Regretting the puppy...

Yesterday we adopted the sweetest puppy from North Shore. A collie/lab mix we named Rocky. But the housebreaking thing is so hard. I have thrown away 3 towels full of poop, cleaned the crate fully 10 times and given 2 baths already and it hasnt even been 24 hours. I had a major panic attack last night that I threw a monkey wrench into my "perfect" family. Why do I feel this way about something I wanted so badly?? Thanks for letting me vent. Any advice would help.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

I would get wee wee pads for the house. How much exercise did you give the dog? Talk him for a long walk! Puppies are very very hard and you definitely need to be prepared for this. I remember the nights I'd barely get any sleep when Shea was a puppy. (I guess it was letting me know what to look forward to with parenthood )

Re: Regretting the puppy...

first off i was the same way when we got Kane. but like my mom said have some patience and get the puppy on a schedule, feed her at all the same times, take her out to pee/poo and when she does give her a treat and praise her like its a big freaking party. she will get the hang of it. you have to remember shes use to going whenever she wants in the cage, prolly very unshore whats going on. she will the get hang of it. dont worry.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Thanks! We already have an 8 year old jack russell who was literally the love of my life (besdies DH) until DS came and Murphy got bumped down a rank. Now Murphy (the jack russell) REALLY hates me and wont look me in the eye. I remember 3 years ago when I brought DS home, he acted the same way and it broke my heart. Also since its been 8 years since I trained a puppy, I forgot what to do! I wont give up but its so hard to change your schedule so much that it makes me have these regrets... I am not good at change to begin with so I have been crying all day because I'm so torn between my new little guy who I already love and my old comfortable life.

Thanks again for letting me vent.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Ha! This sounds like my first few days with Charlotte. Nothing beats me taking her outside where she pooped! I was elated!! Praised her, gave her a treat, I thought - this shiiit's easy!

I take her in. I put her in the bathroom with me while I take a shower. She proceeds to poop AGAIN and pee WHILE I AM IN THE SHOWER. I am getting ready for work at this point. Meanwhile, SHE JUST WENT outside like a moment earlier!!!

Before I can turn the water off to get out of the shower and try to clean it up she has stepped IN it and is tracking poopy paw prints alllllll over my white tiled bathroom. The bathroom that I scrub on my hands and knees. So, here I am, in towel, dripping. I take her and put her in a tub as she is covered now too... The smell, OY. Then, I have to mop up the entire bathroom, give her a bath (the third one in three days at that point) and then I can get ready for work. I was 35 minutes late - had to call and let them know. They all laughed AT me.

I could GO ON with stories like that. After about three weeks straight of THAT - she is absolutely perfect and goes ON command to the word piddle. She is so well behaved - you just have to stick with it and keep a CONSISTENT schedule. That is the key.

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i remember when we got our 2nd & I was like "what was I thinking?" when we came home to garbage all over the kitchen & her standing on the counter all the time. Once you get through the trials & errors and learn to communicate and get the training down you will forget all about the stress...They told us she was house broken when we got her...i just needed to understand her telling me...DH picked up on her fast but I was the slow learner...haha...hang in there!!

Re: Regretting the puppy...

It sounds like your puppy might have a little too much room in the crate. The puppy should not have so much room to be able to poop/pee away from their bed and there should be no water or food in there at all.

Is the puppy going in the bed?

I got great housebreaking advice for my 2nd dog that I wish I had with the first one we housebroke. The first one we got the wee wee pads, the second one we didn't and it was the best thing.

After sleeping, puppy goes right outside until they go.

Ten minutes after eating or playing for a little while, right outside.

If the puppy is making a circle and sniffing, right outside.

Every time they go outside, make a huge fuss, you'll feel stupid but the puppy loves the praise and they get it. Also, go to the craft store and get bells - put them on a string and hang them from every door in your house. When you take the puppy out, say "Puppy go pee/poo, whatever you say>>", take their paw and smack the bells and take them out. Again, when you get out - puppy go pee. When they go - clap and LOTS of prasie.

It sounds stupid, but after a bit they get it. It took Logan about 2-3 weeks of the bells and he got it and would smack the bells hiimself. If they do that, PRAISE, lots of praise.

The problem with the wee wee pads is getting them to stop going on there and go outside, that was the problem we had with Schultz. It was just easier to go right outside. Did we have accidents? Yes, but more because we were not paying attention. Get yourself a good cleaner that is for pets for the carpet or flooring and clean up after every mess, make sure it's for pets to get rid of the odor.

Good luck!

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I don't care how big of a dog lover you are, I really think everyone goes through this when they first bring a dog home. And it's a big shock, because you're so excited to get them and then you get that "oh my God did I do the wrong thing" feeling when you get home.

Just take it day by day and get through the first few days and I am sure you will feel a lot better. It's a tough adjustment but when everyone settles in it is so great. Things were horrible with my first dog when we brought our puppy home, she attacked him every time he would flop out of his little puppy bed, and I felt terrible... we worked on their issues and now they are literally best friends, they play together all the time and now we really DO feel like the perfect little family. Your new life will be great, just give it a chance and do all the diligent puppy-caretaker tasks to get the new pup acclimated and trained.

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If you can get through puppyhood with a Jack Russell, you can do this. My cousin had the same thing with her pup and she was not sure she could do it. She did it and was glad she didn't give up. I have no puppy training experience but I want to wish you the best of luck with your new family member.

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It will get easier!!! Give the puppy a week to adjust to his new schedule.

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Puppies are hard!! I swear having a puppy was harder than my newborn. Especially now with it being the winter. Just try to take the puppy out as much as possible....

Message edited 2/21/2011 4:54:26 PM.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Thank you all sooooo much!!!

So much has ben going on. North Shore called us and told us to bring the puppy back because he probably has Parvo and has a 50/50 chance of surviving so after dealing with that heartbreak, they call this morning and say "oops no he doesnt" So when we get him back, its back to square one again.

I love the bells idea! My jack russell was trained exactly the way someone described... bringing him outside every 20 minutes or so. The overnight training was my main problem and thats why he ended up sleeping in bed with us but with this dog, he will be too big for that.

So I guess wee wee pads for overnight???

Re: Regretting the puppy...

I would not start with those wee wee pads .. Its confusing if you want him trained outside eventually.. Just let him out as much as possible.. He is from northshore so he is probably used to pooping in the cage..

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Message edited 2/23/2011 6:55:40 PM.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Thanks everyone! I truly appreciate the help and advice. Since he is still in NSAL's hospital, I havent been able to try out any of it yet but I cannot wait to.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Posted by IrishLass

Posted by Diana712

He is from northshore so he is probably used to pooping in the cage..

I agree.

I think it is wonderful you adopted a dog!!!!

I am not a fan of NSAL, though. This has nothing to due with your choice of where to adopt from at all, and I certainly don't meant offend you. I just know so many people who have adopted from there and every animal is sick that gets sent home.

My neighbor brought home a puppy last year and she told them she had 2 dogs already..they never told her until after she was home for 3 days the dog had a contagious intestinal virus that all her other dogs got. It was a mess.

I hope they take good care of your pup and get him better quickly!

Message edited 2/24/2011 2:39:42 PM.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

We did the bells on the door training too when they were puppies....BEST thing ever, 6yrs later they still do it.....

good luck, its hard in the beginning but what you get back is 1000-fold

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Posted by MrsDiamondgrlie

Posted by IrishLass

Posted by Diana712

He is from northshore so he is probably used to pooping in the cage..

I agree.

I think it is wonderful you adopted a dog!!!!

I am not a fan of NSAL, though. This has nothing to due with your choice of where to adopt from at all, and I certainly don't meant offend you. I just know so many people who have adopted from there and every animal is sick that gets sent home.

My neighbor brought home a puppy last year and she told them she had 2 dogs already..they never told her until after she was home for 3 days the dog had a contagious intestinal virus that all her other dogs got. It was a mess.

I hope they take good care of your pup and get him better quickly!

When my parents adopted a puppy from there 25 years ago, we ended up with the most amzing family dog ever and I didnt think to go anywhere else. Once this whole sickness thing happened to me, I did a search and NSAL IS really terrible for sick puppies. But too late now, I'm in love. And if my current dog wasnt up to date on his vaccines, he could have gotten reallt sick too.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Posted by IrishLass

I'm so sorry if you took as an offense to you!! I hope you didn't!! I know they have great animals, it's just that a few friends and family have gotten sick dogs from them and it puts a bad taste in my mouth for their admistrative practices. Hope your pup is better soon and back home to you! Looking forward to pics too!!!!

Re: Regretting the puppy...

How is the puppy doing??? I am so sorry he is sick

Re: Regretting the puppy...

How is the puppy doing? Is he back home yet?

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Re: Regretting the puppy...

Posted by MrsDiamondgrlie

Posted by pippi8977

How is the puppy doing? Is he back home yet?

He is home! We picked him up yesterday and when we got home we all played in the backyard for about an hour. He still is on meds for diarreha and his recheck date is the 3rd. He is eating pretty well and slept pretty well last night. No accidents and we only had to take him out 2x in the middle of the night. Thanks for the suggestion of putting the crate in our bedroom. I cant wait to see if the 2nd night goes as well.

Re: Regretting the puppy...

Thats great!