Puppy blues vs. clinical depression
Feeling the puppy blues doesn’t necessarily mean you’re experiencing clinical depression.
Clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, is a mental health condition in which feelings of despair and hopelessness can prevent you from basic daily functioning.
Usually, the puppy blues are directly tied to your new pup, and your symptoms are generally milder than clinical depression.
However, if you think your symptoms are severe or last for a long period of time, you might want to consider speaking with a mental health professional who can help.
Puppy blues may not be a diagnosable condition, but that doesn’t mean what you’re feeling isn’t real or frustrating. Symptoms may include:
You may find you don’t like your puppy at times, or you wish you had never made the decision to get a puppy in the first place.
You’re not a bad dog parent for having these thoughts. Just because there are moments when it’s a challenge to enjoy your puppy, that doesn’t mean you don’t love them.
So what is it?
It is the puppy equivalent of postpartum depression and it hits first time owners who haven’t thought through the responsibility of raising a puppy.
Puppy Blues: Is it normal to feel regret after getting a puppy?
You had a vision of what life was going to look like when you welcomed your puppy or rescue dog home. And this isn’t it.
You’re exhausted. You’re monitoring your puppy’s toileting habits constantly, you’re sleep-deprived, and you’re frankly covered in bite marks gifted to you by your little shark puppy’s razor-sharp teeth.
It’s disappointing, upsetting, frustrating, and you might even be feeling like getting your puppy was a terrible idea. Don’t panic! It’s also normal!
Guess what?! Your puppy is more than likely behaving like a puppy. The problem is not you, and it’s not your puppy. He isn’t some devilish spawn that you should never have invited into your life.
The problem is that you weren’t given an honest reflection of what these early weeks and months might look like. It’s not your fault.
You read all the books and boffed up before getting him home, but now it’s like everything you read was written for someone else.
I’ll tell you why. There isn’t much out there that highlights the fact that your puppy will not master everything you try and train immediately. And that’s not because you’re not doing it right. It’s because there are developmental milestones that have to be reached before that training will cement. Training takes time.
Puppy Blues – Are you depressed with new puppy?
Unlike humans, dogs can’t verbalize what they are feeling. But even though dogs experience different emotions than we do, experts recognize that mental health problems akin to depression can occur in canines.