#puppy blues

[blueboyluca]

It's been a hard road with you, little gem, but the future is bright and sparkling for us now. Happy first birthday, I love you so much.

I went digging in the dirt and found a shiny gem called Topaz.

[wyrddogs]

I know I keep saying this but I love my agility trainer. She's so solutions-oriented and so experienced with nutty high-drive dogs. Last night we had a talk that basically boiled down to

No, you are not Ruining Him.

He's acting Like This because he is an eight-month-old intact male from a breed selected to be high energy, high drive, and Aware of the environment.

He's doing a lot of normal puppy shit, it just seems overwhelming because he's the size of a medium-sized elephant. When a small dog like Kermit acts like an idiot all you have to do is pick them up. When a dog like Zaku acts like an idiot it's like being leashed to a pickup truck with the speed and tenacity of a guided missile.

He will be an extremely lovely adult dog.

The prey drive will need to be managed his entire life, but when maturity hits he'll have impulse control and it will be very workable.

She had us do a little exercise that he excelled at and she was like, 'See? He's great in an area with no distractions.'

So it will be okay.

[morelikecloudsthanconcrete]

I have the puppy blues so fucking bad. I’ve been asking everyone for advice about raising her because I don’t remember what to do with a puppy, it’s been over 10 years since I had a puppy and they were family dogs, not just mine. I still live with my parents and they’re willing to help but I can’t help feeling like I’ve made a huge mistake. It’s only been 3 days and I know it’ll get better but dude, this fucking sucks.

[eqan]

.

[ambrosia-sdit]

it’s been a long week. camp ended a week ago today and that means brosia and i have been living in our new apartment since saturday. i think in general she struggles with change (who doesnt?) but i just wish she didnt express those struggles by barking.

we have two roommates in this apartment, one who she knows decently and who loves her, and another who isnt a huge dog person. the former has been at his parents house the last week, and probably will be there next week as well. the latter doesnt like to interact much with brosia, but (unintentionally) scares the crap out of her whenever she comes into a room.

the worst part is, the nervousness seems to be getting worse! we went through this when we moved into college, and our trainer experienced it the first few weeks she was there as well, so i really do think this is just initial nervousness about a new place, but omg it’s so frustrating to deal with.

on the bright side, we went to cvs yesterday (she had been pretty good all day and i had no concerns about her behavior in a public place) and she did so good!! i needed new batteries for my tv remote, and brosia was a pro in the store. even when a little kid ran very close to her screaming about the cute puppy, all she did was look up at me for her treat, which i was happy to give. her biggest mistake was getting a little too sniffy around the candy at checkout, but honestly, if that was the biggest issue, i’ll happily take it.

i start working full time in about two weeks, so that means i have two more weeks to train her to be alright with extended crate time alone. she’s already done a few four hour stints with me nearby, so it’s really just a matter of having me be further away at this point. i’m hoping my roommate who likes her will help settle her if she acts up when he’s not in class. wish us luck, i think we’re going to need it

[acespacedweller]

Kinda personal but anyone who has had puppy experience I could use some advice 😭

I've been a large part of raising a puppy before, but this dog slept with my mom instead of me. I have my own puppy now and he is going to be in my room at night. It's only day 2 but I am so exhausted. Every time I try to get into bed and keep him on the floor (caged in or not) he cries and cries.

Everywhere I've looked says you shouldn't let your puppy on the bed, but my puppy is a bit older (15 weeks) and came to us pretty much potty trained. The only accidents he's had are when he's freaking out about me leaving him somewhere. Should I push through and try to keep him on the floor or save my sanity and set up a little corner for him on my bed?

[sighthounds-and-sketches]

RIP crate bed.

Oct 1st-Oct 13th

It looks like a build a bear in here.

[youkaiyume]

Surprise! Bluey's pupper has my whole heart! I think the Father is still up to interpretation, but I'd like to think it's Mackenzie. Anyway, couldn't resist cute Adult!Bluey and future family sketches!

[deadsetobsessions]

It’s been months since he’s settled into life at Wayne Manor. It’s hilarious that they don’t think he knows about their obvious nightlife (and that’s coming from someone whose hero name was just their last name spelled differently) but they don’t know anything about his own past as a vigilante. To be fair, a dimensionally displaced Ghost King wasn’t really on the board for reasonable guesses. Danny Fenton blinked innocently at Duke, blue eyes watery and oh-so-trusting of his adopted older brother when Duke claimed that his bruising came from getting caught in Ivy’s attack on the busses today.

(“Oh my god he’s so trusting and pure what the hell?” He heard Steph whisper to Dick, who nodded emphatically.)

“Oh man, you should get some rest. You guys are seriously unlucky, you know? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Danny asked Duke, his core trilling as he allowed himself to fuss over a member of his ‘fraid.

“Nah, man. I’m good. I think I’ll take a nap and sleep it off.”

“Okay. Oh, here!” Danny fumbled for his bag, grabbing his prescribed pain meds- for his chronic pain, but they don’t actually do anything for him since his ectoplasm burns away most of it- and handed it to Duke. “Take one, and only one. Those bruises look nasty.”

And then Danny gave him the puppy dog eyes and Duke folded, because Danny knew that he wasn’t supposed to hand his meds out but these situations were kind of the reason he claimed chronic pain to being with (even if it was true and his hands shook with aftershocks).

“Thanks, Danny. I feel like death warmed over.”

Danny laughed, the opportunity to mess with the family sparking in his head. “Yeah, I’ve died before. Wouldn’t recommend it.”

With that, Danny threw Duke an easy going smile and walked towards his room, bag on his back.

From his peripherals, Danny watched Jason drop his bowl of snacks, Dick’s pale face, and the concerned and shocked look of everyone else. Except Damian, who just kind of scowled thoughtfully. Tim looked like he was going to rip Danny apart like an interesting puzzle, Cass sat up straight (and he made sure every micro expression he caught on others stayed unconcerned on his own body), and Duke froze.

He snickered- well out of regular earshot- as whispers and whispered shouts rung out after he left the room.

He can’t wait to drop the “I know you’re vigilantes” bomb on them. It’ll be hilarious.

[anxietycalling]

look, i know that 9 months is a tough age for puppies but i am just so. over. goose's kicking thrashing tantrums. he won't listen while he's doing it, he thinks if he rolls on his back and thrashes he won't get in trouble bc he's being "cute"

maslow is sick of being a punching bag and so are we

dear god i hate puppy puberty so much. so much! i know this phase will pass but right now i'm regretting getting a second dog pretty much every day, and i feel like shit about it because he's so sweet, but it's also kind of like having a rescue on top of the puppy stuff bc his human mom was not good to these pups

with maslow at least i could hug him to calm him down, but human mom crated them way too much two to a crate so he flips out even worse if he thinks he's being confined. so it's just a genuine struggle to keep everyone safe during his several times a day tantrums because maslow thinks he shouldn't have to move since he's not the one being bad

i also just have concerns that goose is bonding to me more strongly than husband, which is bad because he was supposed to be service trained for husband

i constantly feel like i'm in over my head lately

[blueboyluca]

Topaz has now been on Prozac for six weeks and she's still doing so well. It feels like we've bonded more in this time than the previous 9 months. She is so much happier and looser in her overall behaviour and it means she plays more, snuggles more and wants physical touch more. She has no undercurrent of anxiety that keeps her frantic or paranoid.

She still lunges at other dogs if we are within a certain distance, but she vocalises a lot less. She has only reacted to a handful of people as opposed to seeming paranoid about everyone she passes. I haven't really tested her around children much yet, but she has been on two walks with my niece in the pram. At the end of one of the walks my niece got out of her pram and walked around and Topaz did really well.

Something else I've noticed is that she shakes off a lot more after stressful encounters or triggers. She didn't do that before on such a regular basis. It's a really obvious behaviour that shows to me that she is better able to relax. She also does a lot more looking up and smiling at me and engaging with me outside, but without the franticness. And she enjoys getting petted while outside if we stop somewhere.

Since she's been in heat the last two weeks we haven't been out to club for quite a while so I still need to observe any changes there. But I'm feeling really good about where she is, I think this was absolutely the right choice to improve her life.

[wyrddogs]

The puppy is only five months old. He's doing really well for a five month old. He has no brains because this is the "no brains" stage. It's fine. He's workable. I can work through this. Kermit was overall a more difficult puppy and he's turned out really well. It's fine. He'll be fine. I'll be fine.

It's fine.

[morelikecloudsthanconcrete]

Scout turned 5 months old the other day and people still think she’s a boy because of her name 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don’t really get puppy blues as much anymore, though I definitely do get frustrated with her now and then, but she’s a good girl overall. We’re still working on some things (like stealing socks or my sewing supplies) but we’ll get there eventually.

For anyone struggling with puppy blues, it does get better, and try not to beat yourself up over how you’re feeling now, puppies are hard work and this is a big change for you both. Please feel free to reach out to me if you’re struggling and want to talk. And thank you to everyone who helped me when I was struggling.

[myglassesareinkansas]

I have the puppy blues but this puppy isn’t even mine

[ambrosia-sdit]

well folks, it’s official. we’re in another fear period. everything scares her, all the time. her reactions had mostly stopped but they’re back in full swing, and this time, she’s got a very grown up sounding bark to go with it (never thought i’d miss puppy barks).

we went to my family’s campground for the first time this weekend. i know it isn’t super wise to introduce big new things during fear periods, but she generally does alright when my parents dog is there (which she was), and it was a holiday weekend, so everyone was going.

she generally had a pretty good time, and even got to meet a couple little kids! she was somewhat unsure of them, but the kids were very respectful and let her sniff and listened to me when i said she probably didn’t want pets right then. we also worked on dog neutrality this weekend, since the campground is *full* of other dogs. in general, she is doing fantastic with this! her excitement over other dogs is the only reason we haven’t graduated to non pet friendly public access training yet (i don’t want to be That Guy distracting another sd team), but we were able to walk past multiple dogs with little more than a whine, so i’m feeling very optimistic on that front as well.

however. yesterday afternoon, we were sitting on the screen porch without my parents dog, and she was barking and howling at literally freaking everything. even after i went and got some treats to play engage/disengage, she kept reacting. i find her barking to be very triggering (still not sure why but i literally can’t handle it for more than 5 seconds) so i left her on the porch and went inside to collect myself. here’s the most frustrating part: when i went inside, she stopped barking entirely. she paced for a few minutes, and then laid down and settled.

i can’t help but feel like i’m the cause of her reactions in moments like these, and i’m honestly not sure what to do about it. our trainer says the best thing we can do when she reacts is to turn around and walk the other way, but how do we do that when we’re just sitting at home? we had some good wins this weekend so i’m trying really hard to focus on that, but ugh, this fear period is getting me down

[diary-and-thoughts-of-me]

4.5.2023//20:53

🩷🐶 PUPDATE 🐶🩷

Today was hard. I cried a lot. She bit me a lot. She startet digging in her water bowl and the whole fucking hallway was wet. She pooped in the house (which she usually doesn't). She didn't wanna walk outside. She barked more than usually. Just ugh.

On the other side she slept a few hours and we had our first bus ride (one station for practice purpose) and she did amazing. I gave her some treats and she was very calm. She was only a bit energetic 5 seconds before we left the bus, so it was alright. Very proud of her. I have to think about the positive things. She's doing great for her first week. I love her <3