Puppies and Early Priorities

A puppy's first 4 months is an important imprint time. This stage of a pup's early life should be filled with favorable exposure to people, places, and things. These introductions need to be thoughtful, and many owners can benefit from a trainer's guidance in this realm. In addition to early exposures, starting rules is a fundamental part of building a healthy relationship with your new pet. Today I thought I'd share a few points I discuss at my puppy consults, and which I believe should be part of any good puppy class or instruction.

1) Socialization is not just blind interaction! If a puppy class is nothing more than play time for your pup and others attending, then consider what you're puppy is learning (or not learning). Good socialization means owners (and a trainer) should be monitoring interactions, and helping young pups learn to behave and be respectful around other dogs.

2) Wear a collar! In the real world it is very hard to train or teach a dog anything if it can't wear a collar. I'm seeing too many young dogs that have never worn a collar before 4, 5, or 6 months of age. Occasionally this leads to significant aggressive outbursts when a collar is eventually needed. Any puppy class that disparages teaching a dog to wear a collar early, is not helping that puppy prepare for future training and life in our human world.

3) Handle your dog! In a similar way, many puppy classes no longer encourage having owners handle their young dogs in ways that help them become accustomed to Vet visits and future training. This isn't about play or cuddling, but rather teaching simple and effective methods that help a young pup understand and accept all handling by humans.

4) No Teeth! All young puppies bite and explore the environment with their mouths. While this is typical, a pup's mother and siblings will begin teaching bite inhibition while in the litter. Responsible owners need to pick up this task once a puppy is in their home, and get play biting and ground trolling under control. The sooner this takes place the better. Any recommendations to simply ignore these behaviors are not setting a puppy up for health and success.

5) Puppies are not the center of the universe! While they often believe they are (since they have a rather limited view and understanding of our world), good puppy classes will begin guiding a young pup to the understanding that its owners set agendas, and they need to learn to live well in their human household. Owners should be teaching, not accommodating a puppy.

In short, not all puppy education is the same, Seek education that has a life-long understanding geared toward teaching your new pup how to live well in your home, and your world!