I have a 9 week old pure female lab. I am so overwhelmed right now. I feel like I could cry. The lack of sleep. The constant diarrhea. The constant peeing. The biting The constant chewing. I have not bonded with the dog. I have read it will get worse before it gets better. Part of me has thought about bringing the dog back. I am looking for advice. I need help fellow lab owners.
You need a schedule. My parents got my sister (who was 19 at the time) a puppy because she begged and begged. My mom was away on business and didn't have time to deal with her crap so said "fine" and transferred money for her to get a puppy. A lab/st bernard cross and he was 8 weeks old. She soon realized that she will not be able to take care of him with her lifestyle. After about 3 days she was crying because she realized that she could not take care of him and would probably have to give him up. There was no regulation in how she lived her life. So, as a family, we decided whether we would give the puppy to another home (my parents were very busy with work and I was busy with school) or keep him. We decided to keep him, but my mom said that it was on her terms. She would make sure he follows a schedule. He is now 2.5 years old and moved out with my sister about 9 months ago. We made it work but it required effort. We since got another puppy- a chocolate lab- in November (at 8 weeks old). He has been VERY easy because we know what to do now. But it still requires a lot of work for the first several weeks. And you need to start with a schedule. Puppies will pee everywhere, so to prevent that you need to make sure you bring him out every 20 minutes. Yes, every 20 minutes throughout the day. Also, crate training is AMAZING. Buy a crate (preferrably one for large dogs that comes with a divider that you can move as they grow) and put him in there at night. The FIRST thing you do when you take him out of the crate is take him outside to pee/poo. Wake up every 2 hours to also take him out (you only need to do this for the first couple weeks... until he's about 10 or 11 weeks old). Everytime he relieves himeself outside, GIVE HIM A TREAT! Do it immediately. Have a treat in your hand. Don't wait until you come inside to reward him. And if he starts peeing inside, don't punish him, but raise your voice and say "NO" and then grab him and run outside as fast as you can. If he continues his potty session outside, reward him. If you do this, he will be potty trained in no time. It took both my labs until they were about 3-4 months before they were 100% house-trained. But after a week or two, they got soooo much better and only had maybe one accident a day. It's really only maybe a month that's challenging. But if you have a schedule, then it's actually really quite easy and you can train him/her in no time! Don't worry, I know how frustrating it can be.
The dog really shouldn’t have diarrhoea constantly though - that should get checked out with the vet as wee puppies can get dehydrated pretty quickly - make sure it has clean water to drink and if it goes on for longer than a couple of days then get it to vet. Sometimes they can pick up parasites from where they have been as puppies or could just be a change of food but don’t let it go on too long without seeking help.
@Nibbler's Mum...The puppy is now on meds for diarrhea. Just started it yesterday, still not working. It is actually getting worse. She had diarrhea twice in her crate last night. I wake up every three hours to take her out, but I now will have to get up every two hours.
Also he is gorgeous - we have all been there - the first few weeks are hell but it soon gets easier and you will end up with the best dog ever. If you say well done go toilet ( or something similar) when she does do it outside then later on you can just take her out and say go toilet and she will get it - saves hanging about too much waiting in the rain. Give her plenty encouragement when she gets it right.
Sorry she is That is good to hear - should get better soon - it is exhausting- we took turns on the sofa to begin with but it doesn’t take long to settle down especially when they can get out for a walk then they sleep a lot. You will look back and miss these days -take plenty puppy pictures and try to enjoy it as much as you can. She and you might sleep longer if her crate is in your bedroom for a wee while if that is practical.
So many of us have been where you are now @KirbyHawk75 - in fact many of us ended up finding the forum because we were in the small place as you! This article will hopefully be incredibly helpful. What you're feeling is totally normal, but people just don't talk about it. I thought that getting a puppy would be like a Buzzfeed video, and IT IS NOT. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-beat-the-labrador-puppy-blues/ There have been many, many threads by members who have been at their wits end, and if people stick around on the forum we get to hear the happy endings. @Atemas has two such threads. If you've got the time, I recommend reading them. The first one, Puppy Blues https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/puppy-blues.18265/ The second one, almost 1 year later https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/happy-gotcha-day-red.22720/ It will get worse before it gets better, and I'm not going to lie, you're in for a rough few months. But once you get the toilet training sorted, and once they stop biting you, it gets so SO much easier to cope with everything else.
This forum was a life line to me last year so if you are struggling, I advise to share with people on here. Every bit of encouragement can help you get through each day. At my worst, people could see the tiny positives in my posts. Bitter apple spray helps restricting the chewing. Hopefully the meds the vet has given will clear up the diarrhoea. I found Pro-Kolin helped.
I've had my Morty now for almost two weeks (he will be 10 weeks old tomorrow) and let me reassure you, you are most definitely not alone! Over the last week I have had my fair share of tearful moments and thoughts of "what have I done", its only recently that I've started to see some shoots of progress. I've said it a couple of times in other threads already but this website has been utterly invaluable to me and my sanity. Every problem I've faced there has been an article or another helpful member to guide me through it and make me realise that everything I've been experiencing is completely normal and to be expected. Also on the diarrhea issue, I had the same with Morty and it turned out to be worms, my vet gave me a 3 day wormer and it cleared it right up. I won't sit here and tell you its going to be easy, but hang on in there, everyone assures me that there's a great companion waiting on the other side once we get through the puppy stage!
Yes we had the 9 week blues too. And the 10 werk ones. Now we are at 12 weeks old and it is soooo much better than it was. I DID cry! I dont think it will get worse before it gets better... it will only get better!! With the niopong, I yelped like a puppy when his teeth touched me. They understand and stop usually right away. Then put something in his mouth he CAN bite and pet him and praise him. Any bites or nips you stand up and turn around and don't look at her - the fun or petting etc stopped because if her actions. I would face away for a count of 3. My pup only nips now when we are petting him and he wants us to stop so he can sleep or clean himself. We had a couple of bouts of soft stools and cut out everything but kibble. We had been using teensy bits of chicken gor training. His kibble is chicken based but plain chicken just wasn't agreeing with him. It will get better - hang in there!!
10 weeks now. I am still overwhelmed. I admit, I want to bring her back, but my wife has said no way. I just don't remember my 13 year old being this naughty when she was young. Thanks for the advice. This thread made me feel better, but man I am so overwhelmed and regret the decision.
