How does anyone do this?

[bitz]

UPDATE 9 months later:

https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/comments/1aoemt2/first_birthday_and_everything_is_much_easier

?

We got a Schnauzer puppy a month ago, thinking we were in a great position to have a dog (I had many dogs in my family growing up, we both work from home, recently moved to a house with a garden).

She doesn’t want to sleep, she cries in her pen (with an array of toys) when we leave the room, she cries in her pen when we’re in the room too. We try all the things she might need (exercise, food, water, pee/poo).

If we let her out to play with us, she bites us repeatedly until we put her back. We’re trying all the tricks (yelping, saying “ow”, reverse time-outs…). All this even after plenty of running around the house and garden (we shouldn't walk her until she finishes vaccines in a few weeks). When I see pictures of puppies sleeping on their owner’s laps, I think it must be a joke! We would be eaten alive.

I took a week off and still had no time for anything except puppy. This isn’t just difficult, it seems completely impossible - how do so many people manage?

 

[volunteergal]

@bitz It is really tough in the moment but the phases go by quickly (biting phase seems to never go by quickly enough). My last puppy (he's 9mo now) I used more puzzles and games with any other puppy and that seems to be helpful in tiring him out. He never gets food out of a bowl, it is all given in a food puzzle, snuff mat, or through direct training with me. We must have about 12 puzzles that we rotate through, and I give his allotted kibble all through the day in these puzzles.

 

[wasblindbutnowisee]

@volunteergal This is great advice. Can you share your favorites? I use topple and snuffle mat, but would welcome more to add.

 

[volunteergal]

@wasblindbutnowisee Here are some of the ones we have:

https://www.sierra.com/jw-large-treat-tower-dog-toy~p~1rajj/?filterString=s~treat-tower%2F

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...0&cnxclid=16834867481870002685911601181008005

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...1a390222f37a1ff7812c66750b3fc58b&gclsrc=3p.ds

https://www.chewy.com/nina-ottosson-by-outward-hound-brick/dp/175423

https://www.chewy.com/nina-ottosson-by-outward-hound-brick/dp/175424

https://www.chewy.com/nina-ottosson-by-outward-hound-brick/dp/253238

https://www.chewy.com/jw-pet-rockin-treat-ball/dp/40246

 

[wasblindbutnowisee]

@volunteergal These are great! Thanks!

 

[volunteergal]

@wasblindbutnowisee YW! The treat tower is probably our favorite right now, two levels of hardness (or to adjust based on kibble size, as I have to open to the larger holes to put my older dog's adult kibble in it).

 

[lubear]

@volunteergal Seconding the Kong wobbler, it was a lifesaver.

 

[aliaconnors]

@bitz This was me 8 months ago. You're still in the early stages. How do people do it? Sacrifice that's how. Raising a puppy is by no means easy. It will get better with time, but you have to put in the time and effort to raise a puppy right.

 

[libra111]

@bitz I’m nowhere close to there yet, but I had a lot more patience and success when I started forcing him to nap a lot more. He’s up for a couple hours and starts to get too nippy and won’t respond to me? Probably time to put him in a crate and leave the room for a few hours.

 

[bitz]

@libra111 Enforced napping in a crate has helped us a lot too, although I'm worried we're making her dislike her crate. When I get a chance, I'll work on training her to go in on her own.

 

[teachmaster]

@bitz Seems like you may also want to check out "capturing calmness" by kikopup on YT which can assist with teaching a young puppy an "off switch". There's more resources in the sub's wiki.

 

[warriorjmg]

@bitz We enforced naps when our schnauzer puppy was young cause she got really bitey around the 2 hour mark of playing. We initially did it as timeouts but then we found that after crying for a bit she would just lay there and sleep and then found on this sub about enforcing naps. Keep at it with enforcing naps and a puppy schedule kinda goes hand in hand and that helped for us. We also used frozen cucumber/carrots too. She was still bitey a bit so we did reverse timeouts a couple times and she finally got the hint.

My schnauzer is 1.5 years old now and she naps most of the day while I work

 

[trongtin6869]

@bitz I had been worried about that with mine too, until I was at my wits’ end one day and put her in, and she conked out two minutes later. I realised that her hyper biting was actually her being overtired like a toddler, and she was actually in need of a sleep when she went into gremlin mode.

If you’re still worried, you could give her a treat to bribe her into the crate for a bit of extra encouragement.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@bitz Think of it as a practice in patience and radical acceptance. Even if it doesn’t seem like it’s working, continue with the reinforcement/redirection - one day things will magically “click” but that doesn’t happen if you don’t stay calm, patient and diligent.

 

[nicolek]

@bitz Chews, Kongs, more chews - filled bones, yak cheese, beef cheek. The only time I had a moment of peace was when she was chewing on something that wasn’t me or my shoes.

 

[dmssr]

@bitz

When I see pictures of puppies sleeping on their owner’s laps, I think it must be a joke! We would be eaten alive.

Our puppy is much better at 5+ months, but we still don't do this.

 

[cdward]

@bitz Best advice - get a trainer asap. I hired mine when the pup was 10 weeks old, would have had him a week sooner if he was available lol. Stay consistent with dog training.

Also I used relaxation protocol, and the 2 hours asleep, 1 hour awake rule to get me through my work days in the beginning.

Here’s a link to my own puppy blues vent from over a year ago and so many people responded to help out. Their comments were way helpful.

Hang in there, and if it gets to be too much, rehoming is always an option that NO ONE should make you feel bad about.

https://www.reddit.com/comments/rwt...app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_content=2&utm_term=15

 

[nikki1104]

@bitz The first several months involved a lot of crying, biting and frustration. She will grow up and you'll figure out how to handle her and things will get easier. Raising a puppy was the hardest thing I've ever done and truly didn't understand why no one ever talked about how hard it was. Being on the other side (mostly, he's 10 months now) I get it. Those months are so hard but they're such a short amount of time in the dog's life. It can feel never ending when you're in it but you will get through it.

 

[ohumhithere]

@bitz i have a mini schnauzer puppy and he’s doing everything you describe! it’s hard. my husband found making him nap more helped during the day and his behavior, but we still have that witching hour where he’s super bitey in the evening. we tire him out with smelling walks (where we hold him since he’s not fully vaccinated), snuffle mat and i bought a puzzle to try! stick with it - the term puppy blues exists for a reason!

 

[bitz]

@ohumhithere I've never heard of a smelling walk - you just carry the dog and take them to smell things? We'll give it a try!