Dont give up! We had the worst puppy blues and we got over it, its so worth it!

[kimbo1328]

Hello everyone.

I just want to tell you our Story and help people struggling with puppy blues.

We got Barnie when he was 8 Weeks old, i took 2 weeks off from work and my gf was unemployed at that time. The feeling of a cute and playful puppy went away after the first day lol. Regrets got bigger with everyday, he needed to pee like every 30min, was biting us and our interior non stop and just couldnt be quite, i had to spend a fortune for cleaning stuff because he peed so much at home even tho we went out with him 10+ times a day. Going out with him was no fun because he wouldt constantly pull the leash.. it felt like we are just not good enough to raise him

My gilfriend was crying everyday after 3 weeks because it was so much stress for her, i was at the office for 8 hours a day and it felt like vacation... she wanted to give him away and felt zero bonding with our pup, but she also felt guilty doing this to him.
I was able to convince her to stay strong, i was also very close to giving up but this subreddit kept me strong.

He is now 7Month old and it was all sooooo worth it. We cant think about a life without Barnie now! He is giving us so much love and joy. He is not biting us anymore, is listening to commands, does not pee at home anymore and sleeps alot during the day. We can even let him alone at home for 6+ hours and he is not destroying anything or peeing at home and we dont even use a crate, he is allowed to free roam in the house!

Always think its just a couple of month, it wiill get better 100% and you would regret not staying strong! I found my best friend in Barnie and that is something i would have never thought 5months ago. Now im looking forward to adolescence xD

If you have any specific questions just ask!

Puppy Tax:

Tired after a full day of torturing us

Spawn of Satan but looked like a Angel

And this is Barnie Today!

Hello Reddit

 

[happyuser]

@kimbo1328 Hi! Quick question, how do you go about leaving him alone for 6+ hours. I’m planning to get a puppy and I don’t want him to get separation anxiety soooo.. how did you train your dog to do it

 

[kimbo1328]

@happyuser Hey, it was difficult at first. We got him before corona and tried to leave him alone for a couple of minutes to train him, but that didnt work so well... he was barking and crying non stop.
Than came corona lockdown and we where with him all the time since i also had homeoffice due to it. Now my gf and me had to return to the office 1month ago, she got a job pretty spontaneous and we thought we fucked up because we didnt train him to be alone at all while corona time.
Talked to a trainer who studied dog psychologie and she said its all good, its alot easier and better for the puppy to be left alone when he is 6month old, many pups even get lasting problems if you try to leave them alone before 6month because they are still in full pack mentality and think they will starve or die alone, that feeling goes away after like 6month and dogs realise they can also be alone. So she suggest everyone to start at 6month.

So the weekend before we knew we would leave him alone we went out and it was like magic... he was only barking and crying for 2minutes. We where watching him from my phone with a camera, he directly went to his bed and layed down waiting for us and sleeping... we were away for 2hours, next day 4 hours. Than workweek began and he was alone for 5hours at first than my gf mother picked him up everyday. He is using his alone time sleeping and waiting, not doing anything bad! Before we leave him alone, we go out with him for 20minutes.

Now we work normal times and my gf checks on him in her break, goes out with him for 10minutes so he can pee and than back to work. He is not even barking at us when we come back home.. he is super happy but not barking or yelling at us because we left him alone, which is behaviour he had befoee he was 6month old.

I think really starting to leaving him alone at 6month was the right choice, but many people probably dont have the choice to wait so long.

 

[happyuser]

@kimbo1328 Oh thanks! I guess I’ll have to sort out something for the first few months but I think that’s reassuring that I don’t have to be there 24/7

 

[kimbo1328]

@happyuser Yea we also thought its a 24/7 job to have someone watch over him... we always had someone take him when we went shopping together and it was super annoying... now its zero problem to do stuff together because he has no problems beeing alone.

 

[humbly]

@happyuser Obviously not OP, but my pup is 17 weeks and has gotten better at being home alone pretty much each time I leave her. I’m working from home for now and live alone but will start classes next month and was anxious about her needing constant attention. She thinks frozen kongs are the best thing in the world. I give her one a few minutes before I leave and she barely even lifts her head when the door opens/closes. She had real bad separation anxiety like a month ago and I was so worried it’d never get better.