Tips about your new puppy

There are things that new puppy owners are almost always surprised or concerned about. If you haven't owned a puppy for a long while, there are some things you may have blocked from your memory, perhaps with good reason.

​Puppies are wonderful, and if you go about raising them the right way, they will seem a little less demonically possessed at times.

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Puppies are great because you are shaping their lives. The flip side of that is that puppies need to be taught EVERYTHING. Some of the below points will reference that.

• All puppies will mouth at some point. This mouthing can be anywhere from mildly annoying to being readily able to imagine your puppy biting off body parts while you are sleeping. This is a normal part of puppyhood, and yes you are going to need a strategy to teach the puppy (so this does not mean in one day) to bite other things rather than you or your human family:)
• To puppies a fair place to eliminate is someplace farther away from you and their sleeping place. They do need consistent and fair house training to learn that you want them to eliminate in an area that the human is happy with (this usually means outside in designated areas).
• Owners of puppies should learn about parasite protection for their young ones. I am including mosquito and tick strategies here in addition to worms.
• Sometimes a puppy is acquired in a non breeder and non shelter way. Please visit your vet ASAP to take care of vaccination requirements and other health issues.
• Puppies do not know the difference between your shoe, a hairbrush, glasses, wires, crown molding, door jams, antique heirlooms, or an approved dog toy. They need to be supervised or confined (leash, pen, crate) all the time.
• Puppies naturally follow you around when they are very young (generally speaking, I am sure there have been instances where this did not quite happen). Please know that training present and future (though techniques and objectives may differ) is necessary to keep that going.
• Puppies, as they grow, will try things to get their way. The strategies that might be employed include growling, whining, barking, jumping, and ET. This is normal, but will most likely get worse unless you do proper training.   DO NOT reward this behavior by giving in.
• Puppies tire easily when they are very young. The long walks and active days will most likely come after six months or so.
• In order to be used to and confident around different life noises and activities, puppies need to be exposed to these things. I expose puppies to these things in both training and non training ways. Please remember that socialization does not mean letting your puppy do anything they want OR letting anything/anyone have free reign over your puppy.
• Puppies eat more than adult dogs. Please consult with your vet, and also use the pet food directions on whatever puppy brand you are using. There are different foods for small breed, large breed, and giant puppies generally.
• Puppies poop and pee much more than adult dogs. MUCH MORE. This is just a fact, prepare yourself accordingly to let the little guy/girl have the opportunity to do it in the correct place as much as is humanly possible!
• Puppies that I have had are teething around 15-16 weeks. You may not find these teeth, as puppies tend to swallow them. If you smell blood around them and in their mouth at about this time, teething may be occuring.
• With large breed dogs at least, a puppy isn't considered matured until three and is well within puppyhood until two years old or older.

​Need training help with your new pet puppy?  Please e-mail, call, or fill out our client interview form.