‘Forgive thy puppies, for they know not what they do.’: 17 Things Puppy Pawrents Wish Someone Had Prepared them For

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 3, 2026 7:30 AM EDT

To paraphrase Forrest Gump 'Adopting a puppy is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.'. But with the help of some heroic pupper pawrents, we are giving you a glimpse into what you might get…

Reddit's r/puppy101 subreddit is wonderful place for pawrents both current and prospective to ask for advice, share anecdotes and celebrate the little wins. But this thread we pulled from the subreddit is a pawticularly useful one as it gives a helping paw to all the prospective pawrents about to step into puppyhood pawrenting. Revealing some of the silly, scary and stupid things that a puppy might get themselves wrapped up in. And more importantly, the things that other pawrents and dog people furget to mention before you bring home your dog.

Now, we cannot say that the withholding of information is intentional. After all, raising a puppy has tons of upside and the experience is so draining that you are all too quickly going to furget a lot of the bad parts. But this does rather unfortunately leave a lot of new pawrents without prepawration for the events that might be headed their way. And after having collected these, we would strongly advise to equip your home with plenty of cleaning supplies and to be prepawed to throw out certain pieces of furniture. It might not be what you want to hear, but that is the price we pay to take on one of the most rewarding challenges in this life. So if you are ready to face the music of becoming a pawrent, get to scrolling and find out what is waiting for you in your first few months. 
 

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  • 01
    PRETTY GIRLS "Yesterday he chewed a hole in the wall and he ate a piece of cling film."
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    Welly-boots The other day our puppy quietly po ed in our bedroom because we accidentally left here door open and he robot vacuum pulled it all over the rug and the floor
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  • Yikes, we can only call this a lesson in expecting the worst and striving for the best. Trying your best is always a good idea, especially when you have a clueless puppy roaming your home, capable of leaving ‘gifts’ in interesting places for you to find when you least expect it. But the trick is to expect the failure, to know that no matter how much you try, how vigilant you are and how much you have planned, there is always going to be something that you fall short on and it will likely be something big. Oh, and also always keep a mop and bucket handy…
     

  • 04
    AJ-in-Canada Experienced Owner! My almost 7 month old puppy apparently decided she's nocturnal. Last night was ok but every few nights she keeps waking me up trying to play. Dang teenage dogs.
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    Cheezburger Image 10642761728
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    billswinthesuperbowl I have two kids, a puppy is definitely harder
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    Cheezburger Image 10642763008
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    Istratt2 On Wednesday my pup: rolled around in dd possum, escaped during the bath, ped on my bed, pe 1 and po ed in the house right after bath escape laws have mercy good thing she's cute
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    Cheezburger Image 10642762240
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    [deleted] A few months ago, my pup tracked in enough mud/dug a big enough hole that it took me TWO hours to get it off the carpet, floor, walls, bed, baseboards etc. TWO HOURS. She was so proud of herself though.
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    GIR SHAFTER KARIN SLAUGHTER PRETTY GIRLS
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    TacoSwimmer My puppy did a successful feat and spent the whole night in his pen without having an accident- then he spent the next two days pe ng and poing and tearing up the rags during the night →→
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    Cheezburger Image 10642763520
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    FranqiT My teenage lab cross decided to chew up the plastic tray liner of her crate this morning. Same routine since she was 8 weeks: wake up, potty, back in crate while humans get ready, then breakfast. Today she decided she had enough of waiting 20 minutes while I got ready. Argh!
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    punflower My three month pup old bit through my new macbook's display. Left a giant puncture mark. Probably gonna be over $1k to fix
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  • Oh dang, it sounds like that puppy took a few megabytes out of her computer… All jokes aside this is one that is far more common than you might think. Much like babies, puppies teeth and need stuff to bite on to alleviate the discomfort. The problem being that a puppy is far more mobile than a baby and has far stronger teeth. Allowing them to often grate their way through tables, chair legs and the off television remote. But you can never assume they will limit their chewing to those few simple items, after all curiosity is what fuels caninekind…
     

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    Cheezburger Image 10642761984
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    SC-Viper My 7 1/2 week old BC is biting any fingers that come near it with no regrets. You've been warned.
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    worstpartyever 7 month old 55 lb. Airedoodle owner here. He DEFINITELY knows he shouldn't be countersurfing, but he does it anyway.
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  • 21
    To check your PayMays balance, send B 495 AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE NOT LID UNLES BancNet PLUS
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    flagondry I've learned that the main thing you need to raise a puppy is a sense of humour. I made an instagram account for mine so that everyone else can get a laugh out of his shenanigans too. Yesterday he chewed a hole in the wall and he ate a piece of cling film.
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    • [deleted] ⚫ 7y ago 9 week old Jack Russel who is very bitey if you wear socks, slippers or shoes... Sometimes becomes an incredibly terror if he gets over excited and you try to pick him up to put him in his room for nap time to calm down. Can't wait till he mellows out a bit like my other dog
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    stormspoop Obedience My guy tore up the padding in his crate while he was alone for a few hours, i told myself that he didnt know any better and that it was my responsibility to make sure he is entertained and tired enough not to do that
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    Nik_tortor ⚫7y ago My 4 month old German Shepherd puppy is destroying me with his biting. No matter what I do he just wants to bite harder and harder on every part of my body. Puppies are terrible little dil's and sometimes I want to tie balloons to his harness and watch him float away. I love him so much.
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    coolbluewater_ My husband looks at me like I'm crazy when I say our 11 week old puppy is NORMAL and not a horrible puppy for biting
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    HoolieHoopinHeathen My 13 week old blue heeler collie mix ate a squeaker, required emergency bowel obstruction sy, and is being a straight hellion during recovery. Whyyyyÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
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    chihuahuaorrat Having been clean and dry for a week during the day and longer overnight yesterday my 16 week old puppy pt 1 in his play pen. Then this morning I woke to po nami-sl tand ps plastering the crate and my poor little guy. My god it was rough. I blame myself entirely though―l gave him new treats yesterday and they clearly didn't agree with him. The rest of the packet is going straight in the bin!
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