GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT PAW WITH YOUR NEW PUPPY

GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT PAW WITH YOUR NEW PUPPY

Socialisation
 The socialisation period is the time before 12 weeks of age. It is very important for your puppy to get out and meet new people, and go to different places and have a positive experience. This will reduce problems in the future such as fear and potentially aggression. Meeting other dogs is just as important, and a great place for your puppy to socialize is at Puppy Class.

Toilet Training
 Start off where you want to finish off (i.e. get them to go outside from day 1)
 Consistency is the key
 Take them to the spot you want to toilet 1st thing in morning and just before bedtime at night , 15-20 min after each meal and then every 2 hours
 Stay with them for 5 to 10 minutes and be sure not to distract the puppy with play, just allow it to sniff around
 Praise with treats or affection if your puppy toilets
 Can use a command at the time such as “wee wee”
 When your puppy is inside keep them in a confined area (use barriers) so you can keep an eye on them
 Crate training is a great way to speed up toilet training, especially reducing accidents at night
 Don’t punish any accidents in house as this discourages them to go to toilet in front of you
 Clean up any accidents with “urine free” or “febreeze” to remove the smell (Don’t use ammonia as it smells like urine to puppies so they will go back to same spot)

Biting
 All puppies explore their world via mouthing so biting is normal
 Puppies learn “bite inhibition”= how hard is it ok to bite
 If your puppy is biting you then offer something else like a chew treat or toy such as a Kong
 If they continue biting, “yelp” like a puppy or say “ouch” to let your puppy know it hurts. Immediately stop playing and ignore the puppy so it learns that biting leads to the stopping of playing.
 Another method is to turn a negative into a positive by getting them to sit & then reward them
 Ensure that all family members understand it is important not to encourage biting during play

“Nothing in Life is Free” make sure they “Sit, Look &Stay”
 Before your puppies gets a pat, food or play time then make them sit, look at you & stay
 To say “please” your puppy needs to sit, look at you & stay, then praise them
 Consistency is the key so all family members need to make sure the puppy sits and stays
 If your puppy jumps on you then stand up if you are sitting but ignore them and say nothing.
 By doing this your puppy will look to you for everything they want – food, love and play
 By doing this it will help prevent separation anxiety (one of the most common behavioural problems in dogs) as they know that they have to wait before getting attention

Environmental Enrichment (making their home interesting)
Each day when you leave them, you need to give them something to keep them occupied whilst you are out. These items may include:

 Behavioural toys such as kongs stuffed with mince then frozen
 Treat balls with their dry food meal
 Treasure hunt – put dry food scattered through the grass
 Chew treat
 Raw bone (if it’s frozen it will keep them occupied for longer!)