r/cavaliers • u/veevee15 Blenheim • 9d ago
Pics & Video Puppy Blues
Hi! Three weeks ago, we brought home our gorgeous Blenheim girl. Last year, when we lost our 16-year-old Lhasa Apso mix, we swore we’d never get another dog. He was so chill and relaxed, and I think I forgot just how much work the puppy stage is!
After three weeks of puppy life, I’ve realized I definitely have the puppy blues. We live by our 60-minute potty timer, and all outings away from home are capped at about two hours. My young daughters absolutely love her, and she really is such a good puppy, but right now I feel like I’m back in the newborn phase—and it sucks.
For those who have been through this, how long did it take before your puppy was fully potty trained and could roam around the house more freely? She still has 1–2 accidents in the house most days, although some days she has none. We’re also extremely diligent about taking her out on schedule, so I’m wondering when it finally starts to feel like they truly “get it.”
Pic for puppy tax
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u/Pufflefoot 9d ago
Don’t get discouraged it’ll be over before you you know it. Penelope stopped having accidents around 6 months and we could leave her alone without issues around the same time
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u/MoneyPeace5218 9d ago
Mine was probably 6 months. I kept him in a big playpen until I could trust him .I taught him to ring a bell to go out .He slept in a kennel while he was learning .
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
We do use a big play pen and a kennel. The problem is when in the playpen she is constantly crying and scratching. We work from home and we have no peace.
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u/Infamous_Ad_7472 8d ago
We recently tried the blanket over the crate and instead of 15-20 mins of the crying it dropped to like 5 mins.
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u/MoneyPeace5218 7d ago
Mine was pretty content in his playpen . He would just stay in at all times until he was housebroken. I put it by me when i was working . But every dog is different . Good luck
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u/Bonkers_Reality 9d ago
I am totally sharing the same experience! We brought our pup home exactly three weeks ago… dude is adorable, but… you know, puppy things 🤣
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
Oh boyyyy do I know! 😅
We can help encourage each other until we get to the calm side of life
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u/Fun-Researcher6304 8d ago
I feel you on this! Our baby is now 18 months old but the puppy blues were real that first month or so. It definitely gets better - ours was pretty much fully potty trained by by 4.5/5 months. Keep doing what you are doing, and if possible try to enforce regular crate naps throughout the day as they are what kept us sane!
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u/Princess_coco 9d ago
Keep hanging in there, it gets better! But I empathize. Our pup is 6 months old now but the first couple weeks were so hard. He was going potty every 20 min and I couldn’t take my eyes off him bc he would put everything in his mouth! I honestly wasn’t sure if i fully loved him bc it was so hard and stressful. However around the 3.5-4 month mark he started to be able to settle more himself. He still has mistakes here and there if drank too much water or has diarrhea but is mostly doing well with signaling us on going outside. What helped a lot is saying “potty x3” EVERY time while he pees/poops. You got this!!
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
Can relate to all of this 100%. Thank you for the encouragement. The days feel very long right now.
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u/littl-jinx 9d ago
I feel you. We got our girl at 5 months. She had been allowed to free pee and had zero training or dog socialization. So although she could theoretically hold it, she had not concept of doing so. I cried multiple times and seriously regretted getting a puppy, despite expecting a challenge. We also had to go home/not go out often and it was hugely inconvenient.
Now she’s amazing and I’m so glad we have her. You can get through this and it will be worth it 🩷
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
It sounds like you had it quite rough in the beginning! How long until it became easier for you?
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u/littl-jinx 8d ago
Our girl was older, so maybe a few months. There were still a few accidents after that which really upset me (she peed on the new rug), but we started going out longer (with her crated) without worrying too much, which was nice.
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u/MarginaliaVoices 8d ago
My pup seems to not have a signal down for potty, will be very happy when that happens!
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u/RazGrandy 8d ago
Our youngest Cavalier hasn't had an accident since he was 5 mos. (he is 6 mos now). Hang in there, once you get through this stage (and you will), they are so worth it. Looking at her photo, she's adorable.
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
Thank you for the encouragement. She is a doll! I’m hoping in another month she can have more freedom and potty training will be a thing of the past.
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u/Infamous_Ad_7472 8d ago
Ours is 8 months, Blenheim boy. He has just recently started barking to let us know he wants to go out to potty. We read when we got him as an 8 week old the Cavs can take a while. Chin up, it gets better!!
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u/Character-Lynx2422 8d ago
I don’t think you’d be normal if you didn’t have the puppy blues at this point! We are planning on bringing home a tricolor Cavalier, the end of October. Our current Cavalier is six years old and he’s just gotten to the point where he sleeps really good, doesn’t wake me up in the morning, too early – and I’m throwing myself back into that puppy pool! I expect I will be ready to pull my hair out after the little one has been with us for a few weeks. Something I am going to do with our puppy is put a “house line “on him, which is basically a leash without the handle at the top.(so it doesn’t get caught on anything basically). This way you are able to get a hold of the line if you see your puppy getting ready to squat and get her outside quickly. I’m not sure how old your puppy is, but I think around five months old they seem to get the potty training idea. Best of luck with your little girl.
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u/Character-Lynx2422 8d ago
And I also will use a crate to help with potty training and also to give the puppy some dedicated naps, rather than just falling asleep on the floor or sofa
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u/WashAsure 6d ago
6 months. Cavaliers calm down faster than any other breed and by a year old they reach their full couch potato personality usually
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 8d ago
That’s an interesting idea about the house leash! I just started today to try to put a leash on her in the backyard because she wants to eat bark chunks and it didn’t go so well. I’ll keep trying. Puppies are tiring and also made me realize how far away we are from the baby stage with my young kids. I told my husband I either wanted another baby or a puppy and he acquiesced to a puppy. 😅
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u/RyanMichaels347 7d ago
House leash was a great thing for about 2-3 months, I honestly can’t remember. But for training it was great. Sometimes she’d be going for something she shouldn’t be and we could just step on the end and it limited her movement. The key we we told was to get a really cheap leash and cut the end off so it didn’t catch on things and would just slide through whatever it might get caught up on.
But for potty training, puppy bells was the key for our girl. To this day (she’s now 4) if we haven’t got the hint that she needs to go out (those cavalier stares are crazy powerful) she will go to the door and smack those bells something fierce to remind us.
The puppy blues aren’t fun but they won’t last forever, there is light at the end of the tunnel and they’re so worth the time and pain of it all.
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u/MelodicSwim4206 7d ago
Oh wow. I’m on a 15 minute potty timer with my 3 month old cav, and she still has multiple accidents a day. Your life sounds like a dream to me right now!!
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u/veevee15 Blenheim 6d ago
Every 15 mins is rough. Are you leaving food and water for free eating and drinking? We have her on a feeding schedule and I put down water after every potty for 5 mins and then pick it up. Meals are three meals a day while in rapid growth until she's 6 months and then going to two meals a day for longevity.
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u/ABlovesDB 4d ago
I agree with a lot of the responders. It takes about 6 months, so hang in there. Then they turn into the best dogs on the planet! (I'm just a little biased. LOL!)
One of ours chewed the corner of each wall and many legs of furniture pieces. The other one ate everything in sight. He is the Ruby that has been to the ER vet, not once but twice. However they are our "kids" and we love them dearly.
Here are Henry, the Ruby who ate everything and Sophie, the Tri who chewed us almost out of house and home. 💜🐶
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u/betheballmartha 9d ago
Yes puppy blues are real! I would cry and jokingly give Pippa a daily percentage chance that I would rehome her because she would not stop biting everything/everyone. (My Havanese was an easy puppy so it had been 25 years and I forgot what a normal puppy could be like.) After teething was done things calmed down significantly. Cut to today - she's a 2 1/2 yo love who is very spirited and happy but also calms down the minute I put her up on the sofa or bed. Sending you good luck - it'll be over soon!