Tick-Tock, Pet Clock: Time-Critical Info for New Pet Parents

The most urgent item on any new puppy’s (and adult dog’s) educational agenda (first few days at home) is to establish a schedule to teach the pup where to pee and poop, what to chew, when to calm down and stop barking, and most important, to prevent adolescent-onset separation anxiety.

The second most urgent (first four weeks) is socializing your puppy with at least 100 unfamiliar people safely at home. Dog-dog socialization can wait. Your pup played 24/7 with their littermates for eight weeks, and you have lots to do during their first month at home. Puppies will bump-start their play behavior within minutes of the start of the first session of their off-leash puppy classes.

It is also crucial to ensure your puppy learns bite inhibition so that if ever provoked to bite people or fight with other dogs, their jaws will cause no injury whatsoever. Dogs learn bite inhibition over several months while playing with other puppies and dogs and their people. I cannot emphasize the importance of bite inhibition; when dogs cause injury to people, a behavior problem becomes a legal problem.

Start Teaching ‘em Young

Good habits are just as hard to break as bad habits, so teach good habits from the outset, i.e., during your puppy’s first few days at home.

To eliminate on cue so you may –

• Choose when and so, be there to show where, praise and reward your pup, inspect and clean up, and then, train and play with him.
• Teach your pup to ‘hold it’ and to let you know when they desperately want ‘to go’.

What to Chew by stuffing hollow chew toys with treats. Settle and shush on cue with their stuffed chew toys and learn to enjoy little quiet moments on their own to prevent separation anxiety.

Socialize Your Puppy with Oodles of Unfamiliar People… Right Away!

For your puppy’s peace of mind, they must learn to thoroughly enjoy being hugged and petted by all family members, friends, and neighbors safely at home, so that as adults, they do not become stressed when restrained and examined by unfamiliar people (veterinarians, groomers, and other strangers in unfamiliar situations.)

Take your pup outdoors (do not walk your puppy until four months of age). Let people greet your puppy in your arms, their cart, or through the window of your car. Put up a sign: “Please Pet my Pup!”

The only differences between ‘handling and restraint’, and ‘petting and examination’ are your puppy’s perception of the people. Make sure everyone, including your veterinarian, dispenses oodles of food rewards during each play-training-handling session. (Use kibble from your puppy’s daily diet).

Do not be duped by your puppy’s friendly and confident, sometimes overly friendly and overly confident, demeanor with familiar people (and familiar dogs) at home. As puppies grow older, it is normal and natural for them to become progressively more anxious, wary, reactive, and fearful towards unfamiliar people, unfamiliar dogs, and unfamiliar situations. Socialization and environmental enrichment, especially before 12 weeks of age (but for life), prevent the otherwise normal development of adolescent stress, anxiety, fear, and sometimes aggression towards unfamiliar people. It’s as simple as that.

Off-leash Puppy Training Classes for your Pooch

It is essential for –

• Puppies to meet and be handled by many more unfamiliar people (other puppies’ families) and to bump-start play, so they learn all-important bite inhibition and social savvy for appropriate interaction with younger and older pups, and how to deal with dogs that may not be similarly socialized
• Pet parents to learn how to tone down over-the-top play styles, build confidence in shy and fearful puppies, and master off-leash training from the outset, so they may better control their puppy at home, in parks, and on trails.
• Trainers to detect incipient signs of predictable and preventable temperament problems, such as fear and aggression, and immediately, nip them in the bud immediately.

(Dr. Ian Dunbar, PhD, MRCVS a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and dog trainer who developed the science-based dog training methods used by Dunbar Academy. https://www.dunbaracademy.com/pages/free-puppy-book-bundle)