Hello, so some of you might remember my post last month. I received a puppy as a suprise pet,and have never owned a puppy before. I got some advice, decided to keep her, and now, a month later I'm kind of freaking out about it.
1) She screams and cries when left in her crate at night. I know you're supposed to ignore it but it goes on for hours sometimes. I need to sleep at some point. She has currently been screaming off and on for like an hour and a half. She only stopped because I came into the living room and turned on the tv and laptop and stay here. But I can't do this every night. I am dealing with some serious sleep deprivation. I haven't slept normally since I got her. Does anyone have any ideas about how I can restrain her at night so she doesn't harm herself or other things, but isn't so distressed that she screams incessantly? I can't handle it anymore. I'm done.
2) I feel extremely guilty about leaving her home alone all day while I'm at work. I have a long commute so she's out there in the yard alone for a really long time. I leave toys, water, and bought her a dog house (which she won't use) to make her as comfortable as possible, but realistically, I don't know how much time a puppy should be spending alone, period. I don't do long drawn out goodbyes, nor do I greet her with excitement - I know that's bad - but she doesn't seem happy about being alone. Ever. And by the time I'm home I'm so tired, it's all I can do to just feed her, walk her, and work on commands for a bit.
3) She is crazy hyper. I don't have any idea what to do about this. Whenever we go places I always feel like the worst dog owner in the world. All the other dogs are so well behaved, but Molly just jumps around and runs and freaks out because she wants to meet everyone she sees, at the expense of my arm health and her dignity. I keep doing the "off" thing when she jumps on things, but it doesn't work. She jumps and jumps. Which is apparantly bad for her because she's long and skinny, but I can't seem to make her stop.
4) Walks are less than fun with her at this point. She either wants to race ahead at lightning speed or stop and smell everything. EVERYTHING. And she weaves all about like she's a drunk driver. I can sometimes make her walk in a straight line, but only if I dangle treats above her head. And that doesn't work all the time.
I'm just crazy super frustrated. Any advice/solutions would be most helpful. I'm considering giving her to a stay-at-home-mom-type family so she'll have the attention she deserves, even though it would break my heart. She really is an adorable, friendly, awesome little puppy, and I feel like a total failure as a puppy owner. My biggest concern is that she's not getting enough attention, but I can't quit my job, you know?
