Many families choose the holidays to buy a puppy for family - its also the busiest time for shelters, pounds, and rescues, because many people don't truly realize how much work and time consumption that a puppy comes with. This sad statistic could be helped very quickly if people had better information before they get a dog, and better support systems for those who decide to see puppyhood through. However, even with all those things in place for some families, its still overwhelming, and many early errors make for very frustrating behaviours when the puppy isn't so small and cute anymore. Today's blog topic will be all about new puppies - and what owners should do (and expect) from a brand new baby animal.
Day One
The First Hour
Regardless to whether the dog is a surprise gift, or the family already knows, the first thing, before your dog even gets "wrapped" or introduced, the moment the dog is brought away from the breeder, it is absolutely important that the little one be allowed to explore - even if that means putting him in a coat and booties and letting him smell your yard in the snow. Inside, outside. Let him get a feel - and smell - for his home, including the crate, bathrooms, everything! Spend thirty or so minutes outside (weather permitting - if it's really cold, spend five and do it in bits), and thirty or so inside. This will let your dog become more comfortable with your house. Please don't just wrap the poor little one up and present them as a gift on the big day. Arrange to have time before for your dog to be comfortable. This is a very frightening time for your dog. Imagine a human child, just barely learning to walk, suddenly uprooted from their family, and sent off to a family of aliens with giant furniture and new sights and things to smell. Just as terrifying as this would be for a child, imagine how it is for a puppy who also has no realm of understanding of what's going om and why they're not with their mom anymore.
Bonus Points:
If your puppy pees in the yard, become excited (as they pee), saying things like "Yay! You went pee! Hooray!" and if you can, offer a bit of steak or chicken to mark this occasion. He'll start to pick up that peeing outside is a good thing..
Do Not:
Offer any excitement or squealy voices (Except the aforementioned) on the first day. This will set your dog up to feel overwhelmed and hyper (which might seem cute now, but just wait a month or so when your dog can knock stuff over and play nips). Stay calm and quiet today. (I know, it's so hard!)
After The First Hour
Once your dog has had time to explore (and hopefully pee!) your dog is likely going to be super tired. This is a great time to start crate training, if your breeder or seller hasn't done so already. No dog is born hating crates. When your dog is clearly tired, place (or lure) them into the crate, and get down there with them. You're going to say "Crate!" (or whatever word you want to use - bed, place, and cage are others) to mark what this place is. Offer some affection and leave the door OPEN for this nap. The idea is to teach the dog that this is a place to sleep, not that they will be stuck in it. Your pup should fall asleep easily, especially with soothing rubs and having you nearby. Pet them to sleep only the first nap or to - then he needs to drift off just with you nearby. Use this time to prepare your dog's first meal at home (if they haven't eaten yet beforehand). Serve this meal inside the crate with water too, leaving the dish near the back or the side, once he's starting to wake up, serve the meal. Your dog will learn that the crate is for eating, as well as resting, and will become a very positive place very quickly. You might even find him returning to the crate and sniffing around and barking when he gets hungry - a good sign he knows the crate is a happy, calm place.
Bonus Points:
Have some chew toys in the crate waiting! When you see your dog playing with them, say things like "Yes! Chew Toy! Chew in your Crate!" or "Oh, yeah! Chew! Crate Chews!" This will put the item in context with what it's called and where it's to be used. This will farther accentuate this place for your dog as fun and relaxing.
Do Not:
Close the door yet, do not leave them unattended, and do not correct them! Don't pet them to sleep every time either, allow them to fall asleep alone with you in vision nearby.
The Rest Of The First Day
After a nap, a good meal, and possibly a good chew, it is play time! This first session is critical for bonding and rule forming. It's an excellent time to introduce bonding games, name response, and recall. Things like tug and fetch should be started gently and slowly. However your dog wants to play with these items today is what you need to do. The first step is simply letting your dog investigate and learn about these toys, and associate them with you. Following the same pattern of using a word and excitement to mark what something is, you're going to do that with each toy once they mouth the items. To start name response (and recall at the same time!) you're going to use raw meat (steak or chicken), and keep it where your dog CANNOT see it. You're going to say their name, encourage them over, shuffle backwards (to encourage forward movement), and once they reach you, you're going to award the treat after saying "YES! Name." They will pick up on this pretty fast. This process should continue all day (with pee breaks of course)! After the first meal with the door open, you're going to offer the food, and close the door. Open it when he's done.
Bonus Points:
Getting your pup used to a lead by using a short loopless drag leash with a puppy collar (not a martingale or choker)!
Do Not:
Overdo the excitement or exercise. Don't do anything with your dog now that you don't want them doing as an adult (such as lap sitting, especially if your dog is going to be over 100 pounds!)
Evening Time
After a full day of naps and play, this is the time to close the door. While your pup falls asleep before dinner, you're going to shut the gate. Your dog might notice or whine a bit, but with you being nearby, as long as you are there, he should fall asleep with little problem. While he's sleeping, prepare the meal, and put it in as he's sleeping, then reclose the door. This way, he will wake up and eat, and know that the door will be shut. This will be normal to him before long, and he will learn that the door shut means rest and food - more positive things.
Bonus Points:
Continue this pattern at night (pee, in crate, close door, puppy falls asleep with you in vision nearby), and maintain that they only sleep in the crate. This is for most dogs, but as some dogs have medical issues, some need to be monitored, so that is why this is in bonus points.
Do Not:
Close the door on a hyper dog without some distraction like food. This creates anxiety and a trapped feeling rather than the calm and happy that we want.
After One Week
Once you've had a pattern going for a full week (Your dog will need pee breaks all night long every couple hours and yes this is exhausting!), you're going to spend the full day today setting up rules. By now, your dog will know about the crate, food, sleep, its name, starts of playing games, and recall, now you're going to teach him that there are rules to life. Before now, your dog should have been either playing, peeing, or in the crate. There should absolutely be NO time where your dog is alone or exploring. Too much freedom too fast can create assertive, disrespectful dogs. Today, that changes! You're going to start teaching your dog basic commands today, leash manners, and that he must stop when you say so. You can also introduce a no-dog-zone such as a laundry room, cleaning closet, or bathroom (for safety reasons). To start commands, you're going to start teaching luring. Please review a video (such as Michael Ellis's theory on dog training or Leerburg's Puppies 8 weeks to 8 months) for more on this. To start a no dog zone, and the stop command, we're going to use the same premise. Start by leashing your dog and guiding them around. You can dance, be happy, whatever gets your dog moving. You'll be teaching him to follow leash pressure, and then you'll be stopping all your movements abruptly and say "STOP!" Your dog will stop too, and after a few times, learn that "stop" means stop moving immediately. This is the basics for both stopping on command, and not entering a room (because you can tell them to stop before entering a room). You can also couple this command with a recall by bringing them to you after a stop command with their name. To introduce no bolting from a crate, you're going to also train that just because a
door is open doesn't mean they bolt out of an ex-pen or crate. Open the
door, and as they move to bolt out, abruptly shut the door (well, don't
slam it in their face, but bump the muzzle if you need to).
Bonus Points:
Have this time to train all basic commands!
Do Not:
Correct, say no, or otherwise use negative words! If your dog doesn't do it right, just ignore it and try again!
One Week and Three Days
Its time for the first walk! Many owners start walks from day one, but this is too much for a little dog all at once. By stalling the walk and working on at-home things and leash work, you're establishing that play and learning happens at home. Walks should be about burning energy and getting outside. Today's walk should be about half an hour, and in the immediate neighborhood. Encourage smelling, but also keep moving, and work on leash work.
Bonus Points:
Doing shorter, more frequent walks this week!
Do Not:
Correct your dog, discourage smelling, allow loitering, allow greets (just yet!).
The Second Week
After establishing that walks are for peeing and exercise, not loitering and greets, you can start to allow some greeting (although its better to train your dog to ignore other dogs, this prevents all dog-related issues and prevents fights or over-excitement for other dogs), and encourage on-lead exploring. You can also start playing tug or fetch outside partway through your walk. The big thing on the second week, though? You can start venturing out of your neighborhood! Now that your dog is used to walking nicely and and is accustomed to being outside, you should go somewhere brand new once a week (or daily if you can!)
Bonus Points:
Train your dog that "social" is DOG social - safely being near other families and dogs without the stress of saying "hi". This is not only abnormal for dogs to learn to greet like we expect them to, it creates a whole realm of problems. Your dog will adjust quickly to ignore and diffuse other more assertive dogs, and be near all dogs safely.
Do Not:
Correct your dog, discourage smelling, and do not overwalk your puppy!
The Third Month
After a good three months of all these things, you can finally introduce ex-pens and the word "no"! You can now leave your dog in an ex-pen and let him play by himself for an hour or two per day and get on with other things. Ex-pens are about play and containment though, so keep the crate for relaxing, sleeping, and eating. This will give you ample time to feel a little less like you have a puppy attached to you 24/7. This will also get your dog used to occupying himself alone, and not have to rely on you for it all. The first few days in an ex-pen tend to be the most difficult. To teach no, while training a command, if they make a mistake, instead of just retrying the command, you're going to say "No, command". This trains the dog that "no" means they've made a mistake, try again. You still SHOULD NOT offer a corrective behavioural negative like "No you messed up" as they're still too young to handle that.
Bonus Points:
Teach your pup that no bolting applies to the ex-pen too.
Do Not:
Offer a corrective behavioural negative "no" just yet. You can do this starting at eight months.
The Eighth Month - No!
If you've taught that No means wrong, try again, use a different word or sound for a corrective negative. Uh-uh or Aah! Are popular alternatives. The best place to start this is with inappropriate chewing, or indoor accidents. Your goal with these words is to mildly startle them at the beginning of the behaviour. So if your dog is chewing on the table leg, say "AHH!" sharply and loudly, which will usually make your dog stop what he's doing to look at you. Then immediately replace the table leg with a chew toy which you should have primed already by saying "Chew!" as a brand new puppy. Once your dog takes the toy, say "Yes!" and offer a pet or head scratch. This lets the dog know that he's obeyed you. This is a replacement offer. Instead of making your dog feel like he is failing, he will know that he made a mistake, but he did the right thing after. This will encourage obedience and compliance, because good things happen when he stops an unwanted behaviour in exchange for a better behaviour. The sane applies for other things like indoor peeing - see the squat or leg lift and offer the same correction, then take him immediately outside and amply reward the outdoor peeing.
Bonus Points:
Using Aah on the walk to disallow sniffing and greeting (you're teaching he does not always get what he wants and you can use this to keep him safe from assertive or dominant dogs).
Do Not:
Use this correction too frequently, or too sternly, or in anger. Ever.
These are all the tips we can fit in today's blog, we hope this helps!
