I’m two weeks in and I think I’m beyond the puppy blues at this point. I don’t think I can do this

[thejazzywriter]

@rubesrubio She does, but the trainer advised against letting her continue to do that because we don’t want her to rely on me to go to sleep. Instead, to try to enforce naps, I will turn the lights off and turn on music so she knows it’s time to relax, after making sure she’s had plenty of exercise. Then we put her in the crate once she’s asleep, and 75% of the time she’ll go to sleep and is okay until she wakes up and we let her out before she starts crying.

But there are days, like today in particular, where there is just no way to calm her down. She woke up at 6, we did our typical routine, I tried to put her down at 7:20, and it just wasn’t working and she was getting more and more overtired. Didn’t end up getting her down until 11:30, and even at that point it was still a struggle to get her to stay in the crate.

The times she’s asleep are the only times I can do anything for myself, but she rarely sleeps for over an hour and then we end up repeating the cycle again. Those are the only times I have to myself, and they’re usually spent working.

 

[adislov]

@thejazzywriter Hey it will probably get better but it sounds like your puppy is trickier than average so it will probably be harder for longer than most dogs. There’s nothing wrong with giving her back if that’s affecting you more than expected. Crying for hours a day and crying at work are definitely not normal symptoms of puppy blues, we even have a pretty tricky pup but definitely didn’t deal with that.

 

[thejazzywriter]

@adislov Thanks. Super hard decision to make, it feels impossible to decide without knowing what the right choice is here. I want to wait it out, but it’s more a question of CAN I wait it out at this point. Sigh. Thankfully my coworkers are understanding, but makes it even worse that I’m breaking down crying in 1:1s with my reports as we’re trying to discuss their goals.

 

[adislov]

@thejazzywriter So glad you have understanding coworkers!

Is it possible at all for your partner to take 100% of puppy duty in the evening and you instead do all cooking/older dog stuff/etc? That might help you be able to contribute in a way that’s less emotionally tiring. Even if just for a few days could help you clear your head to make the decision.