My puppy is turning one year in a week.

I wanted to post this to give some hope to people struggling with their new puppies.

Addison is a husky, lab and terrier mix, and we got her at 4 months. I never imagined getting a puppy would be this hard, though I shouldn't have been surprised given the breeds in her!

Biting, counter surfing, jumping on furniture, destructive chewing, playing keep-away instead of fetch, resource guarding, leash pulling, demand barking, the need to be entertained 24/7, the refusal to come in from the yard… I truly believed we weren't going to get past any of it and it honestly caused so much anguish.

It took so much patience, and time, and there was so much regression. And all the while I really felt like we hadn't bonded, which made it so hard.

Eight months later, she is not perfect but she is So. Much. Better. And we have more of a bond now but we are still building that.

Keep researching, keep reading reddit threads, keep trying. And believe if you can solve one behaviour you can solve all of it in time.

I just wanted to go into a bit of detail about loose leash walking. This was so much work and so much patience. We practiced in the house, then in the yard, driveway, expanded to one house north and south, then two and three. We spent weeks in each stage. Honestly I can't believe I stuck with it but one day I realized it had clicked, and suddenly we were going on much longer walks. I could dictate speed and could just walk down the sidewalk properly instead of wrangling her. And the benefits are two-fold – she has learned to walk properly but she's also practicing focusing every time we walk. She is so obedient after walks, when she used to be batshit crazy when we got home. There is no way a walk would tire her out physically – she is a little athlete – so the mental exertion is what we get out of it instead.

I read posts like this when we were still in the puppy blues. They were trying to be encouraging but I just wasn't buying that it would work for me. Please keep at it if you're having the puppy blues! I believe in you!