So You Have A New Puppy......

Firstly, think about what you want your grown up dog to look like. Please don’t listen to everyone with their ‘this is what you should do’ attitude, also it’s really tempting to turn to google too!

Finding an experienced, compassionate dog trainer that uses positive training methods is the way to go. 

Your puppy will come to you straight from the breeder.  They know nothing of your expectations, routine and dreams of them as an adult dog.

This is the time to act!  You puppy’s future will be moulded by. You are building your dream dog by training them to fit in with your lives and around your family and their daily activities.

The most important thing to remember here is that your young puppy doesn’t know how to co-exist in this world, so it is your job to show, train and teach them. This is where I can help!

Start by teaching your puppy that everyone is boring.  People will tell you to socialise your dog with every dog you meet. The danger with this is that you can over socialise your puppy and create a monster that wants to play with every dog it sees.  The other dogs become far more rewarding than you.

Take them out to lots of different places so that they can experience the world, taking in noises, smells and sights.  These things, trains, cars, buses, bikes, lorries, children, farm animals, horses etc should be neutral and not exciting.  You on the other hand need to be the exciting one. Teaching them to be calm around these type of stimuli will ensure you have a calm dog you can take anywhere at any time.

Random dogs who are not going to be in your puppy’s life do not automatically get to play and interact with your puppy. Instead, teach neutrality and calmness towards other dogs and that you are much more exciting and valuable than the other dog. Some people will tell you it’s not fair on your puppy but don’t listen to them. 

You are the person guiding your puppy through life and every experience you have with your puppy will shape the dog you end up with. If you are selective about where you walk and train and you always set up scenarios where they succeed, they are going to believe that the world is the best thing ever because you have made sure that your dog doesn’t experience anything bad.

Always advocate for your puppy.  This may mean staying away from highly dog populated areas for a while, until they are confident and comfortable in those places.  Instead, train in quiet areas where there is less likely to be off lead dogs charging up to you and your puppy.

It only takes one bad experience to shape the way your puppy will feel about other dogs in the future.  You need to limit potentially bad exposure.

You can use their daily food allowance for training them. Weigh it out in the morning and use it throughout the day in all training scenarios. Also hand feeding them shows them that you are very valuable to them. 

If you can start this process as soon as you bring them home, you are on to a winner. This may also help your puppy to not be fussy with food.  It will also save you money on training treats.

Some skills like lead walking and recall may need higher value treats.

Try to give your puppy the best start in life nutritionally.  By all means carry on for a while with the food the breeder/previous owner was feeding but gradually transition on to a more biologically appropriate canine food.  This usually means a food with a high meat content – above 60%.

Make sure your puppy sleeps enough.

Many undesirable behaviours are caused by over tired puppies, especially nipping and biting. Using a crate/pen, for nap times gives them consistency.  After playing, training and/or a walk, (including peeing and pooing), pop them in their crate to wind down. 

Condition the crate to be positive by feeding their meals in there and giving them any chews or enrichment toys in there too.

You are setting them up for success and teaching them that it is okay to be left alone.  emember also that if your puppy needs to go to the vet and kept in, they will be crated.  Another reason it’s a really good idea to crate train them!

Also if an emergency, your puppy can safely and happily be left for a short period. 

Only use puppy pads in a crate/pen at night. If using a crate, puppies don’t want to toilet where they sleep.  Ensure you take your puppy outside to toilet on a regular basis, usually hourly. Sometimes your puppy will wake in the night to toilet and you should be prepared to take them out then too.  It is much better for your puppy not to use puppy pads during the night. It might take a few weeks but once they get better at holding themselves, they should be able to hold themselves through the night.

Gradually increase the length of time in between toilets breaks. If you also put a cue word to the action of actually weeing/pooing, they will soon learn that when they hear the cue ie wee wee it’s time to go. Only say this as they are peeing/pooing, not before as they won’t associate the word with the action yet!

If they have an accident inside, please do not rub their nose in it or even shout at them.  If they have had an accident, it probably means you missed the timing or the signs that they were telling you they needed to go out i.e sniffing, circling.

If you do punish them, it will only make them fearful of toileting when you are nearby and more accidents will occur.

Ask questions, get informed, there’s no stupid questions. We love the process of building a good puppy!! Get in touch.