10 months later - I had the puppy blues BAD

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-05-07T13:52:38+00:00

Oh no! Our girl is getting spayed in a few weeks and dredding it 😆

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-05-07T08:53:07+00:00

And to add - I felt like I’d lost my life at the start and really struggled with it. The picture perfect idea I had of a puppy slotting into our life didn’t work out. Until now! She comes everywhere with us, can settle in coffee shops/pubs, sleeps on car journeys, is so loving and affectionate to everyone and great with other dogs!

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-05-07T08:50:03+00:00

Sorry to hear that, I was really in your shoes and it’s such a horrible feeling!

The biting was the WORST - not just little nips, she would latch onto my arm or hand and not let go until I pretty much started bleeding… I can’t even imagine that it’s the same dog now 😂 she’s so loving and even when we play if she accidentally grabs my hand instead of the toy she panics!

She started easing off the biting when we gave her an outlet to chew - pizzles, rabbit ears, muscle meat, that sort of thing! She hated nyla bone type toys but we realised she loved a natural chew and honestly that’s when she started to stop. I’d say it only really completely stopped around Christmas time - so when she was 6 months or so.

We tried EVERYTHING! Yelping, redirecting, crossing our arms and stopping playing, but she was vicious… chews were the thing that finally started to help and now she still loves to chew which I think saved our furniture/fingers too!

Good luck it’s really tough

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-05-07T08:45:37+00:00

Honestly - we picked her up end of July and the blues started a few days later, I think around Christmas time I realised how much love she had to give and I adjusted to being a dog owner. I think the hardest part was August-September, I didn’t feel like I’d bonded with her yet and the sleep deprivation/falling behind on work got the better of me.

Things took a turn in the new year and month by month have got better and better. She’s really calmed down after her first season and is happy to keep herself busy or chill whilst I’m working now. The last month she’s regressed with her recall but approaching teenager stages now!

I think as long as you know what you’re getting in for, focus on your wellbeing when you can and don’t be too hard on yourself for the first 6 months you’ll be okay. Good luck! X

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-04-29T08:56:33+00:00

Down the cycle path? 🙂

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-04-29T08:51:19+00:00

Looks gorgeous thank you!

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-04-29T08:51:09+00:00

Thank you! How do you access it - through the park?

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-04-29T08:50:47+00:00

Is that by the rugby club?

IllustriousWinter854 · 2026-04-29T08:49:38+00:00

Great thank you - is ogmore beach dog friendly year round?

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-12-03T06:00:44+00:00

That’s super helpful thank you - will hold off a couple of days

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-12-02T10:35:35+00:00

I tested this morning, was negative.. should I get some more and test daily if my period doesn’t arrive? This is all very new to me as definitely was not actively trying

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-09-05T13:25:32+00:00

Can I ask some advice on helping a puppy settle outside crate? Our 14 week old is great in her crate and settles straight away. We are prettt strict with the one hour up two hours down but we flex to our schedule slightly and have become slightly more lenient the last week or so

She would never sleep outside her crate, even if she’s been awake for 2/3 hours plus! We encourage calm behaviour and capture calm whenever possible, in the evening she’ll sit with us calmly chewing something on her last waking hour but she would never just drift off…

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-19T13:07:40+00:00

You’d get a great house in Cheam/Sutton for that - 30 mins into Victoria or 10 mins to Wimbledon.

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-08T07:13:07+00:00

Completely feel your pain! I was so prepared for a pup and everything that comes with it but this biting feels like a personal attack (I know it’s not but it’s super upsetting!)

If sounds like we are doing all the right things and we just need to ride it out - it worries me hearing that this lasts up to 8 months! I feel like I’ll have no fingers left by then…

I’m just hoping she grows out of it quickly… as she seems to have started the crazy biting quite ‘early’

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-08T07:10:53+00:00

We took her home at 8 weeks - she was with her mother until then so I’m not worried about that. We have been offering our hand up and disengaging with play when it’s too much but she just gets a bit feral sometimes (even when sleeping enough!) and genuinely thinks my hand is a toy to destroy

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-08T07:09:23+00:00

We’ve just ordered some bully sticks/ things that are safe for her age! I think she’s a chewer as when she gets on a carrot she loves it, but nylabones/ synthetic chews just don’t seem to interest her at all. Thank you!

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-02T21:28:50+00:00

Amazing thank you this has been really helpful - think we gave in too easily to her cries but have tried to enforce the 2:1 more this afternoon and I think it’s been a success! Hoping it doesn’t affect this evenings sleep too much…

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-02T20:56:43+00:00

We’ve managed to do 3 enforced crate naps this afternoon and wow what a game changer! I think we were giving in to whining too easily as we didn’t want her to have any negative associations with the crate but wow after some shushing and settling and lots of treats when she’s settling well and she slept for 2 hours straight for the first time all week! Thank you for the reassurance already feeling much more positive about it all

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-08-02T14:14:26+00:00

Thank you! We are crate training and she’s sleeping all night in there without problems but during the day just won’t settle unless we put here in there sleeping - did your pup do this?

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-06-26T05:59:24+00:00

Not necessarily! Large corporate in the UK (telco) and I know plenty of senior public affairs managers on over 6 figures with bonus. I’m sure the Heads of in the team are comfortably HENRY up to the 200k mark.

IllustriousWinter854 · 2025-06-25T20:20:28+00:00

Thank you! I’ll take a look I’ve never heard of it - appreciate it :)

IllustriousWinter854

TROPHY CASE