How do I turn my puppy into a Real Dog(tm)?

[i3gman]

Hey!

My heeler/mini aussie mix, Samwise, is just over 7 months. He got neutered last Friday and has been an extra special terror (because no major exercise means cooped up, frustrated little cow dog).

In general, he's matured so much. 6 months was a good turning point for us. He just still requires SO much supervision. Constant vigilance.

So this got me thinking... How the heck do I take a puppy and turn it into a member of my household? Right now I have to watch him every single second he's awake. We do enforced naps, still roughly 1 hour up, 2 hours down then a good, long sleep overnight.

Every second he's awake, I have to be watching him and aware of him. Half the house is gated off. He steals blankets, chews on random crap, and might pee if I don't keep an eye on him. Oh, and he can't have the full house even with supervision because our cats are TOO EXCITING.

I'm thinking this is all age appropriate? Hopefully... This is my first dog. But when/how do we transition to him just being... like a buddy? Like so we do things (adventures, training, w/e) and then he lives in the house and is a good dog? That happens eventually, right??

Words of wisdom & encouragement appreciated I made it through some a w f u l puppy blues, but now I'm just so tired and it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[johnybelievesinchrist]

@i3gman It really just happens with maturity and time. Your pup is only 7 months old. That is SO YOUNG. I know dogs mature quickly, but not as quickly as we'd like sometimes.

Keep up with the exercise (when he's allowed again), and training, and relationship building, and it will happen naturally with time. As they earn your trust, and you allow them more freedoms (like don't need to be watching them all the time), it will just happen slowly.

My dog just hit a year, and since she's finally finished her heat, I am way more trusting. She can just hang out in the house and I'm barely wondering if she's getting into something, or ripping her diaper off on my bed.

I know it's exhausting to say that you still have like 6-12 months left of some puppy phases, but it's possible. And over that time, you'll slowly see more and more changes in your dog that you'll start to trust them more. There will be some ups and downs, but their growth isn't linear. We just went through a month of no off-leash play, since she was on her heat and literally didn't care if I existed. But slowly we're getting there!!

I don't think you can't really teach emotional maturity. But you can keep training your puppy to one day be the dog of your dreams The light at the end of the tunnel is there, it's just flickering right now. Hang in there!

 

[i3gman]

@johnybelievesinchrist This is very reassuring, thank you! Things have improved enough and consistently enough that the idea of having potential a year more of puppy-ish-hood isn't terrible! I'm realizing that I mostly want to make sure I'm not totally missing something I'm supposed to be doing For example I see some people say they stop crating after a few months and I can't imagine that yet...

Anyway, I appreciate this. We'll keep doing all the training and enrichment and bond-building and basically just hand in there!

 

[johnybelievesinchrist]

@i3gman Yeah. Don’t compare. Go at your own pace. It’s not a bad thing for your dog to be crated later into their life. In case you need to do air travel with them, or they get crated at a groomer etc… then they just know to chill.

I had many days when I was like “ok, slow down, she’ll get there”. My moms mantra is “this too shall pass”. Which works when you get frustrated or bogged down in the day to day annoyances. Just go with the flow and hang in there!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@i3gman From what I read around here - this will happen around 18 months - 2 years of age

However, I do see progress every month in my puppy - so even at 6 months - I still have to watch him 95% of the time - but not 100% anymore :-D I guess it is an improvement, right ?

Good luck !

 

[lynn403]

@i3gman Guess It depends alot on the dog, also crating and using pens delays the time until They can free roam.

Most people in Sweden i know (crates are illegal here) use Maybe a pen the first few weeks But Then free roaming is kinda standard. Never met a swedish dog that did Not have free roam ish at 6 months (some have certain rooms closed, or Maybe baby gates to certain rooms)