Old School

Recently, I had a wonderful visit with a new puppy owner.  They have had a puppy before, but it's been almost 15 years, so they wanted to meet to get a better understanding of the puppy they have now.  It is such a privilege to be asked to guide a new puppy owner, whether it's their first puppy or their fifth or more!

As I was reviewing house training, the subject came up of taking the puppy over to any accidents and putting his nose in it to teach him not to toilet in the house there again.  It took me a second to realize that this was still a thing that someone might do!  I honestly thought this "technique" went the way of the dodo bird.  Same thing with grabbing a puppy's mouth and closing it tightly to discourage barking or biting.  Is this even still a thing? At this point I realized that while I may have thought that these techniques were archaic and outdated, some people are still doing them.  I know it's hard to break old habits, particularly if you felt they were (somewhat) successful.  However, with all that we know about dog behavior, the benefits of positive reinforcement, etc. I feel like it is time to put these old school methods away and embrace the new.

So, if your puppy has an accident in the house, roll up that newspaper and smack yourself with it. You must not have been watching them closely enough.  Establish regular feeding times, tether your puppy to you so you know where they are (or put them in their crate), and get them outside every 30-45 minutes.  If you do find they've toileted in the house, put them in their crate or pen and go back and clean it up using an enzymatic-based product.  They don't need to see the mistake, nor do they need to be with you when you clean it up. And if you have a puppy who is biting you relentlessly, ask yourself what your puppy is missing. Is he sleep deprived?  Puppies need a lot of sleep and if they don't get it, they are nuts. Are you providing a variety of chewing options for your puppy and rotating those options daily to maintain their interest?  Finally, if your puppy is barking, don't try to hold his mouth closed.  Put something in it!  Redirect him to a toy or a game. If that doesn't work, maybe it's time for a bathroom break/change of scenery and then a nap.

While some old school methods did and probably do still work for some puppies/dogs, the bottom line is that we now know that many of those methods worked simply because it made our dogs afraid to cross us.  These methods often created dogs who did what they were told out of fear, not joy.  And they created a generation of dogs who rarely came when they were called because when they did, something icky happened.

As always, if you have a new puppy, and you'd like some help, don't hesitate to let me know. Puppy 101 is, by far, one of my favorite in-home visits to do!

Here is my buddy, Freddie, who is learning about his world "new school" style. 

He is the picture of confidence and wanting to please!