I am getting/got a puppy - now what do I do?

Your puppy is always learning so how you respond to behaviour, how you set up the environment to minimize the development of undesirable behaviours and habits are key parts to inviting a new puppy into your family.  …. And yes, of course we can train specific things.  A lot of learning happens in the day-to-day, even when you think you are not training.

In the initial period after your puppy comes home with you, please keep in mind that your pup’s whole world just got turned upside down.  They are now in a new environment, with new people and other animals, there are new noises, new schedules and different expectations.  Their familiar human, their parent, and siblings are no longer available for play, snuggles and comfort and to help them sort out what is safe.  

The world for the next week or more is no longer as predictable.  Lack of predictability is unsettling, so go gently over these first few days to rebuild a predictable, secure and safe feeling for your new puppy.

Potty Training

One of those early important things.  Think of how long it took to toilet train your child.  Your puppy will pick it up quicker, in all likelihood, but it is not instantaneous and part of the success comes because their brain and nervous system have also done some developing.

These first days are largely about management, giving the dog opportunity, recognizing success in a way that is noticed by your puppy.

1)      Have a means of setting audible reminders so that you get the pup out frequently enough.  Each pup will be different but a rule of thumb in daytime hours: A relaxed pup can “hold it” for the number of hours equal to their age in months + 1 hour (a rule of thumb so your dog may be able to go longer or may need more frequent breaks)

2)      In addition to the base schedule, give your pup an opportunity to go shortly after eating, getting up from a nap, playtime, training time or any other big, exciting event or after lots of activity.

My suggestion would be to go out on leash and be a quiet post in a single area.  They need to be relaxed enough to pee and if they are in “explore this new corner of the yard” mode, they may not get around to peeing.  Play, freedom, getting in out of the miserable weather, and/or a small treat happen when the deed is complete.  It helps to start this reward process close to where the deed happened in these initial days.  Be warmly happy, but not alarmingly excited.

It will help to keep some notes for yourself so you can see where the sticking points are.

Down/Sleep Time

For me, the puppy’s sleep space is going to be nearby and if it is a crate I may have elevated the crate to pillow level over night so I am visible and can provide contact with some fingers through the crate.  If the puppy is unsettled in a crate, some form of containment will be the priority, so the puppy and your stuff stay safe.  During the day their resting spot is nearby, and I am leaving them be while they are resting and sleeping.

Rapidly growing creatures, like puppies, need a lot of rest.  Think on the order almost 3/4s of the hours in a 24-hour day are down time.  Having that quiet spot where they can be undisturbed and learn to settle themselves can be invaluable in the learning process of relax and settle yourself and have a nap.

Socialization Activities

 If you are adding a puppy that is less than about 16 weeks old, you have a dog within its primary socialization window.  For a domestic dog this window is from about the time that eyes and ears become functional through to the mid-teen weeks old.

Other mammals like humans, cats, wolves, primates also have this special window.  For wolves the period appears to be very short (3-6 weeks of age).  This primary socialization window is where it is easiest for us to normalize the world.   Studies at Duke University tell us there is a minimum we need to do but not an upper limit.  So do a little each day.  Vary the things you do.

It is an important aspect of socialization that the puppy remains feeling safe and relatively calm. We are not trying to prime the nervous system to be overly responsive to all things in the environment; we are trying to have a puppy that thinks, “That is interesting, I am ok and safe.”

In your socialization outings or home activities, think of little things you can do to normalize the world even if you are being careful about where you take them until they have been immunized.   

Your puppy will tire quickly.  They are a youngster, so I suggest doing a little here and there with good rest breaks.

Here are some quick examples:

• Sitting on your lap at the park watching the kids play on the playground
  

• Watching the garbage truck go by from the safety of the front porch
  

• Riding in the shopping cart at the hardware store (put something on the bottom of the cart to provide safe hole free footing)  
  

•  Think of seeing a variety of people doing a variety of things (you do not need to interact with all of them), a variety of environments, a variety of activities, noises, places, handling, or dogs off playing in the distance…
  

• Bring out gentle grooming equipment and touch your puppy with it (you are doing this at a level of intensity where the puppy is willing to stick with you, and they get a treat/food bit when you withdraw the brush).  Notice the food/tidbit comes last: we are not using the food to keep the dog still while we brush them; we are using the food to reinforce them for their cooperation, help with calmness, give them a break.
  

• Bring the vacuum out and move it around at a distance from the puppy where they can observe and not worry about chasing or running away. Separately, run it without moving it …. And other combinations until the whole thing comes together.

  
  

Choose Activities, things to see/smell/hear, exploration where you see curiosity but not lots of excitement and not lots of worry.  Choose a variety of situations and activities.  There is no way to hit every possibility, but a good variety and breadth will stand your puppy in good stead.

Feeding and Meal Time

Let your puppy eat in peace.  Keep your hands to yourself.  The most exciting thing that should happen is an extra tidbit gets tossed in the bowl if you are approaching it.  We want dogs comfortable and happy to see us around their food and resources.  It is easier to build comfortable and happy from scratch than to repair a situation that was too much. If they are comfortable and happy, they will likely hand over resources/share them with you.

Play

One of my often-repeated lines is “play with a thinking dog.”  A quick summary of that is to vary the speed and intensity of play.  What you are looking for is that the puppy matches those shifts.  As your pup learns skills and you have a few behaviours that you can request is your dog able to respond with the requested behaviour…. (e.g. sit, down, collar grab, nose bop on your hand and other simple tricks) Vary what you request so that you have a dog who is demonstrating he is taking in what is going on and is not just go go go.  If my dog is getting over-excited and is not modulating himself well, it is time to shift the game to a quieter game or activity.

Keep highly exciting periods short with a break.  One of our key jobs when raising our pups and our kids is helping them learn self-regulation

Containment and Explore Space

For me, key elements to introduce a new critter into my home a containment space of some sort.

I would like my puppy to have an area to explore that is puppy proofed and safe.  The area is bigger than a crate.  This area will contain a few safe toys, a water dish and a place to cuddle up into.  For times when I cannot have my eyes on the puppy, I will use the confinement space or a crate, or I will have a way of containing them in the same space as me so they cannot wander off and do something undesirable or unsafe. My home (not an open concept home) is conducive to using baby gates, exercise pens, and the doors to reduce the available space to an area I can supervise.    

And finally:

Transitions

Like children and to some degree adult humans, we can benefit from transitions between activities particularly when we are going from exciting to nap time/calm time. 

None of us would be successful taking a 3-year-old out of an exciting game then plopping them into bed to lights out in one quick change.  For young dogs, having some transitions can also be helpful.   An example might be after coming in from an interesting and somewhat exciting walk, a chew toy, a bit of time focusing on a training task or some other step-down activity can be helpful.   Transitions can of course go from calm to exciting, but it is usually harder to go in the other direction.    So instead of leaving the puppy hanging at the end of a game direct them to a step-down activity that they can engage with.

Happy puppyhood. 

Puppies are tiring because of the intense nature of it.  Set yourself and your pup up for safety and success and minimal practise of undesirable behaviours.

We are here to support the raising and training of your puppy.

Puppy Training Modules

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