Tips for Puppy's First Year
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Do
Make sure all experiences are pleasant and non-threatening. If puppy's first experience with something is painful and frightening you may create a phobia that could last a lifetime. It is better to take it slowly than to rush or force puppy into meeting new things and people.
õ Invite friends over to meet puppy. Include men, women, youngsters, older people, different ethnic backgrounds, etc.
õ Invite friendly, healthy, vaccinated dogs, puppies home to play with puppy. Take your puppy to the homes of these pets.
õ Carry your pup to shopping centers, parks, school playgrounds, etc; places where there are crowds of people and plenty of activity.
õ Take your puppy for short, frequent rides in the car. Stop the car and let your puppy watch the world go by through the window.
õ Introduce your puppy to umbrellas, bags, boxes, the vacuum cleaner, etc. Encourage your puppy to explore and investigate its environment.
õ Introduce puppy to new and various sounds. Loud noises should be introduced from a distance and gradually brought closer.
õ Accustom puppy to seeing different and unfamiliar objects by creating your own. Set a chair upside down. Lay an empty garbage bin on its side, set up the ironing board right-side up one day and upside down the next.
õ Accustom puppy to being brushed, bathed, inspected, having its nails clipped, teeth and ears cleaned, and all the routines of grooming and physical examination.
õ Introduce puppy to stairs, to its own collar and lead. Introduce anything and everything you want puppy to be comfortable with.
Make sure all experiences are pleasant and non-threatening. If puppy's first experience with something is painful and frightening you may create a phobia that could last a lifetime. It is better to take it slowly than to rush or force puppy into meeting new things and people.
õ Invite friends over to meet puppy. Include men, women, youngsters, older people, different ethnic backgrounds, etc.
õ Invite friendly, healthy, vaccinated dogs, puppies home to play with puppy. Take your puppy to the homes of these pets.
õ Carry your pup to shopping centers, parks, school playgrounds, etc; places where there are crowds of people and plenty of activity.
õ Take your puppy for short, frequent rides in the car. Stop the car and let your puppy watch the world go by through the window.
õ Introduce your puppy to umbrellas, bags, boxes, the vacuum cleaner, etc. Encourage your puppy to explore and investigate its environment.
õ Introduce puppy to new and various sounds. Loud noises should be introduced from a distance and gradually brought closer.
õ Accustom puppy to seeing different and unfamiliar objects by creating your own. Set a chair upside down. Lay an empty garbage bin on its side, set up the ironing board right-side up one day and upside down the next.
õ Accustom puppy to being brushed, bathed, inspected, having its nails clipped, teeth and ears cleaned, and all the routines of grooming and physical examination.
õ Introduce puppy to stairs, to its own collar and lead. Introduce anything and everything you want puppy to be comfortable with.
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Do Not
õ Put your puppy on the ground where unknown animals have access. This is where your puppy can pick up diseases. Wait until your puppy's shots are completed. Do not let your pup socialise with dogs that appear sick or dogs that you don't know, that may not be vaccinated.
õ Reward fearful behavior. In a well meaning attempt to sooth, encourage or calm the puppy when it appears frightened, we can unintentionally reward the behavior. It's normal for the puppy to show some signs of apprehension when confronting anything new and different.
õ Allow the experience to be harmful, painful or excessively frightening. This can cause lifetime phobias in your dog.
õ Force or rush your puppy. Let your puppy take things at his own pace. Your job is to provide the opportunity.
õ Do too much at one time. Young puppies need a lot of sleep and tire quickly. It is much more productive to have frequent and very brief exposures than occasional prolonged exposures.
õ Put your puppy on the ground where unknown animals have access. This is where your puppy can pick up diseases. Wait until your puppy's shots are completed. Do not let your pup socialise with dogs that appear sick or dogs that you don't know, that may not be vaccinated.
õ Reward fearful behavior. In a well meaning attempt to sooth, encourage or calm the puppy when it appears frightened, we can unintentionally reward the behavior. It's normal for the puppy to show some signs of apprehension when confronting anything new and different.
õ Allow the experience to be harmful, painful or excessively frightening. This can cause lifetime phobias in your dog.
õ Force or rush your puppy. Let your puppy take things at his own pace. Your job is to provide the opportunity.
õ Do too much at one time. Young puppies need a lot of sleep and tire quickly. It is much more productive to have frequent and very brief exposures than occasional prolonged exposures.
World experiecnes
To help your dog experience the world:
õ visit the local shops to pick up the bread and papers together
õ go to the beach for a swim and play in the sand
õ sit with coffee at an outside cafe and watch the world go by
õ going for a family picnic in a park
õ going to a fete or the Million Paws Walk
õ going to an obedience club
To help your dog experience the world:
õ visit the local shops to pick up the bread and papers together
õ go to the beach for a swim and play in the sand
õ sit with coffee at an outside cafe and watch the world go by
õ going for a family picnic in a park
õ going to a fete or the Million Paws Walk
õ going to an obedience club