Dear solo caretakers, how do you do it?
My cocker spaniel pup is at around 7 months old, i’m on my 4th month of caring for her and sometimes I feel like a failure.
I still cant seem to let her roam free in my living room without being an eagle hovering over her every move. I have an olive tree and she’s obsessed with chewing on the leaves. I’ve taught her “leave it” and she does it perfectly with toys but she always, ALWAYS goes back to the olive tree.
Same with the sofa. I honestly dont mind her jumping on our sofa, but I want to teach her that she cannot jump on there unless I let her (to prevent her from thinking it’s okay to jump on anyone’s sofa). I’ve been trying hard, and the stress adds up.
I feel very bad for crating her every time I cannot be in the living room, though she doesnt seem to mind her crate and it is a decent size where she can roll around and play, I still wish she could just CHILL outside of her crate. She doesnt belong in there 70% of her waking day …
Though, I dont mind slowly working with her on these things but to be completely honest, I can feel exhaustion creeping up.
Just our normal routine starting with a 15~20 min walk at 6 am, breakfast, second play time/potty break at 8am before i work, coming back at 2pm with a short play time/potty break, afternoon walk at 15~20 min around 4pm, dinner at 6pm, final play time/potty break before bed…
This doesn’t include the daily grooming, weekly showers (as suggested by our vet), and frustration with other training. Oh right, AND my human obligations like meeting friends, work and selfcare 🥲🤣
So solo caretakers… how do you guys do it?
submitted by /u/justa-bear
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