Already have a Puppy?
Getting A Puppy?
Plan Ahead for Success!
Getting A Puppy?
Plan Ahead for Success!
Getting A Puppy? Plan Ahead for Success! |
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They are always learning, whether or not you are purposely teaching them anything. They have certain stages of development which are ideal to use to advantage. A puppy that is 16 weeks of age has learned a lot and formed opinions about and reactions to the world which can be difficult, if not impossible, to change.
Private, in-home training is not enough for young puppies. They need the socialization to other puppies and new people that they get in puppy class. We think the classes offered by Greater St. Louis Training Club Inc. are excellent. Go to www.gsltc.org for more information.
A study was done to determine how often an average 8-week-old puppy needs to eliminate. The answer was, approximately 17 times a day! That is what an average young puppy NEEDS to do.
When you are not around, provide the puppy with some sort of choice that involves a bed or an area to keep clean and another alternative that is okay to use when you are not there to provide guidance. This practice sets the foundation for discrimination and will ultimately make housetraining easier.
You should start shaping your puppy’s behavior as soon as he joins your family. A number of our clients have scheduled pre-puppy appointments, where we come to their houses and help them prepare for the arrival of their puppies. This allows us to get the new puppy owners off to the very best start. Problems are always easier to prevent than to solve!
Please don’t get a puppy until you have educated yourself about how to raise and train it. A little careful education can make the difference between a well-behaved dog you will enjoy for life and the many out-of-control adolescent dogs we see in every animal shelter. Dr. Ian Dunbar, founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, has made his book "Before You Get Your Puppy", available online for FREE in the media downloads section at www.jamesandkenneth.com. If you’re reading this too late – you already have a puppy – Dr. Dunbar’s book “After You Get Your Puppy” is readily available from the same web site or through www.dogwise.com.
Know what you are getting. Buying a puppy over the internet, from a pet store, or from someone who offers to meet you with the puppy, prevents you from seeing where and how the puppy was raised. Of course, it’s often impossible to learn any of this information about a shelter puppy. Just as some children can thrive in adverse conditions, so can some puppies. Many puppies, however, need remedial help if they are not given advantages early in life. Understand that puppies with unknown backgrounds may come with baggage that you will need to accept and may be more difficult to train. Here is an example. A recent study shows that puppies have determined their preferred substrate to eliminate on by the time they are 8 weeks old. This means whatever your puppy has been standing on while it pees and poops is going to be what it looks for in your house or yard when it needs to go. Can you teach it to go on something else? Of course – however, if your puppy’s breeder has been allowing it to pee all over the kitchen floor, you are going to have a harder time with housetraining than if the puppies have been taken to papers or outdoors to eliminate.
If you are able to see where your puppy was raised, be sure you approve of the conditions. If you want your puppy to be a house dog, be sure the puppies were raised in the breeder’s house, exposed to all the usual household sights and sounds. Puppies raised in a garage, kennel, or barn can have a hard time adjusting to the very different environment of a house.
If you are able to meet the puppy’s mother, pay attention. If you wouldn’t want to own the puppy’s mother when you do meet her, don’t take one of her puppies! Mothers not only donate 50% of their puppies’ genes, their personalities also influence their puppies very strongly during the time their puppies spend with them. Fearfulness or aggressiveness on the part of the mother may well show up in that cute puppy when he becomes a young adult. Find a sweet-tempered mother dog to get your puppy from. (Fathers are not mentioned here because responsible breeders breed their females to temperamentally, physically, and genetically compatible males – which seldom happen to be males they own themselves. If you can meet both parents, be sure you like them both; but don’t be surprised or put off if you can’t meet the father of a litter.)
Never take a puppy from its littermates and preferably from its mother before its 49th day of life. The lessons puppies learn from their mothers and littermates during their first seven weeks of life are crucial to becoming a well-adjusted dog.
We can help you prepare for your new puppy. This package includes a pre-arrival visit lasting 1-1/2 hours, in which we talk about puppy behavior, what you can expect from your new puppy, and how to prepare your home and family for the puppy’s arrival. A second, 1-hour visit is scheduled within the week that the puppy arrives, to answer questions and ensure that the puppy and family are getting off to a good start together. This is a great gift for your friend or relative who is getting a new puppy. Preventing problems from the beginning is always easier than solving them later! This package costs $250.
Talk to us if you would like assistance in finding the right puppy or dog for you.
Too late for Puppy Prep – the puppy is here! We will come out for a 1-1/2 hour visit to help you get off to the right start. This appointment costs $150.
Many breeders are aware of the value of “puppy-testing” their litters at 7 weeks of age. Breeders use these tests as an aid in matching each puppy to the most appropriate home for its particular personality and needs. We have evaluated many litters over the past twenty years. We would be glad to offer this service to breeders for their litters, or to individuals who would like one or more puppies in a litter evaluated as pet prospects for themselves (with the breeder’s consent, or at a shelter). Cost to evaluate litters is a minimum of $50 per litter, plus $10 per puppy over 5 in the litter. Cost to evaluate an individual puppy for a prospective owner is $25-75 depending on the location of the puppy.
If you cannot find a book locally, you can order any of these from www.dogwise.com.