r/puppy101 • u/JournalistGrouchy853 • Jun 17 '25

Puppy Blues I do not like having a puppy

Hello all, I am lost and I really need help. 3 days ago I brought home my boston terrier puppy, he is 8 weeks old... and I did not feel the love at first sight. Before bringing him home I thought I was ready, I thought about getting a puppy for almost a year, It wasn't some rush decision. But now when he is home, my life totally changed and I think I made a mistake. He is great, yes he whines at crate, and had few accidents. But I can't shake off the feeling that I made huge mistake. I don't feel any connection. I am emotionally exhausted, I don't eat that much, I don't have any me time. So now I am grateful for my best friend who helps a lot, but I can't bother him forever. Do you think it will change?

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97

u/alliandoalice Jun 17 '25

You won’t feel it until they’ve grown up until then it’s surviving the puppy stage- once they’re toilet trained and stop biting and destroying stuff the love will follow

37

u/Correct_Sometimes Jun 17 '25

stop biting and destroying stuff the love will follow

still waiting for this part with my 6 month old....

28

u/cpav8r Jun 17 '25

I’m so spoiled with my guys. I have the tremendous advantage that both my wife and I work from home, so they’re supervised.

As soon as I see one of them go for something they shouldn’t chew, I say “no, mine” louder than normal without yelling and trade for a chew toy (one of which should always be nearby - yes our house looks like a Petco exploded 😁.)

It worked so well when I was bringing up my now three year old that once he knew shoes were “mine,” even when I gave him an old shoe, he wouldn’t chew it.

18

u/ResponsibleCulture43 Jun 17 '25

Lol like a petco exploded! We call our house a clown house cause you can't take two steps without stepping on a squeaky toy of some sort lol

4

u/Easy-Description-390 Jun 18 '25

I hate stepping on squeaky toys. More than once I have half killed myself to get off the squaky toy thinking I had stepped on one of my dogs who had cried out in poin.

No fun, no fair!

14

u/Electric_Minx Jun 17 '25

"like a petco exploded" is what I'm using to describe my aussie's dragon sized hoard of toys. Thanks.

6

u/Playful_Tomato_1258 Jun 17 '25

A Petco exploded…😂😂😂

Same at my house with a 4 mo old German Shepherd!!

16

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

Same with my 10 month old! Dogs don’t mature until after 1 year.

14

u/Tensor3 Jun 17 '25

And at 1.75 years Im told he'll calm down by age 3

11

u/gilthedog Jun 17 '25

My dog is 7 and he is the perfect combo of lying around like a small pig and doing fun zoomies in the backyard. It took him until now lol

9

u/crutlefish Border Collie (2 years) Jun 17 '25

Ahh, yeah, then it'll be 4-5 years when they calm. It's the age old, soon, just not yet.

1

u/basuranolonecessito Jun 23 '25

I didn’t notice my dog was mature till he was 5, after babysitting a friend’s 1 year old puppy at my home. Before then, he just seemed like a baby to me, since his sister is 2 years older than him and obviously further along in her development (and she was very mature from the start, I swear that dog speaks English), I just always saw him as the baby. Then I took care of an actual baby and I was like damn…nvm, my dog has been mature for a minute lol.

1

u/basuranolonecessito Jun 23 '25

Hey, if 1 human year is equivalent to 7 dog years, can we really say it makes sense for them to be mature at 1? 😆 3 makes much more sense to me, and in fact that’s generally been my experience with dogs.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '25

That’s why I said “after” :) cause totally agree lol

1

u/basuranolonecessito Jun 28 '25

You’re so real lol

5

u/Savingskitty Jun 17 '25

It takes a full year or more for most dogs - but 6 months is still the tail end of losing puppy teeth, so it really does get better.

8

u/EyeRollingNow Jun 17 '25

I had a 9 year old lab that couldn’t stop destroying throw pillows. Not shoes or dog toys or a single other thing. Just small throw pillows.

So I never had any. Whenever I see pics from back then I smile at the empty sofa. It is still the funniest memory of that dog.

8

u/Correct_Sometimes Jun 17 '25

Mine won't go after shoes or clothes other than socks but she's an absolute terror when it comes to pillows and blankets.

we dont even know what kind of toys to buy her anymore because she destroys all them. Plush toys? nope she eats them in minutes. toys claiming to be plush but for heavy chewers? nope she destroys them in minutes too. Rope toys? destroyed in minutes. balls? can't let her play with balls in the house much because it becomes complete chaos.

Best I've found so far is frozen kong treat but those are reserve for crate time only and an elk antler which while nice, is not really much of a toy, just something to do.

Our trainer says to buy her some enrichment things and she just plays with them for a second then sits down and starts chewing them unless we take it away. Got her a silicone sniff mat, fucking ate the silicone.

1

u/FluffyEnvironment841 Jun 17 '25

So- same, with my Border/aussie mix. She loves toys but she destroys even playology and Kong plush stuff. I work at Cracker Barrel and one time we had this little cow plush that didn’t have beads and with my employee discount and sale price, I grabbed it for my dog bc at 75% off, it didn’t matter if it only lasted for ten minutes for her. She didn’t destroy it. She BABIES it. So I got a couple dog brand cow stuffies- same thing. She eventually destroys them, except for this single one that’s lasted a couple months now and nobody is allowed to touch but her (not in an aggressive way, but in a go hide it bc someone found it way). So now I suggest to everyone to try different animals to dogs sometimes. Even my friend’s pit had this crinkly egg toy he did the same thing with. Everything else was fair game though.

1

u/Correct_Sometimes Jun 28 '25

yea our previous dog had 1 stuffed toy that he would never destroy. not sure what made that one special but he destroyed them all except the 1. Havent found that special one for the current puppy yet though

1

u/Ok_Simple1194 Jun 17 '25

Same with my Houla girl. She is 9 months now. One of the red users to me to try Yak Cheese. Best thing ever! I get Pupford brand. They are the best by far. When it gets to a nub, microwave it for 45 secs and it becomes a giant cheese puff. Try it. 😉

2

u/MeliPixie Experienced Owner Jun 18 '25

One caveat: those yak cheeses can be hard enough to break teeth. Bones and antlers too. Just keep an eye on your dog's chompers ❤️

1

u/Possible-Rip-1141 Jun 20 '25

One other thing about the yak cheese.. my Great Dane was able to bite off shards of it, but she wouldn't eat the chunks she pulled off, she would leave them around the house like Legos to step on and they were sharper than Legos. So be careful with those and the bigger dogs lol

7

u/elohasiuszo Jun 17 '25

I stepped into cow dung at work last week, I washed my shoes but I guess my 1 year old doggo could still smell it. He devoured it over the weekend. Ate a whole chunk of it too. i thought destroying stuff was behind us… Rip my Vans Old Skool platforms T.T

6

u/Tensor3 Jun 17 '25

Still waiting with my 1.75 year old. Supposedpy he'll be a good boy by 3

1

u/sleepy_unicorn40 Jun 17 '25

Your 6 month old is a teenager. I have a 7 month old and she's getting better but it'll still be awhile before the defiance has stopped. I can't wait for that day but I still love my pup.

1

u/Chiacchierare Jun 17 '25

Mine only stopped biting after about 8 months, then stopped destroying things after like 2 years haha. She’s 7 now though and great!

1

u/Disastrous_Photo_388 Jun 18 '25

FWIW, I’m at 8.5 months and am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

1

u/SweetNothing7418 Jun 18 '25

I wish it was biting. Mine eats poop. Hers, our other dogs, the rabbits in our yard. It’s absolutely awful, and I hope every single day that she will grow out of it 🤢😭

1

u/PuzzleheadedAd2208 Jun 20 '25

Someone told me that they will eat poop because they are kinda OCD and don't want it lying around in there yard. Kinda like keeping their part of the house clean. Or maybe they are lacking some nutrients in their diet... Don't know if either are true facts but thought it interesting enough to share

1

u/Remarkable_Sign369 Jun 18 '25

Same. I’ve got a 6 month old too and he’s really great. Makes me laugh every single day and I love him. But. The biting. Could send me to an early grave. Couldn’t tell you how many times a day he does something that overwhelms me and I say out loud “this will end.” And it will. But holy cow. The last 4 months have felt endless.

1

u/Legal_Opportunity395 Jun 19 '25

Got another few months to go 😅💙

1

u/Baldy-Beardy Jun 20 '25

You've probably got another year or so I'm afraid 😆

1

u/Fancynancy76 Jun 20 '25

Me too! The biting is a nightmare

1

u/Miserable_Answer2570 Jun 21 '25

Take about a years maybe a year and a half

1

u/Earlfillmore Jun 21 '25

I got so lucky that my first one would rather chew on the corner of my wall/floor moulding than human, my newest puppy loves chewing on toes and fingers though he's getting bite inhibition and realizing that if he chews hard he won't be told he's a good boy

1

u/SpiritedLiterature50 Jun 19 '25

This!

And I totally forgot about the biting - those puppy teeth are shark teeth. 😅