lab pup, Wednesday he's 14 weeks, had him since exactly 10 weeks. senior is some kind of chi I think but looks like a rat terrier maybe, almost 12 years, had her since rescuing around 6 months, and she's mostly blind.
General training was going really good, and he was doing really well at potty training. He's totally crate trained already. One of the only issues we've consistently had is he demand barks at her, begging her to play. she wants nothing to do with it and makes that abundantly clear with growling. they can be in proximity as long as he's not nipping or barking at her.
the last week has been really overwhelming for me. i'm dealing with a lot. and a lot is an understatement. I'm experiencing an increase in my mental health symptoms, I had an injury that has been causing me even more physical pain than usual and I was in a spica brace all week, I'm getting ready to move and just got approved for the new place this week but the uncertainties – especially financially – around the move is giving me more panic attacks, and I have a puppy on top of it. my patience has been stretched really thin this week.
because I'm already struggling, his normal non-linear puppy progression feels like I'm doing something wrong. it seems like he's started acting out to get treats, especially leash biting when we're inside. but he's still having accidents inside the house, probably because I struggle to keep track of time or a couple times it's been because I misread his cues and didnt wait long enough while we were outside for him to get all his poop out. So I've been keeping him on lead to be able to notice, respond and get him outside quicker. Last week he was even telling me when he needed to go outside by whining and apparently when he steals my shoe it means he needs to go out cuz two or three times now he's stolen my shoe and once I've gotten him to drop it, he's promptly stepped 3 feet away from me and started peeing.
Today he had been demand barking at my senior and went to lunge at her on the couch, but because he was already at the end of the leash, he lost his balance and fell. he started limping, so I checked his legs and paws over from top to toes with no reaction or indication of pain, and its been over an hour now and before I put him in the crate for a nap he was walking mostly fine. But now I feel guilty that he got hurt. I feel guilty he harasses my senior girl and no matter how many times I redirect him or she growls at him, he'll stop for about 15 seconds and then start up again and keep doing it until he's bored.
he's started biting at the treat bag the last couple of days. it's a shitty bag that I havent had the time to make a stronger one, so I'm scared he's going to rip it. he's started trying to chew on furniture this week, too.
and I'm single and still grieving my last relationship. so everything is on me. if I get overstimulated from the biting and the pulling and the barking and all the very normal age appropriate behaviors, there isnt anyone I can pass the puppy off to. I've been yelling a lot this last week between trying to handle the puppy and trying to manage my senior so she's less likely to be bothered, and I feel absolutely horrible. theyre both good dogs, and I know yelling isn't helpful and probably making things worse.
he only just started showing me appropriate affection yesterday. he's been playfully biting and chewing on me since the first week, but he just started licking me yesterday.
I dont want to screw him up. I dont want my seniors remaining time spent stressed out because he demand barks at her so many times a day.
i'm exercising him via fetch inside the house and the flirt pole in the yard (he really loves the flirt pole) until he's fully vaccinated in 5 weeks or so, we're in training classes once a week, I'm giving him mental stimulation, he's getting enforced naps, if we're not playing or sleeping or pottying or eating we're training (if we include correcting and redirecting negative behaviors as training), I'm trying to keep him to a decent schedule. I'm doing my best and this week definitely feels like my best isnt enough and I'm simply not cut out to raise a puppy.
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