Hi everyone. I know this topic has been talked about extensively on this subreddit and online, but I would appreciate some guidance with my personal experience. I adopted a 1.5 year old dog from a shelter about 9 days ago. He is as good a dog as I could hope for given that I have only had him for 9 days. He’s not a barker, walks well on the leash, potty trained, and crate trained. He has not destroyed anything in the house. He also loves to cuddle and seems to be adjusting well to his new home. On the other hand, I have not adjusted well. Since I got the dog, I have had constant feelings of guilt, anxiety, and sadness. It’s been hard to concentrate on my work, I’ve lost much of my appetite, it’s been difficult to sleep at night, I’ve been sleepier during the day. There hasn’t been a day since I got the dog where I did not breakdown and cry. At this point, I do not know what to do. He’s a really good dog and has done nothing wrong. I feel like I misjudged my readiness for a dog. I would appreciate any thoughts and/or advice. Thanks in advance.
For context, I (20’s M) am a grad student who lives alone. My grad program is fairly rigorous, but I have been doing well and others in my program have dogs. I have a decent support system as I have friends who have dogs, and I am in a long distance relationship (we see each other ~once/month). While I grew up with a dog and had some responsibilities for it, this dog is my first dog that I am solely responsible for.
It sounds like things are going well you just have a case of the puppy blues. Take some time for yourself and try to focus on you and your mental health with a good book, a movie, maybe a glass of wine, whatever helps give you some self care. Then focus on getting your sleep schedule back in order that should help some of this
I think it can be really scary and overwhelming to be a first time dog owner. It’s a lot to be responsible for another living creature! Before I got my puppy, I was riddled with anxiety and doubt! If possible, maybe a friend or family member could take ur dog off your hands for a bit so u can have some time for yourself
I feel like we’ve got through the EXACT same situation! Except for me it was graduating and starting a new job instead of being in grad school that added extra stress. You just feel that you should be ready but aren’t and it really does hurt. It’s been 6 months since I got my dog and I can tell you that things get so much better! You just need to give yourself time to adjust too. Think about if it was the other way around. Would you be mad at your pup for not being adjusted yet? I don’t know your situation so I’m not sure if it’ll be an option but at one point when I was really overwhelmed and depressed, I asked my parents to watch him for a week and it helped so much! I got a little time to relax by myself and by the end of the week I missed him so much more than I thought I would. Hang in there! Your pup knows they’re lucky to have an owner who cares so much!
