u/onofftappresets

My 10-week puppy needed to nap so I put him in his crate and left him there - he ended up crying and barking for 20 minutes. Usually he gives up in 5-10 so I thought it strange. However I REALLY didn't want to award bad behavior so I took him out to potty with zero other interaction. About 5 minutes outside and he went to poop. I still had the idea of showing 0 emotion so I just wiped him off and put him in his crate and left him. He whimpered once and is now in the crate sleeping. I was thinking, should I have actually rewarded him heavy for all of this? I just had that gameplan in my head of ZERO reward right now but I mean he was totally right to bark in some sense? With that said I have his crate in a playpen + a pee pad - he has NO problems going pee on the pad and has gone poop on the pad overnight... I would think he knows to just poop on the pad if I don't get to him. Looking for some thoughts!

I'm a first time dog owner and got a Maltipoo last Saturday. Sat - Mon I couldn't leave his sight. His favorite thing was playing tug of war, let me pet his belly around the third day which he went ecstatic over. He'd bring his specific chew toy and lay on his belly while he bit and I rubbed. Super fun (and SUPER EXHAUSTING). All good here.

Fast forward, I went to the vet yesterday because he had diarrhea and he was checked out super healthy except yeast infections in both ears. I got tresaderm which I did the first session (5 drops in each ear) this morning - he HATED it. Yelped in pain. :( I tried the second batch of 10 drops this evening and I could only manage 5 in one ear 2 in the other. He was FREAKING out so I decided to stop for today. (Someone please let me know if this is okay. ClaudeAI says it's fine to stop now and continue tomorrow?)

We also set him up with a playpen today which he's not fully adjusted to (naps in it though). We also had to clean the house and carpets because the accidents got way too smelly and gross. He was sniffing around the entire house and new playpen the entire day essentially. Totally understandable. He still went potty twice on the cleaned carpet - no praise given to him.

Now the worrisome part of all this - he has suddenly become really independent. He still lets me pet him but he hasn't had that crazy energy. I think today I went to him for pets more than he came to me. :( Most of the playtime today was him sniffing around the house, taking his toy to a corner and chewing on it, going under the sofa and chilling out.

I absolutely love this from him but I'm just scared he might not like me anymore. I worry it's way too early for a new puppy to be this independent all of a sudden. I was thinking maybe I smell like cleaning materials (especially my hands), because he still fell asleep in between my feet today, and that's why he avoids me? I'm hopeful he doesn't personally dislike me because of the ear drops and perhaps it's just my smell + cleaned out living room/new playpen/new environment?

Would really appreciate any thoughts, advice here. I don't want him to think of me as just ear-drop-pain-giver. Don't want any irreparable mental/relational strain against me...

Hey guys, I posted some stupid first time owner questions yesterday and everyone's replies were so so helpful, thanks all! I picked up my son at 2 PM today and its 9 PMish now. Wanted to share my experience as well as to see what you guys think.

Puppy cried for 25 seconds at the very start of the 2 hr ride and then... nothing. Kept blinking and yawning but wouldn't sleep - no crying or whining or anything. I was shocked! I thought he would go crazy but nope cool as a rock... and then he threw up a lot. :( I felt literally so terrible in my sunken gut and drove home as fast I could. Then Claude AI told me throwing up is normal because of motion sickness so that gave me relief.

Got home, I let him sniff around the living room and also my backyard. Kinda strange - he went pee outside twice successfully and I gave him treats and love. But he pooped twice and peed once indoors. Pooped in the same spot near the kitchen table. :/ I ordered some enzyme cleaner and put a pee pad on that spot for now. Hoping to time potty a bit better but I think for day 1 this is good.

I squeezed in some crate training when I could after play time. He was definitely hesitant to get in, even with luring him with treats. Took a few breaks in between but he really didn't like the crate. It was really, really time for a nap so I moved the crate to my bedroom, put a towel over it, tried treats and stuff again. It worked after just a few tries (I think he kinda surrendered to my insistence) and I popped in a bunch of treats which he devoured. He napped for an hour around 6pm-ish, then I put him in the crate again at around 8 and hes still there.

I actually thought id let him out to potty one more time before we go for the long sleep stretch until morning but as i called him out he literally moved away from me to the other side of the crate and laid down. Tell me why this reminded me of all the girls I asked out and turned me down... BUT im gonna take it as a win that he likes his crate and is telling me he wants to be left alone(?). Im gonna watch some TV and check back in around 1030. If he still ignores me I'm gonna leave him alone until morning. Unless do you guys think I should force a potty break? Kinda dont want to disturb him...

Some random thoughts - he freaking loves tug of war. Tons of energy, he literally knocked me out after like 15 mins. It felt like a cardio/gym day... he also had diarrhea his second poop :( the breeder told me that's normal behavior because of the stress and car trip. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again. Don't want the guy to be in pain. I also dont want my $200 rug to get wrecked lol...

Lastly, I feel like the puppy handled this day better than me. I ate mcdonalds and instant ramyun because I wanted to rush my meals to get back to the puppy and now im the one with digestion issues. Literally having to calm my heart rate and writing this post is like getting out puppy energy before bedtime - but like - im the puppy here.

I can't believe how quiet the boy is, he hasnt cried since being here except a few cries while crate training - but even that he now seems to be doing really well in there. Just really amazed at this whole day and amazed at how cool this little guy is. Again, hes handling today better than I am???

I am 100% sure you guys aren't gonna read all of this - but for those that stayed - thanks. If anyone has any tips or replies to any part of this where you think I can do something better for the little guy please lmk!

I'm picking up an 8-week old Maltipoo puppy tomorrow and will be a first-time dog owner. After watching maybe 7 hours of new dog owner videos I still feel like I have no clue what to do, especially for the first day. I had some very stupid questions I was hoping to get some advice on:

1. Is it better to have the puppy sleep in the master bedroom with me, downstairs in the living room, or maybe even this spare bedroom I have upstairs? I'm leaning towards the spare bedroom. I have one crate for now and was planning on crate training in the same room I want the puppy to sleep in at night. Maybe I should buy two, one for upstairs and one for downstairs??
2. I want the puppy to go potty in my backyard, but my backyard is half cement half grass. Should I like carry him out and place him in the grass area and kind of block him from going to the cement area or something? I don't want him to go potty on the cement but on the grass.
3. Related to the second question, I still need to get him his final shot in a few weeks - I read somewhere that puppies can't go outside until they get their shots. How strict/deadly of a rule is this? Would just 10-15 mins in my backyard throughout the day to potty train be okay until he gets the final shot?
4. I'm picking him up 2 hours away from my house. Any tips on what I should bring for the car? I was going to bring 1) cardboard box 2) put dog bed on it 3) bring food/water bowls 4) bring puppy treats. I read their bladders only hold for an hour, is it a good idea to take a 1 hour rest break, take him out the car and try to have him potty? Or is that unnecessary...
5. If anyone wants to share any other advice, please let me know! I'm kind of terrified right now of screwing up because I read the first 24hrs will affect his behavior for the rest of his life.

I've been googling for an hour trying to find maltipoo puppies to adopt but can't seem to find a shelter that has one in my area. I do see a breeder really close by me but wondering if that's my only option if I wanted one in my area.

I've been googling for an hour trying to find maltipoo puppies to adopt but can't seem to find a shelter that has one. I see a breeder in John's Creek (Simply Southern Pups) but wondering if that's my only option if I wanted one in this area.