Anyone Else Exhausted?

[charli73]

First time dog ownere her and a GSD prob not the easiest choice... I wanted to kill her so many times, didnt realise how hard it would be, many tears and a wonderful Husband helping out made me realise how we great we would be as parents....

It does get easier but so I know how you feel, I broke down intears often at the sight of my garden being destroyed daily, the BBQ, the hose, furniture..... etc etc.

[wotan]

yes we are a little exhausted as well.....picked up our Stafford on Sunday (he is 8 weeks old today). In 2 days/nights with him so far he is doing well and these are my following observations:

The positive:

- Beautiful looking dog and loads of personality

- he is becoming confortable in his crate

- Eating well, huge appetite!

- Developed a routine of: play/learning in the leadup to a feed> then he eats> then sleeps for a good 1-2 hrs> then outside to toilet.

- Was warm in Melb yesterday so had his first bath, didn't winge at all and smells good!

- Good bladder control, goes without a wee for upto 4 hrs during the night and will wait until morning to do a poo.

Small negatives (he is a pup afterall hehe):

- Has very sharp teeth and bites/nips when he is fiesty, my hands have scratch marks all over. But I worked out that a firm command of "no!" and a soft smack on the nose works well, as he then turns his biting onto his toys instead.

- For some reason he tries to chew on concrete and am worried he will damage his pearly whites..not sure how stop this?

- He is toileting outside on command which is awesome, but I'm convinced he is on a quest to soil every square meter of the yard! I know its only early, but any tips on how to control the randomness and confine it to a smaller area? I have tried rubbing a (carpet mat size) piece of fake grass in his wee and placing it outside, hoping he will sniff it out and go back there, but thats not working.

Some things I'm still not sure on...

I normally dispose of his poo straight after he has been (without him looking). Is it better to just leave it there for a bit and have him used to it being there, or should I just keep removing it immediately? The reason I ask is that one time maybe he was just playful or hungry, but I could swear he was going to turn around and chomp into it so I forced him away from it before he had the chance!

[PuggaWuggles]

yes we are a little exhausted as well.....picked up our Stafford on Sunday (he is 8 weeks old today). In 2 days/nights with him so far he is doing well and these are my following observations:

The positive:

- Beautiful looking dog and loads of personality

- he is becoming confortable in his crate

- Eating well, huge appetite!

- Developed a routine of: play/learning in the leadup to a feed> then he eats> then sleeps for a good 1-2 hrs> then outside to toilet.

- Was warm in Melb yesterday so had his first bath, didn't winge at all and smells good!

- Good bladder control, goes without a wee for upto 4 hrs during the night and will wait until morning to do a poo.

Small negatives (he is a pup afterall hehe):

- Has very sharp teeth and bites/nips when he is fiesty, my hands have scratch marks all over. But I worked out that a firm command of "no!" and a soft smack on the nose works well, as he then turns his biting onto his toys instead.

- For some reason he tries to chew on concrete and am worried he will damage his pearly whites..not sure how stop this?

- He is toileting outside on command which is awesome, but I'm convinced he is on a quest to soil every square meter of the yard! I know its only early, but any tips on how to control the randomness and confine it to a smaller area? I have tried rubbing a (carpet mat size) piece of fake grass in his wee and placing it outside, hoping he will sniff it out and go back there, but thats not working.

Some things I'm still not sure on...

I normally dispose of his poo straight after he has been (without him looking). Is it better to just leave it there for a bit and have him used to it being there, or should I just keep removing it immediately? The reason I ask is that one time maybe he was just playful or hungry, but I could swear he was going to turn around and chomp into it so I forced him away from it before he had the chance!

Hi Wotan,with the poo eating stuff,my pug puppy would do the same,he gave it a sniff and a lick,and god knows he would have eaten it if i hadnt caught him,i think it is more of a curiosity thing.I sprinkled Cayan Pepper(the really red nasty looking stuff),it will burn his mouth or nose,but after a few times,he will not even look at the poo.It is better off to leave it in the yard with the Cayan powder on it,just so he knows,when he does a poo and it is still there,NO TOUCH POO POO !!

[wotan]

yes we are a little exhausted as well.....picked up our Stafford on Sunday (he is 8 weeks old today). In 2 days/nights with him so far he is doing well and these are my following observations:

The positive:

- Beautiful looking dog and loads of personality

- he is becoming confortable in his crate

- Eating well, huge appetite!

- Developed a routine of: play/learning in the leadup to a feed> then he eats> then sleeps for a good 1-2 hrs> then outside to toilet.

- Was warm in Melb yesterday so had his first bath, didn't winge at all and smells good!

- Good bladder control, goes without a wee for upto 4 hrs during the night and will wait until morning to do a poo.

Small negatives (he is a pup afterall hehe):

- Has very sharp teeth and bites/nips when he is fiesty, my hands have scratch marks all over. But I worked out that a firm command of "no!" and a soft smack on the nose works well, as he then turns his biting onto his toys instead.

- For some reason he tries to chew on concrete and am worried he will damage his pearly whites..not sure how stop this?

- He is toileting outside on command which is awesome, but I'm convinced he is on a quest to soil every square meter of the yard! I know its only early, but any tips on how to control the randomness and confine it to a smaller area? I have tried rubbing a (carpet mat size) piece of fake grass in his wee and placing it outside, hoping he will sniff it out and go back there, but thats not working.

Some things I'm still not sure on...

I normally dispose of his poo straight after he has been (without him looking). Is it better to just leave it there for a bit and have him used to it being there, or should I just keep removing it immediately? The reason I ask is that one time maybe he was just playful or hungry, but I could swear he was going to turn around and chomp into it so I forced him away from it before he had the chance!

Hi Wotan,with the poo eating stuff,my pug puppy would do the same,he gave it a sniff and a lick,and god knows he would have eaten it if i hadnt caught him,i think it is more of a curiosity thing.I sprinkled Cayan Pepper(the really red nasty looking stuff),it will burn his mouth or nose,but after a few times,he will not even look at the poo.It is better off to leave it in the yard with the Cayan powder on it,just so he knows,when he does a poo and it is still there,NO TOUCH POO POO !!

Well today he did a poo without me noticing, so not sure how long it was sitting there. Good news though, it looked untouched and he had no poo breath (sigh of relief) so all is good.

The powder sounds like a good idea...will give it a go just to be sure his poo dosen't end up on the menu!

[JudyG]

Hi

I read this post a while ago but now it is u days since we brought our puppy home and rereading it is making me laigh. How true it all is - I am knackered!! It is so like having a baby - constant attention. Actually I have just caught her peeing as I typed this - after just taking her out about 10 mins ago - how many times in a day can a puppy pee. I have been home watching her, taking her out every hour etc and she is going outside then pees again inside not long after. Honestly it is exhausting and I have been watching her as much as possible!

Thankfully she is not like that at night! Just one during the night but up at 5,30 every morning!

Of course we love her to bits already but I think I might love her more when she is toilet trained!

[Scarlet_GSD]

Oohhh yeah....I know about this one! My GSD is 13 months old now, but I got her at the age of 10 weeks from a breeder off this site. While she was (and still is) gorgeous in most senses of the word, the first 6 months were pure hell. With Scarlet it was the biting and mouthing that I know they all do......but she was exceptionally persistent. The only way I got her out of it was to put her on her back and hold her until she calmed down......every single time.

She still thinks it's hilarious to pinch my socks out of the laundry basket and tear around the house and yard with them.

Then there was the time at about 8months of age when she pinched my wallet from somewhere (kitchen bench I think) and buried it in the backyard. I didn't realise what had happened to it until a week after I had reported all my cards and driver's license missing to the Police.......when she belted past me at greyhound pace with the wallet in her mouth, covered in mud and sand, and thoroughly chewed.

For those of you who have very young puppies still.......it does get better - although depending on what breed you have, they can take a while to really grow up. A friend of mine has had GSD's for years - he's on his 4th.......and he said something to me recently that will stick in my head for the rest of time, "by the time she's 12 months old, she'll have about a quarter of a brain!".

Savour these puppy moments, because in far too short a time they will start to slow down and we'll wish they were young and bouncy again.