Since writing the first instalment of Puppy 101 last year I’ve gained a tonne of new knowledge, heaps more experience and generally feel I’ve progressed as a trainer, coach and all-round person. I think it is important to always remain a student, to be open-minded to new ways of thinking and willing to challenge your opinions if for the better of your cause – mine being happy dogs - so I wanted to revisit this post and update my ideas, which I’ll likely do routinely. Here are my 7 top tips for new puppy owners but can be applied by dog owners in general.
1. Choosing the right puppy for you;
Many of my clients contact me prior to collecting their new puppy, so I thought it best to start there. So, to begin, this may seem obvious, but remember, the puppy you buy now will be the dog you have for 10+ years. I cannot stress enough how important it is to choose the right dog for you, for your energy, for your lifestyle and for your environment – not for how cute you think it is. If you live in an inner city or a small flat like me, if the dog will be home alone while you work long hours or if you’re generally not an active person, a working breed is not for you. A calm, low energy, companion breed would be more suitable, which is why we got Biggie our Frenchie and not another German Shepherd. Be responsible when choosing your puppy, don’t base your decision solely on appearance, research extensively into what it takes to properly care for them and always put the dog first.
2. Acknowledge what your puppy is:
Your puppy is not a baby; your puppy is a domesticated predator. Although we may use them as something else, ultimately, they are a predator. As puppy owners, the sooner we acknowledge this truth and satisfy their inherent drives, the easier life becomes and the quicker we reach harmony. In doing so, we can predict and then capitalise on their behaviours, setting them up for success, as we do not teach puppies anything; rather we shape and condition these inherent behaviours to suit our needs.
Further to this, acknowledge what your puppy’s breed was bred for and know what characteristics to expect. If you’ve got a shepherd or guardian breed, expect them to be protective and territorial; if you’ve got a hound, expect them to be independent and to follow their nose; if you’ve got a companion breed, expect them to be needy; if you’ve got a terrier, expect them to have high drive to chase small animals including other dogs; if you’ve got a bulldog, expect them to be stubborn; and so on.
3. Communicate in your puppy’s language:
Our puppies cannot communicate with us in our language, but we can communicate with them in theirs. We must be the ones to meet them at their level, as clear communication establishes trust, develops understanding and increases potential for success. Dogs communicate energetically through body language, posturing and spacial pressure, often reading us for these cues and responding accordingly. Think of them as an input/output system where we must BE what we want to SEE in them, which essentially translates to: when I get excited, you get excited, and when I’m calm, you’re calm. Whenever communicating with our puppy, we must always make sure to check in with ourselves first and ask ‘am I clearly communicating in my puppy’s language what it is I want to say?’
4. The need for corrections:
Relating to the point above, to help our puppies understand our social rules and to reach their full potential within our pack, we must be just as clear in communicating what is not acceptable with the use of corrections. Corrections are commonplace within a pack as its fate depends on the cooperation of its members, therefore imbalanced dogs are quickly corrected or rejected. Assuming we are not going to reject our puppies, we need to employ corrections to ensure success. As we are now communicating with our puppies in their language since my last point, we must do the same in our corrections, so just as their mother would have, when we need to correct our puppies we take them by scruff of their neck and hold them still in a calm and assertive manner.
Considering dogs live in the present our corrections must happen as our puppies are doing wrong so they can clearly associate them with the unwanted behaviour, and not afterwards as they could be unsure of what they did wrong.
Something worth considering with correcting a puppy is the intensity you use. If you are on the firmer end with your corrections you will cause the puppy a higher level of stress in the moment, but you will be clearer in your communication of what will not be tolerated and likely have to correct the puppy less often. If you are on the milder end with your corrections, you will cause the puppy a lower level of stress in the moment but will likely need to repeatedly correct the puppy to get your message across. I believe being clear in your expectations is the fairest way to treat a puppy, therefor I opt for the former.
5. Establish leadership:
Dogs are not natural-born leaders, but if they do not see leadership, they will often assume it. Unlike human relationships where who takes the lead can be dependent on the situation, dogs follow a strict hierarchy of either being above or below another pack member, so we must consistently enforce this pack structure to establish correct leadership. Consistently being firm but fair, with confidence and conviction in our commands and the discipline to always follow them through is how we establish leadership. Controlling all resources, including attention, affection, food, and toys, and making our puppies earn them, as opposed to letting them demand them, is how we establish leadership. Eating first, deciding when we play and when play is over, walking through our puppies and not around them, walking through doorways first, greeting people first, not allowing them to jump up on us, on the sofa, or on our beds without permission; these are all ways in which we establish leadership.
6. Routine and structure:
However your puppy lives now, is how they will expect to live as an adult. Understandably, when we get a new puppy, they become our world and the centre of our attention, but if they come to understand this, they will expect it throughout their lives. With that in mind, before you bring your new puppy home, get them a crate and from day one, keep them in it for most of their day. A puppy’s crate is its den, it is its safe space and is the perfect way to implement a routine and structure within their lives. Keeping your puppy in a crate, with routine toilet breaks and short sessions of play is not only a great way to supervise them, but it will teach them that we decide what’s happening, when we interact, when its time to play and when its time to relax and they will take this understanding with them throughout life. It is also a simple way to house train your puppy as they will typically not want to eliminate where they sleep, so by keeping them in a small confined space and routinely taking them outside they will begin to understand this is where they should go.
7. Don’t train your puppy to be anxious and socialise them:
When I tell clients they’re training their puppies to be anxious, they always seem to have a confused look on their faces as they ask ‘why would I do that?’ No one intentionally trains their puppy to be anxious, but almost every client I see is doing so unknowingly. How they do this is by pandering to them, over-petting them, over-praising them, over-comforting them, tolerating neediness, avoiding discomfort, and creating dependency. As hard as it may be to not give into the puppy-dog eyes and give them the attention they want, doing so will serve your puppy well. If they react with fear or unease to something, ignore them and lead by example in how you would want them to respond. Continually doing so as you repeatedly expose them to new things is proper socialisation.
Typically, socialisation seems to be a term used to describe the development of dog-to-dog social skills, but proper socialisation goes way beyond that. Think of it as your effort to condition and desensitise your puppy to everything and anything it may encounter throughout life, whether that be dogs, other animals, people, children, vehicles, places, situations etc while generalising its training. Now of course not all dogs need the exact same type of socialisation beyond commonalities, so you should make yours appropriate to the life your puppy has ahead. Every Sunday my Girlfriend and I walk in Hampstead Heath, stopping for pints in the pubs as we go before settling in one for a roast dinner, so from the first Sunday we got Biggie, our Frenchie, we took him along so that now busy, noisy pubs with people, children and dogs passing him while he remains calm and behaved is the norm. The four German Shepherd puppies I am currently training will be living on farms with ATVs with loud engines driving around, so I have been feeding them while in the ATV with the engine running. These may seem like simple, almost obvious things to do to help your puppy settle into their lives comfortably, but It is a process so often overlooked yet far more important to focus on from the get-go, as opposed to teaching your puppy to give the paw.
