How to raise a puppy. Newbie rules.

 And here you are – a happy dog ​​owner! When the first euphoria subsides, you are guaranteed to ask yourself the question: how to raise a puppy? After all, an obedient, docile and well-mannered puppy will grow up to be a dog that is comfortable for living together.

Photo: google

How to properly raise a puppy

Raising a puppy includes practicing skills such as:

• response to nickname
• collar/harness and leash training, muzzle training 
• teaching to show teeth, to manipulate ears and paws
• learning to walk on a loose leash
• practicing the commands “Near”, “To me”, “Sit”, “Lie down”, “Stand”
• working out elementary exposure in the main positions
• weaning a puppy to pick up food from the ground.

Specialist observation: Since this type of training is not normative, it often includes other wishes of the owners, such as socialization of the puppy, accustoming to the place, weaning from the bed, accustoming to cleanliness, the formation of food and play motivation and maintaining the right balance between both. types of motivation, the formation of a balance between the processes of excitation and inhibition, etc.

When can and should you start raising a puppy

You can (and should) start raising a puppy from the first day of his stay in a new home. Only education education is different. You should not “take the bull by the horns” and take on the training of all teams at once on the first day. Let the baby adapt, explore the new home. Your new family member will eat, sleep and play. The game is a great way to develop motivation, focus on the owner, switchability. Why, the whole training process can be turned into an interesting game! And given that the puppy comes to us in a state of “tabula rasa”, we have the opportunity to mold the very dog ​​that we dreamed of. And this modeling is an ongoing process, requiring us to be almost one hundred percent involved in a small pet: we need to regularly actively encourage the correct behavior and small victories of our crumbs and ignore or switch (and ideally not allow) incorrect behavior.  

I am often asked: “How to properly punish a puppy for his intrigues and pampering?” Usually I answer: “No way! You need to punish yourself for being inattentive or for provoking the puppy to do the wrong thing.”

How to properly raise a puppy

Raising a puppy through play

While the puppy is in quarantine, you have a head start! This is your time! The time when you can quite easily “tie up” the dog on yourself. Learn to play with your puppy. Play honestly, selflessly, sincerely. Use the toy to simulate prey and how it runs away. Usually a hare does not jump into the dog’s mouth, it does not fly through the air above the puppy’s head (also do not forget that jumping at an early age is dangerous and very traumatic). While playing, imitate a hunt, imitate a runaway hare with a toy. Teach your puppy to switch from your hands or feet to playing with a toy. Teach him to love playing with you, otherwise after going outside and getting to know other dogs, it will be difficult for you to outplay them.

Raising a puppy by earning food

How many times a day does your baby eat? 4 times? Great, so you will have 4 workouts per day. Learn from the very first day of your baby’s stay in the house to work with him regularly. Teach your baby to earn food. Your workouts don’t have to be long: for a puppy under four months of age, a training session of 10 to 15 minutes will suffice. Photo: googleHow to start raising a puppy? Why reward him? Everything is simple here.

1. Did the puppy come to you? They called him by name and gave him a piece. 
2. They walked a few steps away from him, he ran after you – they called you by name and gave you a piece. This is how you teach your puppy to respond to his name. 
3. They sat on the bed, and the baby remained on the floor – they gave a piece for 4 paws on the floor: at the moment you are working out a calm attitude towards the bed. 
4. We put a harness and leash on the puppy, walked with him through the room, gently sipping from time to time on the leash and rewarding him for walking – this is how you teach the baby to the leash and to the fact that he is controlled on the leash.

Weaning a puppy to try everything on the tooth

Usually puppies are very fond of trying everything on the tooth or digging. How to deal with it? I really, really love the Rope method. While you are at home, the puppy walks in a collar (or harness), to which a meter long rope is attached. As soon as the baby begins to perform actions that are unpleasant for you (nibbles on shoes or a stool leg, stole slippers, …) you step on the leash, pull the puppy towards you, switch to a piece of treat or to play with you. If the baby is still reaching for the forbidden thing, there are several solutions: the first (and easiest) is to remove the forbidden thing from reach for two weeks. If the first method does not suit you for one reason or another (although I would highly recommend putting your shoes in closets), try the second. Holding the rope and not letting the baby go to the forbidden thing, we say strictly: “No”, we pause and watch the puppy. Most likely, the baby will try to achieve his own. We forbid and do not allow to commit an offense. We wait. We forbid and do not allow. We wait. We forbid and do not give …   

The number of attempts to reach their goal will be different for each puppy. Someone has 3-4 attempts, for a more stubborn puppy – up to 8, for especially stubborn ones (terrier puppies often belong to these) – up to 15, or even 20. The main thing is patience, don’t give up! As soon as the puppy has turned away from the coveted stool or moved away from it, be sure to praise him! Learn to see and celebrate his small daily victories. And don’t forget to take the rope off at night or when you leave home.