Hello all,
My pup Summer is turning 1 soon, so I wanted to share some stuff I've learned and, in some cases, that I wish I had known when I first got him. Of course these are only my personal reflections, I am not a licensed trainer or animal care professional.
First some general puppy things. Summer is a lab mix, when I got him last May he was a 9 week old 19 lb potato. The rescue org estimated he'd be about 50 lbs fully grown. Now he's an 80+ lb monster and built like a defensive end.
Here are the biggest things I've learned:
1. Puppies are expensive as hell! You probably plan for a bunch of expenses (vet bills, food, toys, treats). But there's so much more you might not have planned for, such as:
3. You won't sleep a lot for a while. Summer started sleeping through the night (meaning 4-5 consecutive hours) after about a month, but he still wakes me up at 6am on the dot every day no matter what. Went to bed late? Fuck you, feed me. Hungover? Fuck you, feed me. Got a cold? Fuck you, feed me. It's 21 degrees outside and snowing sideways? Fuck you, feed me and let's go play in the snow. Fortunately I have not gotten Covid (that I know of) so I've been able to adhere to his schedule.
4. Training takes time and patience and you'll get frustrated a lot. Those videos from Zak George and whoever else are great for teaching the methods, but they are not the slightest bit realistic. Your puppy will not learn a command after 4 minutes. He/she won't understand your cues on the third try. It'll take days, weeks, maybe months. And then they'll hit adolescence around 6-7 months and you'll have to start from scratch. I got a training app, I would recommend it if you can afford it because training is super expensive. I've found it helpful just to have someone to get personalized advice from.
5. Give your puppy the right amount of exercise. I've been working from home and live in a small 1br apartment and was always worried I wouldn't have enough space for a dog. We go on a long walk or to the park in the morning and a long walk in the evening, but between 10am - 5pm he sleeps. He's always there for a cuddle if I want a break, and he's down for a quick mid-afternoon walk, but tiring him out so he doesn't get midday zoomies has saved my sanity. Especially when they're really young, make sure you don't over tire them because it paradoxically makes them even more excited.
6. Dogs are unpredictable, but dog owners can be even more unpredictable. Especially if you have a big dog, be careful with your dog around others. It's not fair, but big dogs are held to a higher standard of behavior than small ones. I had an incident at the park during off leash hours where another dog ran up to Summer as we were playing fetch and Summer snapped at the other dog to back off. He didn't hurt her, he didn't even make contact, but the other owner freaked out, ran up, and kicked the shit out of Summer multiple times. Summer didn't even notice and just smiled stupidly as I yelled my head off at the lady (and she yelled back, because apparently the largest park in Brooklyn belongs only to her and her dog). Everyone is protective, but not everyone is understanding.
7. Young puppies eat anything and everything off the sidewalk. This is normal, and it is disgusting, especially if you live in the city. Those first few months were quite the adventure. Some choice things Summer ate off the sidewalk or that I pried out of his face hole:
And I would do it all again. I love him more than anything. He's my best friend and he's the best dog in the world.
Edit: a few additional points since they've come up a bunch in the comments:
My pup Summer is turning 1 soon, so I wanted to share some stuff I've learned and, in some cases, that I wish I had known when I first got him. Of course these are only my personal reflections, I am not a licensed trainer or animal care professional.
First some general puppy things. Summer is a lab mix, when I got him last May he was a 9 week old 19 lb potato. The rescue org estimated he'd be about 50 lbs fully grown. Now he's an 80+ lb monster and built like a defensive end.
Here are the biggest things I've learned:
1. Puppies are expensive as hell! You probably plan for a bunch of expenses (vet bills, food, toys, treats). But there's so much more you might not have planned for, such as:
- Training ($100+/session, even remote)
- Pee pads ($25/box, I probably went through 20 boxes because I have no yard)
- Various chews (bones/bully sticks/antlers)
- Replacement crate, harnesses, and collars that he outgrew
- Cleaning supplies...so many cleaning supplies
- Chewed furniture legs (ugh) and random crap he broke like dishes and houseplants
3. You won't sleep a lot for a while. Summer started sleeping through the night (meaning 4-5 consecutive hours) after about a month, but he still wakes me up at 6am on the dot every day no matter what. Went to bed late? Fuck you, feed me. Hungover? Fuck you, feed me. Got a cold? Fuck you, feed me. It's 21 degrees outside and snowing sideways? Fuck you, feed me and let's go play in the snow. Fortunately I have not gotten Covid (that I know of) so I've been able to adhere to his schedule.
4. Training takes time and patience and you'll get frustrated a lot. Those videos from Zak George and whoever else are great for teaching the methods, but they are not the slightest bit realistic. Your puppy will not learn a command after 4 minutes. He/she won't understand your cues on the third try. It'll take days, weeks, maybe months. And then they'll hit adolescence around 6-7 months and you'll have to start from scratch. I got a training app, I would recommend it if you can afford it because training is super expensive. I've found it helpful just to have someone to get personalized advice from.
5. Give your puppy the right amount of exercise. I've been working from home and live in a small 1br apartment and was always worried I wouldn't have enough space for a dog. We go on a long walk or to the park in the morning and a long walk in the evening, but between 10am - 5pm he sleeps. He's always there for a cuddle if I want a break, and he's down for a quick mid-afternoon walk, but tiring him out so he doesn't get midday zoomies has saved my sanity. Especially when they're really young, make sure you don't over tire them because it paradoxically makes them even more excited.
6. Dogs are unpredictable, but dog owners can be even more unpredictable. Especially if you have a big dog, be careful with your dog around others. It's not fair, but big dogs are held to a higher standard of behavior than small ones. I had an incident at the park during off leash hours where another dog ran up to Summer as we were playing fetch and Summer snapped at the other dog to back off. He didn't hurt her, he didn't even make contact, but the other owner freaked out, ran up, and kicked the shit out of Summer multiple times. Summer didn't even notice and just smiled stupidly as I yelled my head off at the lady (and she yelled back, because apparently the largest park in Brooklyn belongs only to her and her dog). Everyone is protective, but not everyone is understanding.
7. Young puppies eat anything and everything off the sidewalk. This is normal, and it is disgusting, especially if you live in the city. Those first few months were quite the adventure. Some choice things Summer ate off the sidewalk or that I pried out of his face hole:
- Cigarettes
- 10 billion chicken bones
- Dead mice/rats/birds
- A used(?) condom
- A used(!) tampon
- A used diaper (seriously wtf people)
- Various animal excrement, especially horse and goose poop
- Chocolate cake
- Plastic gloves
- Countless masks
- Buy a lot of crappy towels from Target. You will use them.
- Enforced naps and mandatory crate time are your friends. Train a "go to your crate" command. Every time he went in the crate, either willingly or when I had to pick him up and stuff him in, I said "kennel" and gave him a treat. It was the first command he mastered and he loves his crate.
- Your puppy will cock block you. Oh sure, it's cute when they get jealous of you cuddling with another human, but that shit gets old after 30 seconds. Daddy needs his adult time with his lady friend. Nothing kills the mood faster than a puppy whining loudly from his crate in the next room.
- Get your dog used to being touched all over. It makes grooming easier, as well as putting stuff like boots or a raincoat on him.
- Get your dog used to loud noises. Summer grew up when there were nonstop sirens/helicopters/fireworks/protests last summer, so nothing fazes him. But as soon as there's a siren or loud bang outside (happens 5x a day), all the other dogs in my building start barking.
- Walking your dog in the rain sucks. Cleaning a diarrhea stain out of the carpet because you dawdled hoping the rain would slow down sucks so much more.
And I would do it all again. I love him more than anything. He's my best friend and he's the best dog in the world.
Edit: a few additional points since they've come up a bunch in the comments:
- I use GoodPup as the training app. It's $30/week, I'm happy to refer anyone.
- Summer gets approximately 90 mins to 2 hours of walks on weekdays. We've settled into about 45-90 mins in the morning (depending if I meet a friend or not), and 45-60 minutes in the evenings. He gets walks no matter the weather because he loves bad weather and I've just learned to deal with it.
- I never really had an enclosed pen because he was too big and my apartment was too small, but I used a pen gate as a room divider til he was about 4 months. I moved apartments in July and the new apartment just isn't set up for it, so he's had free roam of the apartment since then.
, I’ve lost so many opportunities connecting (Romantically or friendship wise) with people at dog parks/walks/events because my puppy wants to act a fool. The ONE time I met a hot, super nice, single guy at the dog park with two beautiful Boston terriers my pup decided that he didn’t like his male Boston 
That was the first and only time my dog didn’t get along with another dog, I was so peeved, but we left because my puppy was obviously not having a good time and acting irregular. Fast forward an hour later after a walk, I decided to give the dog park another shot and it works out perfectly, ironically with another Boston and a mini Aussie. The only friend we’ve made so far is an elderly lady and her massive Rottweiler mix, haha.
. I love your dog