10 things you need to do when you get a puppy
Getting a puppy is an exciting time, but gorgeous as they are, all puppies do become dogs and it's important to do the right thing from the beginning to ensure you don't face any issues later.
The most critical time in a pup's development is the formative period (2-4 months of age), when they are most ripe for learning. At this time, you have a chance to shape behavior rather than trying to change established behavior - as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.
1. PREPARE YOUR HOUSE
Set yourself up with everything you need for your puppy's comfort and training - some essentials are a dog bed, crate, water and food bowls, lead, collar, clicker, toys, training treats and age-appropriate food.
2. SOCIALISE, SOCIALISE, SOCIALISE
You MUST socialise your puppy with lots of different people of all ages, races and gender (including young children) as well as other dogs, and other animal species such as cats, chickens, livestock. Don't do this and you risk raising a malsocialized dog that grows up protective and wary of strangers, which can lead to fear-based issues, serious aggression or unacceptable prey drive. Even though this time conflicts with your puppy's vaccination period, you still need to find ways to socialise in a safe manner because if your puppy is isolated, they will likely have issues later on.
3. EXPOSE THEM TO EVERYTHING
Your puppy is developing its important coping mechanisms and ability to deal with novelty as an adult dog, so it needs lots of different experiences to avoid becoming fearful of these things later. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some stimuli you should expose your dog to: busy roads; fireworks, thunder and heavy rain (if none is forecast, play loud recordings of them); vacuum cleaning; loud music; loud noises; riding in cars; skateboards; motorbikes; sports games; children screaming; people running around; big movements; umbrellas opening unexpectedly - anything you can think of. Don't try and scare your dog - just give exposure.
4. TEACH TRAINING FOUNDATIONS
Get your basic commands down pat - sit, down, come, heel, no, leave it, wait. Go to puppy school or find a training programme that shows you how to do this effectively at home and practise regularly.
5. SET BOUNDARIES
Don't allow your puppy to do anything you wouldn't let an adult dog do, such as jumping on the couch or sleeping on the bed (if you don't want them to), jumping on you or play biting. Be consistent - it will be hard to change these behaviors once they're established.
6. LEAVE THEM ALONE
Don't spend every minute with your puppy or it may develop separation anxiety, which is highly stressful and difficult for a dog to deal with - a bit of tough love required. You need to teach them how to gradually separate from you for longer and longer periods – starting with short stints of time away and slowly increasing this.
7. HOUSE TRAINING
A no brainer - you don't want excrement and urine on your carpet forever. Crate training is the most effective option.
8. DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR
Dogs naturally like to chew things and as puppies, they are teething and learning what they can and cannot chew. Leave appropriate chewables such as rubber toys or rope in their crate and sleep area, avoiding anything that resembles furnishings in your house. Otherwise, it is hard for them to differentiate what is and isn't OK – that means soft toys are out.
9. REWARD ONLY THE GOOD
Recognize when you're rewarding undesirable behavior. If you pet or pick up your puppy when it's whining, you're rewarding the whining and building that habit for life. The same goes if you pet your puppy or speak to it in friendly tones when it jumps all over to you - this tells your dog that you like that behavior, so of course they continue. The key to having a well-behaved dog for life is consistency from the beginning, remembering not to unwittingly reward behavior that you don't want to encourage.
10. GET THEM DESEXED
I recommend desexing males by six months before they start leg raising and dominance issues appear. Bitches should be allowed to go through their first cycle, so desex after their first heat.