New puppy is so high energy. I'm exhausted

[FiveRings]

I've got an almost 3 month old puppy.

We've had her nearly 4 months.

She's absolutely beautiful but gosh she's very boundy and bitey and scrabbly.

I spend my days deflecting from the biting and tugging and scrabbling by passing her enrichment toys and kibble on the guise of puzzles, which she'll take, solve and be back over at me scrabbling for the next one so quickly. Its absolutely exhausting.

She sleeps exceedingly well 10+ hours a night and then a few 2ish hours naps in the day. As I sense one of these naps coming, I'll leave the house and she self settles well for that couple of hours.

It's predominantly me caring for her all day though I try to escape for another couple of hours in the evening when DH is home.

Any reassurances, suggestions, or advice for more occupying enrichment puzzles please?

It gets better, honestly. Ours was a bitey little shit and a right pain till she was 6 months old. (Though we loved her I'd have given her back in the first month without a second glance). Now can't imagine life without her and she's calm as anything - she's 4 and spends a lot of time snoozing.

My dog is now 5 years old, but I remember the early puppy days, we also didn’t get to take him out for walks, due to vaccination delays. I remember being left alone in the evening with this bouncing, nipping, bag of energy as other family members went to their rooms. We did crate train, just at night, at first and he was put to bed by 9 pm and I followed shortly afterwards. He was so much better by 5 months old when he was able to go off and sleep by himself. Puppy classes did help.

This is awful advice, please don't do it. 5 minutes per month of age is what you need to be doing, nothing more.

I used to think some days I could just drop mine off at his breeders house in a basket and drive off 😂

I am not suggesting to put the puppy on the treadmill. I am suggesting she runs to her heart's content once vaccinated. Shall we start limiting young children from running on the playground and climbing up the frames on the grounds it will damage their joints? Joints problems in dogs come from poor breeding not from displaying their natural behaviour

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198754/

Good luck OP. It will definitely get better. We were feeling just like you this time last year, but our girl is really steady (mostly) and an absolute joy now.

Puppies at the equivalent age can just run and run whereas children can't. We absolutely know that it's dreadful for dog's joints to over exercise them at that age, stop giving such antiquated wrong advice!

Do brain games with them, we found hiding treats in frozen tea towels, or wrapped in newspaper or in toilet roll inners would tire ours out more than a walk (which use to over stimulate sometimes). Sniffy walks are good and seeing new stuff - that knackers them too.

Also a bit of training, sit, paw, wait....would make them tired too.

I meant I had had the puppy 4 weeks when we got Covid, not she was 4 weeks old! Course all puppies are different all breeds are different. I've had 11 dogs, mostly puppies a few rescues. 3 have lived till almost 18. 5 borders. The previous one,is 8, she was very naughty and chewed furniture, even when you were sitting on it, this puppy hasn't. She sleeps 7 hours,a night, friends have a border terrier, puppy who slept 9 hours at night after a few weeks!

I didn't type "naughty". I actually typed bitey, blasted phone altered it

Just that it gets easier and the biting should stop soon. We had an ankle biter too! He used to think he was a shark, he looked super cute looking back when he did this😂We had ours at almost 4 months. He was bitey, refused to go on walks, and pooped 7 times a day. It goes fast though. I think by 1 we had resolved all them issues.

I found the 'sexier than a squirrel' team when buddy was small , it gave us lots of structured games to play and really kept him mentally busy . It was very good . Your puppy is very sweet!

yes we tried to.be sexier than a squirrel 😂

I have read the article on osteoarthritis. Overexercise is listed as the last risk factor behind breed, age, being overweight etc. I have owned dogs all my life, a few dogs at times, both mixed breed and pedigrees. All exercised and well behaved. None suffered health issues, just old age. One hour a day walk is A MINIMUM for a young puppy. Watch any programme on wolves and see how much more running they do compared to human ancestors. We are only a few thousand years behind in evolutionary terms, it's nothing. And by the way, I used to take my children out to playgroups on the advice of various health visitors well before they had their full set of vaccinations. The world has gone mad if we advise more caution with dogs compared to children

You're comparing apples and oranges.

A young puppy will go all day if you let them - but it would be horrendous for their joints and also for their overall stimulation levels.

My beagle would have run himself ragged at 12 weeks of age but it would have been a really, really stupid idea to let him do it.

Watch any programme on wolves and see how much more running they do compared to human ancestors.

Dogs aren't wolves 🤷‍♀️

Dog breeds these days are light years away from anything wolf like. Why would you risk years of problems? Just stick to the five minutes per day increasing over the year

Sexier than a squirrel...?

You don’t need a crate. I mean, you can use one if you like, but it’s certainly not a necessity. I’m not a fan of crates and I think far too many people overuse them, but if used judiciously and properly they are fine.

Having said that, I do think that training her to settle is a great idea and you (and she) will reap the benefits down the line. Have a look at mat training and capturing calm.

Exercise, including exercising her brain is important, but the balance of rest/calm vs. stimulation is essential as well. I would ignore the 5 minutes per month of age “rule,” as there is no scientific basis for it. Of course a young puppy shouldn’t be walking for miles, but running about in the garden and beginning to do short walks on lead (once vaccinated) is fine IMO. Some puzzles and brain training are fine, but I would try not to overdo that either. It’s a balancing act to be sure.

Your puppy is absolutely lovely and you sound like a wonderful owner. I’m so sorry about your previous dog. I had a similar experience with getting a puppy who looked very similar to a previous much loved dog that I was still grieving for. I was so worried about comparing them, but in no time the new pup had stolen my heart and they turned out to be quite different in terms of personality.

We got a 4 months Cockapoo half price in 2022 because the previous owners couldn't cope with his energy levels. The only way to keep him well behaved was to play with him outdoors and go for walks - 2-3 hours a day, split into a few episodes. He is 20 months old now and is a picture of health. Still a nuisance unless he gets 1 hour walk first thing in the morning. Could easily do 5 hours I reckon. I feel sorry for modern dogs

You've created the "nuisance dog", though, by taking him out for 2-3 hours every single day from a young age. Now he needs it because he doesn't know how to settle without it.

There are so many ways to work a dog that don't involve hours of exercise on a daily basis. Yes, all dogs need walks but it's about the quality, not the quantity. A good 20 minute sniffy walk is much better for them than two hours of playtime. The former also works their brain and calms them down - the latter raises their adrenaline and hypes them up.

Whatever works. I feel fitter and healthier since we got him😅

Golden retrievers are high, energy dogs, and need lots of stimulation. If you can't take her outside yet I would do lots of training in the living room with her just for short periods of time. I have a 21 month old golden retriever who I've had since she was 9 weeks old and the vet told me they don't really calm down until about three 😱😱. She is very well trained now but still need lots of stimulation walking and training to knacker her out. Lick mats are really good keep them occupied for ages

There is no actual basis for saying 'five minutes a day' as the upper limit. I've seen it given as that, as 5 minutes 2x/day, or as 5 mins 2x/day pounding the pavements. If someone can point me at some peer-reviewed science which supports these claims, I'd be genuinely interested.

For the breed we have, restricting their exercise to such low levels would result in a batshit dog and an insane owner.

As it is, the impact of birth season seems to be conflicting (so being outside a lot in summer seems to have a negligible effect). There seems to be sensible advice about keeping puppies off stairs as much as possible, and limiting the chasing of balls and play with other dogs.

The key things are to get a puppy with a family history of good joints, keep your dog slim even into old age and be guarded about neutering (there are a lot of pros and cons to consider with neutering, and they vary by breed).

Oh dear sounds like you are grieving for your other dog, sadly you never gets two the same. Maybe it was too soon?
It seems to me like you're overstimulating her with all these toys is there any way to just like down with her & relax a bit? Grooming her with a brush is also very bonding. Personally I think giving her lots of things that do can be a barrier to getting close to her