Bringing home a puppy tomorrow and feeling overwhelmed

[Anonymous]

We are adopting a puppy and picking him up tomorrow. I have enrolled in online puppy school and have been reading up the past few days and honestly, right now I am feeling completely overwhelmed. I have had a dog before but did not raise her from puppyhood. I am especially nervous about potty training and the fact that the trainer is telling me I need to take him out every 15-20 minutes (!) and watch him like a hawk during all play time and really any time he is not in a crate.

The timing is a bit overwhelming, as 2 of my 3 kids are about to start online learning (one in preschool) and all are starting sports/activities, but at least I will be mostly home (my part time work is less due to Covid and can mostly be done from home). It just worked out this way, as we have been looking/waiting for a little over a year and this puppy just sort of fell into our laps. My kids are sooo excited and I am too really, but I am freaking out about having time to train him correctly and nervous about not doing it right.

Can anyone give me a pep talk and/or help me prioritize exactly what to do these first few weeks? There is so much information in the puppy training course that I am overwhelmed. We will have to leave the house a few times next week for sports practices - can I even leave him yet? Or do I need a puppy sitter? Help!

[Anonymous]

Start by telling us what kind of dog. It makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

We adopted a dog about a month ago and I get similarly the day we went to pick her up. It is a lot of work, but it’ll fall into place. We kept her contained in our kitchen and dining room for the first couple of weeks and I just worked in the dining room, so we were together, but I could keep my eye on her. She’s doing great at potty training now. The worst for me was the sleep deprivation from having to take her out one or two times in the night.

[Anonymous]

You are going to be fine! 15-20 minutes is a little extreme.

Make sure you have a safe/easy to clean place to contain the puppy and separate him from your children when you need to. If you think you'll need to use it a lot during the day, make it bigger than his crate (like a playpen on a tiled floor). This isn't a training tool - it's a sanity/reality tool.

When you have the puppy in your house and out of the crate, attach him to you with a leash. That makes it much easier to supervise him.

Remember the first few nights are the roughest - mine cried for hours and I remember sleeping on the floor next to his crate for a few nights. It gets a lot better really fast. Think of him as a newborn, but faster.

The most important part of puppy training besides potty imo is teaching him not to bite or put his teeth on people. Whatever your strategy is for that - yelping/ignoring, whatever the trainer says - you have to be militant about it and getting your kids to do it. When they can't, separate the puppy and the kids.

Do the daily "grooming" (handling paws/nails/mouth) and take his food/toys away from him regularly, then give them back. That's important to make sure he's easy to deal with later and doesn't develop problems with resource guarding.

It's going to be great! And hard! And fine! With setbacks! And triumphs! You'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

I'd say every hour.

Most important is right after a nap, and right after playing. And there will be a lot of accidents. Getting something like Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution makes all the difference in the world in terms of cleaning.

It is exhausting. We got one at 8 weeks old and he's pretty easy now at 16 weeks. Not perfect. But on a schedule, mostly housetrained, and very social with people and dogs alike. I'd say the first month was really rough (but not human newborn rough!).

We crate trained from the beginning, and also bought a pen (actually two and hooked them together) for safe play in the basement. That helps contain them safely for awhile. I also bought a couple of baby gates so I could contain him in the kitchen so I could get some chores done in there.

Don't need most of that now but still use the crate.

Biting has been a big issue. But he's getting better. We sub toys for our hands, or walk away if he doesn't stop.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you so much for the encouragement and tips. This has been a stressful week gearing up for the school year and I’m just feeling very nervous about how everything will go. This is helpful! To answer the question about breed, it’s a cockapoo.

[Anonymous]

It's normal to feel overwhelmed. I did too. We recently brought a lab puppy into our family. We brought her home at 7 weeks, which is on the earlier side. Get a crate for her to sleep in at night and a pen for her to hang out in during the day if you can't keep an eye on her. We set the pen up in our kitchen so she's with us during the day. We put her bed in it and she loved it. We kept the door open to it so she had the run of the main floor, but when she was really little, she liked hanging out in her pen. At night, we crated her and made sure she had a nice plush bed to sleep on in her nighttime crate. She did great in it, but it is like having a baby all over again because when they're little, they do need to go out to pee at night. Our breeder told us not to wake her at night--if she's sleeping, then great-don't wake her. She'll let you know when she needs to go out. During the day, we took her out every hour. Maybe we just got lucky, but she was easy to potty train and got the hang of it quickly. She's now 14 weeks and I feel like we have a good routine down and know her cues.

[Anonymous]

I agree once per hour is plenty.
Cockapoos are gorgeous. Once you're over the hump of the puppy months you'll be so glad you did it.

[Anonymous]

Cockapoo's are GREAT! You're going to LOVE your dog. They're fun and snuggly and smart and oh, we just love ours.

[Anonymous]

OP, the others have given you the same advice I would. I just wanted to say that three years ago around this time I was you, except that I had never owned a dog before, let alone a puppy. I was terrified and concerned that it would be an epic disaster. We had accidents and some sleepless nights, but overall it was better than I thought it would be.

Fast forward three years, we now have raised two dogs from puppyhood. They are both part of our family, and honestly, they are the best friends and most loyal companions I have had during the pandemic. It sounds overly dramatic, but I literally cannot imagine life without them.

These dogs have changed each member of the family for the better, making us all more appreciative, less stressed, and less selfish. You'll see.

[Anonymous]

We brought a puppy home on 8/22 and I cannot imagine life without him. Yes it is work but we are all happy to do it.

[Anonymous]

Its intense for the first few weeks - where you'll need to be with the puppy all the time in the days. But it eases off when you find a routine. Much like having a baby.

[Anonymous]

They sleep a lot and that helps. Make sure you have plenty of chewable toys to offer him so he does not chew your stuff. To make house training easier, we keep his harness on all day so the kids can quickly attach the leash to take him outside. I packed a small crossbody bag with treat and poop bags and placed it by the deck doors, whoever is taking him out attaches the leash and wears the bag. This saves the last minute scrambling when he has to go.

[Anonymous]

Big changes are scary right before they start.

Take a breath. It sounds like there is no turning back.

Focus on the present, and small things if you are feeling overwhelmed. Not big picture/all you have to juggle, etc.

Little by little...

[Anonymous]

Some breeds are more mouthy and chewers than others. I am not sure of a cockapoo but with my golden retriever puppy (a breed that is known to be chewers as puppies) I found a bottle of Bitter Apple spray to be invaluable. Puppy would start chewing on something and I'd spray the Bitter Apple and the puppy would learn to not do so anymore. Highly recommend.

Your puppy is going to be wonderful! Good luck