Have you brought home a puppy?

[Anonymous]

I’d love to hear about your experience over the first few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Rescued a 10 week approx puppy at the end of November. I’ve had dogs before but never a puppy. Our other dog is 5.
He needs to be watched constantly, he is so happy with his life, it’s all sunshine and rainbows, he doesn’t have trauma like my other rescues have and that makes me happy. He literally chews everything, shoes, cups, his leash , the other dogs legs, furniture, drawer pulls, hence us having to watch him. It’s exhausting. I wouldn’t do a puppy this young again

[Anonymous]

Do it on a day when you have at least 3 consecutive days off to potty train

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do it on a day when you have at least 3 consecutive days off to potty train

This. Get a crate, prepare to sleep on the couch next to it and get it done starting day 1.

[Anonymous]

They bite. They are expected to bite. Think teething. I went to the hardware store and got work gloves. Leather work gloves that went up to the elbow.

We contained the dog in the kitchen, in the house. We knew we would want to snuggle so I got some cheap bean bag chairs, so we could be low to the ground and pull the dog into our lap.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but I don't work so I could spend all my time potty training and teaching manners for as long as necessary.

Our puppy was 11 weeks when we brought him home. He was leashed to me during the day so I could expedite potty training (observe his signs and rush outside) and in a small crate at night to prevent accidents, since they don't pee where they sleep. At first, I got up every few hours during the night for potty breaks - and in doing so, realized that bringing home a puppy in January during an Arctic Blast was a b a d i d e a ! Ha.

Potty training was quick and successful. He's a sled dog, and so leash manners, on the hand, have never stuck. He's 8 and still thinks he needs to pull us because we're on a sled...
I also foster puppies to place them for adoption and they've all potty trained and learned to be docile on leash rapidly. Apparently it's just my dog who has problems on leash.

If the puppy bites or does something they shouldn't, say NO! very loudly and disagreeably and withdraw your attention from them (turn your back, literally, after having removed whatever it is they're not supposed to interact with). They will get it. Spray bitter apple on furniture legs to prevent teething there. Cut nails to avoid gouge marks on your hardwoods if they want to dig.

[Anonymous]

It is absolutely exhausting.

I took two weeks off and "tethered," which means I had her on a leash with me at all times in the house. After that I went back to work and she was in the crate and the dog walker came for her mid-day and I tethered when I was home. We took her to puppy kindergarten training, then more training classes beyond that. I had a benebone ready to go whenever she started to chew something she shouldn't -- I would simply take the thing she shouldn't chew away and give her the appropriate chew (she learned very quickly with that).

Bringing home a puppy is a massive investment of time and energy, and it exhausted me. I remember at one point I was so tired I told my DH I was checking into the Tysons Ritz for two days and he was going to have to take care of the dog. I didn't, lol, but I almost did -- the "puppy blues" are real. But you put in the work up front, and you have an easy dog later.

It was all worth it x1,000,000.

Remember this: A tired dog is a good dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely exhausting.

I took two weeks off and "tethered," which means I had her on a leash with me at all times in the house. After that I went back to work and she was in the crate and the dog walker came for her mid-day and I tethered when I was home. We took her to puppy kindergarten training, then more training classes beyond that. I had a benebone ready to go whenever she started to chew something she shouldn't -- I would simply take the thing she shouldn't chew away and give her the appropriate chew (she learned very quickly with that).

Bringing home a puppy is a massive investment of time and energy, and it exhausted me. I remember at one point I was so tired I told my DH I was checking into the Tysons Ritz for two days and he was going to have to take care of the dog. I didn't, lol, but I almost did -- the "puppy blues" are real. But you put in the work up front, and you have an easy dog later.

It was all worth it x1,000,000.

Remember this: A tired dog is a good dog.

Op here. Thank you so much!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do it on a day when you have at least 3 consecutive days off to potty train

Three days might work for a 10-week-old, but isn't enough for an older or very anxious puppy.

[Anonymous]

Yes. 5 years ago we got a Cavapoo puppy. She was relatively easy and we had an older dog to help keep her in line.

NEVERTHELESS, I still got PPPD for a few months. Post Partum Puppy Disorder. You can't let them out of your sight for a minute for a long time while you are house training, especially when they hate the crate. And yes I did do crate training too but she never totally took to it. Sleeping was not consistent, had shark teeth, etc. Just newborn-level mental exhaustion. We did teach her to ring a bell when she had to go outside so that was cute. Until the bell fell on her and never again did she use it.

She is now the bestest dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. 5 years ago we got a Cavapoo puppy. She was relatively easy and we had an older dog to help keep her in line.

NEVERTHELESS, I still got PPPD for a few months. Post Partum Puppy Disorder. You can't let them out of your sight for a minute for a long time while you are house training, especially when they hate the crate. And yes I did do crate training too but she never totally took to it. Sleeping was not consistent, had shark teeth, etc. Just newborn-level mental exhaustion. We did teach her to ring a bell when she had to go outside so that was cute. Until the bell fell on her and never again did she use it.

She is now the bestest dog.

PP at 12:19 here. People laugh about this or roll their eyes, but this is very real. Like I posted above, I was at the point where I was so exhausted that I was literally going to walk out and go stay at a hotel for a couple of days and leave the puppy with my DH. It's all worth it, and my dog has been the easiest most wonderful dog in the world for 10 years now, but it's rough in the beginning.

We taught the bell too -- we hung jingle bells on the door. Our dog learned it pretty quickly and we were thrilled and patted ourselves on the back, but then she started ringing it aggressively whenever she wanted to go out and play, lol, which was all the time. Then she started ringing it whenever she wanted something, like the bells rich people ring for their maid in movies. It was pretty funny, but also a huge hassle, so we had to adjust things, ha ha.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and it was worse than a newborn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and it was worse than a newborn.

I'm on my phone or I would post it. We need that hilarious Instagram video that went viral, puppies worse than babies.

[Anonymous]

My puppy was frighten of everything and wouldn’t eat and was very shy. He stayed in his playpen and didn’t want to come out. We ended up getting his brother 2 weeks later and he was much happier. I’ve had them for 2 years now.

[Anonymous]

They are a lot of work. Daily crate naps were what saved us. Frozen yogurt Kong in the crate every afternoon and then the puppy slept for a few hours. Soon she could tell time and let us know when it was nap time. She’s nearly 4 and she still knows when it’s nap time.

Puppies need a lot of sleep since they grow do quickly. Get the crate sleeping squared away and everything else will fall into place.