pmiller Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 We are first time dog owners, got our Cav in January this year. He was really hard graft for the first 3 months or so. Toilet training was a nightmare, fussy eater, had the trots 3 or 4 times, woke up early, loved biting, etc etc. He is 10 months as of yesterday and is brilliant. Its now time where all that hard work we did in the early months is paying dividends. He is such great company! Good luck with your pup... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsella Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Puppies and sleep seem to be mutually exclusive. We have Oliver, nearly six month Aussie Terrier and Humphrey, 11 week old Irish Wolfhound. They work as a tag team when it comes to making sure I'm out of bed soooo early. But I'm having the time of my life. Both pups are very true to their breeds. Oliver is just the jauntiest little dog but with no OFF switch. Humphrey is typical IW pup - flat out for 10 minutes then two hour sleep. Sometimes I time it right and get a good snooze myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsella Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Oh, we also have Tigger, 5 yo IW who has the patience of a saint. His tail is a huge attraction for both pups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princesszelda Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Don't get me wrong - I love Bella all the world and she really is a good puppy, but I just have to keep reminding myself that she is just that: a puppy. Things are so much better than they were 3 weeks ago when we got her. She and the cat now "play" (albeit, under the cat's rules), she is not biting nearly so much, and she is growing up so quickly into such a lovely dog! But sometimes I wonder what I used to do with all the spare time I had! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 But sometimes I wonder what I used to do with all the spare time I had! I never had spare time to start with ... Between a nutty puppy (our next security dog) requiring lots of work, a very sick older dog requiring around the clock care, a full time job, volunteer work (which is almost a full time job) and the general maintenance of a house – I didn’t have time before but definitely don’t have any now ... At the moment the only thing I am missing out on seems to be sleep But at the end of the day ... I am sure they are both worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffikki Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Does anyone else find having a puppy exhausting? Exhausted is how I've been feeling every second of every day 2, almost 6 month old, AST's needing to be separated and slowly reintroduced after an injury, trying to get them to "play nice and quietly" and not really having the set up for unsupervised time inside for things like toileting (or unsupervised together outside) I am hoping it does get better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest belgian.blue Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 My Groen Belgian was a wonderful puppy! Even so she came over to Victoria for a holiday with me at four months old. Didn't kill anything and spetd quite a lot of time in the house alone.. she just moved EVERYTHING from my bedroom to the loungeroom .. everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 It's making me wonder how my husband and I would cope with having a baby! LOL I had a 5.5 month old baby when my husband turned up with 2 puppies (we were getting 1 - which I didnt really want and ended up with 2 ). Baby is now 9 months and puppies 6 months. I love them and wouldnt give them back. They are Poodles so always under my feat, plus I have the baby on me and a 5 year old - I really have my hands full LOL BUT *touchwood* they arent really biters/chewers/barkers (which is great) And middle of the night toilet trips were easy as I was up doing midnight feeds, the baby weight melted off with all the extra walking I was doing and puppy/obedience school is a great childfree break I agree LOL!!!! I have 3 kids - one lab puppy, one human 10 week old baby and one human 2 year old -(therefore 3 kids haha - maybe 5kids if you add our two cats who think they are human too!) We are having a lot of fun with our puppy girl and I am glad they will all grow up together. I do feel tired though and can see how alike it is to having a baby! But am glad all the late night trips to toilet train etc all happen when I feed my 10week old baby. What will I do when they all grow up?? No one to train to train or feed or supervise....... hmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monah Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Puppies and sleep seem to be mutually exclusive. We have Oliver, nearly six month Aussie Terrier and Humphrey, 11 week old Irish Wolfhound. They work as a tag team when it comes to making sure I'm out of bed soooo early. But I'm having the time of my life. Both pups are very true to their breeds. Oliver is just the jauntiest little dog but with no OFF switch. Humphrey is typical IW pup - flat out for 10 minutes then two hour sleep. Sometimes I time it right and get a good snooze myself. My easiest puppies ever were Wolfies ;) :D they are just so wonderful. Real sweethearts and love to nap and cuddle My vizsla was my most 'difficult' pup. Interpret that as BUSY ACTIVE NEVER TIRED DEMANDING EXCITABLE ;) she was exhausting but what a joy!!! Very easy to crate and toilet train, just OMG! the energy and excitement. Up at 4am. and ready to run run run run! Then I got the spin when the viz was 12 months and JUST becoming 'livable'. but the spin was much quieter and would happily sleep in, even at 8 weeks, and, TOILET TRAINED already. But I was on constant supervision duties as the viz was so active that I was worried about the pup. Anyway, when my kids were born/toddlers etc. we had puppies too, giant schnauzers, irish water spaniel, lakeland terriers. I found having pups and kids really easy even though all of them were livewires. I was in the 'zone' of being active and up early anyway and they all played and entertained each other. Very easy. The dogs were just part of the family and did everything with us, so it wasnt' like we had to 'do things' with the dogs. The kids and dogs wore each other out too Now the dogs wear ME out!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffylover81 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I am not to exhausted as i was when i first got my now 12 week old border collie she can pretty much hold in her wees and poos at night now thank god i didn't like waking up in the middle of the night to take her downstairs to go toilet ;) She now pretty much plays all days and sleeps all night, i am still having the chewing of everything in the house i just had to get a wireless keyboard and mouse today as i found out that she chewed through my other one yesterday there have been moments that i have wanted to give her away but then i think what a joy she is to have around she always wants to be with you and she is a delight to train that is when she is not being naughty i wish she didn't have to grow up but i know when she does she is going to be a wonderful dog. Here is a photo of her getting eaten by her brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msn Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Hi PrincessZelda, Looks like we are exactly in the same boat! I'm a first time dog owner too and feel exactly the same way! Everyone warned me but I didn't realise what they were trying to say till I got Benny home!! Me and my hubby don't have a child yet either and yes, I'm terrified of what that will be! But at least now I know that I'm not ready for that yet. But you know what, no matter how much the work and how totally different my life is now I CANNOT imagine my life without Benny. He's become a part of me and I love him like crazy. I'm sure you'll get there too Hang in there Cheers MSN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaKoda Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Haha I didnt read all the replies but I did read your opening post. I loved puppy time, but yes it is very exhausting. In my eyes as someone who hasnt had a child it is very much like having one.. but easier !! I would have a puppy anyday but I am certainly not keen to have a child. My OH has done hardly anything with the puppy duties so that gives me an indicator of what he would be like with a real child Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serket Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 (edited) It is exhausting, but it got a lot better after the first two weeks - that was when I was up twice a night to take her out , and had to get up at 6 because she wouldn't go back to sleep after that. So I felt incredibly sleep deprived and couldn't catch up on sleep anywhere. Now, at 12 weeks things have settled down into a workable routine, mostly. Since she was 10 weeks she sleeps through the night, wakes me up at 6, I get up, take her out, get her breakfast, and either go to work, or close most doors/block off some rooms with baby gates and go back to bed She takes herself outside to the toiler 90% of the time now. Chiccy - I know exactly what you're saying re: OH not helping much, well he's happy to play with her, but not if she bites because then it's "come and deal with the puppy, she keeps biting me", and he certainly doesn't clean up any messes or take her out to the toilet, etc. I feel like a single parent some nights, and it's only a puppy! Sigh. Edited September 22, 2009 by Serket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princesszelda Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Bella is so much better than she was even a week ago! She probably could sleep through the night, but we take her out once anyways to go pee. She goes right back to sleep, then wakes us up at about 6. More days than not, she has been accident-free And we just had some people cleaning out our gutters while we were at work, and they said she was the best behaved dog they have come across. Can't imagine life without her... Only a couple concerns at this point: 1) She is still biting, although not nearly as much 2) She doesn't seem to want to hang out with us at night. I'm going to post more about this in a new topic to get suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlosmummy Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 yer its hard when OH doesnt help out with the duties, it causes so many arguements. before we got the pup me and my OH were just chilled out and could do whatever we wanted now its "oh if we go out where will harlo stay?" "did you feed her?" "should we get puppy insurance" wake up and take her out for once you selfish je*k haha the list goes on and on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofyhugger Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I have two boxer puppies, brother & sister, and they are around 11 weeks. I thought it would be a nightmare with some people from here saying they would never sell two pups to anyone, but I have found them so wonderful, and a joy to own. I have found it just as easy training two as it is one, and toileting two instead of one is just as easy. They keep each other amused when I am not able to, they love puppy school and play together and apart. I've had 5 boxers over the years now, and this is the first time I have had two pups at once. I can say from my experience with these two, I would never buy a single pup again, the amount of trouble I read on here with people who own one puppy that is naughty, toilets inside, play bites too hard, jumps, out of control, etc etc.. It just goes to show you that two doesn't mean twice the trouble or effort. To answer the OP.. if you needed to get away from your pup by going to your moms, and then you cried for hours.. puppy age isn't for you, and get a more mature dog if you get a second dog. I actually like puppy age.. and have my routines for toilet training, training, feeding etc.. so it's all cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysPretending Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 First post, but thought that I had to contribute. My husband and I got our beautiful Bella (blue/white Border Collie) almost a month ago. She is absolutely delightful and gets along with her big brother, Shadow (black/white Border Collie) wonderfully.... ....but I can't remember ever being so tired!! I honestly forgot what it was like to have a puppy - Shadow is almost 9, so his puppyhood was a very long time ago - and most of the time, I'm having to deal with both dogs by myself (husband works long hours at the moment). In saying that, for an almost 12 week old puppy, Bella is very good - only needs to toilet once through the night (will knock on the baby gate when she needs to go out) and her training is coming along very nicely. Other than a few 'excavations' in the backyard, very little destruction.... ....which leads me to ask, "just when is she going to become a nightmare?". I have a feeling that she is lulling me into a false sense of security!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubitty Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 ....which leads me to ask, "just when is she going to become a nightmare?". I have a feeling that she is lulling me into a false sense of security!! :D Ohhhh I soooo know what you mean!!! I keep asking myself “When is that delightful little puppy going to turn on me and be BAD!?” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princesszelda Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 To answer the OP.. if you needed to get away from your pup by going to your moms, and then you cried for hours.. puppy age isn't for you, and get a more mature dog if you get a second dog. I actually like puppy age.. and have my routines for toilet training, training, feeding etc.. so it's all cool. That wasn't me! My parents live overseas, so even if I wanted to do that it would be pretty difficult (not to mention expensive!)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlosmummy Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 that was me it was all just a shock as i'd never raised a puppy before! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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