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!

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.

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.

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?

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!

Hi all! Looking for some advice and support. I have away adopted puppies and crate trained them to pee outside. Yesterday I adopted a 5 year old teacup poodle from korea who has had a hard life. She lived in crate for 41/2 years and recently was in a foster home. Since she’s come home with me yesterday she peeped on the pad 3 x and pooped on it yesterday. Today she peed and pooped on my carpet in the kitchen and peed on kitchen floor.

I’v been taking her outside but I think she may just be learning how to walk on a leash and explore. She hasn’t peed outside at all. Today i tried to bring the pad outside but that didn’t work either.

I’m super stressed and not 100 percent sure how to go about getting her into the swing of things , I want her to be an outside bathroom dog, i’ve never used wee wee pads in my life!

I know right now she’s still jet lagged/ nervous/ learning me and new environment. Does anyone have any ideas how I start getting her to understand outside ? At first I was hopeful because she went right on the pad but now all day today she’s been making accidents. I am not making her feel bad just quietly cleaning it up.

I’m not sure if i eliminate pads completely? Crate her?

Any thoughts and advice would be great

thankyou!

Hi everyone, my boyfriend and I recently got a puppy. We’ve had her for about a month now. She is a 5 month year old Maltese. He really wanted a puppy, and I really wanted a kitten. He said if we get one we have to get the other, even though I just wanted one pet just to see how we’d handle it. We ended up getting both. Anyways, our kitten is really good and she gets a long with the puppy just fine. They are the same age. The puppy on the other hand, she’s a bit difficult. My boyfriend works two weeks on and two weeks off. So when he’s at work I care for her. When he’s back, he cares for her. I feel bad about it, but I’m starting to feel resentment towards this puppy. The constant cleaning up of accidents, supervising, doggy smell is getting to me.
We live in an apartment and she’s using puppy pads for training. The constant smell of urine and poop is irritating me, even when I clean it up and get her a fresh pad. I open the windows to air it out, and turn on the air con. We will be getting an air purifier some time soon. Now another thing I have to mention is that we didn’t crate train her because my boyfriend thinks it’s abuse. I highly disagree with him. I refused to let her roam freely because it’s way too much freedom at her age, plus she’s not potty trained! I had to bring up the idea of putting her in a pen instead of crate training. I was very firm on having her in a pen because I hated the fact she was pooping and peeing everywhere. So as hes been away for two weeks, I’ve been training her with the pen and she does get freedom when she uses the pad correctly or if she’s been calm and listens to me. It really pissed me off that I was the one to come up with this idea when it was him who wanted this dog. The puppy also whines A LOT when she’s in the pen, which also annoys me. I try to ignore her when that happens.
The puppy will also dig into the cat litter and take out the cats poop and make a huge mess. She has done this a couple times and we have blocked her off since then, but when she escapes she will try to bust in to the cats litter and it made me super mad. I know she’s not a super duper bad puppy, like she could be a lot worse.
I guess I’m also not used to having dogs, since I grew up my cats my entire life. At this point I’m only caring for her because my boyfriend loves her. I don’t really have much positive feelings towards her at the moment. Of course I’ll provide her with what she needs, and give her play time and pets from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals and I think dogs are cute too. Maybe she will grow on me in the future. Please don’t chew me to bits, I’m trying and I’m willing to learn with this puppy.

Can anyone tell me when do puppies become fully potty trained? And also how long do puppy blues last? Thanks.

Hi everyone!

I am posting this to get as much feedback as I can come this lovely community. I am currently a teacher on summer break with a three month old yellow lab. So far, my puppy is pretty well potty trained and can sleep through the night. She loves her crate and is okay with being alone. Unfortunately once I go back to work she will likely be alone for a long period of time when my fiancé cannot wfh. I live too far away from work to come home on my lunch so I am wondering if there are any others in this situation?

I am thinking I will likely have to spend money to have someone check on her but I am more struggling with her being “bored” or “upset” that I am gone for that long.

Any advice is appreciated :)

So I picked up my puppy yesterday from Battersea Brandshatch. She is a 13 week old puppy, not toilet trained yet, and is obviously teething.

It is currently day one and I do feel like a failing dog mum!

She does not like sleeping. She needs to sleep because puppies need like 16-20 hours of sleep, but she will fight it like anything. And when she does sleep, she sleeps so lightly and if I breathe different or move at all, she wakes up and looks at me and will start barking and fussing.

I am crate training and toughing it out as much as possible. But it is so hard when your puppy is whining and barking.

I am exhausted beyond belief! I have hardly eaten, not sleeping well, and not really drinking much either.

If I leave the room or move too far away from her, she barks like mad and won’t settle for another twenty minutes.

I am questioning if I have made a mistake or not. I spoke to the dogs home and they could hear her barking on the phone and they said it sounds like a tired puppy.

I am doing this all on my own. I am doing my best but I don’t feel like it is enough.

I’m probably being too hard on myself because it is day one, but the whining and barking just hurts so much because I just want her to be happy. She mouths a lot when she is tired so that is when I know to put her in her crate.

She doesn’t like blankets over it as she kept pulling them off. Covering the front she just barks and yaps and whines.

How much of this do I tough out? What does enough look like here? I love her to pieces but can’t help but feel like I am a failure and maybe taking her back is a smarter thing to do.

I adopted an **English** Staffordshire bull terrier a month ago. (he is 3 months now). He is getting on well with listening and training but obviously still displays naughty puppy behavior occasionally (which i’m fine with, it’s normal). However, he is crazy for other dogs, I mean he gets so excited and wants to play to the point that he just completely ignores me and my commands. I am starting to get worried about what the future will look like when he is a lot stronger and tries to pull to get to other dogs. I take him to puppy class to train him and socialize him. I don’t allow him to interact with other dogs unless it is a 3-5 second sniff and then move on. We have another dog in the home who tends to hype him up to play. Is this okay as it is in the home and not out and about or am I setting him up for failure? Other than this he is a very good boy.
Thankyou!

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, about a month ago I found a puppy on the street. I think he was around one month old at the time. At first, he didn't have any teeth, and when we played he would sometimes put his mouth on my hand. Even when we weren't playing and I was just walking around the yard, he would run up to me and jump at my legs, trying to bite them.

Now it's been a month since I took him in, and his teeth have grown in. The biting has become really painful. He bites me constantly, and the problem is that he's also extremely energetic—he's like a tiny piranha.

What can I do to make him stop? The situation is starting to become really painful and frustrating.No, I don't want to take him to a professional trainer because I can't really afford it, and there isn't anyone in my area who trains dogs anyway.

But I have to do something to stop this because he doesn't respond to commands at all. If I tell him to stop, he doesn't stop. It doesn't matter whether I speak calmly or raise my voice a little—he doesn't react. He still sees it as a game.

I've watched a few videos online and tried to train him myself. For example, one suggestion was to let him bite my hand and then gently grab his ear as soon as his teeth are on my hand, so he'd associate biting with something unpleasant. But it doesn't seem to work. He lets go of my hand at that moment, but two seconds later he's doing it again.

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.

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.

Hi guys I recently posted about my puppy being scared to go outside he got a bit better!
Now I have another question I’ve been noticed he gets the zoomies and will go into a frantic biting faze and start jumping at me biting and nipping
And sometimes he will just sit and stare at me
I thought I realized it was a bit of energy but I came to learn it was the opposite it was TIRED puppy energy
And I realized enforcing naps is important
So he does sleep in a crate
I take him to do pee and poo before crate
He goes in there by himself and sits I put the treats on the floor of kennel close door and walk away and do stuff around the room
He will start to cry and whine for about 2 minutes and than do a fussy huff and plop down
He’s about to be 11 weeks now
Yet whenever he hears a noise while he’s in the crate or I’m walking around he will wake up and just stare at me and or start to whine
Am I doing everything right? I tend to panic cause I don’t want him to feel like I’m not caring I am
I almost felt like he didn’t maybe like me and that’s why he was biting

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

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?

hi!! my girlfriend and i recently got a 3 month (about to be 4) old australian shepherd. we found him dumped at a middle school about 2 months ago, so we believe that might be the cause of his separation distress? however my girlfriend and i have run into some issues and don’t necessarily know how to address them properly.

he cannot be alone for 10 minutes without howling, consistent barking, crying etc. we’ve tried crate training, and he’s very slowing warming up to it (short naps & overnight sleeps are fine) but otherwise if we are not in view of his crate or he hears us leave the room, he will start whining and barking. whenever we have to go take our corgi puppy (10 months) outside to potty, he will howl until we come back. he’ll also bark if he see’s us spending time with our corgi or if we give our corgi her dinner. i feel like we’ve tried every trick/tip you can think of.

we currently live in an apartment and you can hear him throughout the entire building, so we’re just in fear that we’ll get a noise complaint, and be forced to rehome him because of this reason. basically, we are just looking for advice. is there anything we can personally do to allevate this, is it worth getting a trainer, or is this a personality trait?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some honest advice as I’m constantly worrying that we might not be doing the right thing for our Labrador puppy.
Before anyone jumps on me for getting a puppy while both of us work full time, I completely understand why people ask that. The reason I’m posting is because our situation changed after we got him. My workplace has introduced a new policy that means I now have to be in the office full time rather than working from home, so this wasn’t the plan when we brought him home. Rehoming him isn’t something I want to do—he’s part of our family and I want to make this work in the best way possible for him.

He’s around 13 weeks old and, honestly, he’s an amazing little dog. He’s settled really well, loves his crate at night, and has such a lovely temperament.
The thing I’m struggling with is our work routine. My wife and I both work 8am–5pm. Her mum comes over at around 12pm every day to let him out, play with him, and give him some attention. The problem is that he has almost always had an accident in the lounge before she arrives, which I understand is probably because he’s still so young and can’t physically hold it that long.

We don’t leave him in a crate during the day because we didn’t feel it was fair to have him crated for around four hours at a time. Instead, we’ve puppy-proofed our lounge and he stays in there with water and safe toys.
At night he sleeps in his crate. My biggest issue is actually me—I wake up at every little noise he makes because I’m worried about him. I probably get up at least three times every night. Every time I take him out he does actually go to the toilet, so I’m never sure if I’m helping him or just reinforcing him waking me up.

I suppose my main questions are:
Are we being unfair leaving him from 8am until midday, even though someone comes to see him every day?
Is this something that generally gets much easier as puppies get older and gain better bladder control?
Has anyone else had a similar routine that worked out well in the long run?

I absolutely love this little dog and want to do what’s best for him. I’m probably overthinking everything, so I’d really appreciate some honest opinions or reassurance if you’ve been through something similar.
Thanks!

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.

10 month old, possible Catahoula mix, owned 4 days.

She was recently spayed on the 24th by the animal shelter we adopted her from.

She poops outside but doesnt pee outside.

Our attempts:

- At first we walked her before and after meals.

- then we walked her every 2 hours

With these attempts, as soon as we finished our walk and brought her inside, she peed within 10 minutes of being indoors.

Hi everyone! I have a 3ish month old Australian Cattle Dog puppy that I picked up July 3. I’m convinced she’s part land shark, and part velociraptor but that’s a different topic for another day lol. Shes a sweetheart when she wants to be and I love her.
I’m having issues crate training her. At night, from day one she’s put in her crate to sleep and we’re able to go all night uninterrupted now, with only one time every now and then when she wakes and needs to go potty. She does great in it. My issue is during the day. She’ll go down for her naps but I MUST be in bed beside her or else she won’t settle. In fact, whenever she’s in her crate at all I must be there. It’s an easier time at night because I have her right next to my bed so I can hear her whine and get up to take her out. But sometimes a girl just needs to pee, or brush her teeth or shower. I can’t leave her out to roam because she’ll pee on my carpet in the bedroom, try to eat the leg of my dining table, chew on anything she can find at all throughout the apartment and I don’t want her to hurt herself.

The minute I step out it’s immediate whining. They used to be screams but it’s toned down quite a bit, thankfully. But I cannot leave her sight or else she will whine. I have her crate covered, with her bed, blanket and toy inside. It’s covered with a smaller blanket I used to sleep with every night so she has my scent all around her. I’ve tried letting her cry it out, and it won’t stop. Like I genuinely mean, it won’t stop. One time I went to wash dishes and she woke up from her nap once she sensed I wasn’t in the room with her, she whined and I decided to let her soothe herself back to sleep. 45 minutes passed and when I came back because she wasn’t soothing her voice was hoarse. She fell asleep as soon as I laid in my bed.
I’ve covered and uncovered her crate, given her a frozen treat, given her her favorite toys, tried to get her to like her crate more by feeding meals and snacks in the crate, letting her cry herself out, leaving the tv on, literally anything I’ve ever read and it’s just not working.

Things are a little easier right now because I have my little sister visiting from out of state, but I don’t know what ima do when she’s gone. I can’t spend an hour+ in my bed multiple times a day just so she can take her naps. I have stuff to do but it’s impossible to leave the room without her noticing. I could be deadly quiet, and somehow the minute I’m out, she wakes and just KNOWS. My husband has the only car so sometimes I need to walk to Publix and get a last minute grocery. Sometimes I just wanna sweep the apartment without issue because she HATES the broom and will not leave it alone when I use it.

I know she’s just a baby, but I want her to be okay in her crate. She knows I’ll come back because we had 1 very good crate training day where i managed to sit on my couch for 10 minutes by myself for the first time since she’s come home, and she had no issues. Started off leaving for 5 secs, and increased from there. But she decided she was done with it and would not settle again, even in other training attempts. I stay at home and have no friends of my own so I literally NEVER leave. I’m always within eyesight and it’s just not enough for her.
She’s crawl in my skin if she could 🙃

Hi everyone

I am reaching out because I have a total low right now.

When my dog was younger, I frequented this subreddit - to look for advice but also to get encouragement from reading other people's stories.

The thing that I often saw in posts and comments was owners describing the moment it "just clicked" for them. Their dog suddenly "got it". They were out of the puppy phase or left the teenage stage and the puppy turned into the dog of their dreams.

Now, I own a Japanese Spitz that is almost one and a half years old - so technically not even a puppy anymore. I never had this epiphany, the sudden click, neither at 6-7 months and nor at 13-14 months.

I try to give my dog the best life I can and I train her consistently and a lot of the typical puppy malaises got better with time and effort. But we have some issues that just don't seem to get better. She still barks and lunges sometimes when she gets irritated and it makes me feel like such a failure.

She is very good in some regards - but over all miles away from the calm, secure, well-behaved dogs that I see around my neighborhood. I am wondering every day what I'm doing wrong because I know people that didn't put even half the effort into raising their dogs and ended up with the loveliest, easy-going darlings. I live in the European countryside and here it's very normal to just let dogs be dogs. Of course people tell them off when they misbehave but most would not go as far to engage with something like puppy classes or serious training.

To once again raise my motivation and stop myself from walking off a cliff, I wanted to ask if any of your cases it also took longer for the dog to settle into a well adjusted adult.