Puppy blues?

[Keeksxx]

Please don’t hate me. I feel terrible as it is but I am seriously regretting our new puppy.

My DH and I have spoke about getting a dog on and off for years - 2 days ago one popped up that was an incredible price and my mother decided to purchase it for us as a gift.

He is a 4 month old golden show cocker spaniel.

I don’t think he has had ANY training in this 4 months so we are starting from scratch. He is incredibly uninterested in training or toilet training -
Preferring to wait until we are back inside to pee and poo on my carpet.

My husband or I can’t even leave the room and the dog is howling - I am talking excessively loud howling like I have never heard before. Even if me or the kids are
Still in the room he will continue to run up and down the length of the room anxiously and howl.

He whines constantly for no reason

He will not sleep.

Please, help. I feel awful complaining especially after just a few days but I’m worried due to the fact he is 5 months already and still acting like this

I am so tired, it’s 1am Christmas Eve and I am in bed crying as the puppy is howling and crying in my room and waking the kids up all the time.

Positive vibes welcome.

4 months old? Where has he come from? I'm not surprised he's anxious, he doesn't know what's going on and where his family/home he knew has gone

Oh dear a nearly 5 month old puppy at a discount price 🙈
Ok putting that aside he’s still very very young so you need to readjust your expectations somewhat. Read up on managing separation anxiety. Toilet training outside every 15 minutes without fail. I pretty much lived in the kitchen and garden with my pup in the early days.
Vet check to to make sure there’s not a physical reason for puppy appearing so distressed.
There’s a great Facebook group for dog training and advice.
Lastly puppies generally do suck. A well trained dog requires a constant amount of work and training as a puppy. It is hard and there will be more tears!

First things first - has he seen a vet for a health check? "Incredible price" can sometimes be a way of passing on an unwell animal. I'd also get his microchip scanned and checked with the database to ensure he isn't stolen.

Secondly, the DTAS Dog Training group on Facebook is incredibly helpful; the puppy units would be a good place to start.

Our cocker spaniel has been with us for 2 weeks and we have only just started to leave him alone for a few seconds - literally poping out of the room while he is in his playpen - he's a baby, he will gain in confidence but right now he needs us present to develop that confidence.

It sounds like your pup has had no training, so forget he is 5 months - treat him like an 8 week old puppy. Take it right back to basics - toileting first, crate training if you plan to use one. You can work on leaving him alone when he is more settled.

He is probably tired and scared and needs a pee, but doesnt know where he is supposed to go. My puppy used to cry because he needed to pee in the night.
Does he have puppy pads? If he is used to these from breeder previous home, that coukd.be causing confusion. In which case yiu need a substitute, perhaps white hand towel on newspaper until you can purchase.
You also need a big crate, covered for him to feel safe, in your room and settle down. Dont even think of making him sleep away from you this evening. When he has had a pee, settle him on your bed, and if he whines or cries in night take him for another pee on "pad"'. Then yiu can tackle toilet training on boxing day. Read up everything you can. (Water Eaton Dogs for example has sample puppy contract to download with lots of advice. I was looking at the Kors Griffons and noticed they had one...)

Why has my post been hidden? ... because I didn’t congratulate the OP on being absolutely irresponsible.

I’ll say it again. Puppies wee and poo in the house. They cry when they’re left. You would know this if you had spent ‘years’ wanting a dog as presumably you’ve looked into it . Your dog does not know it’s Xmas eve and therefore won’t be quiet whilst your kids sleep.

Go and cuddle the poor dog that you chose to have and doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.

Absolutely sick of this shot. 😡

Shit.... but maybe spelling it wrong will save my post from being deleted. 🙄

2 days you have owned it!!! Give it a chance, poor puppy!

A recently wormed puppy can also have a explosion/sore tummy briefly, mine did at 12 weeks.
Puppies need so much sleep and need very short.bursts of stimulation play (hour max?)before a calm place to sleep , this isnt by magic, you have to establish a sleep routine

Failing this a rescue will foster a puppy that age and almost certainly have no problem finding an excellent home for him after they have assessed, and you will only lose the money you paid and possibly a donation to the rescue. Dont sell him to someone new!!!

If you are in London Mayhew is very good.

Poor pup. You are his third home at least so is it any wonder he is crying.

Practically though I would expect no training in any department for a puppy to be bought at that age for an 'incredible' price as it smacks of wanting to get rid of a 'problem' and the 'problem' will most likely be someone thought getting a puppy would be like the adverts on tv where you play with a fluffy ball of fun when the reality is that they are a peeing, pooing, demanding, bitey thing for many months, they then hit the teenage period and you can add in stubborn to the mix .

Toilet train from the beginning which I would have expected anyway. That means out after every meal, drink, play, sleep and frequently inbetween. When he goes outside praise him like mad. When he starts to toilet outside more often introduce a command so he associates toileting with that word. Ignore accidents inside or if you spot him mid action grab and run outside then praise for going. Clean up accidents inside with the enzyme cleaners you get for pets.

Training again needs to be from scratch. Start slowly as his world has been turned upside down so many times. Maybe practice sit for now to work on that bond then in the new year get a 1-1 trainer in to show you the ropes. Contrary to popular belief you don't have to train everything at once at a young age. Mine was very ill for the first couple of years so we only focused on a few things but he picked up lots of obedience tricks as an adult just fine.

For the howling at night maybe make a den next to your bed with a puppy pen and then when he howls put a hand down on him and reassure him with a shush.

I got my puppy at 8 weeks old and spent several weeks sleep deprived as he needed to toilet lots in the night. Puppyhood is tiring and stressful and hard work for lots of owners so don't think that this is unusual. Feeling overwhelmed is also perfectly normal. Pop into the puppy survival threads for more reassurance with others.

He is scared, and this is really the wrong time of year to buy a puppy.
So you need to start at the beginning and take him out very frequently, that is your job Xmas or no Xmas, and you get up in the night and take him out too.
You clean your carpet with the special stuff or he’ll just keep doing it.
You choose a word for poo and wee, when he does the poo/wee out side you say the chose word twice, then when he’s finished you IMMEDIATELY treat him and be all excited telling him what a good boy he is.
If he toilets inside it’s your fault for not watching/anticipating.
Puppies are damn hard work at the best of times.

Buy Simple Solution (Amazon).
Get puppy checked over at the vets - & see whether he's microchipped.
Take puppy out every 20 minutes or so.
What instructions did you get about diet - changing a dogs diet takes time and should be done in stages.
Enforce routine and lots and lots of naps - they get tired and bitey quickly.
Remember he's a baby and very frightened - you are going to need endless patience for the next months (it's worth it, you'll get back more then you put in).

Get yourself over to the puppy threads in the Doghouse - lots of new owners gathered together.

Accept if not embrace the chaos.

Our puppy is 9 months and has been the best thing that happened to us in a long time - don't give up.

Guys - please , I know he’s just a wee pup and we adore him. I was just looking for some reassurance that his whining is normal and okay.

He’s had a rough start and we are delighted to be giving him a loving home. The last owners lasted a month before returning him because of his crying , I wouldn’t dream of giving up - I am just tired with it being Christmas also.

He has really bad separation anxiety and it’s difficult as all we want to do is cuddle him but then this is also letting him know he will get attention when he cries and howls.

Perseverance... I know it will all be worth it I’m just worried as he has spend 5 months not with us, and I don’t know what long term effects that might have!

For those who were kinder and a little more willing to give advice - thank you, taking note of ideas and suggestions!

Also I am not too worried about the peeing etc we anticipated this of course. It’s the howling that is difficult. Even if there is a dog miles away outside, he will sense it and howl - like wise if there’s a dog or anything on tv who barks, he will howl like a hound. It’s extremely loud 🙈

It has to be a tag team effort for the settling in stage - I'll get slated for this I expect but it is just like bringing a baby home. But within days you'll start to see a difference and then you can begin to think about helping your puppy get over separation anxiety.

I just wanted to say that the puppy days are really tough, adolescence just as trying. Our pup is now 15 months and I'm just starting to feel like I love him. I didn't even like him for a very long time. Puppy blues are very really. I'm sure if you follow the advice you've already been given and keep up with consistent training then he'll come good. They do calm down naturally an awful lot too. It'll be a challenging year ahead for you but next chritmas will look very different. This time last year we were right in the thick of it and I was a bit of a mess to be honest but this year our pup is happily mooching about amongst the presents, im cooking a turkey (with my back turned!) We'll be going out for a nice walk later.

You'll be ok.

The puppy blues are a real thing and the first weeks are really tough. We’re a week in with our 9 week old clumber spaniel cross and the howling is something else, we’ve had terriers before and they didn’t howl like it. We’ve spent a lot of time comforting our boy and trying to get him used to being alone for short periods of time. Last night great from 11-7 - the previous 7 nights he’s cried on and off all night, even with us there comforting him. It’s a big adjustment for them but with perseverance you will get there. Will you be starting any training? We are in January and I’m looking forward to learning some tricks to tire him out.
Sorry I can’t really offer any advice but you will get through it, it’s really like having a newborn again! Xx

It's two days. Poor little puppy. Patience and consistency and love. It may be that you aren't cut out for dog ownership in which case please Rehome responsibly 😊

I hope you know it's illegal for someone to resell a dog that's under 6 months old? Lucy's law!!

Unless of course the first owners gave the dog back to the breeders and it was the original breeder you got it from.

My pup cried at night - I slept on the sofa (with him in his crate nearby) for a few days, so I could reassure him/take him outside. After that I used a baby monitor so I would be woken if he started crying at night - then I could pop downstairs and let him out. We did our best to tire him out during the day, and the sleepless nights phase only really lasted a couple of weeks.

It was difficult at first, but we had 14 wonderful years with him once the hard bit was over. This is our first Christmas without him as he passed away in summer and we are missing him dreadfully - every moment of the day. I say this not to be depressing but to emphasise what a wonderful part of your life a dog can become - thinking of that will help you get through the early days when, however much you have researched, you wonder what you have let yourself in for.

You need a behaviourist OP.

Ah if it's just the howling that you are concerned about I would just do your best over xmas and try not to get stressed about it. Then as soon as Christmas is over get a good behaviourist in to work on that specifically. Maybe contact your vet for a recommendation.

then this is also letting him know he will get attention when he cries and howls.

No, it's just comforting him when he needs comfort. Poor wee thing. I took the pup into bed with me for the first few nights and just held on and snuggled her - she'd been taken from her family and had no idea what was going on, it must be very upsetting. From what I can tell, it's the same as the 'cry it out' argument with children. I would just do what your instinct is - comfort and snuggle if he's happy to do so.

Crate training might also be worth looking into, some dogs find it comforting (mine didn't really go for it, but worth a shot).

Puppyhood is fucking murder. But it IS over quickly. Good luck, OP.