Puppy 101
The first year of your puppy’s life is critical to becoming a confident and well-rounded adult dog. During this time, your dog is learning all about their world and how to function within it. Getting them started on the right course early can save you a world of headaches and hassle later!
Things to prioritize with your new puppy include…
- Early exposure to novel experiences.
- Socialization with dogs, people, and other animals.
- Enrichment and confidence building.
- Basic obedience foundations.
- House training and crate training.
- Cooperative care and handling skills.
SOCIALIZATION
The most important time for exposing a puppy to new experiences is between 3-14 weeks of age. During this period, puppies are more open to new experiences and easily able to develop social bonds. It is important to introduce your young dog to lots of new things, but it should always be done in a safe and controlled way. Quality is more important than quantity of experiences! It is easy to overwhelm a young puppy, so use the traffic light system to ensure positive associations with new things!
When introducing your puppy to a new experience or stimuli, pay attention to their behavior and body language. By watching your puppy closely, you can better ensure that their experiences are positive and change your training plan when needed. Focus on short sessions of exposure to new things, as puppies tire easily! Try not to add too much novelty all at once. Instead, break up exposures into multiple steps or pieces.
Socialization comes in many forms. We often think of dog play and meeting people as the most important parts of socialization, but there is so much more. Socialization should focus on exposing your new puppy to the things they are likely to encounter as an adult, in the same way they are likely to experience it as an adult! This means that interactions with other dogs and people should replicate similar situations to what you want as an adult dog.
There are so many new things you could expose your puppy to, but focus on the things they are likely to encounter throughout their life. This will vary from dog to dog, based on where you live, your lifestyle, and your dogs preferences! Download my FREE socialization handout and highlight the items on the list your dog may need to build confidence around!
HOUSE/POTTY TRAINING
When we bring home a very young dog, it is our responsibility to make sure that when they need to potty… they have access to the places we want them to go! Your puppy doesn’t understand why they shouldn’t potty inside. When you bring home an 8-12 week old puppy, you bring home a baby animal who has a small bladder, with limited muscle control, and poor understanding of internal body cues. Combined, this means that we need to take our puppies out frequently to make sure they can successfully relieve themselves outdoors. Your puppy can not hold their bladder very long and they often don’t realize they need to relieve themselves until they really need to relieve themselves.
Times to bring your puppy outside for a potty break
- When they wake up from a nap
- After they eat or drink
- After play
- After being released from their crate/pen
- If they have been awake for over an hour and haven’t pottied in that last hour
A good guideline to start with is potty break every hour they are awake. When you get 5 days without an accident, you can increase the time between breaks by 15 minutes. If you get an accident, go back to more frequent breaks for a few days.
To successfully potty train our puppies, we need to give them as many opportunities to be successful as possible. When it is time for a potty break, bring your puppy outside on a leash and bring them to their usual potty spot. Stand there and be boring! Puppies are easily distracted and we want them to focus on sniffing and finding a good spot to potty. Give them 10-15 minutes. If they do not go, bring them back inside and put them in their crate or pen with something to do, and wait 5-10 minutes before bringing them out and trying again. Remember, puppies often don’t need to go until they really need to go, so sometimes it is a matter of just catching them at the right moment. Be patient!
If your puppy has an accident in the house, DON’T punish them. Do not yell, scold, or punish them. If you catch you puppy in the act and you punish them, they won’t learn not to potty in the house… they will learn not to potty in front of you! This can make potty training much harder. Don’t punish them if you find an accident either. They will not understand why they are being punished, even if you show them the accident. If anything, they will simply become more nervous around you and avoid you.
When our puppy has an accident indoors, that is on us!
A word about surface preferences…
Dogs can develop a surface preference for where they prefer to potty. Usually, absorbent surfaces are preferred. While potty pads can be helpful in an emergency so your puppy has somewhere to relieve themselves, if we rely on them, our dogs may develop a preference for this kind of surface. This can make training them to go outdoors on grass, dirt, etc much harder.
FOUNDATION SKILLS
When it comes to puppy training, it is important that we focus on age appropriate skills. Remember, you puppy is a baby! They have been on the planet for only a few months. You have plenty of time to train! These are the key training areas I prioritize when training a puppy.