Owner whose dog won’t cuddle shares ‘puppy blues’ struggle

Most dog owners will be familiar with the ‘puppy blues’. As wonderful as it is to welcome a tiny new furry friend into your family, the reality is that raising a puppy can be a real challenge.

Many dog owners speak about the feelings of stress, frustration, and exhaustion which come with having a little ball of chaos running around their home and trying to destroy everything. Some even find themselves questioning whether getting a dog was the right decision in the first place. One owner has opened up about her own experience, saying the reality of having a puppy is vastly different to what she envisaged, reports the Mirror.

Speaking over footage of her golden retriever puppy, Lilo, wreaking havoc around her home, TikTok user Jade said: “Am I the only one that has a puppy but doesn’t feel like they have a dog?

“I have had Lilo for three months now and I have not yet felt like I own a dog. I think it’s because the connotations of owning a dog are the lovely cuddles and the nice walks, but obviously I’m yet to experience any of that.

“I haven’t had a cuddle from my dog at all, and I do wonder if it’s because we’ve really strictly crate trained her so she has not once fallen asleep outside of the crate, which means she just doesn’t know how to relax with us. But it is really heartbreaking to see videos of people curled up with their puppies and that has quite literally never happened for me.”

She continued: “I know I’ll look back at this when she’s older and she will be displaying those behaviours. But right now I literally cannot see past it.

“I see comments of people saying ‘they can be so badly behaved but then they’ll curl up with you on the sofa at the end of the day and all is forgiven’, and I’m like ‘no, that doesn’t happen to me at all’. In the evenings, actually, she’s worse.”

She concluded: “I know I’m not the only one to have ever existed with a difficult puppy, but it is really hard when you see so many people whose puppies do settle down. So this is my video to anyone who’s also experiencing this and remembering that people who share all the gorgeous cuddly videos choose to share the good parts, but it still can feel lonely and overwhelming. So we’re in it together and I’m just praying that there is this magical light at the end of the tunnel.”

Numerous commenters expressed solidarity, reassuring Jade that she’s far from alone in feeling this way. One shared: “Girl I’m exactly the same! My puppy is almost five months and still doesn’t relax. He only sleeps in the crate and if he’s out he’s on the go 100 per cent.

“Everyone talks about them crashing but he never has. My bf says it will just take time but it’s very very hard.”

Another added: “Going through the same thing with my 10 week old. He has no off switch. Never ever relaxes or cuddles up, just relentless running, biting, and playing. Hoping he grows out of it.”

Others reassured Jade that circumstances would get better. One shared an image of their own dog contentedly curled up beside them on the settee, commenting: “Don’t beat yourself up girl. My puppy didn’t cuddle me to start with.

“He was 24/7 go go go – I remember siting on the sofa having removed all the cushions he was chewing and I was crying and he was zooming around the sofa. Now we do this. He’s still not perfect and will only settle for short periods of time before something interests him but it’s the small wins I’ve started to love.”

Another commented: “Totally normal for him to be a monster first couple of months – he’s taken from his mother, you’re giving him rules (correctly). Try balance the rules with fun – chasing, football etc. I have Shibas who are notorious anti-cuddlers, I had to learn to let them come to me. Now I cant get rid of them.”