• ​ Socialize that puppy!!  Watch the most important thing to teach a dog!!!

• One of the most important things you will do to have a well behaved dog!!!  All puppies need to be exposed to all kinds of different people, places and situations.  This takes time and effort and IT WILL pay off.  You will want to read all about socializing your puppy and how to do it!​​ The younger you start socializing your pup the more confident and less afraid they will be.  This is the groundwork for a well mannered dog and takes consistency, dedication and time.

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•  Crate Train!!!!!!  This is such a great way to train a dog, I cannot stress it enough.  A crate should be a positive place.  Like a bedroom for a dog. When puppy first arrives throw a small, tiny treat in crate whenever they go in, reinforcing that this is a positive place. Never use as a place of punishment.  If you feel you must ignore your dog because of bad behavior choose alternative place (small bathroom, etc.)  Or simply put them in exercise pen and ignore.   Please research how to crate train and see if it is for you. Our dogs love their crates. If you simply cannot do it, have a small room  or area where you can place your dog if you are running to the market or if you are having company or if you just need a break.  The first year you will use this area frequently until your pet is properly trained and can be trusted in the house.  Even with our older dogs we always put them in their room (bathroom with crate they can go in and out of) if we are leaving the house and they sleep in their crates every night.  Read more about the benefits of crate training here.

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​​    Start grooming touches the day they come home.  Touch                       and pick up their feet, rub and pluck their ears.  Brush a little bit a         few times a week even if they don't need it.  We clip their little               nails with finger nail clippers. Just start with one nail a night if               they don't like it at first.  You will definitely be glad you did this               down the road.  We like to do it at night in front of the TV                       when they are all tuckered out!​​​

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• Using treats to train is an absolute must.  However we want to use high quality treats broken into tiny pieces so you can give lots of treats to reinforce the good behavior. Make sure its something healthy that they also love love love!  (Cheerios broken into tiny pieces, real chicken, high quality cat or different puppy kibble are some ideas) Also giving lots of treats often for good behavior helps them connect the command with the behavior.  Break bigger treats into the tiniest of pieces!  Have them with you when you are with your dog at home and take them with you when you go out with you pup!  Treat often for good behavior and for obeying commands.  They should work for their treats only recieving for good behavior or following commands.  Try not to give treats for just being cute!  One thousand little crumb treats very often will do a lot more to train fast than three big bite treats and they love the little crumbs just as much - I promise!

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• Do start reading as much material as you can get your hands on as soon as you become interested in adopting a puppy.  Dogs and Humans think extremely differently.  You can eliminate a lot of problems or bad behaviors from ever starting if you will educate yourself before you get your puppy.  We also find that once you get your puppy it helps to reread everything once again.  You will find that this information makes more sense now that you are actually dealing with certain scenarios.  You will get  new ideas and know where your puppy is coming from and know what to do about it.  Do diligence owners have the best dogs because they have educated themselves about dog behavior and the best ways to handle.  You can do it .  Go here for a book list. Order cheaper or used off of amazon or check out what is at the library.

 

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• Feed premium dog food only.  This is key to having a healthy dog.  Less risk of developing allergies and becoming unhealthy and possibly obese.  Please do your research and figure out the best plan for you and your pooch.

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• Exercising with your dog the first year should be kept to a minimum and by that we mean not Jogging along with humans on their daily run (18 mos), keeping stair climbing to a very minimum and no jumping off of couches, beds, etc.  

•  Puppies need puppy exercise.  Chasing a ball or running in the back yard or at the park is fine if it is not over done. Puppy play is more or less enough when they are very young.  Once they are 12 - 18 months and done growing it is fine to take them on long walks or hikes.  They can run with  you at 18 months. You will want to wait until they are developed and done growing for more strenuous activities.

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• Exercise is very important for dogs!  Remember to take you dog daily on (age appropriate lengths) walks or to the park to burn off that energy.  This is key for mental and physical health.  This is a basic need of all canines.  If you are physically unable to walk your dog or play fetch at the park so that they can run, please find someone who will do this with your dog on a daily basis.  

              Remember the puppy will not be able to go on jogs or long

       hikes the first year (until bones are fully developed)  If you want 

       to take your puppy along with you, invest in a puppy stroller.  

       You can find good deals on Amazon.  We love the dutch stroller

       for puppies and take our puppies that are not fully immunized with 

       us using the stroller!  We will take them on runs in it and also                around town or to lunch. They absolutely love it!

 

• Training.  Start training the day the puppy comes home! You will be amazed how smart they are.   Watch you tube training techniques and see what works for you and your puppy. We love Victoria Stilwell's Positive training techniques.  Training should always be positive and done for very short periods of time when a pup is young.  One or two minutes several times a day is great!   A dog does not understand punishment so positive training is the way to go.  Enroll in puppy school as soon as you possibly can.  

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•  Treats are huge when teaching correct behaviors , it is great to always have some with you for rewarding good behavior and obeying commands.  Remember to break into the tiniest pieces so you can reward a lot for these good behaviors. Whenever I reward I use the same word "yes" in a happy tone so that when I don't have a treat in the future I can always say yes and they know they did the right thing.

   

  Examples, "get in the car"  'yes and treat at same time',  "sit" 'yes and treat at same time,  "come" 'yes and treat at same time.

 

 

•  Any kind of attention from a human is attention, even if you are mad at a behavior they are still getting your attention.  One method used in positive training is 'game over' no attention or interaction for a couple of minutes.  This does not work with every bad behavior but it works great for some.  Here are examples:

•           Jumping up and nipping - High pitched 'ouch', turn around and fold your arms no contact or interaction for a minute or two (they will most likely keep jumping at your legs), ignore and as soon as they stop go back to play or treat and say 'yes'

                 growling - 'no' firmly, game over walk away or turn around            and ignore.  If they are not getting it you can quickly grab muzzle            and give slight squeeze for one second and  a 'no',  this should              startle them, not hurt them and you should never allow your    kids to do this but you should teach kids how to ignore for a couple of                minutes as soon as she does a growl and not play with her or even look at her.  Again, never allow the children to hold muzzle and  after  you do it a few times it should no longer be necessary and           you can just skip to the 'No' and ignore.

       Educating yourself on how live with dogs is the first key.  So the            more you read, the more you will know about dogs and behavior            problems won't start because you have the know how.  For                    example, never feed a dog until they sit calmly and wait politely             and then you can give release word like 'ok' and then they get to           eat.  They absolutely need to be taught manners and they come     as wild little beasts so this takes time, commitment and consistency, but is totally doable!  And you can do it!!!!!!  To read more about puppy behavior click here.

 

 

 

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