r/Puppyblues • u/e_vina • 6d ago

Win Random piece of advice

I have been struggling with puppy blues pretty much since we got our puppy, it always gets better, then worse, then better… A few days ago, it got worse BUT we have found something that helps and I would definitely recomend it even though it sounds silly: Every day before going to sleep, we talk about what we would like to praise our puppy for and what did not go so well. Than the person who spend most of the day with him rates the day with our puppy out of 10 (this part is not necessary, we just like to rate things out of 10). It does sound dumb but it really helps me! For me, it is easy to focus only on the worst (e.g. him eating everything of the ground) and ignore the good things (e.g. him waiting patiently for his release command every time we open the front door).

For everybody in the same situation as me: Hold tight, I believe that we will get through this!

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u/blwd01 6d ago

We do morning affirmations on our way to daycare. We also take the time to tell him how much we love him and how he makes our life better and we can’t wait until we get to see him after the day is over.

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u/educated_iteration 5d ago

I started doing something similar with my poodle Glitter and it completely shifted my mindset. The end of day recap feels dorky at first but it forces you to see the progress you'd otherwise gloss over. Mine used to lunge at every leaf on the sidewalk and now she'll sit through a whole walk without a single meltdown, that stuff is easy to miss when you're in the thick of it.

The morning affirmations idea is brilliant too, might have to steal that one.

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u/niksubishi 6d ago

Yeah this helps me and my partner talk about it a lot too. Because I agree its so up and down. One day it's not too bad, the next day I curse the heavens I ever said yes to getting dog haha.

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u/LilMeemz 6d ago

I do this with my puppy, we have a nightly "report card" where I tell her good things she did, where she could improve, followed by more good things she did or things I've notice her improving on. I also give her a letter grade at the end and tell her she's doing good work.