Puppy - I’m lost as what to do!

[OrchidFlakes]

I’m feeling a little lost with our pup and wondered if someone can chat me through this?

She’s a 12 week old mini labradoodle and we’ve had her for almost 3 weeks.

The whole time we’ve had her DH and DC have been home and now it’s just me with her and I’m feeling totally lost! When we were all home she was taken out regularly to toilet and happily played or slept but now it’s just me she doesn’t seem to want to play but just sit on my lap which I obviously can’t do all day! What could/should I be expecting of her and her of me during the day?!

She naps well in her crate and I can happily leave her for an hour or so and she’ll stay in the kitchen if I need to do something elsewhere in the house without pining.
She’s not overly interested in her toys although she will play once in a while with one but it’s hit and miss.

I’m taking her out once a day I her harness and lead to get used to a little walk/sniff.
What am I missing? This seemed so easy when we were all home and now I’m lost...

Puppies need routine, she won’t want to play with her toys alone and will need interaction. Try setting aside 10 minutes every hour or so to play with her, then a quick trip to the garden to do a wee. Then it sounds like you’ve got lucky and she will settle quite easily so maybe see if you can get a pillow or bed in whichever room you need to be in so she can sleep easily.

She is just a baby and so won't really know how to entertain herself at all for a while yet. Plus, at that age she needs about 16-18 hours of sleep a day so it's fine that she's not active all the time.

TBH I am not totally clear what you want her to do? If she's fine in the kitchen while you do something else then I would suggest you just get on with your day as normal. Which bits specifically are difficult?

You need to be socialising her. Take her out in the car to get used to travelling. Take her on a bus journey, take her to sit by a busy road to get used to fast/loud traffic sounds, play the firework soundtracks, get her used to all household appliances, get her used to the doorbell, train her to sit and to lie down and to stay, work on her recall in the garden, get her used to heel commands whilst walking, train her not to jump up, get her to meet other friendly dogs, get her to interact with children without getting over excited etc etc

When she has had her vaccinations get her booked into puppy classes. She will love them. She is likely to be a very bright dog so stimulation is vital to stave off boredom. There are lots of toys available to hide kibble pieces that she will enjoy. If you have a garden sprinkle some of her food out there so she can sniff it out and eat it. Just throwing a ball for her for 10 minutes will wear her out and be fun.

At that age there are a million things to do to socialize a puppy. If you google puppy socialization schedule/list/checklist you will find a lot of inspiration.

I’d try and break you time into chunks.

10 minute play with toys,
5 minutes training-call her name and treat, touch your hand with her nose and treat, teach her how to take a treat gently (put treat in a loose fist, let her sniff and lick then open your hand). Treat for eye contact

Sleep

Repeat with food/toilet breaks and little trips out too.

Also schedule time in for yourself. The early weeks are overwhelming!

You should be working on her training. Puppies tire easily when so young but a few short sessions each day working on the basics will keep her entertained and pay off in spades as she gets older. Also think about taking her out and getting her used to the world beyond the front door, the noises and smells, travelling in the car. When mine was a puppy I also made a point of taking him for short social visits to our vets so it became part of his universe. I'd just pop in for a few minutes make a fuss of him and give him a treat. No vet anxiety from him and you'd be hard pressed to find a dog happier to go through the vet's front door.

Thank you all. Overwhelmed was the right word, so that you poster upthread who identified that. I now feel like I have a plan for the coming weeks to keep her stimulated and training appropriately rather than bumbling along feeling lost.
We are booked into puppy classes this weekend so that will help too.
I don't want her to 'do' anything, just want to ensure I am doing all I can so she is happy, content and learning. She's a fab little thing

I remember feeling the same when I had my first dc, the day stretches out ahead of you and when it’s just the 2 of you it can feel a bit intense!

Our pup is now 18 weeks and I found the first few weeks really hard going, the weekends when everyone was at home were so much easier.

I’m just starting to feel now as if I’m living my own life and he’s fitting into it rather than everything revolving around him (only a bit though!)

My top tip if your puppy is a chewer is to invest in some Kau wood. Our trainer recommended it and pup is absolutely loving it. They can chew for up to 4 hours a day so to find something ‘legal’ for him to really get stuck into has been brilliant.

Also it’s ok to just leave them to mooch about on their own, they don’t need to be engaged all the time. We spend most of our time in the kitchen and I’ll potter about meal prepping etc and pup will happily just potter about too.