How to set your new puppy up for success part 1
Merry Christmas!
Photo by Rhaúl V. Alva on Unsplash
Taking a new puppy into your household is always a very exciting time but it also reinvents the majority of your life. Pups need a lot of attention and the more time you put into developing good habits in them, helping them get confidence in navigating in the world, the more likely they will be to grow into nicely behaved adults.
What to do to avoid mistakes
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1. Giving your puppy lots of attention when all 4 paws are on the floor
I know how sweet puppies are and how much we want to be greeted by them. They are small and cute so we simply laugh when they jump towards our face and bite our nose. However, the more you are encouraging jumping by giving attention to your pup when he does that, the more likely you are to end up with an adult dog who jumps at you. If he is big then, you face a threat of falling over because of his weight and having paw prints all over your clothes. By not thinking about it and later expecting your dog to know that now he needs to stop jumping as he gets older, you set your pup up for failure. If you do that, it's not all lost and you will still be able to turn things around but prevention is better than a cure. Give your pup lots of attention when he keeps all 4 paws on the floor or sits next to you. You will encourage what you want to see later in life from the get-go.
2. Playing with your pup using soft toys instead of allowing him to bite your hands
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When your puppy is very young, it might not bother you when he bites your hands gently. However, his teeth will grow and eventually it might start to be painful. At the same time, just because it doesn't bother you, it doesn't mean that the rest of the family thinks it's painless. You don’t want to not allow a situation when your pup, as a youngster, plays with your grandma by biting her hands as this will cause her a lot of pain. Start encouraging play that everyone will enjoy. Use big soft toys that you move on the floor so it looks like it's coming alive. It will encourage your pup to run after it. The more fun he will have chasing and biting the toy, the less likely he will be to chase and bite people's hands. Set your puppy up for success in life.
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3. Leaving home alone by slowly building the skill of being confident on his own.
Being left alone is not in any dogs’ nature. Even if your previous dog didn't seem to have any problems with it (you never heard your neighbours complaining about the noise he makes and he never destroyed anything in the house), there is an alarming rate of separation anxiety being on the rise. Dogs that are left alone without any preparation can suffer from severe panic attacks. The destruction in your house or whining and barking is merely a symptom. The fear that your pup might experience being left alone is like closing someone who has arachnophobia in the room full of spiders. Preventing separation anxiety is not just about the damage or the complaints from your neighbour that you will avoid. It's about avoiding panic in your dog that is likely to cause health problems. Start very early by leaving your pup in one room for just one second. Don't go over the threshold when he starts missing you, come back before he whines or scratches the door. When you see it is going nicely, gradually increase the time and start leaving the house too. The more you put into the process at the beginning, the more confidence you will build in your pup. Creating a confident pup who either sleeps or finds something appropriate to do (like chewing a kong that you left for him) reduces a great amount of stress for both you and your pup. It is worth the time investment at the beginning.
4. Let your dog sleep, provide a quiet area
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Have you ever noticed in yourself or others around you that when someone doesn't get enough sleep, they become more snappy or grumpy? The same thing can happen to your pup. If he doesn't get enough sleep (for A pup it is even 18h a day!) he can become more irritable and will be more likely to bite people and things. Provide a quiet area for him so he can have a nice, uninterrupted rest.
5. Toileting - teaching your pup going outside
The more time you invest in the beginning, the sooner you will see the results. Puppies need toileting more often than an adult dog. It's recommended to take a puppy out after every major activity, as soon as he wakes up and straight after playtime. In the beginning, it's recommended to take him out every hour (unless he is asleep then wait until he wakes up) stay out for max 5 min and if he doesn't pee, go back home and take him out again after 15 min. It's the best strategy to avoid accidents at home. It's not about going for big walks, it's about teaching him peeing outside. Eventually, he gets used to it, you will get to know his schedule so you can preempt when he needs to go and the bigger he gets, the longer will be the break in between.
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Merry Christmas!
