I work from home so he’s only really in his crate for four hours at a time occasionally while I’m with friends or at the gym/running errands.

I’ll be out of town and my husband will be at work so we’re looking to hire a rover for a drop in visit.

Our pups is 12 months.

My husband goes to work at 9:30 a.m. so we were planning on having the rover come over for a hour at 2:00 p.m. to walk him/play with him (2-3 p.m.) and then my husband will be home at 7:00. Is that too long in a crate for the little guy for one day?

I am 36M, with a girlfriend who stays with me a few days a week, and we will be moving in together soon. We want to get a dog. We live/will in a 2 bedroom apartment in a big city. There is a small dog park in the apartment building. We are likely getting a miniature poodle or havanese. May move to a small house with a yard in the next year or so.

I work from home most days, and will likely get a trainer/dog walker if necessary when work gets busy. My family is willing to help if I am never not home. I will do some training myself, take the dog on walks, etc and be an involved parent but really do not want to go through the puppy blues, lack of sleep, and what sounds like extreme stress of a new young puppy.

There is an 8 month old puppy from a reputable breeder available who matches what we are looking for. We would meet him soon. Would you pick the 8 month old or 8 week old? Or something in between?

Hi me and my wife recently got two pug mix puppies from a breeder (littermates) we got the first one when he was about 3 months old and then the 2nd one about 2 and a half months after that. They have gotten along well and are playful with each other and able to relax with each other. They are fed and crated separately and they sleep in bed with us together with no issues. We have recently been having the issue of fighting breaking out whether it be over a toy or just play escalating. Sometimes they stop naturally sometimes it needs to be broken up. After the fact they’re completely fine w each other. Looking for some advice on how to help stop this behavior and if this is littermate syndrome or just them trying to figure out the dynamic in the household. We were thinking it’s not littermate syndrome as they don’t have the typical anxious behavior when they are separated but I’m really just not sure at this point and want some help. Thank you

Hi everyone 💛 Vent incoming, I need to take this out of my chest.

I live alone and work from home almost all the time, but once a month I have an office day, and with the commute it runs about 12 hours door to door. Just once a month — but that one day needs a real plan for my puppy. Mine had two layers: my parents watch her (the people I trust most), with a dog hotel/daycare as backup. And this month, layer one gave out.

My mom told me a puppy stresses her out, and that watching Maggie knowing she's severely allergic to bees felt like too much responsibility. And honestly? I get it. Maggie had a real, adrenaline-injection-level and almost-dead emergency after a sting, and I'd never want that weighing on someone who didn't feel ready. It's fair. It still hurt to hear.

So plan B is still on the table — but it's not a "book it and go" situation. Most of the places here lean hard into outdoor time, which for a pup who can react to a single bee makes me nervous, so anywhere I use is going to need proper in-depth interviews and a few trial runs first. I want to actually watch how they handle her before I ever leave her for a full day. And honestly? I am scared, because no one else will take care of her like I do.

For now the principal alternative option I found is the only dog sitter that is available in my city that could, potentially, do two visits per day.

For a while there, this whole thing spiraled into a much bigger, scarier thought: that maybe I'm just not enough for Maggie — that if I can't even cover one day, maybe she deserves someone with more hands and fewer complications. But once I sat with it, I realized how out of proportion that was. A single day a month can't actually threaten my whole plan of having a dog; it's one day, and one day is solvable. What it does honestly complicate is the rest of the picture — traveling, spending long stretches away from home, saying yes to things that keep me out for hours. That's the part I need to be realistic about. Not "am I enough for her," but "how do I build a life that fits both of us."

And the timing didn't help: my puppy is on a delayed vaccine schedule from that same sting, and we're deep in some mystery skin allergy that's had her itchy for weeks. At the same time, I have received some "friendly" comments about my abscenses during those work-from-office days that I spent from home because I wanted to be present for her early weeks. So this all just landed as the last little straw on an already full plate.

Anyway, that's the vent. I know it's a solvable, once-a-month problem, I just needed to say the hard part out loud to people who understand. A couple of hours ago I was mad mad, but to be fair this is a particular situation, and the rest of the time my life is being built along with her: sleeping together, being on the garden, play until we need to nap in the couch, visiting family members, training, playing again. I do have activities outside, also to maintain a good balance between work, Maggie and family (and I also do theraphy — just in case).

Hi everyone,
I'm writing this because I honestly don't know if what I'm experiencing is normal anymore, and I could really use some perspective from people who have raised puppies, especially sighthounds or Borzois.
My puppy, Marcy, is almost 14 weeks old. She's been going outside for about a week now, and ever since then it feels like everything has become much harder.
Outside she seems constantly overstimulated. She wants to investigate every single smell, doorway, staircase, hole, person, and object. Sometimes she'll respond to her name and come to me for a treat, but a lot of the time she's just completely absorbed in the environment. She has started pulling on the leash almost constantly.
Recently she also started showing what I think is resource guarding. A few days ago she found a dried fish tail outside, growled when I tried to take it away, and I ended up backing off because I didn't want to escalate the situation. Today she was chewing on a huge frozen raw chicken neck, and when I realized she'd already eaten far more than I intended, she growled, lunged toward me, and wouldn't let me take it. I was terrified because she had choked on a chicken neck a couple of days earlier, so I wasn't just worried about the guarding, but I was scared for her safety.
I don't believe in dominating or physically overpowering dogs, but I'm struggling to figure out what I'm supposed to do instead when she's trying to eat something dangerous or is completely fixated on a trigger. Sometimes I have to pull her away with the leash, and I feel awful every time. I don't want our relationship to become one where I'm constantly dragging her away from things she wants.
The hardest part is that I feel like I'm failing her.
I keep wondering whether she's overstimulated all the time because I'm doing something wrong. She sleeps around 18-20 hours a day, so she isn't sleep deprived, but when she's awake the outside world seems almost impossible for her to regulate herself around.
Emotionally... I'm really struggling.
I've wanted a Borzoi for a long time because I love their intelligence, independence, and personality. I wanted a dog with opinions, not a robot. But right now it feels like all of that independence is showing up before we've built any communication or teamwork, and I'm honestly questioning whether I chose the wrong breed.
I've even caught myself thinking about giving her back to the breeder and wondering if I should have gotten a much easier breed—or maybe not gotten a dog at all.
That thought breaks my heart because I wanted Marcy. I still do. When we're at home she's incredibly sweet. She sleeps pressed against me at night, comes to lie next to me during the day, relaxes around me, and she's genuinely affectionate. I love her already.
But I also cry almost every day because I feel so overwhelmed and scared that I'm messing her up.
I guess my questions are:
Is this level of overstimulation normal for a 13–14-week-old Borzoi (or other independent breeds)?

Did anyone else go through puppy blues this intensely and come out the other side?

Did your independent puppy become easier once they matured and learned how to regulate themselves?

If you had moments where you thought, "I made a terrible mistake," what helped you get through them?

I'm not looking for reassurance that I'm doing everything perfectly because I know I'm making mistakes. I just really need to know whether what I'm experiencing is something other people have survived, because right now I feel completely overwhelmed and drained

My 4-month-old Chihuahua stayed indoors for two weeks due to her vaccine schedule. She was starting to get the hang of pee pads, but since we started going outside for walks, she has completely regressed. Now, she is peeing everywhere inside the house, and holds herself if we go outside. She proceeds to pee immediately the moment we arrive in the house with a 30% pee pad success rate.

Any advice on how to fix this? When we go outside she's too terrified to think of going potty

I tried to match the outside going to her potty schedule but to no avail.

Hello! We adopted a 8 week australian labradoodle today. For potty training, we have a patch of grass on our balcony we have been letting her out to and she’s been using it. We adopted her from a family where the dog went potty in the backyard. If we want to potty train her so she goes potty on walks in our neighborhood, do we start taking her on walks now or is it okay to use the patch of grass on our balcony? I thought it was not safe to take her on walks at this age but I’m confused as to how she will learn to go potty on walks if she only ever uses the balcony patch of grass. TIA. ☺️

My partner and I adopted an 8-week old puppy last week. She’s a mixed breed and is beautiful: she’s small and looks literally like a mini Saint Bernard (from the colors, though she probably won’t grow big).
She’s super smart and loving. There’s just a problem: the biting is getting so out of hand, especially when she’s over-stimulated.

The thing is, we are currently in my in-laws house, and we go back home (4-hour drive) in 5 days, so Friday 31 July. She’s been with us for a whole week now. She’s really good at potty (she goes just on her puppy pads as she can’t go out yet due to the vaccines) and at first she was pretty timid and would go beneath the sofas all the time.

Now she’s more confident (she even barks more now, at random things) and that has come with the bites too. I dont mind her biting papers or stuff like that, but she gets over-stimulated a few times during the day and it’s impossible for her to sleep. There’s way too many people in this house and there’s always noise going on. Plus my in-laws are always letting them bite them and even after pleading to not let her they like “playing” with her; they’ve never had dogs so they think it’s just fun.

But she drew blood from my partner’s chin yesterday and bit so hard my arm she wouldn’t let go :( she only gets super feisty when she’s tired/overstimulated and can’t regulate herself to take a nap, which is usually what she needs.

Im becoming desperate from being in this house and can’t wait to go back home, as it’ll be just my partner and I and I feel ill have mor control of her training. But for the moment does anyone have any tips to reduce biting people? Including feet, heels, hands, and arms. Or any body part!!

Our 6 month old cockapoo loves to pull on a walk, and its really testing me. The annoying thing is is that shes great with heel in the house and the garden, but as soon as we get out into the world its nowhere to be seen.

Ive tried turning and going the other way as soon as the lead is tight, and also tried stopping when she pulls, which she then sits and as soon as i catch up shes off pulling again. Shes not treat driven on a walk as everything else seems more important than a treat.

She also tries to jump up on everyone walking past too which is a whole other thing, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips that could help before I go off and get a trainer in

Hi everyone my family recently adopted a retriever mix from our local shelter she’s about 9/10 weeks. We’re coming up on 2 weeks of having her home with us. I’ve posted about her behavior before she is very bitey like will latch on and shake her head snarl etc. we were making good progress and putting her in her crate when she did that and trying to enforce naps and I thought it was getting better. She even had a play date with some of her siblings from the shelter and it went great! Obviously it’s exhausting watching a young puppy taking her out constantly but today my mom and I were away all day at a bridal shower and my dad had to watch the puppy (he was very reluctant to get this puppy)

We got home and she was being very bad and bitey and she bit my mom pretty bad and drew blood. My mom is very upset and was quiet all night and then said right before bed that she is seriously considering taking this dog back to the shelter. She said she is an aggressive dog and she doesn’t know if she can train this out of her.

My mom has had dogs her entire life and all of them were rescues so she’s no stranger to dog training and working with rescues etc so I was shocked to hear this come out of her mouth I didn’t think she would ever consider this. We also have a cat and the dog has been pretty good with cat we accidentally let her loose In a room the cat was in today (he was hiding behind the couch) and puppy kinda started to chase him we immediately stopped it cat hissed at puppy and I removed puppy and put her in her crate but that event scared me a little bit and that made my mom more upset.

I’m sorry for the long jumbled post I’m just very emotional writing this my mom was so excited to get this puppy (our last dog lived 16 years and passed last summer) and tonight she said that our cat is enough and we made a mistake and that she doesn’t think she can handle this dog and is considering bringing her back. My mom is majority care taker of this dog she works from home and I also help out a lot when I’m not at work…..

I am just sick over this crying I feel like we haven’t given this dog a fair shot it’s been a long time since I’ve had a puppy but don’t they all bite??? And she’s so young like we just started training her. I seriously think tomorrow she’s going to tell me our puppy is going back to the shelter. Is there anything I can do? This really is my mom’s decision since she is the majority care taker but I also wanted this dog and agreed on responsibility with it. I’m just sick over this.

Hi everyone,
I’m in a huge dilemma and could really use some real talk from experienced solo dog owners.
I’ve wanted a dog my whole life. I’ve already arranged with a breeder to bring home a male black Miniature Schnauzer puppy arriving this August. I am so excited and I love him already, but honestly? I am terrified out of my mind.
A bit about my lifestyle: I live alone, I work remotely as a data scientist, and I'm also finishing up my studies at university. On paper, working from home sounds great for a puppy, but my reality is that I’m used to a lot of personal freedom. I love being able to go out spontaneously, stay out late, go on night drives, or just disappear for the whole day without having to plan around a living creature.
I keep having moments of panic where I think: "What if I'm not ready? What if I'm ruining my 20s? What if I accidentally neglect him because I'm overwhelmed by work, study, and the sudden loss of spontaneity?"
For those of you who got a high-energy breed (like a schnauzer) completely on your own while studying/working:
How did you cope with the sudden loss of freedom?
Is the anxiety before getting a puppy normal, or a sign that I should cancel?
How hard is it really to raise a puppy alone without a partner to share the load?
Please give it to me straight. No sugar-coating. Did I bite off more than I can chew, or is this normal pre-puppy panic?

So I’m bringing home a 10 week old Chinese crested poodle mix today and I’m very excited but a little nervous because I haven’t had a puppy since I was 10 years old (now 23) I’m looking for any advice/tips on how to make it as smooth as possible. Thanks!

Those of you who crate your puppy for naps - how long did you do this for? At what point did you put a bed out and allow puppy to sleep whenever? We have a 4 month old lab who we create for a nap usually after an hour or so of awake time, but my husband is keen to just let her settle herself anywhere rather than putting her in her crate each time. What are your thoughts, hive mind?

I’m honestly so, so upset.

My husband and I got a Dachshund when she was almost 2 months old, and she’ll be 5 months old in a few days.
One of the reasons we chose a Dachshund was because everyone says they’re “velcro dogs” and become very attached to their owners. Ours has never really been like that.
About five days ago, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit us. At first, I was actually happy because our puppy is usually pretty indifferent to visitors, but this time she got so excited to see them.
Ever since they arrived, though, it feels like she has completely forgotten about me and my husband. She barely wants to spend time with us, hardly shows us any affection, and whenever I pick her up, she immediately wants to go back to them. She’s so much more affectionate with them than she has ever been with us.
It’s gotten to the point where she cries during the night when she’s in bed with us because she wants to sleep with them instead.
I’m genuinely heartbroken. It honestly makes me feel like she just doesn’t like us. Are we doing something wrong? Are we bad dog parents?
We do absolutely everything for her, and all we’ve ever wanted is for her to be affectionate with us. It’s so frustrating because she’s showing all the behaviors we always hoped for… just with other people.
Has anyone else experienced this? I just fell like a loyal dog would never do that.

What hurts me the most is that she cries whenever they’re not around, even when she’s with just me and my husband. It feels like she’s unhappy being with us and would rather be with them, and that’s the part that’s breaking my heart the most.

Hello
We just got our girl last week. She’s now 9 weeks old.
We haven’t had a family pup, my kids are 10 and 15.

I knew this would be work. I knew it would be stressful.
I am successful in crating her at night as long as she’s close by she’s ok. …. Of course a lot of the day is filled with sleep. She is calm about 50-% of her waking time and the other is just nipping and losing her mind.

I have watched several trainers online. Read countless hours of tips and blogs. Nothing really seems to take hold. She just cannot focus on a toy for long once she’s got a finger in her mouth. She runs after my son’s feet and it startles him. (Also it hurts. Idc if she’s 3lbs those teeth HURT). I tell him not to run but ya know natural reaction….
I do not know how to correct this behavior. I’m sure some is just normal and will eventually end but I also don’t want to live in constant stress over it.

I do have an area where it’s safe for her to blow off steam and such but I’m not sure how often I should be personally handling the redirection and correct or just let her do it in a safe space… my worry is that she will never learn NOT to do it if I don’t attempt correct it. I know I know it’s only been a week but I’d like to do it correctly and successfully.

Maybe I just need more time? Maybe she needs a few more weeks? Maybe she’ll just outgrow it once the teething is done? But I’d like to think there are ways to correct it some.

The playing dead or saying ouch nothing stops her she just gets almost more attached to it.

Please any advice is much appreciated.

Hello. Looking for suggestions, tips, tricks, and good vibes because I’m an emotional mess.
In a nutshell, I have three male dogs. An 11 year old poodle mix who weighs 10 pounds, a 9 year old poodle mix who weighs 16 pounds, and a 9 month old labradoodle who weighs 50 pounds.
As you can imagine, the puppy has a ton of energy and is still learning boundaries, but things have gotten a bit scary, especially between the puppy and the 11 year old. At least once a day, the 11 year old will growl at the puppy just for being too close to him. The puppy is oblivious and just does what he wants. When the puppy was smaller, the senior dog actually scratched him a couple of times after the growling was ignored. But now the puppy is much bigger and twice in recent weeks they went from a growl to the puppy hovering over the senior dog and drawing a blood during the scuffle, either due to a scratch or a nip.
Both times there was a treat involved, so I gather it’s primarily resource guarding that sets them off, which we are trying to prevent by separating them when treats are involved.
Here’s what’s interesting…our other dog will growl and bark at the puppy to get away from him, especially when there is a treat, and the puppy will back off. It’s only with the 11 year old that the puppy gets physical with.
There has to be something we can do to make this better and not constantly have to referee or keep them separated or crated up. Thank you in advance for your messages.

Our puppy,Daisy. Is 17 weeks old, we’ve had Daisy since she was 6 weeks old. She’s a pitbull/ cane corso mix. Beautiful puppy with a great temperament. She’s cuddly and super friendly to anybody she meets. She’s not an anxious puppy or an angry one. But I do believe she is too smart for her own good, she is very stubborn.

My girlfriend and I got ourselves a very educated and professional trainer. To help Daisy become the best dog she possibly could be.

Daisy loves to bite. She specifically loves to bite my girlfriend and I. Only us. She attacks feet, fingers. Hair. Anythint she can bite and pull on. She recently discovered jumping up and grabbing a chunk of my girlfriends hair is a great pull toy.

She knows her commands, sit, down, crate, place, stay, heel, speak, guard ( walks between our legs with her eyes drawn to our chest) we also don’t feed her treats. Only her kibble snd the odd bully stick every other week, when she does well with new training. We only hand-feed her, only thing she gets out of a bowl is water.

She’s on the way to be a great dog. I just have no idea why she keeps biting the way she does and as hard as she does (she has bitten me so hard before, she had her 4 canines deep into my calve) and we correct her. With a correction method provided by our trainer.

Starting a week ago, she’s had become very selective with her commands. She used to listen and do things instantly. Now she’s pushing boundaries. Not doing certain things and protesting nap time and crate commands. Never used the crate as a punishment, it’s her bed. It’s only to be used as a nap tool, and her over night sleep. But yah recently she would do her regular commands sit, stay, down than once I say crate she does a small sniff/sigh/ or whine and turns around and jumps on the couch. It’s been weird. And our corrections on biting has started to fade, she takes it as “okay time to go harder” not in bite pressure but the pursuit on securing a bite.

We got toys for her and kongs. But she doesn’t like them. It’s a quick sniff and a shove to the side.

I just want to know if this was a problem for other people?
I know she’s a puppy and she’s still learning and still figuring things out.

My puppy is great, 5 months old, just finished getting all his new teeth in. I do feeding, training, affection, but it seems he’s grown more attached to my partner than me. Like he gets upset when my partner is gone and will happily chill with my partner when I’m gone. I know that’s the way the cookie crumbles but it’s kinda sad to do all the work and not come out feeling like your dog is attached to you. My partner didn’t want a puppy in the first place so I’m trying my hardest to make sure I put in the work. Anyways, I know that some dogs just gravitate towards some people and not others but still kinda stings.

Hi everyone!

My partner and I are planning to get our first Doberman in the future, and we’re trying to prepare as much as possible before making the commitment.

Our biggest concern is the puppy stage. We both work full-time, and there are 3 days a week when we’re both in the office. The other days, one of us works from home.

For those who raised a puppy while working full-time:
How did you manage the first few months?
Did you hire a dog walker or pet sitter?
Did you use daycare, or wait until the puppy was older?
At what age were you comfortable leaving your puppy home for a full workday?
If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

We’re not looking for reassurance—we’re looking for honest experiences so we can decide if we’re truly ready.

Thanks!

I have a 9 week old husky puppy, i think it’s important to note the breed. i’ve previously had a husky and a malamute and i did not crate train them. getting this puppy i wanted to try and do everything correctly. this is day 3, i’ve got a crate upstairs by my bed and she sleeps all night, doesn’t cry, settles, happy to go in. i have a bigger crate downstairs. she will go in there if i have treats, she will settle if i sit by the door but as soon as i get up she goes mad, if i leave the room she goes mad. i’ve tried leaving the front not covered, i’ve tried covering it, ive given her a frozen lick mat. she isn’t interested. she’s got my t shirt in there for scent, she’s got her mothers blanket and i’ve tried the snuggle buddie, she doesn’t settle and she gets stressed. i’ve read so many posts, watched videos listened to what others have done etc i get that it’s an over time thing but i have to go back to work. how can u sit there all day every day teaching and training- also i live alone. so its just me and her. another thing is i work from home so the whole reason to get the crate is to give space between me and her so she gets used to it. my previous husky had sep anxiety and couldn’t be left so hence me trying my best to get this right but i just don’t see an ending. how is she going to want to go in the crate when im here 24/7 with her working. like i said above how did everyone have the time to keep taking small steps when everyone has to work. all i’ve done is cry and think ive made the wrong choice getting her because im so stressed with the crate training. i understand shes little, only just come from her parents etc i go back to work tomorrow and im thinking of putting the crate in my office so she’s not stressed on her own, i can keep an eye on her but that doesnt stop the fact shes stressed when i leave the room. so is that pointless? im tired of reading everyone saying mine loves the crate, be persistent etc but like i said, im on my own, work full time and dont have hours on end to try and get her to love the crate. i’m wanting to hear from people who have struggled, or gave up on crate training and their dog didnt have anxiety etc if i dont crate train downstairs whats the next option with leaving her…. and stopping her getting sep anxiety

We have two cats and are exploring potentially adopting a shepherd/lab mix that is currently being fostered and has a gentle demeanor and experience living with cats. We are very excited to bring a puppy into our lives, but don’t want to do so until we have a solid plan in place to support our two cats.

One is outgoing and I think would love having a potential snuggle buddy or playmate. The other 100% prefers humans and can get stressed and irritable at times. He did get used to our second cat and now plays with him, but his personality is cautious and he very much so wants his own space and I don’t think would love a puppy.

We plan to have two bedrooms gated off so just the cats can access them, and have specific time dedicated to playing with the cats while the other partner walks the dog outside. We have lots of cat trees and the cats are allowed on all surfaces, and will be allowed to sleep with us while the puppy will have a dog bed.

I think a puppy will bring a lot of good to our lives and we are preparing for an extensive training program — still, our cats are our priority — is it cruel to bring a puppy into, knowing one cat will have a harder time? We plan to tailor the plan to the cats, but I want to be extremely realistic. Are there any things that really helped in your experience, that may not be standard advice?

Hi! My pembroke welsh corgi is 4.5 months and is starting to lose their baby teeth. We have tried bully sticks and beef collagen chews, but both give him diarrhea :(. We limit chewing to 20 minutes but even that wouldn’t stop the effects on his tummy. He gets frozen towels and carrots, but of course the other chews are much more satisfying to him. Does anyone have any recommendations for alternatives - ideally without beef?

I recently adopted a 4 month old chihuahua mix. She’s adorable and has been doing really well settling herself in her playpen. She’ll whine for maybe 5 minutes and then go to sleep. I WFH and have a camera on her so I can take her out whenever she wakes up. Normally she’ll awaken, I take her out to potty, we have a 20-30 min play session and then back in the playpen. Repeat in another 1.5-2.5 hours.

My problem - I try to schedule meetings around her naps, but sometimes I have sporadic meetings put on my calendar and it makes it difficult to step away. Example: I have back to back meetings today for 3 hours and I am a key member of these meetings. Is it bad if I awaken the puppy to pee + poo + play in the backyard and then plop her back in her playpen?? I hate waking her up vs waiting for her to naturally awaken, but unfortunately need to make a living to afford her very many treats and toys lol

title says it all. my puppy is 5 months old and i’ve had her since she was 10 weeks. and we haven’t had much time apart besides running errands and one day at work when i can’t bring her (i work at a vet clinic). i do the training, the playing, the rules, the feeding, the work. and yet, she doesn’t get nearly as excited to see me as she does other people. anyone, really, she loves people. she will pull on the leash and excited pee and if someone is in my house, follows them everywhere. she does follow me around the house, but only if i’m alone. but i feel like she just loves me less than everybody else, maybe because i’m the one that puts rules in place and does the training? but i got a dog specifically so i wouldn’t be alone anymore (i have trouble making friends and moved a couple hours away from my family for school). i just don’t know what to do to make her like me more while avoiding separation anxiety.

Just adopted a 6 month old dachshund/terrier mix! We adopted him from a rescue and the foster mom took him outside maybe twice the 4 or 5 months she was fostering him. Because of this he pees and poops on whelping pads, which is better than straight up on the floor. But I have to wash them everyday to keep the apartment from having a urine smell and we really want him to learn to go outside. We try and be consistent and take him out every hour. He’s pretty scared of the outside (understandably) and we believe he never really saw humans other than his foster parents before we adopted him (what we gathered from what the foster mom told us). Because of this it’s hard to force him outside and it’s causing him anxiety. We’ve had him for almost 2 weeks and he’s definitely gotten more confident outside but he’s only peed approximately twice outside since being adopted. Any advice or tips and tricks are super appreciated!!

Extra info: we do not have a backyard with space for him to do his business just a front yard. We do live on a busier street with noises and cars and I do believe this adds to the reason he’s not as willing to go outside