Hello everyone, I'm brand new to this forum and grateful to have this support system. This is me and my husband's first dog. I'm not sure where to begin, but I'll briefly describe my situation to start. I am currently at home and able to to care for a dog 24/7 and my husband works out of the home 40 hours a week. We live in an apartment that does not allow dogs, but we are moving in one month to a dog friendly town home. We got the dog now because I go back to work two months and wanted as much one on one time as possible before going back to work full time. There are several tenants similar to us who got a dog in the weeks before they moved out without punishment by management, including our neighbor who had their husky puppy that management knew about for several weeks before they moved. We've had our pup for 6 days and got a notice that he needs to be removed from the premises in 4 days. We were aware this is a possibility but honestly didn't expect it to happen within 6 days of bringing him in. He's quiet and hasn't caused any damage to the property. Given that we knew this was a very real possibility he would be asked to leave, we have a back-up plan of moving in with my parents for a month. The other major issue is that I have some serious puppy blues. I have spent most of my day feeling tired, anxious, defeated, and that I'm just not doing a good job. I'm crying as I'm writing this. He's actually a good pup so I feel even worse that I feel this way. He only has a couple pee accidents a day and hasn't pooped in the house since the first day we brought him in. He slept in his crate since day one at night and for naps, but isn't quite crate trained yet to go in for quiet time. He's learned basic commands very quickly. The things that are making me feel anxious are that his play time happens in our baby-gated bedroom which is carpeted, and I spend 90% of the time telling him to not bite and scratch the carpet, or jump onto me and bite me. I don't have his potty schedule down and I'm not understanding when he should be going out in relation to waking, eating, and gulping water. I've erred on taking him out frequently. We live on the second floor and he's done well going down the stairs, but he does not follow my commands to go out and pulls on the leash and sits stubbornly unless I do a lot of coaxing. Half the time I'm carrying him down the stairs. Outside, he is very distracted by leaves, pine cones, rabbit poop, people, bicycles. I savor the times that he is sleeping so I can get rest and alone time. His sleep schedule is somewhat unpredictable and the other day while I was halfway through washing my hair in the shower I had to let him out of his crate after an hour because of his whining (I do wait at least 3-5 seconds for the whining to stop to let him out). I feel as though me and him are just not on the same wavelength. Everything I've read about puppy blues says to wait it out and not be so hard on yourself. My husband is very helpful when he comes home, but I'm alone with pup for 12 hours a day. Moving to my parents house would potentially be helpful as my parents could help out, but it may be stressful for pup and I because of a change in routine just a few days after we adopted him, and then would have another change in a month with the permanent move to our town home. With the notice by my apartment that pup needs to be removed in a few days, is this a sign that pup needs to be re-homed? I feel like a terrible dog mom for thinking this. Would he be better off with a family that isn't sad to have him? Should I wait it out for a few weeks at my parents house and hope it gets better? Any support and guidance would be helpful.
Hello and welcome, firstly moving your pup to your folks house will be fine. He will have the same crate, blankets etc...so will adapt. Secondly, it is early days for a routine, give yourself chance to get to know him. It does come when your see what works for him, and what you need to do. The puppy blues are common and certainly not a reason to rehome him. Be kind to yourself and know that it will pass. If you go onto the puppy thread, read all the old posts, there are many about routine, biting, exhaustion, crates, chasing leaves, all the things you are learning about. You are certainly not alone and sounds like you have a very lovely, normal pup. Hang in there and come back and let us know how you get on.
Assuming your parents are happy to have a puppy in their house, I think the move will be good for you - it will be easier to take the puppy out to toilet and you will have people around so won't feel so alone. In the meantime think about covering your bedroom carpet with old sheets or blankets or rubber matting so that you are not worried about your puppy damaging it. When you are outside with your puppy, don't plan on actually getting anywhere and then you won't be disappointed - just let him enjoy watching the world go by, sniffing at things and (as long as it's not a dangerous object) picking things up to mouth or carry. He's a baby and doesn't need 'walks' - he just needs to experience the world as a safe, interesting place. In my opinion puppies are hard work - but the time will be gone before you know it and you will have a sensible, loving adult dog.
