Today puppy Belle was adopted and as she only arrived on Monday she has been very lucky indeed! As we have lots more pups who will leave over the next few weeks I thought that I would remind potential adopters of their responsibility.
The reality is this – a puppy at eight weeks requires your attention about as much as an eight-week-old human baby would.
The puppy needs constant supervision – and if you are adopting him, that’s your job!
If you want to raise a dog who is well behaved, has a normal temperament, is not predisposed to behavioural issues such as separation anxiety, toilet training issues, fear or general anxiety… the work starts as soon as your pup is home.
With pups prevention is advised. Prevent what you can wherever possible and manage the pup’s environment so that he has little or no opportunity to go wrong. This means puppy proof the house, move books from the lower shelves, put bins behind cupboard doors, use stair gates and close doors to prevent access to areas where the pup may chew furnishings, pick up all Persian rugs temporarily and more importantly put things away such as shoes, children’s toys etc. Any time your pup engages in an unwanted behaviour, take a step back and ask yourself how you could have prevented it.
Interrupt unwanted behaviour. I know from experience that it is not always possible to prevent all unwanted behaviours when you have a puppy. So you teach your dog a positive interrupter. This can be a word or a noise, anything you like, as long as it doesn’t frighten or startle your pup. You could use a “Yay!!” or a kissy noise for example. Once interrupted redirect him onto something more productive.
Of course pups are great fun and really do keep you on your toes…enjoy the fun and madness as it passes so quickly. Those of us with older dogs would love to turn back time for a day with our pups