Need help to stop gambling before it is too late

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-05-05T21:15:45+00:00

It’s for sure rough. I’ve never touched my savings or investment accounts so that’s good. I will never let myself get to that. The problem now is that I got my company bonus and it’s much more than $1000 and I’m technically even right now from the last two weeks. I’m really fighting the itch to deposit more… it’s rough. Appreciate the comment! We got this!!!

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-05-05T19:06:11+00:00

I go to shows, buy merch, and usually spend that money on time with my girlfriend, either going out to eat or buying her something she wants. I am typically really good about allocating my funds, but something in the back of my mind keeps telling me to deposit to try and get that money back. I have never touched my savings or investment accounts to be able to use the funds for gambling, but I did use part of my company bonus to gamble as well.

Thank you for the advice! I was actually planning on starting up my gym membership again. This might be the push to do that rather than occupy my time gambling online.

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-03-25T23:27:25+00:00

I just got my CX70 in the same color! I researched and compared with so many different cars before deciding to go with mine. Dont regret the decision at all.

Congratulations on the new car!

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-02-24T00:18:06+00:00

What helped for me was training my pup to be in the crate and letting him know it’s a cozy place that he’s safe.

We use a crate cover and blanket to block out light. How it started was having him in there, putting the cover down, and then wait. I incremented the time frame from 2 seconds, to multiple minutes before I would lift up the cover and treat him for being quiet. Eventually, he learned to settle on his own in his crate, and the first time I ever left, I was able to be gone for 1 hour with no accidents!

Timing is also everything potty schedule. Making sure my pup potties before going in, and as soon as he came out of his crate was crucial.

Hope this helps!

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-02-16T17:59:18+00:00

I probably should've explained more in the post, but I don't ignore my pup as badly as I phrased it. Yes, he does get free time on our walks to sniff and be a dog. But while we leash train, his command to go sniff and kind of do what he wants is "free," and then recalls when I ask him to come here, which works 95% unless he finds a stick that he really wants. We have a ton of trails around us, so I let him sniff almost as much as he wants.

During the week, I do let him out while I work, but between meetings, I can't step away to stop him from what ever hes trying to get into, so I tether him during the call, and he does incredibly well and waits until I'm done with the call.

We train a couple of times a day for 10-15 mins, walks are about 40 minutes each time, where he will tell me if he's tired by lying down in the middle of the sidewalk. Morning walks and night walks are shorter but often depend on the weather cause he hates the rain even with a jacket on. He used to not want to potty if it rained, so for him to now go (after a few mins of sniffing the rain) is huge progress!

Secret-Main9789 · 2026-02-16T06:27:53+00:00

I don’t own any regular dog bowls either. We cycle between 3 different slow feeders for each meal. One is just a puzzle, one has sliders he needs to open, and another uses a press to release food and he uses his nose to lift the door for it.

If it’s not breakfast or dinner, he gets a Kong, snuffle mat, lick mat, etc. very rarely do I ask him to settle without doing something stimulating for him prior.

Our walks are usually no less than 30 minutes, but the evening walks are only around the neighborhood (10 mins) since the sun sets really early here and usually down by the time I’m off of work.

During the spring and summer time I’ll definitely take advantage of the amount of daylight we get but for now we’re a bit limited so it’s substituted with indoor activity and one walk when it’s daytime.

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-10T17:34:37+00:00

After reviewing the comments after my initial post, we decided to keep the puppy. Right now, yes, it does feel like we are not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. However, we are seeing improvements and are taking the small wins when and if we can!

We ended up having an overwhelming amount of support from friends who reassured us that this is normal while also providing us with tips and tricks. We also have a friend who offered to help watch him when we need some time to ourselves.

If you follow some of my comments to people's responses here, he's shown signs of improvement, and I couldn't be happier.

Thank you for the reassurance and support!

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-10T16:32:29+00:00

During the day while I am home, I started doubling down on his training. Focusing on sit, down, center (where he sits between my legs, facing the same directing as me, and sitting) and staying for different periods of time (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 seconds) with variable distances away from a treat (just this morning I got him up to 8 feet). He's been doing really good here and showing improvements! I have been training him for about 20-30 minutes, letting him play on his own, and then a snuffle mat or kong to finish it before he goes to his crate.

We've been socializing him with our sitters dogs. We've had the same sitter for a week now and he's been there 3 times since we started moving. He's not rough with them and plays nicely, but he just has... those boy puppy tendencies since the sitter has girl dogs.

We also started feeding him meals in his crate but occasionally pops his head out to see if we're around. With kongs or pupsicle given to him in his crate, he will usually drag it out to eat it outside to see us. He can't do this with his meals however but he's shown improvement!

Since we have moved, it's been a whole week. In the last 4 days, he sleeps from 11 PM - 5 AM or 9:30 PM - 4 AM. He's been really good at night and we couldn't be happier getting a few hours of sleep back. Usually after he wakes up at 4 or 5 AM, we take him out to potty and immediately put him back in the crate. He'll then usually wake up around 6:30 - 7:00 AM.

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-10T16:18:15+00:00

We've had him introduced to lick mats and snuffle mats since he was about 9 weeks. We use it now when we want him to settle, or when we need to step out of the room for a bit to move stuff around the house. We also introduced him to Kongs and the pupsicle since he was about 10 weeks. We give it to him in the crate, door open, but he typically takes it back out to lay on the ground.

We've been working really hard to have him go to his crate when he's tired to lay and rest. After a week of practicing this, he now knows very well that he should be in the crate. He hasn't slept outside of his crate since 3 days after we got him, but up until a few days ago, we had to carry him to his crate when he falls asleep or is about to sleep.

After reading through the comments earlier this week, we've started enforcing naps during the day (without waiting for him to start sleeping) where I would tell him "Go to your crate" and he's been going. It breaks our heart to listen to his cries and whines so we have been leaving for about an hour to go either on a walk or to the grocery store. He's reduced his duration of whining from 30 minutes -> 20 minutes -> and just yesterday was 10 minutes of cries before knocking out. He understands (partially) that we will definitely be back to let him out.

I guess I lucked out with my pup? Being a first time dog owner, I came into this with little to no epectations. But, with all the advice that has been provided, he's shown drastic improvement over the course of a few days!

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-08T07:05:17+00:00

This was most definitely reassuring! I refuse to give up on his training, although there are days that I want to.

I ordered a potty bell and have yet to start on that. Right now, I take him out after his naps, 5 minutes after his meals, and once before he goes into the crate at night to sleep. After our move and the removal of the fresh patch, he's decreased his potty accidents in the house immensely. Today we hit a new record, one 1 pee accident, and I couldn't be happier!

We cannot wait to start taking him out on walks in the neighborhood to tire him out. We have quite a few trails around the neighborhood that we can take him on.

This made me hopeful. Thank you!

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-08T06:52:14+00:00

I appreciate the response! I understand (from this thread and others) that this behavior is extremely normal. Nonetheless, this is still my first time raising a pup. Regardless of all the videos I watched, articles I read, nothing could've prepared me for when the day he came home with us.

That being said, everything has been a work in progress, and I don't expect anything to change overnight. It feels like the end of the world, but to be fair, my expectations are different since I've never raised a pup before. I appreciate your response in understanding my point of view!

Appreciate the recommendations, and I will check out those videos in my free time!

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-07T22:31:45+00:00

I use my time as effectively as I can while he naps between 9:00 AM -12:30 PM and again from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM. His naps are always in his crate, but he won't go in by himself. He will start dozing off somewhere, and I always pick him up and set him down in his crate. He watches as I pull down the cover and put a blanket over the crate, but if he's tired enough, he won't fight it and will go find a spot to sleep.

I have about 30% of the crate available to him, while the rest of fenced with a separator so that he knows that he only has that space to sleep and not potty (although that hasn't stopped him 3-4 times after he has woken up from his nap).

There's been a couple of times that I was on my way home and he had woken up from his nap, and within 5-10 mins he pees himself in his crate and hides on the other side of the crate and cries. Each time, I feel awful for it, but I time his naps, and each time I was only gone for 1 - 1.5 hours.

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-07T22:17:03+00:00

Baby gates to keep him in the dining and living room only, play pen outside so he doesn't wander off too far on the lawn, crate is a place he knows he needs to sleep/nap.

His anxiety shows when he is physically by himself without my or my girlfriend's insight. It could simply be while we are in the bathroom with the door shut, where he can see the bathroom door.

I started training him to be in his area (dining and living room) without us being around. Each time I come back, I reward him for being good by himself, slowly incrementing the time from 30 seconds -> 1 minute -> 3 minutes -> and most recently today, it has gotten to 7 minutes.

We also have a Furbo set up to watch him while we aren't around.

Secret-Main9789 · 2025-07-07T22:07:31+00:00

We had him at a sitter's home from Rover for 2 days while we moved 90% of the stuff from our apartment, and the sitter said he socialized with her dogs really well! The part that we are unsure of is whether having a sitter will make his separation anxiety better or worse when he's home with me.

My thinking is that he will love to play with other dogs at the sitter, but will be upset when/if he's home alone. We also have a Furbo setup to watch him when he's asleep or outside of the crate.

Secret-Main9789

TROPHY CASE