When you bring a puppy home, you are suddenly faced with obnoxious puppy behavior like whining, biting, jumping, chewing, and pooping on the carpet.
And if you’ve done any research at all, you know that proper care and training is critical during a puppy’s first few months. The things your puppy experiences now are going to affect him for the rest of his life. No pressure, right?
Between managing the puppy’s destructive tendencies, worrying about stuff like vaccinations and socialization, and dealing with well-intentioned but often incorrect advice from friends, family, and TV shows, a puppy parent can get a little overwhelmed.
So here are some bite-sized puppy tips to get you through the next few months
- Get a crate. It makes housetraining incredibly easy.
- Let your puppy sleep in your bedroom, at least for the first few nights. This whole experience is scary for a pup. Don’t make him sleep in the laundry room. Put the crate next to your bed so you can reassure him.
- Baby gates are your friend. Use them to keep the puppy out of places you don’t want him to destroy.
- Supervise, supervise, supervise. If you cannot watch him like a hawk, he needs to be in his crate or in his “room,” see below.
- Set up a puppy room for when you can’t supervise. Pick a small area like the bathroom or kitchen, block it off with baby gates. Add a bed in one corner and pee pads or a dog “toilet” in another.
- Pick a potty spot. If you don’t want Sparky pooping all over the yard as an adult, pick one area and take him directly there when it’s potty time.
- Set a daily routine. House training proceeds more smoothly if your puppy knows what to expect from her day.
- Enroll into puppy boot camp with Shultz K9 Enforcement Inc.. Your pup will learn some basic obedience, but the real benefit of puppy boot camp is socialization with other puppies and people.
- Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Not all advice is good advice. Take everything with a grain of salt. And please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, stay away from Yahoo! Answers.
- Make sure everyone is on the same page. Discuss the puppy rules with your whole family. Figure out who will do what when. Pick one set of training cues and stick with them.
- Don’t encourage behavior that you’ll regret when he gets big. Jumping up is cute when he weighs ten pounds. It won’t be cute when he’s 60 pounds.
- Get your pup used to handling from day one, touching feet, nails, tail, ears, mouth, teeth, and belly with love. Your vet will thank you.
- Start grooming early on. For the same reason as above.
- Let your puppy meet at least two new (friendly and gentle) people every day.
- Take your puppy to the pet store. Great socialization opportunity. Keep her in the shopping cart and off the floor until she’s had all her puppy shots.
- Introduce your pup to all kinds of novel things. People in funny hats. Remote control cars. Kids playing. Agility equipment. Balloons. Cats. Car rides.
- Socialize, don’t traumatize. Introduce new experiences slowly and never let your puppy get overwhelmed.
- Invite friends and family to meet-the-puppy parties.
- Frozen wet wash clothes and baby carrots make great chews for teething puppies.
- Reward good behavior, don’t wait for bad behavior. Reward the puppy when you see him doing something you like. Don’t wait until he’s misbehaving to give him attention.
- Avoid the dog park. In addition to putting your under vaccinated puppy at risk for disease, most dogs at the dog park are quite rude by canine standards. A couple bad experiences could ruin your puppy’s opinion of her own species.
- Feed 2-3 small meals per day. Don’t leave food out for her to graze on.
- Pick up anything you don’t want destroyed. If it’s on the floor, it WILL be chewed.
- Get your puppy micro chipped. It’s your best chance at being reunited with your dog if he ever gets lost. You can get this done for around $25 at your vet or local shelter.
- Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. For example, teach your puppy to sit when greeting people. Don’t just yell at her for jumping up.
- Watch your puppy’s poops. Disgusting? Yes. But it could save your puppy’s blood, take your puppy for a vet visit ASAP.
- Provide toys. If you provide her with her own toys, she’s less likely to chew on yours (ha! Yeah right. It’s worth a shot, though).
- Make your own toys. Like kids who’d rather play with the box than with the toy that came in it, puppies are usually happier chewing on an empty plastic water bottle than an expensive store-bought toy.
- If you think your puppy needs to go potty at all, don’t hesitate to take him outside! You’d be surprised how often puppies need to go sometimes.
- Practice separation. As tempting as it is, don’t let Sparky be glued to your side all day. Letting your puppy have time to himself in his crate or room will help prevent separation anxiety.
- Leave the TV or radio on when you leave your puppy home alone.Need more help than this? Contact (954)552-4282 to speak with a Professional Cytologist: Someone who’s specialized in the care and training of ALL dog breeds and MASTERED the relevant literature of domestic dogs and canines.
Need more help than this? Contact (954)552-4282 to speak with a Professional Cytologist: Someone who’s specialized in the care and training of ALL dog breeds and MASTERED the relevant literature of domestic dogs and canines.
