9 Simple tricks to raise your puppy.
The adoring season is puppyhood. While we must address our puppies’ urgent needs at this point, we must also avoid spoiling them. Puppyhood is quite similar to the phases of raising a kid through infancy and toddlerhood.
It’s not so much what the puppy learns in terms of skills at this time as it is what he learns about his surroundings and his leaders!
This is the most impressionable period in a dog’s life, when views toward his surroundings and leaders are imprinted on the brain as it develops.
Are you ready to lead and educate effectively?
Age: Between two and five months.
PUPPYHOOD OBJECTIVES
Environment Confidence.
Your dog must learn to trust the objects in her surroundings. Every day, expose her to new locations, textures, objects, people, and sounds in a pleasant manner. Take her to at least three different locations every week as a general guideline.
Self-assuredness.
Your dog must develop self-assurance. The more positive guidance you provide, the more likely she is to succeed. You may praise her more the more she succeeds. The more you compliment her on her accomplishments, the more self-assurance she will develop. To win appreciation and confidence, give her at least 10 small chores every day.
Leadership Confidence.
Your puppy is accumulating impressions of how you behave as her leader and main caretaker at this early period, but she is also gaining a human viewpoint based on the examples you set while growing her. The way you engage with and treat your dog sets the tone for the remainder of your relationship. Maintain a cheerful and trustworthy demeanor to acquire her trust.
Acceptance of New Objects
With excellent instruction and praise, assist her in investigating things and accepting new items. Applaud her for following your instructions. Expose her to a variety of items, each with a favorable effect. Touch the thing you want her to look at and praise her enthusiastically when she displays interest.
Taking on New Challenges
Have her do a variety of minor activities so that she may get praise for each one. Performing duties and receiving praise will encourage her to try new things under your supervision. She’ll also learn to embrace new challenges without being intimidated.
The Crate and the Boundaries are accepted.
Limiting your puppy’s independence using the crate and other techniques can help her learn to accept limits. If this isn’t accomplished within her first few months, she’ll have a hard time later in life accepting confinement and restrictions.
Learning to Fly by Myself Your dog must also get used to being alone. Crating in a quiet room separate from the family for short amounts of time can help her gain confidence. Between crate sessions, take several pauses to show her that it’s just temporary and not abandonment.
Learning How to Chew on the Correct Toys
Chewing etiquette may be taught by having the right chew toys on hand, utilizing suitable redirection strategies, and having the right chew toys. Section Four discusses proper chew toys.
Understanding the Housebreaking Concept A good housebreaking routine will help her understand where and when she has to “go pee.” A proper routine will educate your dog when and where to be.
PUPPYHOOD EXPECTATIONS
1.It’s all about me in life!
Me, me, and I! You should expect nothing less from your pet!
At this point, we are essentially their slaves. Their requirements are similar to those of a newborn or early toddler. It has nothing to do with your puppy being naughty; it’s only that he has pressing demands that must be met. Take care of them immediately away.
2. It’s all about love.
Yes, you will quickly fall in love with your dog since this is the period of affection. Take plenty of shots, but don’t spoil your dog by overindulging. This will be the most challenging portion of growing your puppy, but it is necessary for producing a decent, cooperative dog!
3. While you may begin to develop essential abilities as early as puppyhood,
you are truly in a “holding pattern.” At this age, your puppy is just too young for traditional obedience training. Your goal now is to avoid mistakes, explain ideas, and keep the puppy safe until she is five months old and can master her obedience abilities.
EXPLORATION
Your puppy is going through a normal time of exploration, which she does with her mouth. Exploration is a good thing since it implies your puppy is interested in learning about her surroundings. Be cautious not to squash a natural impulse that is a learning process by redirecting this urge in a negative way.
4. Puppies follow their instincts.
Puppies are born with just their canine instincts and behave only on what they have learned genetically. They have little control over their emotions and do not plan ahead. Until we educate children to reject cravings, they just act on instinct. Redirect them instead of punishing them, and be patient!
5. Restrictions: At this age, puppies have little self-control.
They are prone to doing whatever comes to mind.
This is due to a combination of impulse and a lack of self-control. Expect your puppy to not always make smart decisions or be well behaved.
- Attempting to “break” your puppy of instinctive habits (such as mouthing) will fail. When you give your puppy an alternative means of communication, you might train her to cease using her lips to communicate. Until then, trying to restrict these tendencies with “quick solutions” will only help to undermine your puppy’s trust in you as a leader. Later in this chapter, you’ll learn how to cope with teething, nipping, and mouthing.
7.Puppies have a short attention span and can only “behave,” or stay out of mischief, for a short period of time. They do acquire an attention span as they grow and as we educate them. It’s critical to understand that they can only focus for brief periods of time.
8.Any effort to refocus your dog after his mental battery has been depleted and recurrent, inappropriate actions begin will be ineffective. Allow your dog to snooze in his crate.
9.Your puppy may learn the housebreaking procedure, but no matter how hard he tries, his body cannot “hold” all of his bodily functions. Your puppy’s body will catch up in development and be able to regulate the flow of pee from his body about four and a half to five months of age. This regimen will benefit from regular toilet breaks.
10.Be Honest! Maintain a realistic outlook. Puppyhood is the time when we must take full responsibility for our pups.
Expect your puppy to act differently than an older dog. Recognize her limits and deal with them as you go through the learning process.
THE LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR YOUR PUPPY
Right now, your leadership job has numerous elements.
You will play the roles of Safety Patrol, Tour Guide, Teacher, Mom/Dad, Leader, and Role Model. Be a parent today since the Friend position will come later in life. Parents guide, educate, establish rules, and enforce them.
Patrol for safety. You will be responsible for all of your puppy’s safety requirements as Safety Patrol.
To protect your puppy’s safety, puppy-proof all sections of your house and constantly watch him.
Guided tour. You will be responsible for educating your puppy about the world as a Tour Guide.
Take this responsibility seriously and actively demonstrate new experiences to your puppy. Everything will have to be “explained” to her!
Teacher.
It is your responsibility to educate your puppy about home and societal standards.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking your dog can obey your commands like a remote!
Everything you want her to know must be taught to her.
Leader and Mother/Father
You will need to lead your dog as a parent and leader, just like you would your children. You must make choices for them, guide their activities, and congratulate them on their accomplishments. Good parents know how to guide their children.
Excellent leaders “lead” well, just as good parents “parent” well. In all instances, don’t be scared to take the lead. This will be appreciated by your pet. Leading him assures him that he is not alone out there. Leading will increase his safety.
Figurehead.
We must be extremely conscious of how we react to the inevitable accidents of puppyhood since a puppy learns crucial lessons about people at this time. A chewed item or “puppy puddle” should not be welcomed with insane screams. (If this is the case, your puppy may conclude that people are unbalanced!) When you detect faults, be cool, say “no,” and softly retrain your puppy to learn the proper behavior.
Leader of the Patient.
Crate your pet after you’ve run out of patience. If your mental batteries are depleted, your puppy’s batteries are likely to be depleted as well. You receive a much-needed vacation from your work by creating your puppy, and your dog gets “recess” and naptime. This significantly reduces the likelihood of losing your patience.
THE MENTAL NEEDS OF YOUR PUPPY
11. While your puppy’s mental demands are little at the moment, her learning potential is enormous. Her mental requirements are little in comparison to her rest requirements. However, the lessons she is learning through her observations and the environment’s reaction to her inquiry are invaluable.
She requires positive reinforcement from you and the surroundings as she learns.
12. Consider every interaction with your puppy as a learning opportunity. To be successful, these sessions must be positive and well-guided. Her chances of getting into trouble are higher if she is not properly watched or is just “half supervised.” Continuously making errors and receiving reprimands is neither enjoyable nor beneficial!
13. Make your puppy’s “learning sessions” as brief as possible. For a puppy, learning is exhausting! They are attempting to learn how to live in a human environment, which implies that none of their “doggie abilities” (rough play, food guarding, mouthing, etc.) are appropriate. His “unlearning” and learning must be done in little increments.
14. Taking pauses with your dog will keep her learning sessions short and not mentally fatigue or annoy her. A puppy that is weary or irritated will not learn well or willingly. She’ll be able to recharge for the following session by spending time in the crate.
HOUSEBREAKING YOUR PUPPY IN 4 EASY STEPS.
THE 5 COMMANDS
YOU NEED TO TEACH YOUR PUPPY
15. Because exploration at this period is normally motivated by curiosity rather than genetics (e.g., hunting impulses), it is unlikely to result in recurrent nuisance behaviors (see chapter 12). However, “one ounce of prevention” is much more valuable than “pounding the cure into her.” Prevention is crucial in retaining your puppy’s interest while also ensuring her safety.
Physical Requirements
16. Your puppy’s physical requirements come in waves. A little stroll around the block is plenty for a child. If you take your puppy for a lengthy walk, he will sit down and refuse to move. It’s possible that you’ll have to pick her up and carry her home! Keep your walks brief and gradual in length and speed.
17. Don’t expect your dog to keep up with you for a long time if you take her running.
Make the runs as short as possible.
Sprinting on a long leash in a soft, grassy area is OK, but high-impact leaping and running should be avoided until your dog reaches the age of one year. Their bones are still forming, and you don’t want to risk injuring them or preventing them from developing properly.
18. A “recipe” for meeting your dog’s physical demands in puppyhood includes one or two modest walks each day, as well as one or two short runs. Remember that the balance will vary depending on the breed, so make modifications appropriately!
Social requirements
At this time, your puppy’s social requirements are critical. Because she is creating all of her perceptions of the world at this point, this is arguably the most critical demand to meet. Many social activities should be planned at this period to ensure that your puppy is exposed to as many new people, animals, places, and items as possible.
20. When it comes to socialization for your puppy,
“The more the merrier” isn’t always the case. Never put quantity ahead of quality.
Control your puppy’s exposure to other animals to avoid frightening him. Visit new sites during off-peak hours to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Introduce new items with food. Your dog will develop strong social skills quicker if she has more positive learning experiences.
HOW TO TEACH YOUR PUPPY ROUTINES.
BENEFITS OF CRATE
TRAINING
HOW DOES A PUPPY
THINK?
21. It’s all too easy to treat puppies to a magic carpet trip,
scooping them up to transport them from one location to another or to attempt to soothe them if anything startles them (a loud noise or sudden movement). While we must be mindful that there are occasions when scooping them up may save them from injury and a terrible learning experience, we must also be prepared to let pups to fully experience new circumstances. Though we behave as if there’s something wrong with every new or unusual setting, our pups will follow our lead and assume the same.
22. Provide a “safety net” for them.
Assist your puppy with negotiating steps, getting into and out of automobiles, and going up and downstairs. We must acquire a feel of how much support to offer while still enabling them to acclimatize to their surroundings since we don’t want their small fuzzy joints to get harmed.
We may help our pups learn in these circumstances by providing a “safety net” similar to the one we provide when we lay our hands under a toddler’s armpits to “unweight” them as they start to walk.
Rest Is Required for the puppy
Puppies need more naps than most people anticipate at this age. They may recharge their small puppy batteries by napping in a quiet box or in a quiet room. When a puppy is well-rested, he will listen to you more intently, mouth you less, learn more collaboratively, and have more joy playing with you. Sleep, more than any other kind of rest, recharges the batteries. Sleep happens at night when the darkness decreases stimulus and allows your puppy to go asleep quickly.
24. During physical development spurts, rest requirements are considerable. The greatest physical development takes occurs during puppyhood. When your dog goes through a physical development spurt, her energy levels may drop and she may sleep for long periods of time. Don’t worry—once the growth spurt has passed, she’ll be back to normal in no time!