I've wanted a puppy for as long as I can remember. My husband had dogs growing up, and promised me that when we bought a house we could get a puppy. We picked Milo up last weekend, and I was pretty excited about the whole situation.
Two days later, I'm stressed and anxious, in tears about yet another night of poor sleep and worrying we've made a terrible decision.
Milo is a 9 week old Tiboodle - he is incredibly cute, and pretty intelligent. Compared to some puppies we've read about, his behaviour actually isn't too bad - he sleeps downstairs in a spare bathroom we've converted into a puppy play den - so has his crate (open) with blankets from the breeder and a bed, stuffed toys for comfort, chewing toys, a fan for noise, and a puppy potty area separate to his crate. The first three nights we tried using a baby gate to fence off a larger area, but he kept escaping and we were worried about him getting lose and into trouble, so have had to shut the room door. He barked for about 45 mins to 1.5 hours initially, now is down to about 5-10 mins before he goes to sleep. But he barks again when the sun comes up, wakes me at about 4:45am. Feeling tired isn't a great feeling (and I'm a shift worker so already feel pretty exhausted), but I also worry the neighbours will complain about the noise.
He nibbles on furniture, rugs, our feet - he uses his chew toys, but deterring him from chewing other stuff hasn't worked very well so far. He had accidents inside about 50% of the time - he has two separate puppy potty's that he uses about half the time when he's indoors but is very inconsistent - and that's with being taken outside regularly.
My husband and I both know this is normal puppy behaviour and will settle down. Most of the time he's a very gentle, affectionate happy dog. When he gets excitable and nips at people, we both get frustrated - especially because we're trying to train him through positive reinforcement. Ignoring him when he nips at you doesn't seem to work.
I just feel anxious, tired and frustrated all the time. I love him, but when he's acting up I don't like him. I wish we could fast forward this stage. I've cried about him nearly every day, and sometimes think about returning him to the breeder. I hope this stage will pass.
Two days later, I'm stressed and anxious, in tears about yet another night of poor sleep and worrying we've made a terrible decision.
Milo is a 9 week old Tiboodle - he is incredibly cute, and pretty intelligent. Compared to some puppies we've read about, his behaviour actually isn't too bad - he sleeps downstairs in a spare bathroom we've converted into a puppy play den - so has his crate (open) with blankets from the breeder and a bed, stuffed toys for comfort, chewing toys, a fan for noise, and a puppy potty area separate to his crate. The first three nights we tried using a baby gate to fence off a larger area, but he kept escaping and we were worried about him getting lose and into trouble, so have had to shut the room door. He barked for about 45 mins to 1.5 hours initially, now is down to about 5-10 mins before he goes to sleep. But he barks again when the sun comes up, wakes me at about 4:45am. Feeling tired isn't a great feeling (and I'm a shift worker so already feel pretty exhausted), but I also worry the neighbours will complain about the noise.
He nibbles on furniture, rugs, our feet - he uses his chew toys, but deterring him from chewing other stuff hasn't worked very well so far. He had accidents inside about 50% of the time - he has two separate puppy potty's that he uses about half the time when he's indoors but is very inconsistent - and that's with being taken outside regularly.
My husband and I both know this is normal puppy behaviour and will settle down. Most of the time he's a very gentle, affectionate happy dog. When he gets excitable and nips at people, we both get frustrated - especially because we're trying to train him through positive reinforcement. Ignoring him when he nips at you doesn't seem to work.
I just feel anxious, tired and frustrated all the time. I love him, but when he's acting up I don't like him. I wish we could fast forward this stage. I've cried about him nearly every day, and sometimes think about returning him to the breeder. I hope this stage will pass.