u/coffeemama86

I feel like I’m physically falling apart and it’s frustrating and upsetting.

I feel like I’ve been really lucky. I was diagnosed when I was really young so we got a jumpstart on finding meds that work for me. For over a decade HCQ worked great for me. I had the occasional flare but I always bounced back quickly. I was active, I’m very into fitness, I have four kids I can keep up with, very labor intensive jobs, etc. my husband has said that he looked at chronic illness different because of how I haven’t let it hold me back.

But the last three months have just WRECKED me. It started with a bad flare. I did a prednisone taper and felt great. As soon as the prednisone was over, the pain and fatigue came back. I told my rheumatologist and he offered another round of prednisone and said we needed to discuss biologics. We’ve agreed on Benlysta home injections. It’s arriving on Wednesday and while im afraid to take it, I’m desperate for relief. I feel like my body is falling apart. I’m tired all the time. Walking is painful. Exercising isn’t enjoyable anymore and it’s hurting my self esteem. I feel miserable. I just need something to work or I’m going to lose my mind.

Hey there, I have a 7mo male lab puppy. We’ve been working with a trainer since he was five months old. We’ve completed basic obedience with ease and are taking an intermediate course. He was doing great but ever since we hit 7/8 months he’s been snapping his teeth at us more, nipping and biting more and seems generally more aggressive. I walk him often, work on impulse control exercises and do our obedience drills multiple times per day. I have puzzles and enrichment too. I’m not sure what else I can do? I’m bringing it up to the trainer tomorrow but if anyone else has tips it would be appreciated!

I’m sure some of it is age and maybe hormones but I’m just at a loss.

For context, 7 month old lab who initially had some resource guarding. We found a trainer ASAP. Since then we completed a beginner obedience course and are halfway through our intermediate course. He’s doing really well!

He has basic commands down. He now manages to refrain from jumping when people come, although you can see how badly he wants to. We finally are doing much better with loose leash walking and coming to a heel whenever I stop walking. He knows “place”, can stay in a “stay” for about a minute. He doesn’t react to other dogs or people whenever we go for walks.

We do drills throughout the day. We run through the basics, sit, stay, down, come touch, heel, wait, leave it. We do lots of puzzles and enrichment. We do a monthly group dog walk with our class. My kids do the drills with him.

He’s still 7 months old though and sometimes I really sense the teenager in him lol. Sometimes commands go in one ear and out the other but overall he’s doing fantastic. We’re starting to incorporate wheel chairs at our class in preparation for him becoming a therapy dog down the line. He’s a lot of work and we’re putting a ton of work into him but I can definitely see the beautiful result of it all.

Hang in there guys! Keep working with your pups, it’s worth it!!

As I’m sure a million others have posted, it does get better! Hang in there!

I’d posted a few months ago about our puppy being great but having intense resource guarding issues. I was told to seek a professional immediately and did so. Our puppy is now 7 months old. Life has gotten MUCH better! Resource guarding has improved immensely. We just completed our beginner obedience course and are starting the intermediate course this week. The dude is very smart and seems to really enjoy the classes. We also join a monthly dog walking group of people from the class and he gets along great with the other dogs. He’s also great with people and we’re going to pursue the therapy certification course when he’s older so he can visit hospitals and nursing homes.

He’s fully potty trained. He FINALLY lost those razor sharp baby teeth. He knows and follows basic commands and is crate trained. It’s nice to be able to sleep through the night again. Leash pulling is still an issue, but one that we’re working on with our trainer. If you’re struggling with sleepless nights, shredded hands and mental and physical exhaustion, I swear there’s a light at the end of that tunnel! It feels like graduating from the newborn stage to something survivable and even enjoyable lol