TIS THE SEASON....FOR PUPPIES! Part 2

OK, now you've brought home your adorable, furry bundle of joy .

 You may not realize it, but these first few weeks are your best opportunity for raising a dog you can live with.  Ideally you've prepared by investing in a crate, numerous toys, a way to keep the pup from roaming all through your house, and have set aside some time to spend with your puppy.  I know we all have busy lives these days, but a little time spent now will pay off later.  Besides, why get a pup if you don't have time for one?  It's not fair to you or the pup.  You want to be consistent and fair, and set limits now while the puppy is young enough to just accept that certain things just are the way they are.  There are other things I do with young pups as well since I want them to be performance dogs, but these rules are a good start.

Rule #1:  Consistency and structure make a pup feel secure. Don't just put food in your dog's dish and walk away, have her earn some of it by doing what you want. It'll help her learn how to learn, that there's a give-and-take, she does something, you do something. Just establish in your mind what behaviors you're looking for and reward them.  Be consistent.

Rule #2: Control the pup's environment; Freedom must be earned.   Just like you childproof your house when you have a toddler, you want to puppy proof your house to some extent when you have a pup.  There's no reason for your puppy to have the run of the house unsupervised until she's older and has demonstrated she is housebroken and not likely to chew on everything in sight.  Use baby gates or an x-pen to confine your pup to a small, safe area in your house.

You know puppies  like to chew so  try to keep unsafe items away from the pup. If she does grab something she shouldn't--and she will--try the object exchange method.  Offer her something yummy in return.  Don't chase her around the house yelling; that's a fun game and teaches her to run from you.  Once she learns that you're willing to trade something really tasty for what she's got, she'll give it up.

Rule #3: Don't let the pup have accidents.  Believe it or not, the best way to teach the pup to potty where you want her to is to make sure she doesn't go anywhere else. The more mistakes she makes, the more confusing it is for her. Even if you clean up the spot, my belief is that dogs can still smell it, and when they go by that spot again and they have to potty, they smell it and figure they went there once so they'll go there again.  I try to take out a new puppy at least every hour but you'll also need to take her out after she eats, after she's been playing, after she wakes up from a nap, and any time you're in doubt and you think she might have to go.  So, you'll be going out a lot but it's worth it in the long run and hey, we all need exercise.
   
Once you're outside, as soon as the pup starts to go, put a word to it. Doesn't matter what--dogs don't know English, or any other language for that matter. Dogs learn by association so you want to pair the word with the occurrence. Over time, they will learn to go on command. This can be a godsend when traveling or in bad weather. Trust me, standing out in sub-freezing temperatures while your dog is searching for the "right" spot to potty gets old, fast.
     After your pup has gone to the bathroom, it's time for a party!  Praise, perhaps a treat, it's cause for a celebration. Since housebreaking seems to be such a problem for so many people, it really is a festive occasion. If your neighbors think you're wacky, well, let them.  It'll also help keep you humble.

Rule #4:  Make sit a default behavior.  A sitting dog can't be jumping up.  Start from day 1 asking your dog to sit before being petted.  Ask everyone who meets your pup to wait for the pup to sit.  Whenever your pup *does* sit instead of jumping up, acknowledge that, either through giving the pup a treat, praise, using a toy as a reward, some way to let you know you're proud of what she's done.  You want to make "sitting for attention" a habit.  One caveat here--it's easy to accidentally reward the pup for hopping once then sitting, or conversely, sitting then immediately hopping up.  Timing is crucial. For a detailed video on teaching your dog to sit please see Dr. Sophia Yin's video at this link: http://drsophiayin.com/resources/video_full/teaching-a-dog-to-sit-politely-rather-than-jump .  You don't have to tell the dog to sit at this point, you want to *get the behavior*.  If your dog decides to do something else besides sit that's calm, such as standing or lying down, that is acceptable also.  You want to reward appropriate greeting behavior. This takes some effort on you and your family's part because who can resist a cute little puppy jumping on you for attention?  The problem comes in several months down the road when the pup's not so cute nor cuddly and the pup doesn't understand why jumping up no longer gets the same reaction.

Rule #5:  Leash your dog to you for part of the day.  This helps with bonding and with supervision. Your pup can't get into too much trouble because you are always with her.  You can begin to work on getting her to follow you both on and off leash by using treats.

Rule #6:  Make sure you leave your puppy alone in her crate for a brief time every day.  This will help prevent separation anxiety. If they had their choice, dogs would be with you 24/7, but that isn't practical. Even if you work out of your home, you need to teach the pup that there are times when you aren't going to be around, what if you had to be gone for an extended period?

 Get your puppy used to spending time alone in her crate.  Put her in the crate with a toy and a Kong filled with some peanut butter or something else for her to nibble on . Put the peanut butter Kong in the freezer so it'll last longer. If you need more tips on what to put in a Kong (peanut butter is high calorie), we have a video discussing that on our Utube channel.   Don't let her out as a reward for barking or whining but obviously if your pup is panicking, then this advice doesn't apply.  There are ways to help your pup get used to being in a crate such as crate games.   You can also get a product from your vet called DAP,  a product containing a  pheromone that may help calm the pup.  As for how long a dog should be in a crate, a general rule of thumb for puppies is their age in months plus 1.

Rule #7:  Expose your puppy to diversity.  This means different people, different dogs, different places, different surfaces, children if you don't have any.  Often people will adopt an older dog and say the dog "must have been abused" because the dog seems fearful of certain things.  While this may be the case, it can also be that the dog just wasn't exposed to those things and as dogs get older, they fear what they don't know.  Ian Dunbar( http://www.siriuspup.com/) says that your puppy should be exposed to 100 people by the time your pup is 3 months old. Many of us may not be able to make this deadline, but you should make an effort to expose your pup to as many people as you can.

Rule #8:  Handle your puppy all over every day. For the rest of your dog's life, she will need to be handled and may need to be restrained at times.  So, get her used to it now by touching her paws, looking in her mouth, grooming, etc.  If she gets upset, just be matter-of-fact and don't get upset or worried, if you act calm she'll calm down. Don't start telling her it's ok, this makes it sound like you mean it is ok for her to be upset, plus it's not ok really, but it's not a big deal. Did your mother ever tell you to do something "because I said so?"  You can take that attitude with your pup, she just has to do it because you said so, and if you act self-assured, she will.  You can smear some canned squeeze cheese on her mouth or a little bit of peanut butter to help matters, but if you hold her and she squirms, and you're not hurting her, your release after she does calm down is also a reward. Once you've made your point and she has settled down, don't keep doing it over and over, this is best done no more than once or twice a day, over a period of time until it becomes routine, it's not something to drill on.  For some people, if a pup resists, they seem to want to take it on with a "make my day" attitude. You're not Clint Eastwood and it's not necessary to make it into a battle, you want to establish trust, not fear. You want her to trust that you're asking her to do something that may seem scary,but you have a good reason, and it can help establish the tone of the relationship.

Rule #9:  Eat this, not that.  All puppies chew and mouth things-- they have to, they don't have hands.
Keep plenty of chew toys on hand and when your pup starts to chew on something she shouldn't, hand her something appropriate instead.

Rule #10: Train your puppy. Puppies can quickly learn to sit, lie down, begin leash walking, and to "settle."  Teach coming when called through games and by using treats, and never call your dog to you and then punish it or yell at it.

Rule #11:  Play with your puppy.  By this time if you've stuck it out with these rules, having a puppy might seem like a job, not fun at all. Enjoy your puppy for what she is, another creature with a different life experience. Wonder at  her new look at the world and how she lives in the present in a way we never can. Before you know it, her muzzle will turn gray and her steps will slow,
and it will be time for you to say good-bye.

There's lots of good information out there, and I hope these rules help get you started as well.
Ian Dunbar has a free puppy ebook that you can download from his website at http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads .
Sophia Yin also has videos and books on her website, http://drsophiayin.com/ .
Susan Garrett's " It's Yer Choice Game"  is invaluable for helping to teach puppies self control. You can find more information on her site at http://susangarrettdogagility.com/ .
My friend Susan Eldred also has a very good puppy book and she can be contacted at http://fascinatingscent.com/books/puppy-training-book .

For help with your new puppy, or any other questions, you may contact me through www.rosetreedogtraining.com

TIS THE SEASON....FOR PUPPIES!
Part 1

     Every year many people get puppies for Christmas or around the Christmas season.  Then about summer or fall, shelters and rescue groups get an influx of adolescent dogs who started out as adorable Christmas puppies then grew into rambunctious adolescents who are no longer as cute and cuddly and are now jumping up on people,  barking, pulling their owners down the street when leashwalked, or have begun to show signs of aggression or anxiety when around strange people or dogs.  None of these behaviors are unpredictable, so what can we do from the beginning to stop them from becoming habits?

      Puppies are learning from you from the very day you bring them home. There's a lot of good information on the web about puppy raising and some not so good.  I'm just going to go through what I think are the main things to emphasize from the day you bring your puppy home over a few blogs.  More practical information will be in Part 2.
   

   The world of a newborn puppy is different from ours. Unlike human infants, puppies come into the world blind and deaf with scent and touch being the way they first interact with the world.    At around 2 weeks of age, their eyes begin to open up; at around 17 days, the ear canals open.  By around 3 weeks, they are starting to respond to sounds and trying to walk.  For more information about early developmental milestones, you can visit this link:
http://www.care.com/pet-care-puppy-care-stages-newborn-to-48-weeks-p1017-q14574.html

       Think about the dog's point of view.   What do dogs like to do?
Eat, bark,sniff, eat,chew,eat, dig, eat, play, eat, roll, you get the idea.














Dogs want what they want when they want it.    Let's face it, they're all about immediate gratification.
             

     We talk a lot about dogs being pack animals.  There's a lot more research on dogs now than there used to be, and the idea of a hierarchical dog pack along the lines of a dictatorship or military leadership structure is no longer the prevailing image.  Even wolf biologists have changed their notion of pack behavior.  The original studies took place among captive wolves who were living in areas where space was limited and there was no escape.  Wolf packs are made up of families, and rank has more to do with age and the ability of the animals to get along in social unit.  It's a loose group of related individuals; the size and membership can change over time.

     Feral dogs may travel together, but again, it's a loose knit group, there's not one "alpha" dog barking orders at the subordinates, with the subordinates rushing to obey.  Instant obedience is not necessary or a requirement.  What does seem important is the desire to be part of a group, which we have strengthened through selective breeding.  And that's why we can train dogs; they  have a social need to be part of a group and their flexibility makes them adaptable.  

 .                    

     When  you bring your new puppy home, you and your family become the pup's new social group.  Most of the pup's natural behaviors are exactly the ones we humans tend to want to avoid.  The pup sees food on the kitchen table, he jumps up for it; he wants attention, he jumps up on the human to get it. He has to go to the bathroom, he goes, doesn't matter whether it's on your new carpet, in fact, they seem to prefer carpet to pee on.   Household objects from the dog's point of view are  for eating, chewing, rolling on, lying on, or peeing on, and these activities for a particular object are not mutually exclusive.  It's up to us to show them what behaviors they need to get along in our household. A young  puppy is perfectly willing to go along with us, as long as we show him what it is we want and make it worth his while to do it.  How to do this, and incorporate it into your daily routine, will be the subject of Part 2.