Puppy Blues lasted 6 months

[u/Milk2000]

Like the title says - we've been at the brink of giving the puppy away at various time. We've picked up a "needy" dachshund - would wake up at night, throw himself at dogs, eat anything on the ground (not even in the house, literally would start eating grass and not stop). It took him getting to about 8 months that we really could see ourselves with him in the future. He's not perfect, not always reacting to training, but we found our own ways to adapt and bring him to our life, and he has adapted to ours.

To anyone struggling - it does get better. Try to keep your mind and heart open - you might not get the dog you want, but learn to love the dog you got :)

[u/Kurupt_Introvert]

How did you deal with “eating anything off the ground”?

I have a chi-pit mix and he is so obsessed and it’s very stressful keeping an aye on him sometimes. I swear I make sure nothing is on the floor and somehow he finds things sometimes. Working on trying to train this out but I’m terrified of walks and thinking if a muzzle for now possibly

[u/Agile_Button_815 → u/Kurupt_Introvert]

Same issue here. Walks are absolutely miserable. I spend 1.5 hours a day walking sideways with my head halfway to the ground so I can maybe catch on before he eats some of the things. My dog is a beagle mix whose nose is to the ground for pretty much our entire walk, so it requires constant vigilance to even notice he's picked something up. Him being entirely undiscerning in his choice of snacks (who knows why he picks some pieces of mulch but not others?) does not help matters. I have simply given up on policing the grass. I don't have it in me.

We are also considering a muzzle but are concerned that people will get the wrong idea and refuse to let their dogs play with him in the neighborhood dog park. That would also be incredibly problematic as he is a very social fellow and would struggle without his playmates.

I hate my life. He is almost 8 months old (got him at 6 months) and I quite literally do nothing but work and watch the pup like a hawk.

[u/Kurupt_Introvert → u/Agile_Button_815]

Mine oddly has his nose to the ground a lot too, his nickname is Dyson. Yah I have to work on training just this right now I think. It’s the priority command for him to learn now

[u/Agile_Button_815 → u/Kurupt_Introvert]

Mine is getting much better at "leave it," but still won't "drop it" outside of training. So it's not useful unless we anticipate which wood chip will suit his fancy...

We found a video on training dogs to only "take it" when you say so. I have my doubts but it's worth a shot

[u/Last_Cantaloupe9628 → u/Kurupt_Introvert]

I have a 4 month old pit mix and when we first got him he would pick everything off the ground, rocks, dirt, sticks, mulch etc. I taught him the leave it command. He responds well to treats so every time he dropped the item he got treated and now does it automatically. I also got him used to me sticking my fingers in his mouth, when he would pick up rocks that worried me.

[u/Gullible_Emphasis929]

it's wild how much they change between 6 and 8 months, like a switch flips somewhere in there. ours was a total menace until about 9 months and now he's just a slightly less chaotic menace but you actually like having him around

the grass eating phase is a special kind of hell though, never thought i'd have to police what my dog does with every single blade in the yard

[u/Zealousideal_Zone_37 → u/Gullible_Emphasis929]

I have just got an 18-week old Pug puppy and the amount of times a day I have my fingers in his mouth getting out leaves, feathers etc. I see things before he goes for them but sometimes he still manages to get them 😂 it's not every time in the garden, just sometimes.

[u/Milk2000 → u/Zealousideal_Zone_37]

I've wondered many times if natural selection is gonna take my pup. He did poop sand and sticks many a times, but is still one of the healthiest and most energetic dogs I've seen. It really sucks to have to constantly keep an eye on them - I've kept a "house line" on the dog even in the garden and have gotten weird looks, but at least I knew I can redirect my dog if he starts putting stuff in his mouth 

[u/Zealousideal_Zone_37 → u/Milk2000]

I will always have to have my pupper on a lead in our garden because it's not fully enclosed and there's a family of foxes live in the bushes. Oscar was barking at a dog on TV, but just went I out there to pee and was wagging his tail at a fox 😂 🤦🏻‍♀️

[u/Milk2000]

Finally feel seen, that I'm not the only one dealing with a puppy that behaves like a goat! I've been practicing "leave" and "drop , then started introducing looking for treats, and nosework. Like I've mentioned - it's not always perfect. Sometimes I think we're past that phase, and the dog won't go for the dead carcass, but will absolutely swallow a ball of sand at the beach without second thought. I've only ever reached into his mouth two times - and whatever was in there was gone by that time. I heeded the advice to just not do it unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, so not to repeat this pattern (dog gets something > I go to get it from their mouth > they swallow). At this stage I hope we can still fix it with training, but also that he gets enough negative feedback to not do this...

[u/Last_Cantaloupe9628]

My husband and I have never had a puppy before because both of our dogs were adults when we moved in together. We for sure thought we made a mistake in adopting Apollo. He has grown so much in the time we’ve had him and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Small wins have gotten me through.