Frustrations after Puppy comes home...

[Joann Valerio]

I am contemplating getting a MiniDoodle in the Spring and am wondering if anyone would please share what the first couple months were like...the good, the bad and the ugly. I have read DK members admitting how they were in tears and wondering if they made a big mistake.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I know. I remember reading some of those while we were looking at getting our first doodle. Almost scared me off.
Fast forward to bringing Yogi home. He was an amazingly good puppy, or else maybe it was because I so wanted a puppy that I just embraced his puppy ways, and just took it all in stride. I so enjoyed and loved him that we brought a second one home when he was 10 months old. Maci was just a great puppy too. Maybe we were lucky. I always felt I was just raising the adult dogs that I wanted.
Just be sure you find a good breeder so you know the temperaments of the parents. Training is the other key.
Good luck, I miss that puppy breath.

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

Some of it is luck, but I've trained a bunch of puppies now and they all had good temperament. Some learned faster than others. None of them chewed on my stuff because I provided them with stuff that they were supposed to chew on.
Oh and I get that puppy breath all the time, Leslie

[Amy and Annabelle]

You are lucky if that worked for you. It didn't for us. She had more than enough chew toys, but she wanted us and our clothes to chew on, not a toy. I know know part of it was she liked soft things and not the durable heavy chewer toys she had. She would destroy soft toys in a matter of minutes. She liked bully sticks, but I tried not to give her too many of those. My mini schnauzer that I got at 6 weeks over 30 years ago, was a wonderful puppy. He never chewed anything. Always did as he was told. I was glad I had a crate when I got overwhelmed.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle was a perfect angel until about 16 weeks. Then she became a stubborn, rebellious teenage shark. This started around Thanksgiving and lasted through January. It was also a bad winter and we were housebound for most of it. So no walks or going to the park or anything. I did have a trainer come to the house a few times and it helped. It was a good 2 months that she was a challenge. We got through it, and now at 2, she is a great addition to our family. She gets along great with the young grand kids. Once we could get outside and go places and we could get her in training classes, her behavior really improved. She was spayed at 6 months, in early February and I guess that could have helped a bit with her behavior.Even in that 2 months that tested my patience, there were a lot of good times. They weren't all a struggle.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

This is a really hard question to address simply because everyone and every puppy is different.  Every household is different.  Pretty much everything about your life falls into how this situation will go for you as a new puppy owner.  Even the time of year you get your puppy.  Do you work outside the home?  Are there children in the home?  What is your schedule like?  Do you have a fenced yard?  The financial aspect? Do you love puppies?  What is your patience level?  Do you live in a large city or out in the Country?  Do you have access to Doggie Daycare, grooming and training places?  How active are you?  Have you had a puppy before?  You will pretty much get out of it what you are willing to put into it.  There will be days that you might question what you were thinking, but with the right effort on your part, those will pass and you will survive.  I think the perfect situation would be a person who wasn't working, had a fenced yard, was very active, lived where the weather was 70 degrees year round and didn't have small children in the home.  Had plenty of time for training, lived near access to grooming and training,  etc.  Now, that isn't to say that the person who works full time, has small toddlers, no fenced yard, and no access to training can't make it work, it is just going to be a completely different experience.  You need a lot of time and energy in that first year because that time is key ... you are setting the puppy up for how things will go for the next hopefully 15 years.  

[Missy]

I think you have to be honest with yourself as to why you want a puppy. And what expectations you have for the puppy. In those answers you will find if the puppy thing is for you. 

Dogs come in many sizes and many different personalities. IF you are not willing to accept the temperament of the new puppy, then maybe look at older pups who already shine in their personality. 

I literally cleared my calendar for 3 months. No social schedule. I focused on all things puppy and just like you do with new babies. The house training was a huge frustration to me...there were tears for sure! Just when I thought we were making progress, we would take 2 steps backwards. We finally found consistent success at the 8 month mark. 

Puppies are discovering the world, and you can see their personalities develop every day. Training, lots of training! Puppyhood is a huge commitment! And there are no guarantees. If you are honest with yourself before puppy comes home, there will be less frustration and thus less tears! 

I think Spring is the perfect timing for puppy as I could not imagine standing for hours outside in the cold!! 

We are over 3 years old. The first 12 months were really focused on training. And I am so thankful I took the time, as we have an awesome dog in our family. Puppies are a huge risk, but if you are willing to accept whatever, the learning process of the puppy is a great journey! 

And for the record, we purchased a Petite Mini with hopes of the 16-20 pound range.  We ended up with a 32 pound bundle of fluff! my 'purse puppy' never did fit in my purse! 

Best of luck as I have no regrets on our purchase. The loveable joy these dogs have is just what a human needs in this crazy world. They are not only great company, but also very sociable beings. We have great love for our dog and enjoy life better with him in it! 

Will I do the puppy thing again, probably not.  My life is just in a different place now and to think of the sacrifices necessary for the puppy phase is just not my reality.

 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle topped out at 16lbs. She no longer fits in my purse, and barely fits on my lap.

[Sue]

The first years has many ups and downs but the first 8 weeks are the most demanding with less sleep as well....make sure you know everything that is involved with getting a dog....jjust last night i had to leave a fun bbq early bc of my puppy....we were out for 7 hours so think long and hard if you are willing to make sacrifices.....dogs and owning them are about sacrifices....money wise, time wise, work wise,etc...

if you have the time in the first year to invest in training, play times, walks,etc....you will reap the long term benefits...

i also believe that the whole family within the household needs to be involved and committed as it can be very hard to do alone..

keep us posted as to what you decide :) best of luck

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

You may have rough patches - hey, I think we all do - but with the great support here and from trainers, you will find the help you'll need!

For me, what helped A LOT in the early days was reading here and following Doggy Dan's golden rules (I learned those even before Rip came home). With so many conflicting training theories it's easy to get confused. I felt his were very fitting for me - positive and loving and all about learning THEIR language. Employing these in the house from day 1 was KEY. I've tried this on two puppies in two years, and have wound up with lovely, good pups! Oh, and EXERCISE (puppy play dates/socialization!) A tired pup is a good pup!!

I remember being in puppy K with Ripley and a woman confided in me,"sometimes I have dreams I've given her up and I'm happy about it!" I validated her feelings and shared that I was having tough times too. :-) We just carry on!
Good Luck!

[Sarah Trott]

I think I lucked out with a really fantastic puppy. Wally is the most docile pup, which is why I picked him. The most frustrating parts for me are how sick he has been. My advice for that is to get into the vet within 5 days of taking your pup home. Potty training has been hard at times too. Wally will go a week or two and then pee in the house, but we are getting there and it helps that I accept that it is 99% my fault. Other than those things, I couldn't be happier with my little fluff butt. It's a gigantic commitment... People that don't think puppies = babies are wrong... Lol. I think what helped make Wally such a good boy was not ever letting him get away with things I don't want him doing. Leave it was probably the first command he learned. He has never been allowed into the furniture. He doesn't get to jump on people. He was never allowed to chew on anything other than his toys. Those things can be cute but if you want a well behaved dog you have to be strong and demand your puppy be well behaved from the start.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned was a relatively easy puppy, but we got him at about 3 1/2 months.  He wasn't overly mouthy but those sharp little teeth got us again and again.  We limited where he could be in the house and he was either with us or in his crate - mostly with us, except when we had to leave or sleep. Even at a young age, he had a strong bladder and didn't have to pee every 5 seconds. We also had other dogs to help teach him.

[Dee & Chappie]

Hello Joan, we have spoken before.  I can only give you my experience with Chappie.  He was at 8 weeks old and is now at 10 months old the best pup I have ever had.  Housebreaking was more difficult with him than with our labs that we have always had, but he now has it down pat.   Chappie is a very loving playful boy, but never has destroyed his toys, when he started to chew on his toy box, I sprayed it with bitter apple and that ended that.   I have crate trained him when we are gone, he sleeps with us at night, and did from after the first few nights.   He was too little to jump on or off the bed, and I awakened when he was restless to go out.   Having said that, he went through the night after about 10 weeks.  I am an early riser, so at 5:30 we would go outside to do potty.   I do believe in having him by my side all the time in those first few weeks, and in the crate when that was impossible, making the crate only big enough for him to turn around and lay down.    I know of others that have a more feisty pup, so I cannot tell you why Chappie was so easy, I am assuming it is the personality of the pup, you will want from the breeder the more "quiet" of the litter.  Hope this helps.  Dee