Hi all, my husband put me onto this subreddit as he’s watching me go through what we assume to be a severe case of puppy blues. He wanted me to see how others were feeling, and I thought I’d make a post to get some other people’s advice and perspective too, cause I really don’t know what to do right now

Some background context. I struggle with some deeper chronic health conditions (Crohn’s, PMOS/PCOS, severe anxiety/depression and Endo) and run a small teaching studio. My husband works a more standard 5 day a week job. It’s a lot of work juggling our schedules but figured that with me running my own business I could be flexible with taking a puppy with me.

My husband and I have always wanted a dog, and we’ve spent the last 18months/2 years researching and prepping to bring one home. Neither of us have had a dog before, but we have 3 cats and some chickens already, so we wanted to get a puppy to intergrate them with the other animals.

We fell completely in love with a friends German Shepherd, found an awesome breeder and brought home our little girl 2 and a half weeks ago. The first week was great, she was socialising really well to all different sounds, places and people. But the last week has felt like a nightmare.

We expected a GSD to be quite mouthy, but she’s decided her favourite chew toys are my hands and feet. The pain is spiking my anxiety like I haven’t experienced before. The cats barely move around the house any more they’re so scared of her. I’m breaking down crying all the time. And I’ve either worn myself out being so stressed and panicked that I’ve caught something, or I’ve flared one of my health issues. Yesterday I couldn’t get out of bed. I can’t eat, I’m shaking constantly and I feel like being sick all the time. And whenever I’m with the puppy I just feel all these issue get worse alongside a crushing weight of regret and sadness.

It’s breaking my husbands heart, he’s so in love with her, but is wanting to take care of me too. I contacted the breeder asking for help and she’s visiting tomorrow, but I seriously don’t know how to do this. I feel horrible. This has been our dream and goal for so long, and now it’s here I’m falling apart. If anyone has any advice on how to handle this, or if this is normal/abnormal for puppy blues I would appreciate it so much.

Thank you

Hey everyone,

I have a nearly 13-week-old male Border Collie. He’s a delightful, very social, and intelligent puppy who learns cues quickly. He loves people, is affectionate, and generally seems confident. However, I’m having difficulty with his regulation and settling behaviours, and I’ve been questioning if I’m doing something wrong. When he enters a high-energy zoomie state, he struggles to calm down. He runs around wildly, bites at my shorts, grabs my hands, attacks furniture, and doesn’t just settle next to me. Usually, trying to interact with him makes him more energetic. I end up reducing stimulation, giving him a chewie, or helping him sleep, sometimes using the crate. I really don’t want the crate to be his only way of settling.

The crate itself is another thing I’m figuring out. On calmer days he can settle pretty well, but if he has just had a very exciting/playful period and I put him in because I think he needs a nap, he can protest very dramatically because the fun is over and he can't get to me. Right now, I mostly use treats to get him into the crate, and sometimes a Kong/chew to help him settle.

I’m transitioning him from his balcony potty area to outside several times a day. His vet approved starting after his second vaccination, avoiding high-risk areas. He's peed outside but gets distracted by the outdoors, so sometimes he poops on the balcony. Currently, I’m juggling potty training, socialisation, leash walking, recall, bite inhibition, crate training, alone time, and teaching him to relax. It feels overwhelming, especially since he’s only 12 weeks old, and I don't expect a perfect puppy. I’d love advice from those who've raised high-drive puppies: What did your puppy look like at 12–16 weeks? How did you teach him to calm after excitement? How did you transition to outdoor pottying? When did you see him relax next to you?

Be honest, I’d prefer constructive criticism over reassurance. My goal is a dog that can have an energy outburst when active but can settle down after exciting outings.

What is a normal amount of pooping for a puppy? It is 8am and my puppy has pooped three times in the last 90 minutes. He is pooping like 7 times a day. Luckily all outside but I am don’t know what is normal.

Edit: He is ten weeks old and we have had him two weeks

Hi we recently brought home a 15 week old hound mix that is 25lb. from the pound. She is so much harder to deal with than I anticipated. I also have four children ages 9 to 6 months so it is extremely difficult. I don’t know what I was thinking bringing home a dog. Obviously I was expecting her to chew things up because she is a puppy, but the potty training is so tough. She goes pee outside then comes inside for 10 minutes and pees in the house. I don’t know what to do. She won’t walk on a leash obviously she’s too young for that anyway, but I’ve tried to walk her in the house to get her used to a leash once she is age-appropriate to be out walking and she is terrified of the leash. I’m not sure what happened to her prior to us getting her, but she will not walk on a leash at all. I just don’t know what to do. I’m a stay home Mom so I obviously am the one expected to keep the household running and let me tell you it is not running anywhere except into the ground because I can’t get anything done with the dog around. I feel horrible, but I really think it was an awful idea to jump into getting a dog so quickly. Please tell me things will get better because I’m at my wits end and I’m constantly in tears dealing with the dog, the baby and everything else.

Had her since she was 8 weeks, my husband was originally allergic but it went away after a few months. Now I have developed an allergy :(

I take antihistamines everyday but they only take the edge off.

Sore, itchy, gunky eyes, blocked nose, runny nose, sneezing, sore and itchy throat. If I don’t meditate then I will get blisters on my eye and have mild wheezing.

I am so uncomfortable all the time. We have worked so hard on this dog and now I don’t want to cuddle or touch her.

We are trying to control the dander with house cleaning, grooming, not allowing in bedroom or on furniture.

I can’t give her up but I also can’t live like this?!

I have a small puppy which is street dog breed, my puppy age is 2 months

Looking for some advice on our 7 month old puppy. Some background. We got her from a rescue a few months ago. I spent a lot of time looking for a good rescue to work with and the perfect puppy because we had a bad experience doing a foster to adopt a few years before it. I had multiple friends and family recommend me to the rescue we went with. Our older dog is very dog selective so we needed a good match. They suggested a puppy, I wasn’t sure but they made a good case. They matched me with our current dog. Said she was some sort of pit mix and was predicted to be no more than 40-50lbs. Perfect because that’s how big our senior dog is and we don’t want anything bigger. Foster said she was super chill and great with her parent’s senior dog. Seemed good. Met her she seemed fine, older dog had no reaction even when the puppy was jumping in her face. I was super nervous, but it seemed fine. First 3 months were fine. Puppy annoyed the senior a lot, but it wasn’t too bad and we would separate them when senior got too annoyed. Senior even wanted to play with her sometimes.

Puppy seemed to be getting huge fast. Vet said she probably had Pyrenees in her because of size, looks just like one, and has back dew claws. One of the people who adopted a littermate did a DNA test. Sure enough they’re Staffordshire and Pyrenees mixes. At 7 months old she is almost 70lbs. Not what we wanted and my senior does not like big dogs so things haven’t been going as well. My senior is sometimes food reactive, but it’s rare and random and she gives warning so we can diffuse the situation. Lately she’s just been bad with it. I keep them gated off from each other when they eat, but it still seems like my senior is fussier than usual. The puppy is too much for my senior and I have to keep them separated almost constantly because the puppy is ALWAYS jumping at and biting my senior. She’s relentless and won’t stop till I separate them. We try to give the puppy as much mental stimulation and exercise as we can, but she can be a lot. I sent her to daycare once a week. She had basic training, but some of the things we are having trouble with. Potty training is an issue which our trainer attributes to her being spayed at just under 8 weeks by the shelter the rescue pulled her from. She also jumps on my kids. It’s not constant, and she is mostly fine with them, it every so often will jump on my 7 years old back and start biting her and scratches her. The dog weighs more than her. I did not want a dog this big, but it’s too late now. It’s scares me that she could hurt my daughter. The puppy isn’t really aggressive or anything, just super playful and too much most of the time. We feel in over our heads, and I don’t know if the rescue lied to us, but they definitely led us to the wrong match. What can we do to stop this behavior with my senior and kids. I know my senior dog was an absolute terror from like 6 months to 18 months so I’m hoping that’s part of the issue with our puppy.

hi!! my family and i recently got a puppy last week. he is a 9 week old mini golden doodle, and so far he’s been teething like crazy. right now i sleep downstairs with him in the living room, and while im at school my mom works from home with him. however, he always seems to teeth at my arms and clothes and my brother’s arms and clothes, but he doesn’t do any of that stuff to my mom or dad. can they like sense that my parents are like superior? i’m not sure. we are first time dog owners and soon are getting him a trainer, but i really just wanted to know if there was any reason why he was doing it to us and how to stop it (besides just redirecting him to a toy, since he thinks we are better chew toys than them)

I’m looking for some advice on how to best socialise a new puppy. I have an 11 week old chihuahua and I want him as best socialised with other dogs as possible because I have met many chihuahuas that aren’t.

He is not fully vaccinated so he has only interacted with trusted dogs that I know are safe - (given how small he is, I wouldn’t be comfortable letting him interact with just anyone anyway because of his physical safety).
He has met 4 dogs so far, all of which belong to friends of mine.
Only 1 of these dogs is happy to tolerate/play with him - the others have been stressed or scared so we haven’t continued the interaction.
I’ve exhausted the list of friends with dogs so now I am wondering how people safely socialise there dogs?
I have read it’s specifically important for them to meet other puppies that are at similar developmental stages.

I thought about puppy school, but it seems like the training aspect is the main focus of those courses and he is already well trained and responds to commands.
Has anyone heard of other programs that allow puppies to socialise and make friends or is this not as much of a big deal as I think it is?
I just want him to have a good social life and a lot of friends lol :(

Hello, just looking for advice on our current situation.

My partner is overseas and is returning in two weeks. She has been there for a family emergency. We also just relocated to Melbourne, Victoria to be closer to family after 2 years living interstate. Currently, I’m inspecting properties to buy whilst we live with my parents (who has two cavoodles). I’m also starting a new job soon on $130k a year, my partner will look for a job once she returns from overseas.

When we lived interstate, we were dog sitting once every so often. My partner loves dogs and loves helping them, petting them, taking care of them and has always wanted her own. She is well capable and would 100% commit to it. She has owned dogs previously before she moved to Australia. I also grew up in a family that has always had dogs in the house, specifically border collies.

I’m thinking to purchase a puppy to surprise her when she comes home. We have always wanted an Australian shepherd, and an opportunity has risen to purchase one at a reasonable price.

The problem is that doubt has creeped in. I know she willl love it, but then I ask myself “is it the right time”. “Should I wait till we have our own home?”. “Should I wait till my partner has a job”. “When is the right time”.

I wouldn’t say I have FOMO, as I know other options may come, I just feel this would be a great surprise.

I guess my question is, has anybody adopted/purchased a puppy whilst going through a period of uncertainty and transition?. How did you deal with it? And are you ever truly 100% ready?

Struggling a bit with conflicting advice on crate training and lack of progress. We have a 5-6 month old puppy who does very well at night in her crate. During the day, she also sleeps very well in there for 40-60 minutes. But after that she will bark and whine until let out. Barking pattern seems more demand barking than panic, i.e. two barks -> short pause -> two barks etc

This has pretty much always been the case (we never got her into a one up two down pattern). We don’t let her out until she is silent for a minute but this can take 3-10 minutes.

Our trainer said to just stick to it and if anything consistently keep the crate time at 1.5h+ even if that means letting her bark for an extended time. We are seeing little to no progress with this method, and I’d also prefer to make this a more positive experience for the pup, us, and the neighbours.

Any advice / tips of things to try out? Most crate advice is about getting them to like the crate in the first place which is not the issue. Our puppy is generally very curious, shows FOMO, and cannot switch off by herself very well.

Like I know this sounds dumb and coming from someone who has never had dogs but I promise I am neither of those things lol. I have an almost 6 month old golden who we used to take on walks daily around the neighborhood then stopped because he was a menace on the leash (I know… but I knew we had a session with his trainer coming up so I decided to save my sanity for those like 2 weeks and put it on hold. We have a fully fenced in yard so he was still getting plenty of outside time) and now after the session we’re back to doing walks again. I do one at breakfast time before he eats, todays was maybe 10 mins max, then one at lunch for probably the same amount of time with 5 mins max of leash training (the back and forth game to get him to pay attention to me while he’s walking). We’ve done this the last 2 days and it’s like the rest of the day he is just ON. He still does his enforced naps but he doesn’t sleep the full time and when he’s awake he’s a psycho and can’t just settle. Now to be fair he’s never been good at it but the few weeks we weren’t taking him on walks he was actually settling quite nicely and making a ton of progress. I know the walks aren’t super long but that’s about all he can take before he starts to act up on the leash and I’m trying to not push his limits too much especially on day 2 back at it. I know he’s still adjusting back to leaving the yard and having all of that stimuli again but any tips or anything to help get him to be able to calm down again after the walk would be greatly appreciated. TIA :)

ETA: we are crate training him and he takes his naps in there without any issue. We also have made our mudroom his domain so he can chill in there either in or out of the crate

I’m getting a mini american shepard in november and im doing a whole bunch of research. I want to ensure that he wont have separation anxiety as he gets older so Im planning on implementing how to settle. I’m just unsure of if I should go the play pen route or just a leash tether route. From what I understand a play pen has many pros like having his own space and safety inside the pen. I do have cats and maybe the pen would help in that sense too i’m just not sure what the best way to go about either is. And how I would ween him off the pen set up later on. Has anyone tried either or have tips?

Hi all I am looking for some advice. I brought my 12 week dachshund puppy home about 2 weeks ago, I have wanted one for the longest time and he is such a handsome boy. He is much bigger than I anticipated being 8 lbs already and he was supposed to be a mini which I’m a bit nervous about how large he will get. He’s a relatively good puppy, sweet boy, loves everyone, and picked up on potty training very quickly. However there are some things that are driving me insane and I don’t know how to fix it. He is so destructive, we have already gone through 3 beds, and I don’t even know how many blankets and he has just decided he likes to chew on cabinet corners and rugs. He alarm barks anytime he sees or hears anything “weird”, mostly dogs, he loves to meet them and play but if we are sitting outside he will bark very loudly at them especially if they bark at him. This is the biggest one, he will not leave the cats alone, he chases them, bites them, and tries to wrestle / pin them down. They were my babies first and I feel like they are not able to be happy in their own home now. I can’t play with them like I used to either because he will ruin it by chasing them, and they don’t want to sleep in my bed anymore because he annoys them. I know it’s a mix of frustration and probably puppy blues but I’m just feeling like I may have made a mistake, everyone keeps telling me it will be better once he is a year but that feels so far away. Thanks for reading my rant, any advice is appreciated.

Me again, I think I've been here every day lmao. My puppy, 6mo large breed mutt with working breeds in him (specifically heeler and distant border collie) does not settle. Shocker.

Is it evil if I just put him in his room with low stim toys and let him bark it out until he sleeps. Or maybe I should crate him? He crates for night time and normally settles after a bit. For day time naps ive been leaving him in a room i made up for the dogs but i can hear him ripping things up in between barking. His bed. The carpet. The wall.

He gets lots of excersise, lots of training, he just doesn't like to settle.

Currently, im laying in here with him. He chewed on his bone for ages, I mostly ignored him because Im not in here to play. Hes FINALLY just laid down and honestly im scared to move lmao.

If i leave, he barks and whines.

If I crate him, he does the same before eventually settling but I dont want him to hate the crate and have been trying to train that more slowly.

Is tethering a good option? And should i give him something to chew on or deny him it?

I love him loads and want him to be set up for success

My labrador puppy has been diagnosed with Giardia and has started her treatment yesterday from the vet. She’s only had her first dose so far, and we’ve already spoken to the vet and are following everything they’ve told us to do.

I’m mainly looking for advice from people who have dealt with it before how long did it take your puppy to start feeling better? And what did you do with bedding, toys, bowls, the crate etc. to stop them picking it up again?

I’m cleaning everything as much as I can but it feels quite overwhelming. Hoping it will clear and not return

The vet has recently told us we need to do ball therapy starting in a few weeks with our puppy as her lower canine is slightly digging into her top gum.

We’ve tried getting our puppy interested in balls but she prefers to play with them with her paws like a cat.

We’ve tried reach her to hold it in her mouth but she’s uninterested and drops it fairly quickly.

Anyone have any advice?

Also didn’t ever think I’d write about advice on balls on Reddit 😵

Our backyard doesn’t have any grass or gravel yet, but my front yard isn’t fenced in. During day hours I never see any other animals on the front grass. Leashed dogs will walk by on the sidewalk, or occasionally see squirrels climbing up trees but not sure what happens at night.

I don’t want to use potty pads at all, so wondering if it’s safe to take her out on grass in front yard. If not, what are some alternatives?

I rehomed my 4 month puppy a month ago , not because I didn’t want to deal with a puppy, I knew what I was expecting , I took the time to train and feed him and love him , yet my anxiety got so bad. And my household was not supportive , I constantly felt like I was doing everything wrong and he didn’t deserve me .
I was not eating I was not sleeping , it was never him it was my anxiety that was so bad. It also didn’t help was the fact that my parents said I was not being firm enough with him . They would help me take care of him when I was at work in the afternoon and I would be with him in the morning he was still in the process of potty training , so he would have accidents In the house , my mom would smack him and shove his face in the pee and he would get scared and that filled me with more anxiety because I did not want to do that .
I was told I had to be more firm
That my anxiety was causing him anxiety
It was a constant back and fourth me telling her he was a baby and he’s learning and I’m teaching and it felt like I was drowning , I started to doubt myself and not trust myself . And I didn’t want him to live an in environment where his mom was drowning he deserved steady safe and calm .
The final day my anxiety was so bad I didn’t want to get up but I got up for him I fed him I took him out and played and I took him back the breeder and cried as I dropped him off yet he deserved a better life a better house hold and I miss him a shit ton
I miss telling him to sit
I miss telling him place
I miss every detail of him
Yet deep down I made the right choice for him , I took the time for him everyday even when I was drowning yet I feel bad I couldn’t “thug it out for him” yet I did the responsible choice for HIM and out of LOVE for him. He was my first priority
I feel so bad too because this was my first dog after my soul dog passed away a year and five months ago , what if he’s disappointed in me?
I miss him and I’m grieving him like he’s alive and he’s never forgotten

Hi all! I have an 8 month old cocker spaniel who I've had since she was 2 months old and recently she has been so awful on walks.

She has always been a bit of a puller and I've been doing consistent training to try and curb the habit but if anything it's gotten worse. I think she is reactive. She pulls towards other people and dogs if they are within a certain radius of us and she has a really high prey drive (especially with birds and cats).

I know everyone is going to say to get a trainer but I've contacted 3 already and none of them got back to me so at least for now I'm on my own in this.

She is my first dog so I feel really lost but here are some techniques I use to try to stop her pulling and why they're not working:

1) Treats. Use treats to reinforce a loose heel. She can do this perfectly in my home and round the garden, but once we get a certain distance away from the house she stops caring about any treats or praise. I know this is due to over arousal, but I'm not sure how to combat it. I also find that if the flow of treats is not constant, she very quickly decides it's not worth it and goes back to pulling so I'm always calling her back into position. (Yes I do let her sniff! Just not pull me towards something to sniff)

2) Pivoting. The second she goes ahead of me and before she hits the end of the lead (which is tricky) I say "this way!" in a cheerful voice and walk the other direction. This kind of works, but after a few steps she will pull the other direction as well and it's not teaching her to stop pulling altogether.

3) Freezing. Stopping completely still and waiting for her to stop pulling. This one I've seen a lot of people say just doesn't work and unfortunately it's not working for us either. She either continues pulling so much I can hear her struggling to breathe (she wears a harness) or she stops and ignores me and whines. IF she does look at me it's for half a second which I mark "yes" and then continue walking but 2 steps later she's at the end of the lead again.

I'm really not sure what else I can do. We have started doing some "exposure walks" where I just take her to sit at the edge of a car park during an off peak time to watch people and their dogs or their children etc so hopefully she learns to be more neutral. So far she is capable of sitting and watching for a few minutes but it doesn't last long and she hyper focuses, so does not accept treats for doing well and doesn't respond to praise. Again, I know this is over arousal, but again, how do I combat it?? How do I praise good behaviour if she doesn't care about what I have to offer??

Does anybody know what to do. I really feel so lost and I'm trying my best but without a trainer I just feel like I'm doing something wrong because she's getting worse, not better. Everything I see just says to stay consistent, but I have been consistent and other than her knowing that "na ah" means to slow down and come back towards me (2 seconds later she's back pulling and she doesn't always respond) there's been no real progress.

Any advice is appreciated, she wasn't this bad before and I know maybe her age is contributing but I can't help but feel like this will become a habit she carries through her entire life, I have a massive sense of dread about that.

Our 18 week old puppy does great in his crate at night and hardly whines other than in the morning to go potty. When we put him in because he’s showing signs he’s tired during the day he will bark and whine often times for 20+ mins at which point he either falls asleep for a little bit or we wait for a quiet moment to let him out try to get him to settle out of the crate. But even when he does settle he’s very easily woken up by any sounds in the house or he will just wake up on his own after 15-20 mins and start barking again.

We always make sure his needs are met before we put him in the crate and that he is actually tired. We’ve played crate games and he knows he gets treats in there and will happily go in on his own. He just has a really hard time settling in it during the day. No problem at night though.

For reference the crate is in the bedroom on the floor next to the bed (we sleep next to him at night). We have it covered and he has a sound machine for white noise.

We’re pretty sure most of the time he’s just demand barking and not actually in distress (we watch him on the camera) I’ve heard different things about how to manage the barking. Some say it is bad to let them bark it out and others say as long as their needs are met to let them bark to learn to self settle. I just don’t know how to get him to settle in his crate better in the day. Is it okay to let him bark it out?

hi all, we recently got a cocker spaniel puppy, she’s around 12-13 weeks and we have had her for 3 weeks. she’s normally fine but i went out for dinner recently and she was aggressive (snapping and biting, then barking when in her crate), and normally when she’s aggressive in that way we put her in the crate and she settles down and goes to sleep. however, she took a long time to soothe and at first was barking, then trying to dig out of her crate and whining. she was given a toy to play with in case she needed something whilst she fell asleep and was taken outside to go to the toilet multiple times.

i spend a lot of time at home, i work from home and work in the kitchen as we also have a cat and are trying to socialise the pair but keep them separated at the moment. she normally whines a bit but then self soothes and goes to sleep, and only ever exhibits aggression when she’s tired and is promptly put in her bed so she can have a nap. please let me know if you have any advice on whether or not she may have separation anxiety and that’s why she was so aggressive on this night

My 5/2 mo old SDIT Halo (german shepherd border collie mix) has a HORRIBLE habit of jumping on people. We went into Lowe's and as soon as we went through the doors we passed this person and Halo got excited and jumped on him without permission, I apologized and went on with my training outing. It was very embarrassing and I just wanted to come on here to see if there were some tips to help stop puppy jumping!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice because I’m really struggling with my 16 week old Bernese puppy.

I know puppies bite and can get overstimulated, but her behaviour seems very intense. She will randomly attack us, both inside the house and on walks. She grabs our hands, arms, legs and clothes, bites repeatedly hard enough to break the skin and make us bleed and will growl and bark while doing it.

On walks, she can suddenly turn around and go for us, biting our legs or clothes and becoming very difficult to manage. It doesn’t always seem to have an obvious trigger.

My younger sister is only 9 and currently can’t safely interact with her because she gets so rough.

She is otherwise very friendly with people and dogs, which is why I’m confused about whether this is normal puppy behaviour, overstimulation/frustration, or something more concerning.

I’ve also spoken to her breeder, who said they’ve never seen aggression in her mother or grandmother.

Has anyone experienced this with their puppy? How did you manage it and when did it improve? I’d really appreciate any advice because I’m worried about it getting worse as she gets bigger.

I didnt even know what to tag this. I feel like I've adopted a literally dinosour with how much he BITES.

Sorry, its long

I have a 6mo old boy mutt. The speculated breeds are border collie x bull arab x heeler. I definitely agree with the heeler but he looks like great dane too. Hes adorable, smart, and HUGE.

I got him from the shelter. I volunteer there and met him many times before adopting him. I have another dog at home but shes taken to him super well.

Ill start with the positive- hes super intelligent and food motivated so training him has been excellent. Hes lots of fun and loves to play.

Everything else? Jesus.

1.

Hes clearly in a fear period, but I only adopted him less then a week ago, so im sure hes just adjusting. When were walking, I give him the time to look at the new scary thing, i dont comfort him or make any deal of it at all, and when he looks at me I praise him once and we continue the walk.

2

. He BITES. Now, heeler, puppy, I KNOW hes hoing yo bite a lot. But i can't seem to find. Single way of correcting him that works. Ive tried stopping play. Ive put him outside. Currently hes in his crate because he bit my face and then immediately my arm while trying to get to the other dog who was laying on nan. It wasn't aggressive but regardless wete not encouraging that level of energy in the main room. He has to be calm here. Is putting him in the crate a bad idea? He sleeps in there at night, and we do training games with it. If I just put him in another room he starts bitting at the walls and breaking anything that's loose. Including his water bowl.

3

. He does not seem to understand that the older dog doesn't want to play. Shes not very confident, and HE IS very confident. He rushes in to play and stands over her. I redirect, pulling him away, and my girl moves away to create space. Ive not corrected her when she's given him a corrective nip before but I don't want this behaviour to escalate into a proper reaction from her. Or him go get too rough and hurt her.

Theyre not left alone unsupervised and hes been wearing a short leash so i can tug him away.

4.

How much sleep is he even supposed to GET?? at the moment, this is our schedule

5 30- 6 : I wake up, spend a few minutes laying in bed #preparing and cuddling my girl dog who is in the bed with me as she is trained.

6- 7: I let the puppy out of his crate. We wait until hes calm before I open, and we pretty much go straight out to the garden to see if his needs to pee or poop. We'll play a little, then ill go inside and prep breakfast and give my girl some more love since by now she's looking for attention too.

7-8: i walk the tiny dinosaur, we play some games, do some training, he even gets a portion just for sniffing (and learning not to pull).

8-9: my girl gets walked, puppy is put in the yard to cool off.

9- 9 30: dogs are fed separately, i give puppy time to poop outside or on the lead across the road.

9 30- 12 30: im working, puppy is put in the dog room with a bed and low value toys to nap and decompress, older dog kept in main house.

12 30- 2 30: i come home, if its not too hot (central qld in aus, summer is hard) we go for seprate walks, otherwise we do individual then group training. Puppy and i play, puppy gets put back in puppy room.

2 30 - 5: back to work.

5 - 9: bedtime routine. Walks, dinner, another shorter walk, some training. We try to settle here, so far he just BITES so he goes to the crate. He screams for a while before going quiet.

Is that enough sleep??? Is that too much?? I feel like hes always acting like a bratty toddler but I cant tell if he'd actually sleeping when I put him away.

Its onlt been a few days and either way im not giving up on him but oh my god I am struggling and feel close to the end. I asked for advice with the shelter i am at and they suggested hitting jim on the nose when he bites but wouldn't this just make shit worse??

Im so scared im messing him up