Understanding Your Puppy

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Have just received this: Troy, it may be useful for this to be a pinned topic.

TEN KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING YOUR PUPPY

1. Each Puppy Is Different

Even within a single litter of pups, there can be extreme

differences, from outgoing and friendly to withdrawn and aloof. Are

you and your siblings or cousins exactly alike? Neither are pups.

This puppy of yours will be different from any dog you've had or

will have. He has his own personality-with features that amuse and

parts that annoy, a total package. And as the old saying goes, the

trick to being happy is not to get what you want but to want what

you get. Your job, as his leader, is to build on his strengths while

minimizing his weaknesses.

2. Your Puppy Is Not a Blank Slate

Your puppy arrives in your arms a package of instincts and hardwired

behaviors. In some, those instincts/behaviors border on compulsions.

Border Collies can stare obsessively at movement, Labradors may lose

their minds over tennis balls, some Terriers bark almost nonstop.

Your pup doesn't even, can't even, know there are other options.

Saying "No" to a dog in the middle of an instinct-triggered behavior

often doesn't help or if it does, it won't for long. "No" simply

doesn't compute. "No" tells your puppy you are upset-nothing else.

He needs alternatives, which you must supply. You must teach your

Border Collie that he can look away, your Lab that he can leave the

ball on the floor, your Terrier that he can sit quietly ... as

these ideas will never, ever occur to them.

3. Your Puppy Needs More than "Love"

Actually, love may be all your puppy needs, if love means meeting

your puppy's emotional, mental, and physical needs, even when you

don't especially feel like it. But if by "love" you mean meeting

your emotional needs first and foremost, even when that conflicts

with the puppy's needs, then that is not enough. What we say to

clients is "Do you love your puppy or do you love loving your

puppy?" If you love your puppy, doing what he needs is second

nature. If you love loving your puppy, you will do what you want to

do while complaining about your puppy. For example: Puppy urinates

in kitchen overnight. Easy solution: Your puppy sleeps crated in

your bedroom. If you love your puppy, you do that because you know

it will help the puppy learn. If you love loving the puppy, you'll

refuse to take that action because "you don't like crating her," and

then you'll create a problem.

4. Minor Moments Matter

Every interaction you have with your puppy teaches her something.

There is no "small" interaction. If your puppy steps in front of you

and you move out of her way to avoid bumping into her, she learns

that she can make you move. If, instead, you kept your feet low,

your knees bent, and shuffled on through her, she learns that you

can make her move. You may think, Who cares? Your puppy does and

therefore you must. In social mammals, leaders walk and followers

get out of the way. This is true in people, horses, and dogs. Those

many minor moments teach your puppy who you are. If you teach her to

push you around, walk all over you, and ignore you, it can create

problems later. People often say that problems "came out of the

blue!" but they are often the result of months of dismissing or

missing the meaning of those minor moments.

5. To See It Is to Mouth It

Puppies explore their world with their mouths which, until about

four months of age, contain tiny, pointy, needle-sharp teeth. Pups

mouth things that move, like your cat or your pant leg. They gnaw on

things with the same predictability with which young human children

attempt to stick things up their nose. It's just going to happen at

some point. This is not a "bad" puppy; this is a normal puppy. Plan

for normal events to happen, so you can supervise, teach, and

redirect to a better option. Avoid thinking that normal things like

this won't happen and then being annoyed or surprised when they do.

6. Puppies Do Not Understand Risk

First off, a three-month-old puppy has been on our planet for only

ninety days or so. Nature has given him speedy mobility but little

time for experience. You must protect your puppy as he will swallow,

chew, leap off, and careen into slippery, sharp, and dangerous

things. Sarah remembers all too well watching fivemonth- old

Bracken, her German Shepherd Dog, race up the back steps and vault

off the three-foot-high railing, arcing upward toward a bird on the

back fence. As she landed she dropped some six feet or so to the

ground without incident, but was that anticipated? No. You can never

anticipate everything. So, when considering risk, ask yourself not

what you think might happen, but what could happen.

7. Puppies Love Pleasing You

Anyone who has ever seen a puppy sporting a delighted, openmouthed

grin when his person praises him knows that dogs of all ages enjoy

it when we enjoy them. They want that connection- it is one of those

things that makes dogs dogs. They get a kick out of us!

It is in vogue in some circles to talk about how dogs have no desire

to please. We feel sorry that anyone in the dog community could live

with dogs and not experience that warm, mutual connection. In some

circles, touch and praise are billed as "distractions to learning."

As if a relationship were a "distraction." We have dogs because of

the mutual relationship we can share with them. What a sad, cold

world it must be to treat a dog as if he is incapable of deep

connection and to then be treated in the same way by the dog.

My Smart Puppy people do not have to live in that distant world. You

will build a relationship with your puppy, seeing his or her joy in

our joy. In order to see this, you must learn how to praise your

puppy warmly and sincerely in a way your puppy enjoys. Show your

puppy through touch and voice just how fond of him you are and you

will see him respond in kind.

8. Puppies Need Lots of Sleep

Humans take around fifteen years to grow from infancy to sexual

maturity. Your puppy does it in under one. She may start life at one

pound and bite into her first birthday cake at seventy-five pounds.

That is an extraordinary rate of growth. A large-breed puppy may, at

the peak of growth, put on nearly a pound a day. To accomplish this

feat, your puppy needs rest and a lot of it. Expect your puppy to

log nearly eighteen to twenty hours a day for a few peak-growth

months. Just like children, overtired puppies can become cranky,

pushy, whiny, or otherwise frustrating.

It is your job to recognize those signs and tuck the pup into his

crate for a nap. This is especially important in households with

children, where a puppy can be kept awake and active for too long.

9. Puppyhood Is Messy

In every sense. Not only will you be dealing with physical

byproducts- urine, feces, vomit, hair, dirt, and in some breeds

drool-but learning is messy. Think how difficult it is to

communicate clearly between people. Now try between species; you are

trying to communicate with a species that has no clue about what

you're trying to teach. Sometimes your puppy will be confused,

sometimes you will be, sometimes you both will be-that is normal.

The way through it is productive practice. Avoidance, frustration,

or "putting it off" never trained a single puppy. You can do this!

Nothing has to be perfect-as long as you are consistent and

persistent, your puppy will learn to understand you.

10. Puppyhood Is Brief

Hallelujah and darn-all at once. You would not be human if you

didn't think from time to time, When will this end? We can tell you

when it will end: very quickly. Use these months. You cannot ever

get them back. Train, play, socialize, explore-prepare your puppy

for a long, happy life as an adult dog. Along the way, take

pictures, find ways to have at least a little fun with your puppy

every day, and have patience with normal mental and physical canine

developmental stages. They are as precious as they can be annoying.

[Poodle wrangler]

Thanks

[Henrietta]

That's a great post Hesapandabear

[cassie]

I love it, some very important points to remember there

[badboyz]

Ooh! I am going to print this out and add it to my puppy info pack!

Thanks Hesapanda

[Mak]

This will definetly come in handy!

Hesapandabear!

Edited March 13, 2007 by Mak

[ReXy]

great post,, sometimes you forget the little things . great for new puppy parents.

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

YOOO HOOO

TROY any chance of this being pinned?

[Flaves]

Hesa that was great.

[jlb]

that was great to read, many thanks for posting it

[rooster78]

Being the owner of my first puppy - that is fantastic!

[Hounder]

A great post with some very good points. Thanks

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

YOO HOO, Troy can ths be pinned?. PRETTY PLEASE

[king]

Well done...that is great it should definetly be pinned

[Kahn]

Thanks for that. My favourite point was:

"7. Puppies Love Pleasing You"

This is why we got dogs (read puppies). That look in their eyes when they know (I have let them know) that they have done good is priceless.