Well, its been awhile since I posted. I’ve been busy rounding out the end of my year and I’ve been busy with some new clients and some returning ones. I’m so grateful to have clients who truly appreciated and adopted the Four Paws training modalities, but also valued it so much so they came back! This is a click and treat for me 🙂
Lately, I’ve been working some clients who adopted puppies. Puppies are squishy faced, tiny paws, attention seeking piranhas. They have all the trappings of the Jaws in the making with their puppy shark teeth and nails which can drive you crazy with their razor sharpness. Most often than not, their adorableness gets trumped by their destructive, and once cute jumping on you to greet you behavior to becoming annoying and impossible for correction. Their cuteness is short lived and they often become nuisances and seen as “dumb”.
Why? Many people think dogs will just learn or grow out of inappropriate chewing, incessant barking and nipping and soiling the house all on their own. This mindset not only sets the puppy up for failure, but it also sets up the owner. I’m not sure why we as humans seem to seek out the negative and address only that, but we do and we have a challenging time in holding ourselves back from yelling no at a misbehaving dog than we do in praising all the good stuff they do. We forget to say ‘good’ when they sit and wait for our attention, we forget to give them some love when the look at you for the next direction or the most important, we ignore them when they are laying quietly by our feet or in their bed or in their crate. This is where our attention should be paid. As puppy owners its desireable for not only our puppies, but us when we take the time early on in getting them out in public, participating in puppy classes or just spending time massaging them, holding their paws and touching their years, so when they see the vet, its not the first time this happens. We will be rewarded when our puppies are 2 years old and they are the picture of great behavior because time was taken early, right from the time they came into the home in getting them used to a leash and setting the expectations of good greeting behaviors.
Teach your puppy to sit for doorways, food, affection and play time. Once they know how to get the good stuff, they will sit for everything. This not only teaches a basic obedience cues, but will increase their impulse control and will strengthen the bond between you and them. Keep the rules consistent and set the expectations early and it will last a lifetime for you and your furry piranha.
Happy Training 🙂
Four Paws & You Dog Training 