Basically, Puppies are Chaos Incarnate

So, my dog Scooter is going to be two years old next month. He’s come a long way, obviously, but it did not start easy.

My partner and I picked up Scooter from a friend of his, when he was just 6 weeks old. His mom was scheduled for her spay surgery after her first heat, but their other dog (stray, intact) got to her before that could happen. Spay and neuter your dogs!!!

We know now that this is not the ideal time frame to pick up a puppy, but we didn’t know. Ideally, a puppy should be picked up from 8–12 weeks old, to really maximize socialization and learning behaviors from mom/littermates.

But, despite all of that, our little guy was home with us, and that was that. I’d be lying if I said I never thought about giving him back, because owning a puppy is HARD!

His vaccination and socialization schedule was difficult to manage. He was not able to properly play outside until he had been vaccinated for parvovirus, which is usually around 12 weeks old, give or take. We would have friends bring their adult, socialized and vaccinated dogs in and introduce them through a baby gate. Little Scooter was devastated that he couldn’t immediately play with his new friends!

So, to keep him occupied, we had to come up with loads of mind games and physical stimulation indoors. Scooter is a mix between American Pit Bull Terrier, Australian cattle dog, and we think some boxer, too. So, mental stimulation really played a huge part in keeping the nipping beast at bay.

Then, teething. Oh God, the teething. That started when he was around four or five months. He lost an incisor, and then they all seemed to fall out in the coming days after that.

His mouth hurt, obviously, so frozen Kong toys and peanut butter were our saviors. It was more difficult to get him to fall asleep at this time, because he was in pain and the Kong could only do so much. Poor little guy.

Puppies sleep a LOT. We followed a routine schedule of 1 hour up (playtime/training/etc), 2 hours napping. He was sleeping through the night by day three, but we got lucky. You WILL be tired for a long, long time when you have a puppy, regardless of breed!

Once teething had stopped, he was an angel. An absolute, perfect angel! We thought that was it. But nope. We had one more hurdle.

Adolescence.

To say adolescence was rough is an understatement. This is around the time where they gain independence, and start testing boundaries. The key to keeping our sanity through this was keeping training and discipline consistent.

Basically, treat them like you did when they were little. They’ll be more defiant, but they’ll get the idea. A cute face can only get them so far.

Nipping also comes back during this age, too. I read a little (r/puppy101 on reddit is a godsend!) and learned that there is a “second teething stage” to be aware of. This is when their adult teeth are settling into their mouth, and it can be uncomfortable for them. They’ll start chewing again most likely, but with enough redirection and reminders, it’ll pass. I promise.

Like I mentioned above, the puppy forum r/puppy101 is spectacular. Puppy blues are a natural part of owning a puppy, no matter how excited you were to get them beforehand. It’s a huge life change! And it’s completely okay to feel overwhelmed.

A puppy is a huge test of patience, and it absolutely is not for everybody. And that’s okay. It should go without saying, but absolutely never ever hit your dog, scare your dog, or use the dominance tactic. It does not work, and your dog will only become scared of you.

Is it rewarding? Absolutely. Scooter is currently bundled under the covers with me, snoring his little heart away.

As with every decision: research, research, research!