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Almost half of new dog owners experience ‘puppy blues’, study finds
Everyone is familiar with the ‘baby blues’ which many experience after bringing home a newborn, but did you know the same thing happens with puppies?
A new study by researchers at the University of Helsinki has found that ‘puppy blues’ is a very real thing, and more people experience it than you probably realize.
Half of new dog owners experience ‘puppy blues’
The study analysed data from owners and found just under half of the participants experienced “significant negative feelings during their dogs puppyhood” including a short-term drop in mood and melancholy. Just over 10% of owners reported feeling “extremely burdened” during the puppy period.
Psychologist and Doctoral Researcher Aada St�hl said these ‘puppy blues’ manifest in three ways: anxiety, frustration and weariness.
People are often anxious about their puppy’s health, wellbeing and development after first bringing them home. They may also feel as though they aren’t looking after them properly and blame themselves when things go wrong.
Frustration can occur due to the strain the new pet has on your life. They take up a lot of time, responsibility and compromise, and this can take a while to get used to. There are lots of unexpected challenges and some may wish they never got the puppy in the first place.
Having a puppy is extremely demanding and new owners are often left feeling weary and exhausted. They might have trouble sleeping and completing everyday tasks and could struggle to find the strength to continue caring for them.
These three things together can cause someone to feel down and upset about the new puppy, but this usually subsides after a few weeks.
Memory of ‘puppy blues’ diminishes over time
The study also found that the distress felt during puppyhood diminishes over time and people’s experiences in the puppy period become more positive with time.
That means the longer the amount of time that had passed since puppyhood, the more positively people remembered, with the negative emotions and memories of puppyhood fading over time.
“Just under half of owners report having had significant negative experiences during their dog’s puppyhood phase, with only about a tenth reporting the most severe levels of strain,” Professor Hannes Lohi said.
“This is in line with the prevalence of postnatal depression. However, the negative feelings fade relatively quickly.”
