New 7 month old puppy

Hi all,

My husband and I recently got a 7month old pup – the breeder stays on a farm and he seemed to be really attached to him. It’s day 2 of having him home. He’s quite sweet. On the way home, he just napped and then wouldn’t get out of the car. Finally he did. He was nervous, understandably. Eventually he cuddled on the couch with us that night. We kept his dog bed in our bedroom for the first couple of nights. First night, I took him out at 3am and he finally peed. He slept through the night, no whining and no accidents. Very sweet boy.

Next morning, we took him out for a first walk, he couldn’t do a block as he was afraid of all cars and all people. But he ate and drank water after we moved his dishes to the living room where he likes to be. He napped on the couch all day. In the evening my, I took him out and he went farther and was more confident. He ate dinner and I brushed him, he went to the door to let us know he wanted to go out and he peed and went. The night was smooth. All this while, any time we took him out in the backyard, we had to use the front door and lead him on his leash.

Today, morning was great. We took him out in our backyard and he peed/pooped and played with us. We have these stairs to the backdoor to backyard. We used the backdoor, I had to lift him out. So far, he’s extremely afraid to go downstairs (only 2 steps really to the landing). Coming back, he climbed the stairs up. In the evening, we took him for a walk and he walked much farther than we’ve seen so far. But he freezes and shakes as soon as he sees other dogs or people. But when we took him to the backyard after the walk, he played well and pooped.

I went down to my basement in an attempt to get him curious and to follow. Husband had gone out. He whined and howled at the top of the stairs. These are the same stairs for the basement as well. I came back up after 20 mins, and he seemed anxious and nervous. Had nervous energy and clawed at the couch seat once back up.

We’ve had this week off and have been working on getting him comfortable for the first 3 days. We go back to work on Monday next week and I am extremely nervous about separation anxiety. He’s not been alone so far, and I am not sure if he’s been alone at the farm.

I haven’t slept well or taken care of myself because of anxiety and prioritizing him.

How do we go about this? We’re first time dog owners.