All Things Puppy.

Let’s talk the adorable bundle of energy that are puppies.

I sit writing this the week before Christmas, knowing many puppies are being introduced to their new homes. Brining home a puppy is an exciting and chaotic period at the best of times - add the festive period into this mix and your world just became bedlam.

Statements I seem to hear semi frequently are ‘I saw on social media….’ ‘My friends puppy does….’ ‘My friends puppy doesn’t….’ ‘Our old dog use too….’

My advice is always the same;

This is YOUR puppy and YOUR situation. Comparing to other people or other dogs, will only lead you to feel (unnecessarily in my opinion) a certain type of way.

You’ve done your research (hopefully) and know that you’re able too meet the needs of the breed you’ve chosen. You know you’ve went to a reputable breeder that has set your puppy up to succeed. You’ve already got a plan in place for your puppies care. You’ve puppy proofed your home. You’ve had the long wait til the day arrives and you get to bring puppy home - now comes the fun part.

Forward Planning.

Think about what you want your adult dog to be able to cope with, environments you want to visit with them, how calm you want them to be. Where you want them to eat, to sleep, to play.

The next 6-8 weeks are the most important for exposing your puppy to as many experiences in the funnest way. You’ve got the shortest window to build their confidence and help them to see the world as an interesting, but ultimately safe place. To start with they will be shy and nervous - everything they have known has changed drastically.

Take your time with them. Expose them to new things calmly and gradually. Be patient with them, there will be toileting accidents, even if you’ve got the best routine in the world. There will be sleep disruption, even if you’ve provided the cosiest, quietest place for them to sleep.

Have Fun.

Try not to get sooooooo caught up the training that you feel needs to be done, that you forget to have fun. Before you know it your adorable puppy is in the throws of adolescence, and that’s when the handwork really begins. Absolutely make a start of training the cues you want your puppy to learn. Having a solid foundation going into adolescence will make this period easier for you all (even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time)

Final Thoughts:

I’ve been pleasantly surprised this year at the amount of people reaching out to me to begin 1:1 training with their pup, truly setting themselves and their pup up to succeed. We’re able to put things into place that work for them, their family and their puppy. We incorporate games into learning. It’s fun and the onus is always on building the bond between puppy and human.

If you’ve recently added a puppy to your home, enjoy it. Before you know it they’ll be a well trained adult dog.

Until next time

Gem

XOXO