My puppy turned 6 months old yesterday- here’s what I wish I could tell myself when he first came home!

[dazm4n]

@vanderdeken It's tough. Today my 14 week old chose chaos immediately out of the crate this morning. He wouldn't stop squirming while I put on his harness then picking him up to carry to the car he decided he had to bite me really hard the whole time; then as I attached his seatbelt, he was biting the whole time. I just wanted to shove his face away and hold him down and just get these things done. Then from the car to the parents house he's squirming and biting the hand holding him and I wanted to just spike him to the ground (okay not even remotely, but you know).

Then as soon as I break out the yogurt and begin to fill the Kong ball...perfect angel. Which is frustrating in it's own way, because it only shows he knows what good behavior is.

Enforced naps keep me sane.

 

[kayla232323]

@vanderdeken As someone who also had a really hard puppy, I appreciate this. My puppy was cute as hell, but never did anything cute. He never acted like an adorable 'OMG I need to get a picture of that puppy'. He was a monster out the gate and it was 4 months of torture. He was wiggly, never cuddled, bit me so much I never wanted to go near him, and he stopped around my house like an Emo Tween. He wouldn't listen. Was hell on 4 legs in every puppy class. I was miserable and really felt shorted that I never got the cute puppy moments. Sometimes, I still feel like I missed out, but honestly, my dog was pretty great after 6 months. He was quick to potty train and never chewed on anything in the house, well, except me.

My guys an adult now, but he never lost his puppy looks, so although he never wiggled around and did cute things, he's my forever baby face. Plus, getting him in Dec 2019, he was welcome company when the universe knew I needed it the most.

 

[sarahfisher]

@vanderdeken I hope you’re right about the biting lol My little girl is about 14 weeks and she still keeps biting, I really hope it gets better, I’ve been consistent with ignoring her every time she does it. She’s never done it so hard it draws blood but her needle teeth still hurt. I’m so worried it will continue when she’s an adult. It feels like there’s no end to it.

 

[evangelistvinay]

@sarahfisher I swear, they are vampires

 

[vanderdeken]

@sarahfisher Trust me I felt the same way!! But one day you’ll look back and realize how short that biting phase really was!!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@vanderdeken “He doesn’t have a UTI, he’s just an asshole”!!! How are you in my brain? I literally just called my mom last night saying my 5 month old wants to pee every hour but holds it through the night, so does he have a UTI, I don’t think so, but... etc etc. This was very reassuring to read.

 

[beamer]

@vanderdeken I second all of this! Our pup was also a little energy monster that had no chill. Couldn't touch him without being bitten! But at 6 months he's turning into literally my favorite dog ever. Suddenly a cuddle machine. People literally stop on the street and say 'wow, what a nice dog' when he walks by.

I really didn't believe people that I would ever have a good dog.... But it does happen!

 

[vanderdeken]

@beamer I know!! I used to think I’d NEVER be able to cuddle with my guy because I couldn’t even pet his head without getting a cut on my hand. But now we have morning snuggles on the couch everyday! Validation from strangers can be so amazing too omg, the other day a lady pulled over and rolled down her window just to ask what breed my dog was because he’s so “cute and well trained.” Literally all my dreams are coming true and the crazy baby puppy era was.... mostly worth it.

 

[peterjinyi]

@vanderdeken This is so good. I'm ESPECIALLY jealous of separation training here. We've struggled deeply with this; my puppy is now almost a year and doing great in every other respect but that. He has free roam and now can be alone for up to 30 minutes, but he isn't really chilling for those 30 minutes, just kinda waiting, seemingly, for us to come home. If you have any tips....

 

[vanderdeken]

@peterjinyi Personally, what I feel helped my puppy be able to relax while alone was his separation training in the crate.. He knew crate was a relax/sleep area and didn’t have much to do in it so when we’d leave he’d really have no choice but to chill out or sleep.. Maybe going back to basics and seeing how he does while alone in a crate (like if he’s anxious/alert or falls asleep) may help?

 

[johonchezi]

@vanderdeken Do you mind elaborating more on 4&5? & Have suggestions for those in the struggle?

This is a great post. Where's your puppy tax?!

 

[vanderdeken]

@johonchezi 4- enforced naps are pretty much having to force your pup to nap usually by putting them in a crate. We did it on a one hour up, two hour down schedule for a while, and we had to do this because my pup would absolutely not settle down outside of his crate and be a complete menace instead. However, this may not be necessary for you if your pup self settles!! Personally it gave me and the pup some time to relax and regroup but I did feel bad with him in the crate so often. Looking back though, I shouldn’t have felt bad because he self settles amazingly now and is great )

5- ahaha to be completely honest I’m not sure how to elaborate on this!! I would just say be sureto work on separation training early rather than later on a week before you have to go back to work. Since we’re all at home rn it may not seem necessary but we’ll be back into a normal schedule hopefully sooner or later and my puppy has no separation anxiety now due to the training I did when he was younger.

Thanks! I’ll edit my post with puppy tax )

 

[andrew33]

@vanderdeken Thanks for sharing this post. It makes me feel better about my little pup.

 

[neogenesis92]

@vanderdeken Time does fly by. Do like with infants a photo each month with something to gauge size by.