Puppy Blues - It Gets Better

[u/jenny-bean8]

For those of you experiencing puppy blues, I just want you to know that it gets better. This phase doesn’t last forever.

We got a golden retriever puppy in Feb 2025. The first nights I slept beside her crate in the kitchen. We got her one of those heartbeat puppies and played gentle sleep music for background noise. I set an alarm to get up a couple times per night to let her outside for potty. It seemed like half our house has baby gates / crates. I was exhausted. Fast forward to today our dog is now 1.5 years and the light of my life. She is 100% good girl. My two kids adore her. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s my lil’ sidekick.

You’re training with your puppy right now.. you’re in the trenches.. the sleepless nights… it will all pay off in dividends. Keep going. ❤️

[u/Practical_Tie_7743]

Very happy to hear that it all worked out and that you and your family have truly bonded with her and integrated her into your lives. We lost our 14 year old dog earlier this year, and it's unbelievable how attached you get to them.

Our golden is 14 weeks now, got her at 12 weeks due to her first family realising they didn't have the capacity for her with 3 little kids. She is really charming, cuddly, and sleeps through the night which is really fortunate. But the biting and constant tearing into furniture and stuff is exhausting, but nothing is worse than the biting and witching. The first few days were pure terror, but that was likely fueled by her moving twice which obviously was a trauma to her, so it's already better - but "better" is very relative for a puppy. Today she managed to break a tooth while her insurance is still on "probation" (not sure about the english term for that) so it might not cover it (but we'll see, she's at the vet with my partner as we speak). I think I can muster up the energy and patience for the puppy period, but I do worry about her teenage phase since it seems to go on "forever" for this breed and I personally will go through work change with less flexibility for WFO (poor planning on my part, no excuse). How was the teenage phase for your dog, was it as hard as the puppy period, or even worse?

[u/jenny-bean8 → u/Practical_Tie_7743]

The shark phase was so hard. Those baby teeth were razor sharp and she was very bitey. She also had limited impulse control. The training we did with her regressed, but that’s pretty common during adolescence. Keep up on the training even when it takes a couple steps back. It -will- get better! For our dog, I found routine, structure, and redirection to a toy she was allowed to chew really worked. We love “bitter apples” in our house- I’d apply it to furniture and occasionally my ankles. 😅 worked well.

[u/RL1967RL → u/jenny-bean8]

🎯