Puppies this age need roughly 18–20 hours of sleep a day, and most don’t put themselves to sleep. Like toddlers, overtired puppies get wilder and bitier instead of calmer.

The pattern that helps a lot of people: about 1 hour awake (potty, play, potty), then about 2 hours of nap in the crate or pen, whether the puppy looks tired or not. If the zoomies and ankle attacks start before the hour is up, nap early.

If your evenings are chaos, try counting how much your puppy actually naps during the day. It’s often way less than people think.

We got our puppy almost 2 month ago, he was 8 weeks, and I still think it was a mistake.

To give some background, we have 4 cats at home and I'm a cat person. When my sister got her puppy, I toyed with the idea of having one. I talked with my bf about it, we did a lot of research about the breed (spitz), how to educate them and how to make everything go smoothly with the cats. I talked with a lot of people (friends, colleagues, etc.) about what it's like to have a dog because I wanted to be sure I was making a decision with all the cards in hands.

Then we contacted the breeder where my sister got her puppy, because she had a male avalaible and we wanted to know more about him and meet him. We met him, he was really cute and calm. The breeder told us he was the calmest of all the puppies. My bf was sold almost immediately. I liked him, found him cute, but I was still unsure about being a dog person - i have anxiety, overthinking is what i do. Once again, i had a LOT of conversations with people to help clear out what was stressing me out. A few days later we say yes to the breeder and a week later we brought our puppy home.

And ever since it has taken a toll on my mental health :

My anxiety is through the roof because I feel i have to constantly check on him so he doesn't make a mess or pee somewhere. I thought i could handle potty training, turns out it's not the case. I feel like the whole house is smelling like pee and i want to clean everything all the time. The puppy sometimes disguts me because all i can think is him walking in his pee and walking everywhere and thus bringing pee everywhere in the house.

The first few days were horrible. I was overwhelmed and frustrated. He was making the worst parts of me come out : i was screaming, hitting things out of anger. I just wanted him to disappear. But i also felt guilty and sad that i was feeling this way. I was not loving him and i didn't understand why - i still don't to be honest. Those days were really hard on me, i was thinking about having car accidents or violent things in that vein. That way i wouldn't be home and wouldn't see him.

If i had been alone, i wouldn't have kept him that long, i would have brought him back to the breeder. But my bf loves him so we decided to keep trying, at least 3 months (you know for the rule of 3), hoping it will help. We still have 1 month and 1 week to go, and it's still not good. Some days are a bit better but I still don't love him and feel like he's one of the chores. And i still feel bad. Like depression bad (which is pretty bad since seasonal depression hasn't kicked in yet).

And my relationship has taken a hit too. We keep arguing again and again. We even came to the conclusion we should break up, he would take the dog, i'd take the cats. So yeah, there's that too.

I strongly think we will rehome our puppy. We have a friend who would be happy to take him. It would be a good solution for me and my mental health, but also for the puppy who deserves a better home that i can offer him.

I read a lot about the puppy blues on here but nothing as strong as i think i feel. I don't know if my anxiety and depressive tendancies have made for a perfect background to have the worst puppy blues ever. But, yeah, i wanted to say it, even if it's to the void and no one answers it.

P.S. the puppy's needs are still being met. He has a lot of toys, play time, occupational toys, training. We go to local cafés with him, he sees a lot of others dogs. He has a big garden to play and we take him on long (at least for him) walks.

Weve brought in a trainer for our 8 month old cockapoo because the last couple months her reactivity with people and dogs has gotten much worse.

The trainers theory is that shes super frustrated and bored of the same routine (i hold my hands up to having a strict routine with the same enrichment and walks) BUT her suggestion is to let her off lead a lot more to work off that frustration, so i did that today, and ended up having to sprint after my pup
because she got way too far away chasing birds and completely ignored my recall. Now the TRAINER says in those moments to turn round and walk the other way (?) and try my best not to recall so much to give her this “Freedom” BUT ive read online stop off lead immediately and use a long line because shes learning to ignore me.

I find this mixed advice everywhere so incredibly frustrating and stressful, as i just want the best for the wee pup but dont know whats right to do and whats wrong.

The trainer has told us to do a lot more freework which has been good for her, but on this topic for reactivity on walks ive just no idea what to do

Gosh I am in the trenches 😭😭

I know it’s early days so I need to be a bit forgiving but I also don’t want to make a rod for my own back. We bought home an 8 week old cocker spaniel last Friday - not toilet trained so we’ve been doing that (old fashioned way of going outside every time rather than puppy pads).
First couple of nights were fine, she settled well, woke twice for a wee after around 3 hours ish, then settled and went back to sleep.

The past few nights however, she just won’t settle, she’s over excited even though she is getting plenty of sleep in the day time. She’s obviously not had her second round of vaccines yet so can’t take her outside for walks, however she tears around the garden, has plenty of mental stimulation from us, plays with our other dog.

Last night was probably the worst night and we are both running now on about 2 hours of broken sleep total. She is upstairs with us in a bed next to ours, she doesn’t have a crate as our other dog never had a crate so was kind of going off what we know, however last night in my sleep deprived state I ordered a pen in the hopes that may help!

Someone help me 😂😂 looking for all the tricks and tips 🙋🏼‍♀️

Hi everyone! My wife and I recently adopted a puppy and we have been struggling with potty training. He’s a 4 month old mixed breed from a shelter and seems rather pee shy. What I mean is that he seems rather comfortable peeing indoors specifically but struggles to pee when we bring him out to the streets. He does sniff a lot at where other dogs have gone but still refuses to go.

We live in a high rise apartment in New York and it takes us ~5ish mins to get down to the street level from our apartment. So it seems like even though we are stop him mid pee in our apartment, by the time we reach street level, his ‘pee urgency’ is gone (?)

We have just started crate training and we bring him down ~2 hours but he refuses to pee on the streets and sometimes ends up peeing in his crate after our walk.

I know it has only been about a week since we adopted him and understand that he needs time to adjust to the new environment but would love to hear some recommendations to help with potty training to gain some of our sanity back 🫠

Thank you!!

Hi everyone!

I got a German shepherd/CSV mix 3 weeks ago and he is now 10 weeks old. I have a puppy pen setup for him in the kitchen. No crate, and I will not get a crate unless it's absolutely the last thing that will work.

He's been really happy in the pen until this morning. Now he just screams like a banshee once I leave the room and he starts it even before I'm out of sight. Before this we had worked up to being alone for up to an hour, and just the dogs (puppy and 5 yo dog) by themselves for 2 hours without issues. I don't know what has happened other than my wife left for work at 6:30 like she does every day and since then the puppy just screams. I can't even go to the toilet without him sitting behind the door screaming.

He's had his naps, food and training + playtime as usual and doesn't seem tired or agitated. We keep the same routines every day. Wife works a day job and I work in the evenings, so the dogs aren't alone more than a couple of hours.

I'm not sure if this is normal or not, I've not had a puppy for 14 years and my old dog (RIP) was really, really easy to train as she didn't mind anything at all.

Hi guys,

I've picked up an 8 week old boxer this week, it's my first puppy and I'm having a great time learning with him.

So far when he starts dozing off in his pen I've been putting him in his crate, and he's dozed right off pretty much every time. During the night I wake up every 2-3 hours to let him out to toilet either by alarm or if he stirs. I make sure if he's whining I wait for a few seconds calm before taking him out, but at 8 weeks I know it's a genuine need for toilet so I won't ignore it. At night I can put him straight back in and he will settle straight away and sleep. His pen is in our living area and his crate is in the hallway by the stairs so we can hear him during the night.

Yesterday, seeing as he seems to be comfortable in there, I thought I'd test him out for a time when he's not falling asleep. He cried and got agitated, I left him for a few minutes to see if he would soothe himself but he didn't and at this age and stage I didn't want to push it any further so I waited for a quiet few seconds and took him out.

Today my dad was sick and needed some meds so I had no choice but to put him in his crate to go and get them. Again it wasn't a sleepy period for him and I watched him on the camera freaking out for the best part of an hour. When I got home again I waited for a quiet period and let him out. I tried not to make a fuss but inside I was dying so I really wanted to cuddle him up and soothe him but didn't know if this would set us back.

Does anyone have similar experience where they are ok sleeping in their crate but not resting?

Am I expecting too much too soon? Am I being too soft or have I been too hard?

Me and my wife have worked our holiday leave this year in order that for his first 3 months one of us is home nearly all the time to give him the best chance but it's inevitable occurrences like today will happen and he will need to be left for short periods of time so any advice would be great.

We have a 9.5 month old great pyrenees/heeler mix who is really becoming a great dog. His biggst issue has been separation anxiety but he's already making great progress. Now that we've addressed that with him, I'm hoping to find out how to get him sleeping longer. He sleeps through the night with no issues, usually 11-6, but even if my husband (night owl) takes him out before bed around midnight he still is crying to be let out at 6. He doesn't rush to go to the bathroom (i usually will change and make my coffee before we go outside) so while I agree he needs to go, it's clearly not an emergency. How do we balance getting him to be comfortable in the crate until WE decide it's time to get up with respecting his needs?

We got this dog she’s 10 weeks old now and she’s very smart she’s basically potty trained now. She rings the bell to go outside when she needs to use the potty but sometimes she only rings it to go outside and eat grass. We always take her out on a leash and when she does that take her right back inside. She keeps doing it tho sometimes. She also is barking and biting. My moms yelled at the dog and told it to shut up. And when she kept ringing the bell to go outside my mom was like just let her go outside and close the door who gives af if she runs away. My mom has a past of getting rid of my animals when I would be at school/work. I just want to stop this problem before it ends in the puppy going to the pound. My mom is the type to keep getting animals but says that they are crazy and that’s why they need to go to the pound/shelter.

It's a vent, but a good vent 😄

I found my puppy when he was super small. He was in bad condition, probably some asshole abandoned him. He was scared, dirty, sick. Thanks to my amazing vet, we healed him, he is perfectly healthy right now.

I was scared about his psychology because of the traumas he had. He was always hiding in dark corners, under couches. I gave him space, built a few small dog houses with comfy pillows and toys.

Eventually he became more social, more outgoing. His energy is back, he is having zoomies, bringing every toy to my feet to play, no longer hiding.

It's a good feeling. I love to see his zoomies, even he is annoying sometimes.

I had dogs growing up in my family home. (Lab/Pyrenees & Beagle) I know how much work they are, but was never the sole caretaker. I am 24 and work fully remote.

I have since moved out on my own (4 years now) and gotten two cats who I love dearly. I have been contemplating a dog for the past year, but never really acting on it until recently. I am now fully remote and feel like I have TOO much time on my hands. I need a more active companion. (My cats are very lovable but LAZY 🤣) I have done research on breeds and have decided on a Shih Tzu or smaller terriers. I found a rescue 3 month old Shih Tzu locally and really want to adopt her.

I feel like I am ready for all the hard work. Walks multiple times a day, playing, socializing. I am well aware of costs (one of our dogs had diabetes so lots of vet visits and insulin) & I know puppies are even more work. I plan to crate train & have a fenced yard. Luckily, this puppy is fostered with other dogs and cats and is house trained and well socialized.

When I told my family I was going to put an application in for this dog, they told me it wasn’t a good idea. I told them how much I have researched, planned and prepared. No matter what, they would poke holes and bring up what if scenarios. It has really messed with my head and now I’m reconsidering it all.

So, how do you know you are ready for a puppy?

For context we have a 13/14 week old rescue border collie x Staffordshire - we have had her a week now and tried to crate train her from day 1 but she is naturally quite skittish and afraid of a lot of things, the crate for her is terrifying. We don’t know her full history but we know is isn’t great. We have since been trying to build a positive association with the crate but it is slow progress.

I have been sleeping on the couch since we got get out and I allowed her to sleep on the couch with me for the first few nights until we realised she was so attached to me she would scream whenever I left the room. For context my husband and I are both working from home but he has an office upstairs and I work from the living room, so I am also downstairs with her most of the day. We agreed I would stay downstairs with her until she goes a few days in the house without accidents as all of our upstairs is carpeted and we felt like we would never be able to get the stain/smells of an accident out. She has been getting better at toilet training and only does the odd accidental pee in the house and uses the back door bells normally to signal she wants to go outside. A night or two ago I thought it would be best to get her used to not sleeping on top of me and instead on her bed in the same room so she can still see me. She is so used to getting on the couch that currently when she gets up we have been telling her ‘down’ and placing her on the floor. She also will not settle

I have been struggling with honestly not feeling like myself since I am not sleeping in my bed, I can’t eat or shower normally I can’t leave the room I feel a little like a prisoner in my own home, I have been trying to expose her to me being out of the room for small increments of time or me leaving the house but her with my husband and it just seems to be getting worse.

Yesterday I had to go to the office for a mandatory meeting so she was with my husband from 6am until I got home at 1 (he stayed downstairs with her) - in that space she had two poops on the floor and peed on the couch. After this we decided it might be best to stop couch access for her so aid with her getting used to relaxing on her bed instead of on me and to stop repeat accidents. My issue is currently every time I put her down she tries to run away from me so I can’t get her and put her down and she thinks it’s a game and starts to bite me and jump and lunge at me, it’s getting so difficult and overwhelming and im not sure what to do, im trying to praise her as much as i can when she chooses not to be on the couch but she will repeatedly run and jump up on it and when I redirect her down she attacks me.

Help please what can I do. Because right now I feel like I’m doing everything wrong.

I just took my 3M puppy out to my yard for him to potty and it’s dark and where I live, the leaves have started to fall and change colors. With fall in season, mushrooms are commonly sprouting which I didn’t really notice until tonight. My puppy managed to grab a mushroom in his mouth and I noticed he was chewing on something so I opened his mouth and forced the mushroom out before he swallowed it. And then we went potty again and then he had a different type of mushroom and once again I forced it out…

I’m not knowledgeable on mushrooms but the first one had a skinny stem and had more of an umbrella style top and the second one also had a skinny stem but the top was brown and flat. I managed to get what I hoped was every piece out of his mouth but I’m still very worried that it will cause him harm overnight. Please let me know what I should do

Here for other opinions because we started puppy classes this week and this suggestion feels wild to me.

Puppy is 15 week old old English sheepdog.

We are still struggling with pee accidents (we’ve only had like two days completely accident free since he came home at 8 weeks). He can go for hours at night or if he’s napping, but if he’s awake he just doesn’t seem to register that he can hold it so if the urge strikes and we aren’t instantly up and out the door he’s going. Mostly I feel like this is on us and is a matter of waiting it out for him to realize that he can hold it longer than 20 minutes, but it is def getting kinda old having to whisk him out the door every 20 minutes that he’s not in a forced nap. This has also been a bit of a hang up with our crate training - of the handful of times we have left him crated so we can all leave the house, he has peed in there twice, once after 3 hours (semi reasonable), once after just over an hour (less reasonable).

BUT! The trainer this week suggested using a belly band/male wrap as a training aid. She said that they don’t like the feeling of the pee on their bellies and it teaches them to hold it faster than he seems to be learning on his own, and that it will prevent him from being covered in pee if we do have to crate him and he doesn’t hold it when he’s in there.

I hear what she’s suggesting, but we also had a previous dog who was an anxious marker who never gave a single shit about peeing in a belly band, I’m also a dog groomer and have met plenty of other male dogs over my career who clearly just wear one all the time and it doesn’t make them stop their marking, so I’m incredibly skeptical of this advice by the trainer. Maybe it’s different when it’s actual urination and not marking because there’s a different motivation to the behavior?

Is this a thing for real? Or is it anecdotal and kinda bs or else potentially causing more things to have to train long term, the way it feels?

I admit I’m maybe getting a little desperate because I was expecting this to be going faster. If he wasn’t holding it for 1-2 hours during naps and 3-5 hours at night I’d be suspicious of a UTI.

If anyone has any advice or can weigh in on this concept I’d love to hear about it. Thanks!

Y’all how much of the day do your dogs sleep?

My 11 month old beagle/australian shepherd mix is crated while my husband and I work. Usually around 8 hours (I know I know “that’s too looooonggggg” spare me). He also sleeps through the night, that’s usually another 8 hours.

He’s a very active guy when he is out of his crate. We play hard and he gets 30 minutes to an hour of play time with other dogs at the dog park almost every day. We also take him on 20-30 minute walks at least twice a day. Additionally we do a lot of mental stimulating things for him. Lick mats, training, things like that.

I guess I just worry that he sleeps too dang much. How much are puppies who are nearing 1 year supposed to sleep? Am I doing enough for him?

hi, i've been looking for tearable or rip-apart velcro dog toys for weeks but struggling to find anything sold in the uk! i have come across tearribles but it seems like this is only sold in the us. my dog loves to rip apart toys and take the stuffing out so i'm looking for a toy that will satisfy this! thank you

We got a cavalier king Charles puppy 4 weeks ago at 10 weeks and we already had a cat. I have been introducing the two of them slowly( dog is in her playpen most of the time) but I can’t seem to progress much as every time I try and get them in contact or the cat comes close to the playpen, the puppy chases at her and barks, causing the cat to hiss. I have tried to calm the puppy down and reward good behavior but the truth is that she is never calm around the cat and any redirection attempt is failing. Any suggestions on different approaches?

Hi,
I have a 5 month old Australian Shepard puppy who every time she is put in her crate, she will poop and step in it.
Doesn’t matter how long she is in there, she will do it.
I have tried smaller cage, we have taken her to the vet to make sure there isn’t anything wrong, we also have tried a lot for stress, but nothing is working.
Any tips, tricks, or advice is very much needed.

I’ve tried soaking it in with water till soft and he still won’t eat it.
Is it ok to switch him over to canned food till he stops teething or will that cause pickiness and issues over time ?
I’m stressed out because he was eating hard food just fine a couple weeks ago until now.
I even tried adding tasty toppers to his food but nope I’m at the end of the rope with feeding him 😫🫩 he’s perfectly healthy no known health issues too so I don’t know what his issue is.

Has anyone had luck with an attractant spray for wee wee pads to encourage the dog to use them? I’m getting desperate 😅😅. My puppy is a 12 week old cockpoo who just loves to poo on my kitchen floor!

My girl(4mo, Maltese mix) is the sweetest ever. IVe had her for a few months. She s genuinely the calmest and sweetest pup I Ve ever had, training is just a little slow but that's about it. She s pretty friendly w about every dog, and I'm trying to socialize her as much as I can w my schedule.

I'm a vet student and I know it's best(from a health standpoint) to sterilize pups (in my case) on time.

I'm seriously considering it and have thought about it since I got her, but at the same time I am afraid she may come out the surgery completely changed and lose that caring puppy I love so much. I'm terrified of it. I Ve understood it can happen sometimes but it's rather rare. I would appreciate if I could hear from the experience of other owners if this did happen. I'm so scared.

I have a 6 month old puppy who bites the leash when we’re on walks. She’s a Great Pyrenees x Australian cattle dog (plus a little of some other breeds). She’s great when she’s smelling and doing dog things but sometimes she’ll start to bite the leash and it’s extremely difficult to redirect her. I’ve tried standing there with no reaction in hopes that she’ll realize it’s not a game and stop. She’s started to attack my legs and bite pretty hard to the point where I need to pick her up. I’m nervous that picking her up will just make her more frustrated long-term. I’ve also tried stepping on the leash so there’s less leash to bite, but same issue with biting me. she’s on a harness and I never make it short enough to hurt her in any way when I stand on the leash. I’ve tried to redirect her with throwing a toy, but that’s also hit or miss.
I’ve heard that hot sauce on a leash can work but is that ok to use? I’ve also heard that some folks use a chain leash but the trainer at our puppy classes said that it wouldn’t be that effective.
Other than the leash biting, she’s a lovely dog. She’s super smart, we do structured naps so she’s well rested, and we do plenty of mental stimulation. The leash biting does not only happen when she’s overtired, and I’m really mindful of the signs when she’s tired.
I’d appreciate any tips from folks that have experienced a similar thing.
I’ve read a lot about training and use reference respected dog training books, so I’d prefer not to hire a trainer if possible. I have experience handling dogs, but this is a first for me. Thank you!!

Hi everyone, I have a poodle mix. And she has lately been throwing a huge fit when it comes to eating her kibbles.

She has not lost any appetite and whenever I’m in the kitchen or cooking food, she comes begging. She eats plain chicken, beef, celery, carrots, cucumber, bone broth ice cubes, milk bone, yogurt. But absolutely refuses to eat her kibbles.

Initially I was scared and took her to the vet, who ran bloodwork, fecal testing and everything came back normal. I was advised by the vet to not give her anything until she eats her kibbles.

It is kind of working but she has dropped weight from 17.1 lbs last month to 15.8lbs two weeks ago. I started lacing her kibbles with a tiny bit of powdered milkbone and it is somewhat working. She is up to 16.2lbs again. I have also given her food toppers but she only eats them and leaves her kibble out.

However I don’t feel like this is a long term solution. Even if she eats it, she grazes throughout the day and now her poop schedule has become unpredictable.

I have been giving her Purina Pro Plan puppy formula if that helps. Other than that, she is a very high energy happy puppy, who loves to run around and drive her mother and father nuts lol.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I don’t want her to drop weight especially because she is a growing puppy. Thank you.

Hi everyone!

I just got my Embark results back for my beautiful 5-month old female “terrier mix”. She’s 41.6% Australian Cattle Dog 21.9% Chihuahua, 10.9% American Pit Bull Terrier, 10.5% Supermutt, 9.3% German Shepard, and 5.9% Shih Tzu. My whole life, I’ve grown up with Labs and Golden Retrievers, so I want to be sure I’m setting her up for success. Given these results, is there anything I should be doing to meet her breed needs, tips for raising her based on her top two breeds, or any specifics I should know/expect?

I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts!

So I pet sit for this lady everyday from 6am to 4pm ( not the problem ), and it's only one 13week old puppy. He was kinda crazy when I started watching him when he was 10weeks old, obviously we ( me n his owner ) know n understand he's just a teething puppy but it's getting kinda bad. He'll chew a box, rocks, leaves, the TV remote, he recently started nibbling my arm and pulling my sleeves and it hurts. He sleeps In a large kennel when he waits for his momma or me ( he's got room to stretch dw) he'll bark and whine once we leave he's getting better tho. What is something we can do to help? Obviously I don't want his momma to have to end up rehoming him because he's her baby but I don't know if it's gonna get worse or what, Google said he's testing boundaries right now