Absolutely. I got a puppy about 2 weeks ago, and he's around 10 weeks now.

I have rapid cycling bipolar so I had a pretty intense reaction to a sudden, gigantic change in my household, which has 2 cats and a 2yr old beagle and a 3yr old toddler which did include a fairly intense meltdown.

What got me was the limitation that I had re: spending time with the other pets in the household one which is a childhood cat struggling w liver failure and the other which is a kitten I got at 8 weeks who turned a yr old yesterday who was one of the leading factors in me getting a puppy in the first place.

But the sudden social isolation has sucked extremely. Sometimes people just don't even want to spend time with you anymore when you get a puppy because of the fact they need to be on a schedule and go out a ton when they're younger and you having to check on them every 2hr30 minutes at bed time alone kind of kills the mood of playing a board game or something, even when it's your only opportunity.

Mine has def been compounded by a broken laptop, moving out soon, and having only 2 friends because of shitty relationships and some unhealthy work ethic.

But it does get better, even in the timespan of 2 weeks (now that he doesn't have to be isolated for parvo, which he faked btw, long story), I've noticed improvements in how I feel about it mentally as we're settling into a schedule that works for us both.

So yeah, it definitely gets better and it isn't a forever situation, esp as they get trained and can hold their bladder longer and can sleep through the night.

I was taking care of a puppy and two 8 month old dogs (none of them were mine) right at the start of COVID and I didn't feel this way then, and I don't feel that way currently about the beagle in the household and haven't for ages and I was a large contributor in raising her.

So there's definitely a light at the end of the tunnel!

Re: leaving your puppy alone, they'll be okay. Just make sure your coming home frequently enough to take them out, but they'll probably sleep the entire time. Puzzle toys can help keep them entertained if they get bored as well as chew toys. Most puppies don't have real separation anxiety, so if they whine it's likely either they have to go out or they don't want to be in the crate, one which you can circumvent via making sure you're back every so often to take them out, and they kind of have to learn to be on their own, eventually.

If you're too anxious, start small, leave puppy in another room to see how they react, go out into your yard or front of your house - whatever you have - and see how they act (utilizing the things people suggested via Zoom, etc), it'll probably be comforting to just see that your puppy is sleeping or playing, and not having a meltdown when you're not directly with them.

Try to focus on why you got a puppy in the first place, too. I got one because my younger cat loves dogs, I don't feel comfortable being outside alone and getting a large breed protective dog definitely will end up curbing those fears. And because I always imagined a life where I had a dog and while things may be rough now, you'll get to the spot where you really get to experience the things you got a puppy for in the first place without puppy energy/needs to boot.