~ Your New Puppy ~

Getting a puppy is an exciting time.... Whether you are a first time dog owner, or have been there a few times, there are things we forget, or need to know, in order to prevent problems happening in the future.

You have a very very small window of opportunity with a young dog, until the brain myelinates and behaviours become engrained. Alot of my work is actually 'untraining' dogs who have learned behaviours natural to him, but labelled 'naughty' in human terms.

So what is the best thing to do, and what age do we start teaching pups?

Now, is the short answer! As soon as possible. Pup will learn with or without your help (hence the untraining part) and if you shape what he learns, then he will only learn good stuff. It is the equivalent of sending your child off to school, or letting them do whatever they want all day long. Sooner or later the latter will get themselves in alot of trouble!

What surprises me the most, is the amount of people who tell me that they have problems, but he/she is a 'good dog'. Recently someone said this about a 9 week old pup who was growling and nipping at the children, but she is a 'good dog'. Analyzing this (what I do best) I realised that we are confusing temperment with behaviour. The easiest way to understand this is to repeat ''good dogs are made, not born''. Humans make dogs what they are, and what they become, so once again, it is our responsibility alone to raise them the best way we know how.

Ok, enough of the scary stuff, this is supposed to be a joyous occasion!

A common question is 'help my puppy is biting me!'.... Relax this is what puppies do. They don't have hands, so explore the world through their mouths. They are not born with anything except tactile and taste senses, the first thing they do is use their mouth to latch on to mum.

If you want to stop this behaviour the best way is to redirect it, onto a toy for example. It is important to teach young dogs that biting human skin is not acceptable. A good idea is to be an actor and scream in a quick high pitched voice, this will stop puppy for a moment, and give you a small amount of time to redirect the behaviour (onto the acceptable toy). As much as possible we want to be postive, as most people will want to constantly tell puppy 'no, stop it, oi' etc.

Another worry is how fragile a puppy is... only raising a puppy will truly show you, sometimes I forget just how first time dog owners feel, as I have seen aggression as young as 6 weeks! To me a 'puppy' is anything younger than 6 weeks, and anything older is a young dog, very capable of learning everything you have to teach them (in little doses)

So this is for you...

A 7 week old lurcher and an 8 week old lab pup tuck into lamb bones, they know what to do, as they are animals

It is important to remember that dogs are animals, as many owners see them as babies or an extension of the human family... they can be, but under animal rules, not human rules...

Dogs are predators, there is no getting away from that. As young dogs they have little muscle in the jaw, but to make up for that, extremely sharp teeth! I have seen owners in tears as their puppy is biting them and they are not sure what to do. I have been hurt(unintentionally) more by pups than by adults, do not underestimate those teeth! Designed for tearing meat!

Rule 1. Dogs need to chew, not just when they are teething, but their whole life. It is an excellent time waster, and tires dogs out (bonus!) it is a stress reliever and can be part of pack bonding time. Giving dogs bones does not make them aggressive, giving them bones occasionally does - as the bone is something so special they don't want it taken away from them. Given regularly, bones/chews/rawhides are a pleasurable experience for both humans and dogs.

Rule 2. When giving food, books and everyone says take the bowl/chew away from the dog. Logic tells me that the dog will become worried about you approaching and more likely to become aggressive if he is worried about his food dissapearing... a better idea would be to ADD cheese/meat/more food to his bowl or near him, so that you approaching is a pleasant idea !

Rule 3. House training. Easy as pie. Everytime puppy wakes, take him outside, everytime puppy eats take him outside. Puppy pads are a great idea for lazy people. House training takes longer if you have taught your dog that it is ok to toilet inside, and then later, no it's not. Get off your butt and get outside every hour with the young dog. House training is possible completely by 12 weeks as most pups can control their bladder at this age.

Major Tip - crates are NOT cruel... dogs love a den, and you can make his crate into a den by covering it in blankets and towels. It is a very good idea to use a crate, just as you would use a crib for a toddler. As well as helping with toilet training (dogs are clean animals who don't want to toilet in their bed) it is a great idea to put young dogs into 'down time' and not just letting him fall asleep where ever he is, as this has implications for the future.

Puppy sessions are highly recommended, and are even popular for people who are waiting to get a puppy, as we have many dogs for you to practise on, and learn from. If you are a beginner, your puppy is too, so it is a good idea to learn as much as possible for your new pup's sake.

Puppy workshops come up regularly, check out the workshops page for our next one...