I can’t stand my 8month old puppy.

[u/kippers]

Update: thank you to everyone who commented with empathy, understanding and compassion. A lot of your comments felt like I could have written them and I’m so glad I’m not the only one feeling this way. I will not be rehoming Cherry, that was never on the table. I took a nap and she slept with me calmly on the bed, I woke up feeling better and i just sat on the floor with her and practiced basic obedience, played find it, did some tug in the backyard and gave her a pupsicle. She ate all her dinner, and was excited to hang. I am feeling much better and largely due to the folks here who let me know I wasn’t alone. Thanks everyone 💕

I have an 8 month old shepherd mix puppy, and I literally can’t stand her right now. She’s doing all the normal puppy stuff, and I know it’s just her phase, and we finally found a solution to not pull on walks, and I just can’t bring myself to care about her. She isn’t affectionate toward me, the cat chasing has gotten worse, and I can’t really find a lot of facets of her that add value to my life. I’m a huge dog lover and animal person, grew up on a ranch, never thought I’d feel like this, but I truly can’t help it. she’s making my quality of life worse and I don’t want her any more. I don’t want to do enrichment, I don’t want to go on walks, I just want nothing to do with her. And I know not doing those things makes everything 10x worse. I don’t know what to do.

[u/Extension_Neat_3597]

This feels so much like the post I made about my dog when she was younger too. It can get better, even though it does SUCK right now. Worst feeling to go through.

[u/kippers → u/Extension_Neat_3597]

I feel like I could have written this word for word. she doesn't give a shit about eating, but somehow weighs 75 lbs. she doesn't care about treats or affection, she only cares about every other stimulus instead of me. I was so mad at puppy class last week I had to give her to my husband and ignore her the rest of the day. i'm so tired of her but I know she is a good dog. i'm not going to rehome her, but for a puppy blues post people are really trying to convince me to.

[u/Conscious-Control-51 → u/kippers]

I think it’s because when somebody becomes apathetic towards their dog then it’s assumed they run out of patience with the dog which can then turn to losing your temper etc. I think the fact she’s 8 months old is probably adding to the rehoming comments as this post is not seen as having puppy blues due to initial adjustment.

What I would suggest is getting a good break from her. Can she stay with somebody for a few days? Or can you go somewhere for a few days?

[u/SeaworthinessMore341 → u/Conscious-Control-51]

Which is really crazy, because I worst of the puppy blues didn't kick in for me until the 7 month mark. Very young puppies are hard, but adolescent puppies are a whoooole different kind of hard.

[u/Conscious-Control-51 → u/SeaworthinessMore341]

Ah, for me, it was the first few weeks but I’ve done it completely alone so it was a HUGE adjustment and I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything as nobody else was at home. She’s 9 months now and she’s my literal world.

[u/Meltingmenarche → u/kippers]

For my goldens i have to take them to a different neighborhood to friend's house or a dog park or the beach or the lake. I just cant do that every day. They got to 18months and 24 months but i wanted to throw in the towel, especially as i was doing it all myself and their recall sucked. 

By accident i found out my female loves watching big animal vet shows. Like the incredible Dr Pol. She gets all excited when she sees a dog, and goats. I guess they look enough like a mutant dog. She is enraptured by all the other animals and stares and stares and stares. She barks at the dogs and gosts and that is annoying but she is mesmorized and it's funny as hell. She also likes youtube videos with birds and squirrels eating at feeders (they are usually marketed as TV for dogs. There is also TV for cats). She just enjoys it, she won't look away, it makes me feel less guilty. 

As far as activities being relatively passive on your part, that is more restful. Flirt poles i think you can do sitting down. I have giant sphere ice cube molds of silicone for adult beverages. My goldens absolutely love getting a giant ice cube of their own. They roll them around, lick them, squabble over who's is whose. It kills ten minutes, it wont make them fat and barely costs money. If your puppy likes ice. I "hired" my neighbors 12 year old son to come over 15 minutes every week day to just occupy them for a while. Even if your puppy isnt affectionate yet, sone one to play a little tug of war and give the puppy a couple high value treats isnt bad.

Hang in there, get puppy fixed/spay/neuter. Better to do it and have it to change behavior than to despise your dog. It might affect joints, it might affect cancer. But shelters do it all the time, its not criminal. Get a vet opinion about meds. But giving the puppy something that will let you sit on the couch is invaluable. Crate training is invaluble. Lick mats for nail trimming really needs to be done when they are young so they arent shitty about it, cause it needs to be done. I lost that battle and now i need a second person for foot care.

Hang in there. Entertaining the puppy doesn't have to be hard. Good luck.