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Hi! I’m a new puppy mom and could use some advice on scheduling. My puppy is 7 weeks old. She was already used to sleeping in a crate and going potty outside at her previous home, so overall she’s doing really well.

My question is about her early-morning routine. Our day starts at 5:30 with potty, play, food, and a little training. She naps in her crate throughout the day, plays with my young kids, and sleeps well in her crate at night. Bedtime is around 9 pm. She usually wakes once around midnight or 2 am to pee, then goes right back to sleep.

The issue is she consistently wakes up around 4:30 wanting to play and will not settle. I’ve been keeping her in her crate until 5:30, but she gets so worked up that it takes a long time to calm her down. This morning I gave in and let her out at 4:30 to play but kept breakfast at 5:30… and now I’m worried I reinforced the wrong thing.

Should I try keeping her awake a little later? Is this just a phase she’ll grow out of? Do I keep holding the line with the crate? I’d love guidance from anyone who has dealt with early-waking puppies.

Hey all, I got my puppy almost a month ago (he was almost 4 months old then). Another family had him for about 1.5 months but decided they couldn’t handle him. I asked if there were any issues with him and they said he was a normal dog (spoiler: he was a normal dog), but those first few weeks was still terrible.

I live alone and even though I watched all the videos and read all the forums, I still didn’t expect it to hit that hard. My head was buzzing, I had trouble sleeping, I was stressed as hell, and I couldn’t leave him for a minute without disastrous barking. He was biting a lot too and I genuinely started wondering if I could handle him or if I had made a huge mistake. I felt like I was trapped in a cage, I also lost 5kg due to stress haha.

Reading other people’s experiences here helped me so much. We pushed through the first weeks and even though it has only been almost a month, the progress is insane. He listens so much better and today I left him alone for 4 hours and he was calm as spaghetti (checked on the camera). We started from just juggling keys, opening/closing doors/putting jacket on/off and repeating it plenty of times through the day, felt stupid but it works! He is also fully doing his business outside now.

The biggest things that helped were crate training (he loves it now) and having a routine. I love him so much now and I can’t imagine giving him away. Ofcourse there's still many challenges to come but I feel more ready now

Maybe this will help someone else who is struggling, just like all the posts here helped me! ❤️

Good morning everyone, I am crate training out 8 wk old puppy and he's doing very well at night. He knows its bedtime though he has to get up and pee of course. My question is, during the day, for naps, should I always put him in his crate and close the door, or let him sleep where he chooses? If so, do I close the door while he is napping? He's very nosy, so he wants out at every noise, though I keep the TV and noises going. I have been putting him in his crate when he falls asleep, but wondering if I should just let him be? Thank you for your thoughts.

I watched a video that said dog breeds today all insane health problems. I was concerned, but why is it like this? Breeds have existed for a while, how long has it been like this?

How are dogs being bred now that they weren’t before? Are all purebred dogs inherently inbred, like it’s required to make them?

Which dog breeds aren’t inbred? I was looking for a big gentle dog like a burmese or st bernard, but apperantly they are subject to this too, why is it everywhere?

The couch, the rug, me, the air… he just won’t stop!!! Any ideas?

I'm thinking about adopting a dog but I'm very hesitant because of my 12 hour work shifts. I work 4 on and 4 off. As mentioned in the title, I would have a dog walker coming to walk it while I'm gone.

I live in an apartment and I'm just worried about it barking while I'm gone (Not to mention the dog being anxious while I'm away).