Hi, We got Koda at 4 months and are now 10 weeks into owning our first puppy. Koda is a lab pit mutt. We read a lot about puppies before we got him, but wow the reality was still surprising. You just don't get how much work it is until you're doing it. We did puppy obedience classes and do two days a week of doggie daycare to expend some of that crazy puppy energy. The rest of the week we have a mid-day dog walker. We've mostly solved jumping/biting using "off" or "sit" which was the biggest problem early on. Now he's entered the 6-12 (18?) month chewing phase that puts puppy chewing to shame. Our only real trial now is that we can't leave him on his own or he'll chew wood steps or furniture we can't block off. We're working on advanced kong filling strategies to keep him occupied while we're getting on with chores and cooking etc. Greatly looking forward to figuring out how to train him to occupy himself on a mat with a chew toy when people and counters and exploring and all the things are just more interesting. We also have two cats. We're still keeping them separated by baby gates because the puppy is too excited. He just wants to play with them (proven by the time he managed to corner one when we weren't looking), but they're not interested in having anything to do with crazy puppy energy despite all the play bows and tail wags. They're fine with him as long as he's asleep or safely in his crate. Hopefully, exposure and time will bring them both around to co-habituating peacefully.
Hi and welcome from me and my chocolate lab called Isla. It's extremely hard work isn't it having a puppy! But it will pass
