really reward them with attention and maybe a little treat when they do their business, but bear in mind they are very tiny and have not quite got to terms with how their bladder works yet. Rest assured though, the hard days pass and then you wonder how you lived without them.

For cleaning up pee, use “simple solution”. There’s a carpet and hard floor one. They have it at Pets Corner, prob Pets at Home too. It’s enzymatic, gets rid of the smell and stain. I also use for vomit - dogs or kids!
I’m slightly shocked that you are talking about rehoming (albeit as a last resort) after two days.
Puppies have no concept that peeing inside is wrong. So, why wouldn’t they go outside, have a sniff and a play, come inside for a pee? After all, it’s what you do. Admittedly not on the rug or the sofa.

The thing is, persistence. Take pup outside every half hour or so, if he pees, yay! Lots of treats, praise. When he’s inside, watch him. The moment he circles, scoop him up and take him out. If you catch him in the act, no telling off (otherwise he’ll just go behind the sofa where you can’t see him), just scoop him up and rush him out. Even if it means he trails pee across the floor and up your arm. With a pup, you need to accept, the first few weeks are spent doing this. If you don’t want puddles, life does not go on as before. You have to be a full time puppy watcher.

At night, if you want sleep, have him in your room. He’s a baby and missing mum and his brothers and sisters. Dogs are sociable animals by nature. Take him out last thing for peeing. Set your alarm for say 2am or 3am. Carry him outside to pee.

It’s worse than a new baby. It really is. But the sleepless nights is over much more quickly.

Aargh meant to add. Always also take outside for a pee - after meals, after he wakes from a sleep, and after play...l

Hi Babadeo, I’m in exactly the same situation. I feel like I have made the biggest mistake getting my pug pup. So up and down with knowing what to do. Everyone says give him a chance it gets easier, but when? I see your post was back in January. How are you doing now?

We got a pee post and take our 9 week old right too it every time, she goes straight away and hasn't had an accident yet.
We have her sleeping in our room and she wakes once or twice, whines to go out and goes back to sleep.
We bought puppy pads as that's what they used at the breeder but she prefers outside.
Have you tried the puppy pad technique which you can move closer to the door and then outside?

New here and just found this post from a few years ago. Feeling anxious and overwhelmed with new puppy - a now almost 10 week old Goldie. She’s super sweet and a 100% normal puppy. Besides the crate training during the day, she’s been pretty good with training. Goes outside to potty, almost sleeps through the night, and is pretty pleasant all around. My days are completely devoted to her though and I feel trapped due to her neediness. I can’t leave for 1 min without her barking and crying in the crate, let alone an hour to go out and run errands. Feeling helpless. We are committed to her but mostly because the kids have already fallen in love with her. I feel anxious and tired all the time and long for my life before her. What was I thinking is an understatement. Hoping it will get better soon because this doesn’t feel good at all.

Aligou, it’s hard work to begin with. Our pup would cry if I left him for a few minutes.
Just trying to grab a load of washing was stressful. After a while he realised I would come back and would slump at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me.
It does get easier. Just keep going with it. Come over to the Puppy Support 3 thread. 🙂

Thanks so much heatseeker14! Reading everyone’s posts going through similar things has been so helpful. But I’m so new here I don’t even know how to get to puppy support 3. Can you point me in the right direction?

Aligou you can find the survival thread here http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3788481-puppy-support-group-3

Thank you!!!

You can just use bio washing powder solution to clean up accidents.

I'll have had my pup a year in mid Feb and the day I got him I also came down with flu so that was a fun week!

It does get easier. My pup can still be hard work at times but nothing like those early days and you grow to love them very fast. By the time they are age two or so they will be the dog you imagined and not the ball of chaos you have now lol.

The weekend our puppy came home my DH had to be with his mum who was taken I'll and in hospital. It almost broke me. New puppy, young kids, school
Run, no other adult. Even with the kids as babies I didn't feel so totally overwhelmed. It was like nothing else.

He's almost 10 months now and while he's still ridiculous he's amazing. And he sleeps. It's much easier.