Adopting a puppy is an exciting time! Puppies should be with their mothers and siblings will at least 8 weeks of age at the minimum. They are learning so much from each other and can have behavioral issues if taken away earlier than 8 weeks.

You’re going to be getting unsolicited advice from everyone once they hear you have a puppy. Some of the advice may be good but some is bad & can lead to behavioral problems down the line with your puppy. First your pup needs to be on a feeding & walking schedule. Make sure you put him on a schedule. Be consistent & patient with things & you will see result.

Feeding – Puppies should be eating about 3-4 times daily since they are growing tremendously & developing right now. Once your pup is a year old, he will be considered an adult. Until then, puppy food. Maybe feed in the morning, afternoon & evening or whatever schedule works best for you.

Food – Get your pup a high quality food like Orijen, Acana, Fromm or The Honest Kitchen, which you can find by going to their websites and searching for a store near you.  The Honest Kitchen is a human grade raw dehydrated and the only dog food made in an FDA inspected human grade facility! A 10 b box makes 43 lbs of dog food. Super easy to make as well & made with human grade quality ingredients at a human grade facility. Most veterinarians will recommend the food which they have a contract with, not necessarily the best food so do your research! Your pet’s health starts with what you feed him/her!

Walking/House Training – Make sure your pup goes out potty immediately after waking up & right before bed to make sure he is empty. Also right after eating or drinking. If your pup went a little outside, comes back inside & has an accident try giving him another 15 minutes or so outside, needs more time.  Your pup can probably hold it about 4 hours, possibly 5 or 6 at night since he’s not as active. 

Freedom Clock – It’s the amount of free time your pup has earned without having an accident in the house. I would suggest starting with 45 mins, those 45 mins start after you take your pup outside to go potty then he has 45 mins of free roam time. Then you take your pup out again & if he goes potty the clock starts over. If during the 45 mins your pup has an accident you’re moving too fast & will need to scale that time to 30 mins then slowly add more time as you have days without accidents. Remember don’t push your pup & be patient & it will pay off. So if your pup has not gone potty outside, when you come back in he goes in the crate. The crate is NOT used as punishment; you’re simply setting him up for success & to avoid another accident. After 15 mins or so try taking him out again, if he goes potty, then he has earned free time. You get the picture. Reward for going potty outside, have some little treats in your back pocket. Treats shouldn’t be big enough to be a meal, just a tiny morsel of something tasty. You must be ready! 

Accidents in the house – Puppies & dogs live in the moment. So with that being said you cannot punish them or let them know you are not pleased unless you have caught them in the act of having an accident. At that point you would simply startle them, maybe hand clap or getting their attention & take them out to the spot right away. Remember to always have little tasty treats with you so you can reward as soon as they are done going potty outside. This is a MUST.  If you come home & your pup has had an accident in the house, even though you think they know what they did & why you’re mad. They cannot, they can simply read your body language & can tell you are angry so that is the reason why they will cower, tuck the tail under or avoid you. The window to tell a pup he has done something right (with a reward) or if he’s done something wrong is tiny about 1.5-2 seconds. That’s it.

Do NOT rub their nose in the accident, you will hear people telling you this, incredibly outdated & all that will do is tell your puppy to be afraid to go potty in front of you which will go for walks as well. Your pup shouldn’t be afraid of you!!! Once they are afraid they will just sneak off to another room & go potty in the corner where you don’t see them. Only thing to do is reward for good behavior & startle in the middle of an accident, take out to the correct spot. Also confinement like crate training helps them with house training!

Jumping – Be consistent, use a SPECIFIC word like the word “Off” every single time your pup jumps on you or others. So your pup jumps on you, you say Off (in a firm voice & turn your back to them. Make sure even if others say oh it’s ok, I like puppies, be the bad guy tell them it’s not ok we are teaching him not to jump.  Do NOT knee him in the chest or pinch his paws ( you may hear this terrible advice), all that will do it teach your pup to be afraid of human hands, you never want your pup to become a hand-shy dog. EVER.

Chewing/Mouthing - It is natural for puppies to chew & mouth! You want to make sure you teach from the beginning that their teeth on human skin is not ok. So you will have a specific word for this like the word “Ouch”. Be consistent! You must always be prepared when interacting with your pup, meaning have toys ready to plug their mouth otherwise you will get them excited, have nothing to plug their mouth with, they bite & then they are in trouble… not fair.  If your pup nips on you, say ouch & plug their mouth with a toy. If he nips again, simply remove yourself from play time & walk away… this is viewed as punishment for your puppy. I won’t go into time outs but if you’re having issues contact me. 

Barking – Puppies usually do attention seeking barking, they want something. Could be attention from you, to be fed, to be walked, etc. With this type of barking you need to IGNORE IT completely. If your pup is barking at you because he wants something do not even make eye contact & pretend like he doesn’t exist. Once he stops pay attention to him but make sure you wait about 15 seconds after he’s quiet so he knows the difference & doesn’t think he’s getting rewarded for barking!  If you tell him quiet or anything, even though it’s negative attention, his barking worked & he still got it from you. Be consistent!!!

The Crate – the crate is a safe place for the puppy, a den. Never use it for punishment!!!

Enjoy time with your newest family member and remember your pup relies on you for a lifetime of care and commitment!