New Puppy Blog
You’ve just brought home a tiny creature that has only been alive for a matter of weeks! There’s so much for both of you to learn, stuff to buy, and pressure to do everything perfectly. Take a deep breath and lots of pictures. The next few months are going to be challenging but rewarding. Here are a few things to ease your mind. For everything else, give me a call and I’ll be happy to help you through this phase and on to adolescence.
Housebreaking - When awake, young puppies need to pee/poop often! The more they practice eliminating outside, the quicker they will understand. Make sure you give your new puppy a chance to go out immediately after waking up or eating and at least every 20 min while she is active (timing may vary depending on the individual dog!) It will seem like a lot but it will create great habits, for both of you. As your puppy gains more control over her bladder, and learns this new habit, that time can be extended.
Biting! - Puppies explore the world with their teeth! This is normal but can be quite distressing for the humans in your household. The best practice is to trade your human flesh for an appropriate item. Keep a variety of different puppy safe objects nearby when your puppy is playing so you have something she can chew on that feels good on those sharp little teeth and avoids practicing a behavior you don’t want to continue. You do not need to yell, or scare your puppy. That can add stress or excitement to the situation, which will usually lead to more biting. Just be calm, trade, and then consider whether your puppy needs a nap.
Sleep - Dogs need a lot of rest, up to 20 hours a day! Puppies who are zooming wildly around your house, seemingly possessed, often just need a nap. Puppies need food, mental activity, a chance to eliminate, physical health & comfort, and a lot of sleep. If your puppy seems fussy, check all those needs before assuming that you have a training issue.
Food - Talk to your vet about what they recommend for the best health and nutrition of your new family member. No matter what you choose to feed, you can use your dog’s daily food allowance to encourage the behaviors you want and inspire calmness when and where you need it. Do you want your dog to come back to you when you call her name as an adult? Then use some kibble to pay your puppy every time she looks at you during your morning walk. Want a dog who sleeps soundly in a crate, puppy pen, or dog bed? Give your puppy a Toppl with some wet food that she can lick while resting in an appropriate place. Instead of just dumping food in a bowl, use it to communicate and reinforce behaviors that you want.
Training - Puppies are learning ALL THE TIME. When interacting with a new puppy in my household, I want her to learn that I am trustworthy and good stuff happens around me. Building that relationship is my top priority. It will make all training in the future easier. But I also really like training specific behaviors that I can build on as my puppy grows. I do that in tiny pieces and very short sessions. For example, I might hold up a harness and give my puppy a little treat for sniffing it. This is an early step in the behavior of having my dog put her head voluntarily into a harness any time she sees it infront of her. This makes my life easier and decreases her stress around putting on a harness. I could also say her name and then give her a treat. So she starts understanding that her name = treats! I ask for two or three different little “tricks” like this over the course of 5 mins and that would be the whole training session. Need help deciding what to focus on? Send me a message and we’ll create a plan based on what you want your adult dog to be able to do!
Socialization - this is a whole blog by itself! More on this later!
If you have a new puppy, I hope this helps. Please give yourself and your new puppy a lot of patience and grace as you learn and grow together. Let me know if I can help!
