u/Equivalent-Bit1827

Hey y’all. I need a reality check or swift kick in the ass. This is our first rescue, but not first puppy. We got him at 4.5 months and…it’s a mess. Our primary issue is he whines and barks constantly UNLESS he’s in his crate, there he’s solid. We just got him in with a trainer (we were scheduled to sooner but he had a pretty nasty dog attack to recover from so we were delayed) and she says he’s super smart and trainable. But for the 2 hour increments he’s awake at home, it’s incredibly stressful (we have the privilege of working from home). Especially his witching hour from 8-10pm after our girls are down when we’re at our most spent from the day. The training activities she recommended were things that are very hard for him to really get that mental enrichment and wear out his brain: tethering, sitting a pile of treats in front of him he can’t have, activities where he has to really engage like getting up and sitting on a milk crate or walking across a thin beam like something from a palette.

BUT…We have two competing realities right now.

1. my husband and girls have bonded with him and love him (I haven’t, my anxiety has been too high to get there) and
2. we feel like we’re failing miserably at home training, it’s so overwhelming at time one or both of us shuts down.

Our trainer also is getting field lab or Chesapeake bay retriever from his behavior and demeanor so this family dog lab we were anticipating is now potentially a super high energy, needs a job, working dog. All of that is to say….wtf do we do? I’m stuck in a regret shame spiral I can’t seem to get out of without any light at the end of the tunnel. 🫠 If you read this far, I appreciate you. I unintentionally wrote a novel.

I don’t really know what I want out of posting this, maybe solidarity? Or a reality check? My troop just bridged from Daisies to Brownies this week. 5 days before their bridging ceremony, I was asked by our school’s cluster leader to step down for next year. I led for both years of Daisies. Parents were dissatisfied that, while on paper I had a co-leader and a parent in the room for safety standards, I wasn’t doing enough. My co leader and the parents wouldn’t handle meetings I couldn’t make. I had to cancel 3 meetings the whole year, 2 for illness and 1 when my dog was viciously attacked by 3 other dogs while I was walking him and we were both recovering. Girls were going to get yanked out next because of this. I would never ever stand in the way of their scouting, so obviously I graciously agreed and still did their bridging ceremony. But man do I feel just terribly embarrassed. I don’t know how long the parents were talking about me or this issue but I really wish it had been brought to my attention earlier. I really don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. My daughter is in the troop, and I will not alienate her by pulling her out, but damn do I wanna just crawl under a rock and never see these parents again. Anyway, if you’ve made it this far thanks for reading.

Hi All! Our 7 month old puppy has had the benefit of only being in his crate for 2 hr long enforced naps throughout the day and then 10 hours for sleep at night. We have plans to go to a minor league baseball game tomorrow where he’d be in his crate for 4.5 hours, 2 of which would be his normal nap time. My husband is worried about this since we don’t routinely leave him that long. But, for context, he is fully crate and potty trained. He loves his crate and settles immediately. Do y’all think this is too long to leave him? I know doggos routinely are crated this long during work days, we just both work from home full time so we haven’t had this dilemma yet.

Our 6 month old puppy has finally gotten out of the biting everything and barking/lunging phase 🎉 but he’s now transitioned into just barking constantly. We are still on a 2 hour awake, 2 hour enforced nap cycle but the awake periods have become unbearable this week. I think it’s likely a combo of demand behavior, over tiredness, and habit. He’s a lab and I think hound mix so the bark is loud and extremely sharp; it almost immediately strikes a nerve. 😭 Any and all advice welcomed.

We have a 6.5 month old lab mix rescue who came to us back in February fully crate and house trained. We are now trying to introduce an x pen separate from his crate. It’s been a bark fest. Any and all advice needed, please! We really need a contained place for him when we’re trying to get stuff done around the house. 🙃