I could have written that EXACTLY. Weeks 10-13 were the hardest for me by far. I actually sobbed my way through a puppy preschool class because I was just so exhausted with the constant vigilance. The biting reached a peak then, and in the end, the only thing I could do to keep my family and I safe and sane, was to put my pup in the backyard by himself when he was in crazy bitey mode. He whinged and barked, but that was far preferable to being bitten. I then started to put him out in the yard by himself more often, like when I needed to take the kids to dancing etc. That little bit of freedom made a huge difference to my general exhaustion levels. Then magically, at 14 weeks, he stopped all (most) the biting, and taught himself how to settle down and have a snooze in the warm sun while he was outside. This weekend has been glorious, I have been reading a book outside in the sun while he sleeps for hours. I've been able to leave him out there sleeping while we get stuff done. It just occurred to me today that I feel so much better! (We live in Australia where leaving dogs outside alone is the norm). Things will get better! You'll get your life back and get on top of things really soon. Hang in there xxxx
Yeah! We still have some issues at nearly 6 months, eats possum poo! And when we are on walks. But - she enjoys playing fetch like games, chasing balls (piggy in the middle) but mostly she loves sitting in the sun chewing on a stick! I know people say to not let them do that but she loves the soft ones that she can mince into bits. She leaves a mess (because she doesn’t swallow them) but she loves it.
Hey! It wi Hey!! It will get better! I’m proof! At almost 6 months she is so much more settled. We still have not left her alone and do t think we can until at least 12 months old. It’s just how we’ve been able to manage her. We haven’t gone hard core with training to leave her alone. We have decided to go with the flow and just adjust to our new life. I think I was resisting it for a while and now I’ve kind of had an awakening. Trying to do “all the things” right, following training guides, expecting that we’ll have a perfectly trained dog is just ridiculous. We have a beautiful, lovable, happy and energetic dog that jumps up when meeting new people (working on that) jumps up to the kitchen bench and table (working on that) and pulls on the lead when she walks (will work on that). And all of this is ok! She sleep on out couch in living area day and night now, only eats in her crate (still likes her crate). We haven’t given up we’ve just decided to be realistic and stop putting pressure on ourselves to train the perfect puppy. We care for her so well, she is loved and return the love conditionally. Life has changed and we are settling in, she is too. One day she’ll be able to stay home on her home, one day she walk without pulling and not jump up. One day. Until then we are making the most of the present moment ☺️
H Hey Aileen, Read some of my replies to the other posts that I made today. Maybe it’ll make you feel a bit better? It will get easier!!! ☺️☺️
Cream lab here of 11 months. I will tentatively say that it's a success story, but she is actually entering an adolescent phase now so I'm touching wood constantly while writing this! I actually wrote online asking for advice about giving my puppy away at 11 weeks. It was simply too much for me to handle, and as a single person with no family nearby I didn't think I could do it. I found that the first big milestone was around 4 months (when you are in the routine of regular walks, meeting a lot of new people with dogs, and your pup is pretty good at peeing outside). Dog ownership became a lot more fun at this point, and finally the apartment could stay relatively clean. I was starting to imagine how we could get along living together. The next milestone would be around 7 or 8 months. At this point, I noticed that my started understanding that there's a right way to behave. She started listening to me and making life easier for me. Although she's going through a bit of a rebellious stage at the moment, there's no doubt that I have a good girl, and I could not even imagine not having her around these days.
I can relate to your story. I am recently single snd living in a new town with no family or friends nearby (they are 2 hours away) and thanks to Covid, really haven’t made many friends here so it’s just me and my pup. This week thank his she is able to start daycare. She went yesterday and having a Saturday to myself was so strange! But I feel so refreshed and I actually missed her yesterday! quick question - was your pup really bitey when young and if so, when did she stop?
