Puppy Blues

Everyone said a puppy would bring joy. Nobody mentioned crying in the shower on day six, dreading the sound of the puppy waking up, losing your appetite, fighting with your partner over whose turn it is, or lying awake searching how to give a puppy back to the breeder. If you are wondering whether this is normal, whether it gets better, and whether you are a terrible person for wishing you could undo it, you are far from alone, and you are not a terrible person. Puppy Blues is the book for the human on the other end of the leash. It is a calm, practical, judgment-free guide for new puppy owners who are anxious, exhausted, full of regret, or quietly wondering whether to keep, return, or rehome their puppy, whether you are a first-time owner, one half of a couple where one person does everything, a rescue adopter, or a parent who bought a puppy for an adult child and ended up doing the work. Puppy training books teach house-training, crates, and nipping. This book teaches none of that. It is about you: your dread and low mood, your sleep, the workload split at home, the fights nobody warned you about, and a fair, clear-headed way to decide whether to keep your puppy or find it a better-matched home, without deciding in a middle-of-the-night panic and without shame either way. Inside, you'll learn: What puppy blues actually are, why they hit even people who researched for years, and what usually helps them ease The Two-Week Hold and a two-minute Daily Log that stop panic decisions without trapping you How to get sleep, food, and one real hour off each day while caring for a young puppy The signs that it is more than the blues, what intrusive thoughts do and do not mean, and exactly where to get help How to tell puppy blues from real puppy regret, and normal puppy chaos from a genuine mismatch A Shift Chart, Night Split, and Handoff Rule for the partner who "can't manage without you," plus scripts for resentment and reluctant partners When owners often start liking their puppy, and how to make room for it to happen A seven-question Keep-or-Rehome Worksheet, and, if that is your answer, how to rehome responsibly, grieve, and handle other people's opinions Whether you end up keeping your puppy or giving it a better-matched home, you can make that choice with a clear head and a clear conscience. Start with the next two weeks. You do not have to decide anything tonight.

Imad Muratspahic is an independent author of practical how-to guides, technical handbooks, history and fiction. The books aim to be clear, honest and useful from the first page.