New Puppy 101 Part 1: The Basics

 Puppies!!! Everyone loves puppies!!!! Right? The minute you see one, your heart melts and you start daydreaming of what it would be like to have one...until you remember the house breaking, the chewing, the biting, the training, the list goes on and on.  However if for some reason you don't remember all of those things, or you have never had a puppy of your own before...remember one thing, they are worth it, and you can get through this.

 At first you are like, "how can this cute little ball of fur be any trouble?" Right?

 Then you get them home, and they can't seem to understand that peeing outside in the wet, muddy grass (or if you don't live in the NW as I do, freezing, snow) is what they are supposed to naturally want to do. They seem to prefer to potty on your rug.  Next they start jumping, and at first it's cute, they are so short and it only seems natural that they should jump to get your attention.  Then a couple of months go by and your "little" one is now 30 pounds and is leaving large muddy paw prints all over your clothes when he does come in from pottying outside, and you either go to work now covered in paw prints, or you are late because you are always having to change clothes, and your laundry just keeps growing.....

 Well enough of the problems we and our new found best friends have, if you don't know them you soon will.  How do you fix the problems, or even better, (if you are smart and are researching all this before you bring home that new bundle of joy) how do you prevent such issues from occurring in the first place?

 First off, figure out what motivates your pup.  (and let me give you a little hint here, food will almost always, as in 99% of the time, work the best.  If the treat or food that you are using is not working try something new.  I like to use wet dog food, and I have found the Nutro brands which use chicken broth to be the best, Greenies Pill Pockets are also a huge success in the treat area)

Second.  Pick up a clicker before you leave that pet store.

If you want things to go as smoothly as possible with your new adopted family member, you need to make sure the communication between you two is as solid as it can be.

A clicker is there to help reduce miscommunications.  Sounds great right.  It is.  Lets say you are working on potty training, you take your pup outside, she potties on the grass (or wherever you want her to), you click the clicker as soon as she is finished, then she gets a treat (you know the ones that will motivate her).  The click is telling her what she is getting the treat for.  It's faster, and more accurate than a word is, and it also bypasses the frontal cortex of the brain to go straight to the amygdala to be processed.  In other words it just works better, and the information is retained longer. I also highly recommend using a crate or playpen to house your pup when you are not going to keep a direct eye on her.  Keeping a food and water schedule is also a great way of preventing those slippery accidents on the floor.  Put water out once an hour, then take her out to potty.  Offer food two or three times a day, then put it up out of reach.  You will soon learn how long your pup can go between meals and drinks.

 I know you really want to get that puppy as soon as possible, but let me tell you, you will be much happier in the long run, if you wait to get your pup till after it is at least 8 weeks old.  The longer they get to stay with their mom and other litter mates, the more they learn through them, and the less they have to try on you.  You don't speak dog as well as their mom does, so trust me, somethings mom is better off teaching.  Bite inhibition is one of those critical things that they learn from playing with their litter mates.  If they bite a litter mate too hard they get a squeal and the fun ends temporarily.  So they learn not to bite as hard, their little milk teeth are just as painful to each other as they are to you and I.  Let them learn on each other and not you,or your children.  If you do get a pup who is hell bent on seeing just how hard he can bite you, squeal just like his litter mates would have, stand up, end the fun by placing the pup in a crate for a minute or leaving the room.  Another thing to do is have a tug toy near by, if your puppy starts to try and bite your hand (as cute as it may be, don't allow it) offer the tug toy instead.  Show your pup that toys are for chewing and playing, not human body parts.

If ankle biting becomes an issue, play freeze tag with your dog and click when he does not go for the feet, or hands.  It helps if you be "a tree" as shown here.  I also ask for a sit as soon as I stop, then click and treat for the sit.

Walking.....Do Not allow your puppy to pull on a walk when you first get him!  The only reason a dog pulls is because he has learned that it gets him where he wants.  The leash is something all dogs have to learn, and the sooner they learn it the better off everyone is.  Start when they are small.  If you have a large breed, trust me, in a couple of months they will be bigger than you think.  Not that I have anything against having your dog off leash, it's just that they will need to be on leash at some point in their lives, and more likely than not, that will be most of the time they are out in public.  You don't have to drag your little friend all over the floor to teach him to walk with you either. Nor will you need to resort to pinch collars to keep your pup from dragging you down the block.  

To teach your pup that walking next to you on the leash, I use a treat on a spoon that I can hold down and then pick back up out of their reach.  So when I click I hold the spoon down, let him take a lick or two, them walk a few steps, and if your pup stays with you click and let him have a lick.  You can use big wooden or plastic spoons, or these little baby food spoons.  Once your pup seems to have the right idea you can try to put more steps in between each click.  You will be the marvel of all your friends who have dogs when they see how well yours is walking on leash.

Here are a few tips to remember:

 Puppies keep those sharp daggers till they are about four months old, then they fall out and they grow new ones.  At that time they start to chew on whatever feels good on their gums.  If I were you, I would invest in several different dog toys that are different textures to see what it is your puppy likes.  They will teeth on and off till they are about 11 months old.  They start growing in molars after they replace their milk teeth.

Don't chase your puppy if he runs off with your favorite shoe, skirt, or toy, etc.  Puppies LOVE the game chase, once they learn how to get you to play with them, they will use it as often as they can get away with using it.  It's better to teach your puppy the cue for "drop it" and Leave it" then calmly walk up and retrieve the item.   You can use this chase game to your advantage though, if your pup escapes the house or yard and will not come back.  Run in the opposite direction calling your puppy's name, he will think you are playing chase, and most often will follow you.

 Do Not try and tug an item from your puppies mouth unless it is a tug toy.  Once again, puppies love to play tug, and if they think they know how to get you to play their game, they will do it all the time. Tug is a wonderful bonding game that you can play with your puppy it will not make them think that they are top dog if they win.  If you have ever watched dogs playing tug you will see that polite dogs both win and lose, the one you may perceive as "dominant" does not always win.  Unless he has very bad doggy manners. So feel free to play tug with your pup using whatever clothy like substance you deem worthy (socks, rope toys, toy animals)