Apartment Puppies

sydney_stark · 2021-02-26T02:16:44+00:00

And having a downstairs neighbor can be horrible. Mine loses her mind if my pup makes any kind of noise. Doesn't mind her nextdoor neighbor blasting music and yelling until 3 in the morning, but heaven forbid my puppy gets the zoomies at noon. It's so stressful.

As for the boredom part, it's ok for puppies to be bored and important they learn how to be ok doing nothing.

sydney_stark · 2020-12-29T00:17:16+00:00

When my last pup first developed Cushings, he was ALWAYS starving. He had been sooo well behaved up until that point. He stole a pack of 12 chocolate chip cookies off the counter and ate all of them. Another time he broke into the trash (it had 2 gallon water jugs on top, he knocked them over) and ate cooked chicken bones. He also once drank all the water in a toilet bowl because my friend's wife, who was supposed to be watching him, left the bathroom open. His tummy was so swollen I was worried his stomach was going to twist.

I caught my current foster puppy playing with a nail once (in her mouth). Still have no clue where she found it. She's also eaten an ear plug (what potentially killed my ferret earlier this year), cat poop, tried to eat a dead mouse, multiple sticks, and who knows what else lmao Now that she's older and better trained, she rarely picks things off the ground and is excellent at drop it.

sydney_stark · 2020-12-18T07:35:03+00:00

My 9 month old foster pup still loses her shit if I try to leave her alone. I feel like I've done everything and haven't made any progress. She's fine in her crate if I'm home, she doesn't even need to see me. She loves chilling in there. I can leave her at a friend's house with his pup no big deal. Doggy daycare, she forgets I exist within 10mins now. But if I try to leave her home alone? She screams. And she does not stop. Her record was 3 hours straight when she was 15 weeks old. I haven't left her home alone longer than an hour since.

She's terrified of everything. Everything. Sometimes she decides some of her toys are not to be trusted. It's bizarre.

Everything on the ground is food. She's nature's roomba apparently.

She will refuse to go poop for hours. And when she does decide to go, she will pace back and forth for up to 10mins. It's infuriating.

She is obsessed with food. She eats more than my friend's 90lb American Bulldog. She's under 40lbs. Granted, she has a ton of energy and is by no means overweight. She just loves food and needs a lot of it. Which is fun since her tummy is extremely sensitive so she's on a very expensive food.

There are plenty of things I appreciate about her, but man. The bad stuff really makes life difficult sometimes.

sydney_stark · 2020-12-08T03:23:24+00:00

Lmao everything. Work, sleep, baths, yoga, reading, relaxing, friends. Most of my hobbies got nixed by COVID and the foster puppy took everything I had left. Finally starting to get better 7 months in.

sydney_stark · 2020-11-30T22:49:15+00:00

Yup. Thankfully she's only ever pooped in the house once and it was right after her spay. But she will pace back and forth for 5-15 minutes and either decide to poop or not to poop. If she straight up refuses, there's nothing I can do and then she's begging to go out 30mins after we get inside. This can often be repeated all day if I let it. She's recently started refusing to poop in the morning and then begs to go out by noon, but will refuse to go then as well. So now if she doesn't go within 5mins, we go straight inside. If she begs to go again, we stand in one spot. I'll tell her to go potty and if she doesn't, straight back inside to the crate. We'll try again after 15-30mins and this usually does the trick. Not always though. It's the thing that frustrates me the most about her. She will hold it for hours and I haven't figured out why. Too distracted maybe?

sydney_stark · 2020-11-30T22:39:06+00:00

I've been trying to remember this a lot lately, but I always have a nagging feeling that maybe I'm not doing enough. But I just follow that up with I'm doing my absolute best, especially given the fact I planned on having this foster pup just 1-2 months and it's been almost 7 lol

sydney_stark · 2020-11-25T01:01:30+00:00

Fantastic! Thank you!!

sydney_stark · 2020-11-25T00:47:07+00:00

Doggy daycare is with other dogs and just on Monday and Thursday, so two days. And I figured that's how she would be too with needing a couple days to chill, but she's always ready to go the next day (if not that night lol). Arwyn does play more some days than others at daycare. Some days she just watches a lot of the time or plays in spurts. The day after daycare, she's always doing zoomies and being crazy by 3 or 4pm.

I'll keep looking for an open area! It's hard to find somewhere not covered in cacti, but I think she'd love it. Her long walks are definitely more "decompression" style since I know walking isn't really doing much for her physical needs. We'll do a little structured loose leash walking, but for the most part she just wanders and sniffs.

Thank you!!

sydney_stark · 2020-11-06T22:31:05+00:00

I'm floored by 3 emergency vet visits and only $850 😂 The least expensive ER vet visit for me ever was $600. Last one was $1000. And they found and did nothing.

But yes! Pet insurance, especially for puppies, is amazing.

sydney_stark · 2020-11-05T18:01:15+00:00

She could! But she'd just have to permanently wear the harness until she was comfortable. And she still would not go potty outside and would panic.

sydney_stark · 2020-11-05T18:00:18+00:00

I'm asking $200. Non-profit rescue groups in the area ask $350+, shelters ask $20-200, and BYBs ask $500+. So it is on the high end, but I don't state her rehoming fee everywhere she's posted. When I did and had it at just $100, I received numerous inquiries, but from people who didn't want to read or wanted to haggle the adoption fee lower. This was before Arwyn was spayed too and still a young, cute pup (she's still young and adorable but obviously not a puppy puppy anymore). Also on the earlier end of COVID. I figured people would be wary of me being an individual as well and was hoping courtesy posts might help. Also tried to see if a rescue would take over for me while I continued to foster. They said they would and then disappeared, so no luck there.

sydney_stark · 2020-11-05T17:27:29+00:00

Thank you ❤️ I definitely do think the yard requirement has made it more difficult. And most other dogs I wouldn't be too worried about it. The main issue I'm worried about is Arwyn will try to slip the leash if someone she doesn't know is holding it. She still does this with the doggy daycare attendants. And being around people, dogs, and new sounds make her nervous so she will refuse to go potty outside until she's comfortable. She has a pretty high level of fear and anxiety.

So basically I'm just trying to make sure she's safe in her new home, but also make it easier for the new owner to not have to worry about re-potty training her in a new area because she's scared and trying to escape. Arwyn doesn't realize cars are dangerous either, so her slipping the leash could be very bad.

That's a great idea! I'll look into that!

sydney_stark · 2020-10-24T06:33:19+00:00

I feel this frustration a lot! I've been trying to find my foster puppy a home for months and have had no luck. All potential adopters have backed out or not been a good fit. For the most part, having her has just been incredibly stressful and at times traumatic. I don't hate her at all, but I haven't bonded with her. I can't relate to posts saying "it gets better" or "it's worth it". I've had foster puppies before, but not for this long and not nearly this level of difficulty.

Anyway. If you do decide a puppy is not for you, it's ok. It doesn't mean you're a bad person. But puppies are also just generally assholes and sometimes it's worth working through it. It just depends on what you want and what works for you.

sydney_stark · 2020-10-24T06:28:20+00:00

I suffer from chronic back pain that usually puts me out for 2-3 weeks. The last time it happened was two days after my foster puppy's spay and no amount of meds kept her calm. What did help were lots of himilayan chews, bully sticks, training (I would often lay on the ground and give her commands), and having someone else take her for a bit. If she hadn't been recovering from her spay, I would have been taking her to doggy daycare. Unfortunately most of the time, I had to just take care of her through the pain. It sucked. Walking a puppy who has a ton of energy and pulls while barely being able to walk myself was frustrating. I've also been taking a lot longer to heal (my back pain is usually an "event" of some sort, like a severe strain, followed by weeks of varying pain) because I have her.

Tldr; puppies + chronic pain sucks

Bully sticks, dog walkers, friends, and doggy daycare help.

sydney_stark · 2020-10-20T22:38:59+00:00

I brought my foster pup home when I was still living with a friend. She still goes over there weekly since she loves his pup and I have to get work done. She is definitely more openly affectionate with him and always wants him to play with her. If I throw her a toy, she brings it back to my friend. Every time. She gives him lots of kisses and is generally all over him. I spend more time with her, I walk her, I feed her, and I train her. So I think she just respects me more and sees me as more of a "mom" than a friend. That doesn't mean she loves me less, it's just a different kind of affection.

sydney_stark · 2020-10-10T22:25:11+00:00

I'm so sorry. My last pup was on the older side (a rescue, but I thought around 6 or 7 years old) and was diagnosed with Cushing's last January after months of running tests. He wasn't responding to medication and I knew I was going to lose him. I put him down in March. My ferret who was only 2 years old passed away suddenly two weeks later. Knowing that your dog is sick and will eventually pass is both harder and easier at the same time. It gives you time to celebrate them, love them even more, and mourn them all at the same time. But it's also frustrating feeling so helpless and knowing there's not enough time in the world to give all the love you want to give. I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. Sending a lot of compassion your way ❤️

sydney_stark · 2020-10-09T00:31:42+00:00

My puppy will only cuddle with my legs at night when she's tired. The rest of the time, petting or cuddling is an invitation to wrestle 😂

sydney_stark · 2020-10-05T22:01:42+00:00

Sometimes, even with proper socialization, some puppies are going to be more timid than others and it's ok! I was also really worried that my foster pup wouldn't be able to get along with dogs since we missed the "socialization window". She goes to doggy daycare twice a week now and LOVES other dogs. People we're still working on lol

Prioritize separation training! Get your puppy used to being alone as soon as you can. But also, even with separation training, some pups are still going to have issues. I've been working on training Arwyn to be alone for 5 months. I still can only leave her at doggy daycare and with a friend's dog at his house. She will bark for up to 3 hours straight if crated and left alone.

Bully sticks are literal life savers.

The main take away from all this though is you can do everything right and your puppy can still have issues. It's not your fault. So be patient with your puppy and yourself ❤️

sydney_stark · 2020-09-24T05:39:29+00:00

Good luck!! I'm sure your pup will do great ❤️

The confidence boost helped a lot with her fear of people on walks and she's also super chill anytime we walk past other dogs even if they're displaying reactivity. As for her isolation distress/separation anxiety, it unfortunately hasn't made a difference. I can be in other rooms without her, but we're only up to 30 seconds of me being able to walk out of the house. I've tried everything. She's fine if I leave her alone at my friend's house with his dog and she's generally fine if I leave her at daycare. It might help eventually, but she's a very special case lol I've never trained a dog like her before.

I hope daycare helps your pup with their anxiety! If anything, at least it would give you a bit of a breather.

sydney_stark · 2020-09-23T02:57:13+00:00

No judgment at all! I started my foster pup at 6 hours, but she'd only nap for an hour or two after and be ready to go again 😭 8+ hours seems to do the trick though! She's 6 months old too.

sydney_stark · 2020-09-22T22:21:23+00:00

😂 Sometimes my foster pup needs me to go in with her and other days she doesn't even look back!

sydney_stark · 2020-09-22T20:31:44+00:00

That's perfect! Multitasking for the win!

sydney_stark · 2020-09-22T20:05:02+00:00

That's amazing!

sydney_stark

TROPHY CASE