[junos_dad]

hello all out there....i'm a new dad to a 9 week old lakeland/border mix terrier girl i've namned Juno. I've had her now for 6 days (it feels like 60) and i'm going through quite the rollercoaster. One minute I'm feeling unconditional love the next floods of tears and panic. 2 days ago I tread on her back foot, she was behind me in the kitchen and i didn't realise she was there. The hurt face and the held up paw broke my heart and i started bawling like a baby and really worrying about whether I'm the right person to care for her. I've done my research, i don't have any other commitments, I will take her into work with me, I can afford her injections and general care but again ....today (after treading on the front paw this time !) i broke down again. I started looking at rescue centers i could take her too because i feel i won't be able to love her properly, that i'm too selfish to care for her. But i do adore her, she's slept probably 3 hours a night since i picked her up which hasn't helped my mental state . Has anyone else gone through this? Am i normal? I know i'm speaking to a bunch of dog lovers (myself included!) but am i doing the right thing keeping her? I'm scared these feelings will get worse and it's not fair on her.....

[dralionagogo]

Lack of sleep makes us all a little crazy. You're not going to hurt Juno by stepping on her paw. Puppies are pretty resilient. Have you ever seen how rough they play with each other? A little paw stepping is nothing, you're not going to break her or her spirit.

I've stepped on and kicked more puppies, dogs, cats, and kittens than I can even count w/o anything happening. Once when my boyfriend went to grab a blanket off the bed w/o looking, he repelled our little 8 week kitten into the wall. The kitten just jumped up and started purring b/c his daddy was there, and I'm still laughing my butt off about that one.

They will be underfoot and where you least expect them, no one can watch an animal every single second even when heavily supervising them. They're fast and you're tired. Plus, tip toeing around animals only helps to coddle them and make them insecure.

[Lunareclipse]

I bet the flying kitty was funny.

When I was still living with the parental figures, I had a friend sleep over and she slept in while I cleaned out my hamster cage. I put the hamster on the bed while I went to wash it's tray and my friend threw the blankets off and accidentally launched my hamster out the window. I found it roaming around outside under the bushes. It was fine and lived for 2 years after that.

I step on my dogs all the time. they can't help it they are lardasses and take up so much space. I also step on and trip over my human children too. It's ok. They get over it. Dogs know when you hurt them if it was on purpose or if it was an accident. There is no reason to get over-emotional about steeping on your dog. I think every dog in human history has been stepped on at one time or another. I step on my dogs at least once a week. Chances are you will step on your dog more times in the future and it's nothing to flip out about. The dog forgives you quite quickly.

[cigwyllt]

Sounds like a serious of the puppy blues! You would be amazed how many people suffer from the blues when they get a new pup. And they are all people like you who have done the research, looked at the budget, counted the cost and on paper it looks like everything is going to be perfect. Then the pup arrives and suddenly everything falls apart.

But believe me - the blues will go away as quickly as they arrive. And if you didn't love her you wouldn't care if you were doing it right would you? You are going to be fine.

Accidents happen. The first time we took Manny out as a tiny pup we went to the beach. We had a great time and on our way back to the car Manny jumped in front of our son who tripped over him and sent him flying. Manny screamed in pain and I scooped him up as we decided to abandon our plans for a picnic and head straight to the vet. Nearly back at the car, the screaming had stopped and he made it clear he wanted to be out of my arms. I put him down, he shook himself and ran on to catch up with the other dogs.

Juno is fine and she will have a great life with you.

To think about the sleep issues - where is she sleeping right now?

[Lunareclipse]

Crate training will help you sleep better. Maybe you can try that too.