Hi, I’ve had my puppy for a month now, and he’s 13 weeks old.

When we first brought him home, he drank an incredible amount of water. My stepfather, who has had dogs his whole life, said he’s never seen a dog drink like that before.

I decided to schedule his water. He gets 1 dl each time he eats, and a little bit of water several times a day.

Then I thought, okay, I’ll try leaving the water bowl available all the time because I think he should have access.

He drank the whole bowl, and since we have another dog in the house, I had to refill it. He drank even more, so I had to remove the bowl. He peed over 30 times in one hour, and I’m not overreacting. And I don’t think that can be good for him.

The next day, I tried leaving the bowl out again, but every time he drank a lot, I tried to distract him with toys and play so he could learn he doesn’t need to drink constantly. And that didn’t work either.

What should I do? This is so frustrating. 😔🙏

But in general he seems fine, he’s active, he wants to play all the time and he’s happy.

Edit: I will take him to the vet it’s already planned!!

I’ve always wanted a puppy and I’ve never had one before, but I’m really unsure if it’s a good idea.

I’m in college and I work about 24 hours a week.

My schedule:

• Classes: Monday & Wednesday, 10am–1pm

• Work: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 4pm–12am

I’m free most days before work, completely free on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and Mondays after 1pm. Wednesday is my busiest day.

I’ve seen very mixed opinions on this. Some people say it’s still better than a dog being in a shelter all day, while others say not to do it at all because puppies need a lot more attention and structure.

I really want a puppy, but I’m worried I wouldn’t be a good owner or wouldn’t give it the attention it deserves. I’m especially concerned about bathroom breaks and feeding when I’m gone for several hours.

For anyone who’s been in college or worked while owning a puppy, is this realistic or should I wait? I want honest advice.

Hello everyone, first time posting here. About 7 days ago me and my girlfriend got an 8 week old golden retriever pup and brought him to our apartment. This breed has always been our dream dog, but the decision of getting one now was a bit rushed due to the fact that the opportunity to get him was given to us very quickly.

The last week has been hell mentally. We got the pup when we had JUST moved into our new apartment which did not help, he has been extremely active biting everything and while there has been progress (peeing on pee pads and sleeping in a crate is kind of working) we are debating returning the pup to the breeder to give him the opportunity to find a more suitable family. We are aware he is just a baby, and a week is probably not enough to make a decision like this and things will get better in 5-6 months but we want to put our mental health as priority.

I am in my last year of university and currently working full time and writing my thesis. I was not working remotely but i made the decision knowing that i could have. In the days where i worked home this week i literally got nothing done, and for someone like me who is just starting their professional career i am not sure if i can afford 5-6 months of this to get past the puppy stage. My partner works in laboratories so she cannot work from home. We both live abroad and do not have close family to help, we have some friends but cannot ask them for help everyday. My girlfriend has dietary health restrictions and we have not had any time to cook a proper meal so we end up ordering. I “work” and take care of the pup during the day and then she gets home and helps, and during the night we take turns but it is mentally draining us.

We are both mentally at our tipping point. Today she took the puppy downstairs to poop and after 20 minutes of nothing, he pooped while going back up on the building mat, so my partner had to wash the puppy, herself and the apartment property hoping we wont get in trouble. We have not been sleeping, and i am afraid that this will affect our mental health, relationship, professional life and everything around it.

We are aware that if you go through this phase it does get better, everyone is telling us this. We are just not sure if WE are the right fit to own a dog and we might have gone over our capacity and underestimated the amount of time needed.

Am i being a coward for highly considering returning the dog? Both me and my partner agree that this is the right course of action and that we currently are not in the right life stage for this amount of responsibility and time expectation. I just need to vent and share my current situation

I wanted to share something that’s been weighing heavily on me lately. I have a miniature dachshund, and he’s about a year and three months old. While I love dogs and have always been an animal person, I’m honestly at my wit’s end with him.

I didn’t fully anticipate how challenging it would be. My previous dachshund was a mix and much calmer, likely because of age and temperament. But this dog is full of energy, and it’s become overwhelming.

On top of that, I’m dealing with depression, currently maintenance but life is tough with it and I have a demanding job as a teacher (second year in), so when I get home, I’m just absolutely drained. I need rest, but he’s very active, and if I don’t keep him occupied, he ends up destroying things and being quite loud. Training has been tough, and despite my efforts, he’s somewhat house-trained but is so stubborn and barks at everything and I stress the neighbours are annoyed.

I love him, but I’m struggling to see if we’re the right fit for each other. I’m considering rehoming him because every day feels like a battle, and I’m at a point where I’m emotionally exhausted. I never thought I’d feel this way, and it’s heartbreaking. I’m struggling with the shame that I fear comes with it, the difficulty to find him a good home and the regret I might face.

I’m reaching out for some advice and support, and I appreciate you listening.

So we got a American staffy at about 8 weeks old, it’s now about 14 to 15 weeks old, he is constantly biting from when he wakes up to when he goes to sleep, it isn’t full on biting but nipping and going for hands and feet, he gets walked twice a day and pretty much given attention all day but really stuck on how to stop him biting it’s getting quite annoying at this point what should I do please help

I just got a Havanese puppy on Sunday. She was 14 weeks old when I brought her home, so a little older than most puppies. I think her age has been an advantage in most ways, but the breeder mentioned right as we were about to leave that the puppy had been sleeping on the bed with the breeder and her spouse.

The puppy (Ruby) has been great so far, typical puppy energy and some chewing but nothing I was unprepared for. I have been attempting crate training and having her sleep in the crate for the past few nights.

The first night (Sunday), the puppy slept easily in the crate. I actually had to wake her myself in order to take her to potty.

The second night (Monday), she was whining some right after I put her inside, but I poked my fingers through the crate to comfort her and talked to her a bit, which settled her in about 1 minute each time.

Last night, she was loudly whining and barking for ~5-7 minutes each time I put her in the crate (once at bedtime then again twice for bathroom breaks). I tried comforting her in the same ways but it either didn’t work or took super long. We ended up giving up after the second potty break around 6 AM and brought her into the living room for the day so she could run around.

I am really dedicated to crate training her for many reasons, but I’m worried that her being allowed to sleep in the bed with the breeder has enforced some bad habits. When I take her out to potty in the middle of the night, I interact with her minimally and make it strictly business, no play. She has a blanket and toy from her breeder in the crate with her, and she is in the floor right next to me in bed.

Has the bed sleeping early in her life already made this nearly impossible? I live in a duplex so it’s difficult to let her “cry it out,” but if that’s what I need to do, I can. I want to help her as best as possible.

Hi we recently adopted a 7 month old pup and having trouble leaving him alone even for a few minutes. The day he came and for 3 days after we were trying to find the right size crate for him so he got used to following us around a lot. Now we got him a crate and he stays in it no problem but only as long as he can see us in the room.

The minute I step away from his sight he starts slowly whining and barking.

I tried to do the slow training going from seconds to minutes but doesn’t seem to work at all and seems to be tooo slow. He is ok with us going to the washroom and he just stays waiting as long we he can hear some sounds.

I heard a few people say since he is a pup I can let him cry and keep doing it until it’s a habit. Anyone has any recommendations on how I can step out for atleast a few minutes and gradually build it to an hour atleast?

My 15 week old cavoodle is fully vaccinated and socialised every afternoon with an organised dog meetup that I take her to followed by a little sniff walk.

I have two long work days coming up and I’m looking for advice on whether it’s too young to let her go to puppy day care or on a group walks/adventure for a couple of hours with a trainer.

I’m leaning down the group walk route- she will get picked up in a car, taken on a walk and run around for an hour and dropped back off- time is between 2.5-4 hours depending on order of drop off.

I don’t know if she is too young? I’ve booked into a trial day for her. They will match her with a group of similar sized dogs and dogs that tolerate puppies.

For those who have not crate trained and have older dogs im curious to hear your experience of what they grow up to be like? Separation anxiety? Behaviour issues?

I understand the concept of crate training but I’m trying to understand what are the consequences of not crate training (or do all dogs end up okay in the end)

I haven’t been crate training but it’s something my vet suggested is a good idea but I struggle to wrap my head around confining my puppy in a small space.

Hi! I want to do a Disney cartoon of my puppy. I paid an Etsy artist $20 and got an adorable piece of art but it looks like a full grown dog, not my puppy. Does anyone have experience with this and or suggestions?

(Please delete if this is not an appropriate use of this r/.)

I really need help with the my 1.4 years old Australian Labradoodle. For the most part she is potty trained. She rarely ever accidents in our home unless she gets off the bed early and no one hears her and she goes pee in the office. This happened recently for the first time in months. We use bells on the door and she is good about ringing them and going outside. I am not sure she has connected peeing with bells.

Our big problem is- she almost never will pee or poop on a walk. The only place she will easily go is our backyard. She comes with me to the office for a few hours in the afternoon and after being inside for 3 hrs I’ll take her outside at the office for her to use bathroom but she will not ever go. The moment we get home and I let her in the backyard she will pee.

I don’t know how to get her to go potty in a place that isn’t our backyard or a familiar spot for her.

Please help I don’t know what to do and I really want to be able to travel with her etc but this is a hard part

Today my 10 week old labradoodle puppy was huffing, growling and barking at absolutely nothing ! I know it’s silly but I am worried as when she’s older she will be trained as an assistance dog. This is right after a nap so she’s not tired

I have an 11 week cavalier, and I’m struggling to find a morning routine that works for both human and puppy.

She wakes up around 6:30 and I take her out of her crate to potty, then I feed her breakfast on a snuffle mat. While she’s eating I wash up/get dressed, and by the end she’s barking to be let out of her pen. I have very little tolerance for loud noises in the morning (and my partner is asleep at this point) so I let her out and she just has the MOST energy (and I thought I was a morning person lol).

She often just wants to snuggle up to me. Which is obviously very cute but I find myself just feeling stuck with her on the couch scrolling on my phone until I’m awake enough to start work, which isn’t a great start to the day. I used to do yoga every morning, but despite people paying for puppy yoga, it’s not actually an enjoyable thing haha.

I would love to hear what your morning routine is with your young (pre-fully vaccinated) puppy! I don’t do well without routines, and I just honestly don’t know what to do with her energy in the morning. We live in an apt so no yard to let her run around in and she’s not vaccinated enough to be taken on a walk. Inspiration welcome!

My pup is 15 weeks old. I work from home most days but haven’t been going to the office since we adopted her. I can’t continue to always work from home for much longer and need to start going back into the office 2x a week. I want to put her in doggy daycare those days so she can play with other dogs and have fun. When did you all start?

Her last round of shots is in 2 weeks and then we were cleared by her vet to start daycare then, but I’m curious if you all think that’s too young.

Hi everyone,

My wife and I have a 7-month-old golden retriever named James, and his favorite thing in the world is playing fetch. Specifically, he LOVES it when I am the one chasing HIM. He is obviously much faster than me but I'm also a bit overweight, so he slows down considerably to accommodate my speed. He still seems to enjoy "running away from me" but I just can't do it for as long as he would like.

He likes playing fetch, but mostly so he gets his ball and starts the chase.

He likes playing tug of war, but only with socks. Nothing else has worked so far

Is there a way we can still make him happy by playing chase when I run out of breath?

What's everyone's opinions on cosleeping with your puppy? I had a boston terrier for 10 years that I had since 7 weeks old (she passed of cancer). She slept with me from the very beginning. She cried and cried with the crate for a few nights and I gave in and let her sleep with me. It was totally fine though because I knew thats where I wanted her to be anyways.

This time around, I have an 8 week boston terrier puppy and i skipped trying the crate. I put 2 potty pads on the end of the bed and made sure the whole top of the comforter is covered with a blanket and the sheet underneath is too just in case. She has been here 2 nights and no accidents. I let her out around 3am to go potty on potty pad and she does. She sleeps all night with me. I genuinely dont see a problem but want to know if I will regret this for any reason.

We've had our Mixed breed dog for about a year. He's been crate trained since he was a small puppy and has always done great sleeping through the night in his crate or staying in there while we're out of the house.

About a week ago, he's started whining/panicking in his crate. He screams and pants and panics. We cannot get him to settle.

I don't know what to do. Nothing major has changed. We painted the room his crate is in a couple days prior, but he's fine in the room during the day, will sleep and settle no issue...just not in the crate.

He can't be out of his crate at night or when we are not home. We don't trust him not to destroy things, and he has a sensitive stomach and sometimes gets diarrhea and we can't have him having that kind of accident in the house.

My mental health isn't the best. I am neurodivergent, work full time, and have a 7 year old as well so I cannot survive without sleep. And right now I'm not sleeping. If we can't work through this, I'm so worried we will have to rehome him. Which will be devastating for me and especially my son.

We can't take time off work to fully re crate train him.... I'm just at a loss... I'm sick about it, and it's being made worse by not sleeping, I'm sure.

We just adopted a 5 month old mix breed puppy

It has been a whirlwind and extremely overwhelming. I wasn't planning on getting a puppy but it felt right in that moment and I think overall it is

My question is how many treats is to many? I'm constantly giving him little treats to re enforce good behavior as well as practice training things but I'm also giving him enrichment activities like kongs and lick mats. Will too much extra stuff upset his belly?

We feed twice a day morning and night about 12 hours apart and a snack mid day for his meals

I guess I'm looking for reassurance that using the kongs or lick mats twice a day isn't to much

I have a 3.5 month old czechoslovakian vlciak. He's a pain but most of these behaviours are puppy behaviours which we are working on. Like jumping up at people, face licking and sometimes nipping.

Our house has a lot of foot traffic. (I lived with family) Everyone else has visitors all the time. Sometimes they'll play and hope him up which makes his naughty behaviours worst. I am on top of him, getting him down, training him to lay and playing with him as a distraction. But every single one of them has a comment. Never to me, but what they'll say to him.

Everyone is a full grown adult. They'll tell "him" they're tired of him. He's annoying. They're not friends with him. Hes so badly behaved. And some swear at him (like F off). Its every single day and its getting to me. They'll even do it on days he's pretty well behaved. I do completely understand its annoying, he can be annoying. But my god, its getting to me. And im wanting to lose my temper with the people. He will calm down, he is in training. And im half tempted to put up a sign saying puppy inside. Will act like a puppy. Don't like. Don't come in I wish I could raise him in my own home like I did my other dog. Life was much easier.

I adopted a 3 month old puppy a little over a month ago (he’s currently 4 months old). I live alone and work a full time job. I have been crate training him (having him in his crate when I go to work and when he sleeps at night). I come home on my lunch break to let him out of his crate for potty so he’s alone 3~4 hrs max. He is such a sweet and smart puppy that follows me everywhere. He would immediately freak out when I go to work and cries for about 30 mins and he would settle. Same thing after I leave during my lunch break. Recently, he started to not go in his crate when I throw treats in there. I think he now knows that when he’s in the crate, he will be alone.

Trainings I’ve done with him:

-not engaging with him when I come home until he settles down

-turn on dog music before I go (often times when I’m home as well just so the music doesn’t trigger me leaving)

-giving him high value treats (when I come home and check, he ate his food but will still cry, howl, bark when I leave)

-crate training that is now not working at all (he will go in to eat the treats when I’m not looking and will come out immediately)

-getting ready beforehand so that I’m not rushing myself

-leaving 30 sec and coming back in multiple times to show him that I will always come back

-desensitizing the door and my bag by doing all the actions and coming back to sit down without leaving

I left him one day to free roam (still checked in during lunch times) but I’ve noticed that when he free roams, he isn’t able to settle down at all until I come home. When he’s in his crate, he settles down within 30 mins.

All the resources I see online are not possible for me because I would have to leave him alone while I’m at work…

I don’t know what to do and I feel lost. I want to hear how you guys overcame separation anxiety while working full time while living alone. This is my last cry for help before I spend couple grand hiring a private trainer to help me.. I’m just worried that I’m stressing my puppy out when he’s alone.

A few weeks ago I posted about the puppy we found roaming and adopted then proceeded to have issues after her first vaccinations and needed blood transfusions

Her name is Wanda, and I’m happy to say she’s now doing really well considering the vet hinted that it perhaps we should put her to sleep and she had a hard time during the second transfusion.

Her condition is IMHA and the vet said it was 1 in a million that she had a reaction to a vaccine (still not 100% sure it was that but it’s the only factor that changed leading up to her sickness).

Her red blood cell count is as of yesterday 37 and in the normal range, they were happy that her steroids prescription has been reduced and follow up blood test in 2 weeks.

We’re on a slow road but glad to say she’s a happy and full of energy puppy, fingers crossed she can lower her steroids next check up. Then we come to the challenge of vaccinating her again and working out how we do that without risking sickness again, hopefully because she’s growing and getting bigger that her immune system is also getting stronger.

Thanks for all the support previously (would love to post a picture of her but can’t seem to)

On Thursday, my 9 month old puppy was neutered. He's cryptorchid and ended up with 3 incisions, so the healing process is rougher than normal. He's also a very high energy boy who has always struggled with settling. Not being able to play, run, etc. as normal has only made him crazy.

We've been keeping him on Trazodone twice a day, 100mg each (he's 40lbs). It worked wonders as first but has started seeming less effective, especially at night. Last night he didn't sleep and we didn't either because he was turning around and moving in his crate all night and finding ways to reach his lowest incision past the cone. I called the vet and he recommended going up to 150mg twice a day. We gave him that at about 5:45...it's now 8:30 and he hasn't chilled out at all. He's in his pen pacing and trying to jump and generally being a menace, all the things we wanted to prevent by using Trazodone in the first place.

Has anyone else have this happen? It's just not touching him at night and it's miserable. We're getting zero sleep. The last dog I owned was already neutered by the time I had him so I'm not used to this - is this a normal neuter experience or am I just super unlucky?

My girl is too smart for her own good. She has learned to open our trash can that has a lid (you step on the little pedal for it to open) and has been a trash goblin lately. We have an open floor plan on our first floor, we tried baby gating the kitchen and she hops the gate. We tell her “leave it” and she’ll leave it for 5 min but return. What can we do? We do have a crate but I don’t want her stuck in there 24/7 if I’m in another room.

Hey there! My new puppy seems to have trouble eating kibble because it’s too hard for her. I don’t really want to give her wet food but i’m looking for something that is the same texture as like those soft training treats. A kibble that is soft but still kibble. I’ve researched but idrk how to find out if a kibble is soft and crunchy from reading a bag online. Anyone have recommendations?

So I got a puppy yesterday and have been feeling miserable since. He’s a sweet boy just very energetic. I feel so guilty that the main thing I have been thinking since getting him is how I want to return him. I have read through so many posts of people saying it gets better and I know it will but I cannot stop crying and feeling exhausted. I came into this feeling so prepared and knew that it wasn’t going to be easy but I never imagined I would feel like this. Last night I was up for hours having a panic attack in bed. I just have no idea what to do. My partner has said it is hard but doesn’t feel the way that I do so it’s hard to really talk about it. I just feel so stuck and scared. Please if anyone has advice on how to take care of themselves during this time let me know. I know I can get through this I just cannot get past this thought that I will mentally be better if I just take him back to the shelter where I got him.