PUPPY PROBLEMS – HOUSE TRAINING ,  MOUTHING,  DESTRUCTION, AND WHINING/CRYING .

Puppies ! Gorgeous but hard work! Common problems  are house training ,  learning to sleep  alone/crying  , mouthing (ouch! ) and destruction .

The good news is  that a puppy consult will teach you how to deal with all of this, and every thing you are going to need to know later as well.

For pups under 3 months old   in my area  a consult can be  divided into 2  sessions at no extra charge . In this we usually  cover all the puppy problems  in the first session ,   and at the  next session  , the teenage  problems are starting to rear  their heads!

Did you know most dogs are surrendered  to shelters as teenagers because they are no longer cute  and are now starting to  have adult  problems  due to  lack of training ? A puppy consult will set  you up to avoid the problems   that come up later as well as deal  with the immediate  puppy  issues  .

 A puppy is a baby  who has just lost its mum and siblings .This is hard to cope with . They have been kidnapped from Planet Dog and don’t understand  how to live  with people. Every interaction is teaching your pup something,  so  see it from pup’s perspective  and be mindful of what your  pup is learning .

 So what are some  common  mistakes ?

Puppy House training – telling your pup off  for toileting in the wrong place doesn’t teach it where to go , it teaches it to hide  it from you!  This will make it very hard for you  to  teach it where  you want it to go .Letting your pup wander freely  unsupervised, putting it in a large  enclosure or  the laundry ,  forgetting  to  put it out regularly and not  staying with it to reward a job  well done  (night time  too! )   will teach your pup to toilet in the house .Puppy pads teach pups  they have an inside toilet and an outside one  and  who wants to use the outside toilet at 3 am in the rain ? You want your pup to learn to tell you  it needs to go  outside. The key to housetraining is  management while pup learns where to go .

Puppy Mouthing - ouch ,those teeth are sharp !People  either  punish ( teaching pup hands are a bad thing  and leading to aggression ) or inadvertently reward by turning it into a fun game (screaming/ running/ pulling away is great fun ). So what do you do? Provide  better alternatives  and teach  your pup that mouthing means no one  will play. Dont know what  a better alternative is ? Call me !

Puppy Destruction -  puppies need to chew . An unoccupied pup will find  something to do, so   provide enrichment  and toys , including some  it can play alone with  like food puzzles . ( Most toys are  pretty boring  if there is no one  to play with ).And management is important – put your stuff out of reach ! Puppy runs away with something ?  Chasing pup  and taking the item is setting your pup up to learn exactly what you won’t  want later . Let me show you are a better way .

Puppy Crying –   Don’t leave  pup  to  cry . Setting your pup ‘s bed  and routine up properly  in the  beginning will  get  you past the first few nights with the minimum of  lost sleep and teach  your pup to go happily  to bed  .