It is a good idea not to wait, and to start to educate yourself and prepare right away. That being said, expect the progress to be slow and to celebrate the small victories along the way. Overall, be patient. This is a long term relationship that you are working on.
People pick out their dogs or puppies based on various criteria. Some people see that the puppy or dog is fearful and want to help them out. Others may not have realized they picked out a fearful puppy or dog right away. Once a dog or puppy home and has serious fear or anxiety (interferes with their enjoyment of life not simple timidity), how do you progress forward with and for your new dog or puppy?
It is a good idea not to wait, and to start to educate yourself and prepare right away. That being said, expect the progress to be slow and to celebrate the small victories along the way. Overall, be patient. This is a long term relationship that you are working on.
This really depends on what "being a puppy" means to you. If this means playing, enjoying, snuggling and affection as PART of the puppy's experiences, well then yes. If this means, you do not expect perfection or for a puppy to act like an adult dog, that is an absolutely correct mindset. If that means you are aware that your new puppy (or dog) needs to be protected from things in our domestic environment that they don't understand, then that is also a yes. Your puppy is now learning about an domestic environment and how to treat humans (and other animals as well). Environment plays a big role when your training your dog. Dog training usually begins in a non distracting environment. Later on distractions are used in order to further train your dog to planned upon goals. In the beginning non distracting environments are largely controllable by simply training inside in a quiet room without anyone around. The unexpected distraction (spouse, kids, knock on the door, car driving up) may happen, but they are not expected or planned for. For those who also reside in your home, you can let them know not to disturb you when you are training. In those instance, you just have to shoo whoever came in away (or settle the dog after the truck leaves) and find your training footing again to end on a good note. As you move forward to distractions, environments can be somewhat controlled or predicted for dog training with good planning. Non distracting environments can have creative distractions added to them on purpose.
Cities can be hard places to visit with your pets, in this case our dog, Shana. As it is, Shana has never really warmed up to crowds of people especially with dogs. I do train a lot with Shana, but city area training somewhat limited due to automobile troubles. Nonetheless, Shana is trained to an extent, and we felt it would be far more stressful to have her with a strange pet sitter. Cities are consumed with noises, crowds, and actually far more wildlife than you might see in the country on a daily basis. One thing did not think of is the amount of harmful objects that can be on the ground during your exploring in the city, especially off main roads or those that tourists know of. The cars drive aggressively, which can be a danger to you and your dog, if you don't take that into account. Often there are celebrations going on to attract the tourists and their money as well (in our case we went to a Jethro Tull Concert on our last evening). This post is about a few things that I learned, and a few things I considered while getting Shana ready in the short-term for our trip. Getting your first dog or puppy is such an amazing time for most people. Like some other pets (like parrots for instance) they need our support as much as we need theirs. You can revel and enjoy the cute loving nature of your dog or puppy. Many, especially first time dog or puppy owners, make some mistakes that are avoidable if you know about them. The mission of this blog is to help dog and puppy owners with information like this. Btw, dog trainers make mistakes too, because not all dogs are alike. They have very individual personalities. At another time, we will address those too. In the meantime, here is some general advice on mistakes to avoid. In the first series for this article, I am going to go over new puppies for new puppy owners, as this article will be too long otherwise. Later on in the month, we will go over adult dogs and rescue adult dogs. The Reliable Stay Command Is a Tool for Safety and Impulse Control (Part 2 of The Command Series)9/20/2023 In the last blog, we discussed the place command. The stay command, specifically, is a command that you can is part of a sit, down, or stand command. This is where you want your dog to stay in a certain position anywhere that you are. The Place Command is Excellent Obedience and Behavioral Exercise (Part 1 of The Command Series)9/13/2023 The place command is one of the first things I start to teach with many dogs. This command combines a send away, a stay, a stay within a barrier, impulse control and calming exercise all in one. Additionally, this can be the very start on walking on leash with a puppy or dog. Some dog owners and trainers may only utilize the stay portion, but I feel the send away portion is very valuable as time goes on. Let me explain a little bit about this very useful exercise. |
Author, Robin RubinOwner and Head Dog Trainer in Maine, Robin Katherine Rubin, started her Maine dog training business in September 2004. Our dog training facility is located in Southern Maine in York Beach and we help families enjoy their dogs more, making sure they listen reliably and resolving unwanted behaviors. Archives
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