Revised April 10th, 2011,
New Puppy – What You Need to Know by Jeni Grant, all rights reserved (Thank you to Sharon Kirby for editing help.)
Note: Even if you have an older dog, you will find parts of this section helpful.
Prepare Before the Puppy Arrives
Your family should agree on what house rules you want your dog to follow and how to maximize the pup’s socialization opportunities. Design a management and training plan that will reinforce only good behavior from the start. Do not accidentally reinforce behaviors that you do not want. Do you want your pup on furniture? Are you going to let him jump up on people? (Best not to let him, but it is your choice.) Most people delay making these decisions until they have an unruly teen, but adolescence is a truly difficult time to start training. Teach your puppy your house rules when he is small before he becomes bigger with adult teeth.
Get your supplies in advance and work out a crate training schedule. I high recommend teaching your dog to be comfortable in a crate. Crate training is a useful, perhaps vital, tool for housebreaking and training a well-mannered dog. Don’t forget to have lots of vet-approved toys and chews on hand. Discuss and plan for how you will socialize your puppy the first few weeks.
Finally, puppy proof any area of your house the puppy will be allowed to use. Puppy proofing is similar to baby proofing. Leave nothing out for your new pup to get into.
Socialize Your Puppy
You have only a small window of opportunity to socialize your pup. The socialization period is believed to end anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks (approximately). So you want to gradually and carefully expose your puppy to many different environments and experiences as soon as the puppy is used to your house and yard, usually after a couple of days. Missing the crucial step of socialization could lead to fear aggression; aggression toward or extreme fear of other dogs or people; and/or phobia-like behavior. Two very destructive common mistakes people make are:
1. Isolating a puppy too much which can lead to abnormal behavior throughout the dog’s life; or,
2. In place of gradual careful socializing, exposing the puppy to frightening or traumatic experiences that plant the seeds for behavior problems as the dog matures. Note: Anything your puppy finds frightening could be traumatic whether or not the object or being seems harmless to you. Fears often develop of things that are harmless.
You want your puppy to feel confident with and like children, babies, all kinds of people, noises, smells, and sights—bicyclists, people pushing strollers, skateboarders, virtually everything and everybody in our world. You want your pup to be comfortable when a person stares at him, grabs his collar, gives him a kiss or a pat on the head. You want your pup to relate well to other dogs. You want your pup to get used to going to the vet and the groomer; being handled,; getting his nails clipped and his ears cleans; hearing and being near a hair dryer.
When exposing your pup to new people and stuff, always stay within his comfort level. NEVER frighten or force the puppy to do things. Let him approach new people and things when he is ready. Then you can reward his bravery away from the new person or thing. Traumatic or frightening memories are PERMANENT so never force situations. Use good judgment about staying within your puppy’s comfort level. See the body language information on my body language Youtube video or in my training manual to make sure you interpret your puppy’s body language and actions as accurately as possible.
Get into an excellent well-controlled puppy kindergarten class at the earliest age possible. This is a must. Some experts even advise taking two puppy classes at a time to get as many positive interactions with as many dogs as possible. Plan on taking at least three classes to keep your dog social and to master the skills you will need to live happily with your dog for the next fifteen or so years. A good goal is to train to a level where your dog can pass the American Kennel Club (A KC) Canine Good Citizen test (described at http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/).
The website of the www.ccpdt.com Certification Counsel for Professional Dog Trainers can help with your search for a positive trainer in your area. Look for a school that does only positive reinforcement like food, praise and toys (no choke collars, no pinch collars, and no physical or verbal punishments). Also, puppy class time should include supervised off leash play. The play period must be actively supervised to ensure your puppy has a good experience with compatible playmates. Schools vary in quality so check them out as much as you can.
Reinforce Good Behavior from Day One
New puppies will follow you and come to you easily. Reward those behaviors from day one. Reinforce with food, praise, toys, and play whenever your dog comes to you and follows by your side. Play Hide and Seek and other games where the puppy has to approach you. The pup should always be approaching you. NEVER CHASE THE PUPPY.
Prevent your pup from rushing to the door and jumping on people. Put your pup in a crate or safe area away from the door area whenever someone is at the door unless, of course, you are actually doing a training session. Train your puppy to go to crate or other room when people enter to pr event behavior problems later. Eventually you can teach Go To Your Place away from entry area if you like. After your dog has mastered the “sit” skill with distraction—for example, your dog sits calmly on cue when a car, bike, skateboard, child, another dog, or a cat passes him on a walk or when he is in the yard—ask him for a sit when someone is at the door. If he sits calmly, give him praise and a treat. A sit with distraction can go a long way in preventing serious behavior problems later. Everyone will say, “What a well mannered puppy!” when all the pup has learned is sit. (See my YouTube training videos at www.trainyourbestfriend.com for more information about how to reinforce good behavior and training skills.
Crate Training for Successful Housebreaking
Crate training or paper training for housebreaking is a must if you don’t want to live with accidents in the house for the rest of your dog’s life. Read up on housebreaking and consistently follow a schedule. If you do this right from the start, your life will be SO MUCH EASIER. I usually recommend that as soon as the new pup arrives you take as much time off as possible to housebreak and socialize him.
The best way to prevent “accidents” inside is to (1) spend a good amount of time outside; (2) limit your pup’s freedom to cleanable surfaces (like a kitchen floor) while you watch him like a hawk; and (3) crate your pup or put in exercise pen on nonporous surface when you need a break.
A lot of information is available on housebreaking, so I will be brief and only highlight some key points here:
You do not want the first place the puppy relieves himself to be inside your house. Do not take the pup inside the house until he pees and poops outside. That way he will be more likely to want to return to this outside spot to potty. If you have a yard, set up a comfortable area out in yard with crate and water while you wait for the pup to eliminate.
Have small extra yummy food rewards on hand. Hide the food out of his sight. Immediately AFTER your pup pees and/or poos, give him a food reward. Then play a game or produce a beloved toy as an extra reinforcer. Doing this will encourage your pup even more to use the potty area outside.
Keep a record of when the pup tends to eliminate: after play, meals, naps, etc. Then stay on that schedule for the first few weeks.
When the pup is small, scoop him up in your arms and walk outside to the potty area to avoid any mistakes on the way to the door. I have never had a pup have an accident in my arms.
For the first year directly supervise all of your pup’s free time in the house. This is training time. If you are not keeping an eye on him, your pup will relieve himself or start destructive behavior. Use gates to limit his access or put him on a leash and tie it to your belt.
Use a crate, gates, exercise pens, and doors to avoid accidents on carpets and restrict the pup’s freedom to areas with washable nonporous floors.
Clean all accidents diligently with enzyme cleaner. The smell of an accident is very difficult to remove, and pup will return to that spot if the odor is not completely eliminated.
Check with your vet to determine how often your pup physically needs to relieve himself based on his age and size. The general rule is the number of months old plus one hour (e.g., an 8-week-old pup can be crated for up to 3 hours). Some people get lucky and the pup sleeps overnight in a crate without accidents. Other people have to get up to take a pup out in the middle of the night. I recommend keeping a crate for overnight in an adults bedroom so you will know if pup has to go out in the middle of the night or has case of diarrhea and can’t hold his bowels as usual. Note: Even adult dogs should NOT go more than 8 hours without a potty break.
Don’t punish accidents. Instead try to interrupt the pup with some sudden attention-getting noise if you see him start to squat. If you stop him in time, immediately pick him up and take him outside. Reward and praise him after he eliminates outdoors. If he has already started to urinate or defecate inside, he really cannot stop. Just do a better job of supervising.
After a couple of months of no accidents, allow the pup freedom for a short time in a pup-proofed room. The crate door should be open. If no accidents occur, allow the pup his freedom for increasingly longer periods of time. If accidents do occur, go back to crating your pup for a bit before you try again. Ethical Note: It is abusive to keep a puppy or dog in crate for an excessive amount of time. I don’t recommend crate for adult dogs for long periods of time and not at all for adopted dogs. Puppies and dogs are social animals and require a good amount of time with people and activity. Hire a sitter or barter with a friend if you cannot provide this care yourself. After a few months your dog should be left in a dog proofed space where he can be comfortable and move around.
Avoid Teaching Separation Anxiety
Gradually condition your puppy to be away from you for short periods of time. Having all of your attention and then suddenly being made to spend hours alone could be traumatic for a puppy and lead to problem behavior and anxiety.
Go out of your way to practice time away from you for short periods when you are home. Arrange for the pup to spend time alone with other people for short periods, many different people not just the same few. You want a pup to be confident and feel safe with new people. Just be sure this doesn’t frighten the puppy and do it GRADUALLY with appropriate dog savvy people who are gentle and loving.
Leash Walking
For your pup’s first walks, use a regular harness and six-foot cloth or leather leash. Every dog should wear an ID tag with your telephone number (include cell phone numbers) and street address. This is very important and can save a dog’s life in an emergency situation.
At first just let your puppy get used to his leash and drag it behind him. If your pup starts to chew or bite the leash, immediately distract him with something else; for example, an appropriate chew toy or treat. Reward puppy with treats and praise when they walk by your side. As always any tether or leash could cause strangulation, you must actively supervise when they are on your dog.
Don’t expect your pup to walk like an adult dog. Let him go at his own pace. Remember that this is a baby. If he puts on the breaks and refuses to move, you should trot a couple steps ahead and with happy high-pitched talk encourage the pup to move forward. NEVER DRAG A PUP ON LEASH. If the leash gets tight, just stop and let the pup sniff and explore.
Loose leash walking takes time to master. You have to be very consistent and never allow your dog to be reinforced for pulling. If you never let your new puppy pull you on leash and only move forward when the leash is relaxed, then your puppy will learn the correct way from the start. Your life will be much easier in the long run. Let your dog do what he wants as long as he doesn’t pull on the leash. If your dog pulls, do not follow. As soon as the leash loosens up, start walking again to reward your dog and praise him. On walks, frequently reward and praise any time the dog comes to you, or walks by your side, or even turns to look at you. I also find doing “comes” and “sits” during a walk is helpful. Many people find that a no- pull harness helps stop the pulling for the puppies that are big enough that you are having trouble handling them on leash. Check out the Freedom Harness at www.wiggleswagsandwhiskers.com.
References Materials to Help You with Your New Puppy or Dog
Please check my Web site for my latest list of books, sites, videos, and magazines at www.trainyourbestfriend.com
Puppy Training Checklist the First 12 Months
Set up many socialization opportunities.
– A happy dog is an adaptable dog. Your job is to give your pup positive associations with everything and everybody, including the mailman, vet and groomer. Devote time to condition your dog to have a positive association with going to vet office and groomer.
–Your dog should meet and play with different types of friendly well-socialized dogs. Do NOT allow your puppy to interact with dogs that bully or play too rough. Do NOT introduce him to inexperienced, under-socialized adult dogs. Avoid areas with possibly aggressive dogs (dog parks and big box pet stores). Again, you want your dog to have a positive association with other dogs and to learn desirable communication and play skills.
–Your dog should meet and have as many positive interactions with as many strange adults (especially men) and their “stuff” as possible. Give your pup a great food treat after each encounter or have the stranger give him a treat. Reward your pup for going to check out new people; never force him. Do not immediately expose your pup to loud overcrowded places that may be overwhelming. Instead gradually over time work up from relatively quiet areas with a few people to noisier, more crowded areas.
–Your dog should have as many controlled, supervised positive interactions as possible with strange boys and girls of all ages and their stuff (toys, rollerblades, etc.). Again, give your pup a great food treat after each meeting and never force your pup beyond her comfort level. You should always control interaction with your pup. Allow only one child at time to meet her and instruct each child to hold her hand low so the puppy can sniff. To reward interaction with children, always give your pup the treat yourself. Do not take chances with out-of-control or rough children. See page on Children & Dogs in my manual.
– Your dog should get out to many different environments and settings. For example,
o stairs (all kinds)
o beaches, lakes, ponds, sprinklers, etc.
o every kind of ground surface and building
o city noises and sights
o boats, cars, bikes, rollerblades, strollers, etc.
o parks, playgrounds
o stores, crowds, fairs
o horses and farm animals
o constructions sounds and sights
–Always remember to stay within your dog’s comfort level.
Provide your dog/pup with daily mental and physical exercise.
–If you do not choose where your pup directs her energy, eventually the pup will find an outlet in undesirable behaviors. Puppies are clever they need puzzles to figure out and tricky toys to occupy their little brains. Initiate a game like hide and seek, teach your pup tricks, have regular training sessions, visit new places, teach a retrieve, teach swimming, hide activity toys and let your pup find them. Your dog should be mentally and physically tired and fulfilled.
–Bring in a knowledgeable sitter for exercise if you are gone or need some extra help. Instruct the sitter about your training method and rules and make sure the sitter is willing to follow them.
Teach your dog that hands are good.
–If you feed your dog from a bowl, pick up the full bowl, put a better treat in it, and then put it down again for your pup to eat. Also do this exercise with toys. Take a toy away, give the pup a tasty treat, and then give the toy back. Do this often. If you allow the pup on furniture and beds, teach pup to get on and off when told. Don’t roughly grab and pull your pup around with your hands. You want your dog to think human hands are always a good thing.
– Never allow anyone to tease your dog and take things away without a tasty reward. If you do, problem behaviors such as resource guarding could develop.
– Teach “drop it” and “away.” At some time or other, everyone needs their dog to give up things and not pick up things that are valuable or potentially hazardous. “Drop it” or “away” could save your dog’s life and stop her from swallowing a lethal material. See my YouTube videos on this.
Develop your dog’s good attitude about being handled.
–Do daily handling exercises. Start these exercises as young as possible and continue them throughout your dog’s lifetime. At first, the sessions should be short. Touch your pup/dog and give her a treat each time you do. Make sure you touch all parts of her body. A fun puppy exercise is to put a t-shirt on the pup, give her a food reward, and then take the t-shirt off.
–Make your pup/dog happily anticipate a bath by going through the motions. Just put your pup in the tub and then give her a treat. At the next session, put her in the tub and run the water, but then take her out and give her a treat. Gradually build up to the complete bath ritual.
– Go through the motions of vet examinations and grooming appointments; for example, look in her mouth and touch her gums and teeth. You could do this before meals or walks or other fun stuff to build a positive association.
– You can improve your dog’s attitude about visits to the vet, groomer, and kennel using the same method. Break the visits down into stages. For example, go to the vet’s location, but give your dog a couple treats in the parking lot and then go home. Then just go as far as the reception area. See if the staff will give your pup some treats. She will learn that these trips are fun.
I personally trim my dog’s nails because I know how much most dogs dislike this and I don’t want my dog to associate nail clipping with vet visits. My dog would volunteer his paw for nail clipping because I conditioned him to enjoy it. You can do this too. Hold her paw up and just show her the clipper. Then give her a treat. Next time, touch her paw with the clipper and then give her a treat. Build up gradually to actually clipping one nail.
–Always give lots of treats after grooming, nail clipping, and baths. It is better to take it slowly with all these things then to have your dog develop a fear or dislike of them.
Help your dog enjoy a ride in the car.
–Go for lots rides to fun places. Dogs develop a fear of the car because of too few car rides and because rides end where the dog/pup has a bad association (the vet office and groomer or kennel).
–A crate is probably the best way for your dog to travel followed by a seatbelt. Dog in the backseat is the safest place for your dog—and for you.
–Know if your car has airbags and whether an airbag is a danger to your dog.
Stick to a smart housebreaking plan.
–Be outside with the puppy as much as possible.
–Inside, your puppy should be in a crate, exercise pen, or dog-proofed area. A dog-proofed space should have a nonporous easily cleaned floor and contain nothing a pup can chew or destroy. When in living areas, watch your puppy like a hawk. Use baby gates, ex-pens, crates, short leads to help with this. If need be, bring a crate into the living room so you can relax or tie the pup to you on a lead. Only allow your pup limited freedom when there are no accidents for at least a month.
–When your pup has any accident inside, make sure the scent of urine or feces has been completely removed with an enzyme cleaner. Avoid accidents on carpets and porous areas which hold odor. If the smell is not completely neutralized, the pup will always be drawn back to a spot where he eliminated. Block off carpeted or furnished areas, especially if the puppy already had an accident or damaged anything there. Do not let the puppy in these areas again until he has a good record of no accidents inside the house.
Manage your dog/pup’s environment.
– The easiest habit to break is a habit that has never started. Your dog will not learn to go through the garbage if she has no access.
–Your puppy’s surroundings should be completely puppy-proofed so she has access only to the things you want her to play with and chew. Puppies and dogs need things to do, but encourage only the games and busy toys YOU want.
–Put your pup in a crate or on leash when you have people enter the house. Do not let the habit of barking and jumping on guests ever start. Try a “sit” in the kitchen and block access to the front door so your pup cannot run and bark at noises and delivery people. Again, try a “sit” and treat away from door or window when you hear delivery people come. In Connecticut I had smart mail people and UPS drivers who would give a biscuit to the dogs. The dogs loved them, but the funny thing is that many owners had a new problem: The dogs would start to run out of yard to follow the trucks because they wanted a biscuit. The lesson is that a “sit” in the kitchen for a treat is much better than loving the mailman.
–Be mindful and prepare for potentially traumatic events like thunderstorms, hot air balloons, gunshots, Fourth of July fireworks and firecrackers, Halloween and any similar event. Always keep your dog in quiet area away from the festivities on Halloween and the Fourth of July. If you hear a loud noise, it never hurts to give the puppy/dog a great food treat AFTER the sound. Read classical conditioning sheet for the how to directions.
Avoid separation anxiety or attachment issues.
– A time will always come when you will have to be away or the dog will have to stay at the vet.
–Your dog should spend short periods of time daily in her own crate, exercise pen or dog-proofed room.
–Start preparing for pet-sitter visits, stays at a kennel, or whatever you plan to do when you are away. Prepare your pup in gradual stages. Start with a few hours, then overnights, and progress from there. Even if you are rarely away from home your pup/dog should be confident on her own and with other people. A normal healthy dog is confident away from you so keep her in practice.
Train your dog.
–Sign up for a positive well-supervised puppy class as soon as possible. Observe a class with dogs without your dog before choosing a school. If you have time, take two puppy classes so your puppy gets as many puppy play sessions as possible. Look for a school with at least one Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed on staff. Go to www.ccpdt.com for details.
–Plan on taking three or four levels of reward-based classes over the first two years you have your pup. You want to achieve a level where you can have your dog’s attention and control your dog in ANY setting off leash. This might sound easy, but it is hard to do in real life. To keep your dog safe in the real world, your dog must have a good “stay,” “come,” and at least one rock-solid position like “sit” or “down.” Repeat classes until these skills are achieved.
–Make many behavior requests of your puppy every day once you have trained the basics. Mix it up, mix it up, mix it up. Keep it fresh, be creative and keep challenging the puppy a little bit with your training. Avoid ruts. Ask for a “down” at the door instead of a “sit.” Mix up the order. Keep your pup (and your adult dog) guessing as to what you will ask for next. See your “Easy Way…” sheet in my manual.
Make good use of meal times.
–Free feeding is leaving food down in bowl for longer than 20 minutes. Never free feed a dog, Leave food bowl down for set amount of time (at most 15 minutes) and then put away.
–Every meal time is a training opportunity. You can practice obedience behaviors and reward your dog with his kibble. You can pair meals with things you want your dog to like, such as handling, grooming, the crate, etc. You can use a portion of the meal for rewards or even all of it if your dog is a good eater.
–During meal time, you can use Kongs or other activity toys so your dog has to work for her food. Hide her food in toys in the yard or the house. Dogs love this and use up some of their mental and physical energy in the process of getting a meal.
Work on Emergency Call Word. See manual.
–Play games where your pup comes to you. Frequently reward your puppy for coming towards you and following you this will help with recall and leashing walking.
–NEVER punish a dog that has come to you. You are destroying your recall. NEVER pair your recall word with punishing events like leaving house, grooming, and bath. Just go get your puppy or use another word like “house” instead of your regular recall cue.
–Never chase your dog/pup. Never let your puppy play “keep away.” If your pup takes something you do not want her to have, do not chase her. Sit on the floor with toys or food and act like you are having a great time. Eventually the puppy will come to you. Then trade the stolen item for a treat.
–Teach an emergency call work. See the Emergency Call Word Sheet.
Do not be harsh with your dog/pup.
–If you lose patience, put your dog in a crate or exercise pen to give both of you a break. Never train if you are frustrated or emotional. Keep your voice soft; no need to scare the dog, or the person next to you, with an ugly tone.
–Many people get in the habit of yelling out commands at their dogs. If your dog has learned good skills you will not need to raise your voice, and really, a raised voice is very disruptive in real life. I can whisper or use a subtle hand signal with an unneutered male Rottweiler well over a hundred pounds off leash, and he will happily obey as the result of consistent training.
Build a trusting relationship with your dog.
–Always step in and take control so your dog will feel safe. Knowing that you will keep her safe is very important to your dog. For example, someone in class had a neighbor roughly handle his newly adopted shy dog without permission. This event escalated the dog’s already existing fear of strangers. Better to risk insulting your neighbor then damage your relationship with your dog. I often step between my dog and other people so I know I am in control if something unexpected may happen or I move my dog to avoid an obviously out of control dog.
Keep improving your own dog training skills.
I recommend getting a dog magazine with positive training articles to remind you to train and give you ideas. Throw it in your bag for when you are stuck waiting at doctor or in bathroom. It is quick and easy to read a short article, and you get lots of valuable knowledge that way. See my recommended reading list at www.trainyourbestfriend.com.
