Posts Tagged ‘New Puppy’
Leash Training – Equipment To Avoid With Your Puppy
Leash training is mandatory when puppies are young!
What could be more adorable than a tiny 10-week-old German Retriever walking down the street with its owner, pulling during leash training as it excitedly greets anyone who walks by?
These little puppies put so much effort into seeing what’s going on and are almost always greeted with a pat on the head and a smile from passing strangers.
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This is all cute and adoring, until the dog reaches a body weight of 50 to 60 pounds and is literally dragging its owner down the street on the leash.
The once happily smiling owner is now gritting her teeth and doing all she can to keep the dog from pulling her down the sidewalk.
As strangers pass by it takes all of the owner’s muscle and might just to hold the dog back from getting its dirty paws all over these people. Eventually, these types of dogs who have no leash control end up spending all of their time in the backyard without ever being walked.
Leash Training Should Begin Immediately
Many dog owners who purchase a new puppy totally underestimate just how vital it is to invest time into leash training, and from as early an age as possible, especially when they have a pup that will grow 6 to 10 times it’s puppy size. They do not realize that training begins the instant their new dog comes home.
Any and all behaviors a puppy practices will become a learned subconscious activity even what you teach them while leash training.
In time the dog will not think twice about what it is doing, even though it may be a wrong action that you disapprove of.
In all fairness to the puppy, what do you expect if you ignore sound leash training principles early in its life?
What choice does the dog have?
The Importance Of Having The Proper Leash
Having the right type of equipment can make or break dog training. Using the proper tools can either make your training experience pleasant and productive, or a complete waste of time.
What is the best leash for training purposes?
Fortunately, when it comes to leash equipment, you can’t go wrong with most of them. However, there is one type of leash that is not recommended for training purposes and that is the retractable kind.
Retractable leashes are available in all sizes and extend at different lengths. These leash devices are simply a plastic casing that fits into your hand which has a control trigger that either releases the leash to extend up to a certain length and can then be locked at the specific distance you choose.
Yes these types of leashes can definitely be a benefit for many situations, but for training a new puppy or even an adult dog, you need to have a leash that can provide constant tension on the dog’s neck.
You also need to keep a very short distance between you and your dog, which is very hard to do when using a retractable leash. With too much distance, your dog will have no concept that you are even walking with him.
Lastly, you must have consistent leash pressure and release moments in order for the dog to understand the commands you are teaching him, such as heeling.
With a retractable leash, it can extend at different distances and be locked inconsistently.
Your puppy may become frustrated as it perceives unfair and irregular corrections each time you vary the length and lock it in place while leash training.
Dog Health – 3 Ways To Feed Your Puppy
To meet the continual nutritional demand of your puppy’s growing body, he must have food available to him all day long sustaining proper dog health.
There are 3 common techniques to feed your new puppy that affect dog health.
These are: Meal feeding, portion-control feeding, and free feeding.
Meal Feeding For Optimal Dog Health
This method of feeding is usually done with mixing solid food and canned food and is ideal for puppies that are being trained to housebreak.
With this technique, your puppy gets his meals at different times during the day.
Many owners prefer for optimal dog health the three meal a day program while others are more comfortable with giving their puppies four meals a day.
Whether you’re feeding your puppy three or four meals per day, the important thing to remember is to divide the meals equally within a 24-hour period and without having to get up at night.
With three meals a day, you have to feed your puppy every eight hours. Four meals a day, food is given to your puppy every six hours. Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn’t give your puppy two meals a day until he is at least five or six months old.
Portion Control Feeding Affects Dog Health
This method of feeding is probably the most common way puppies are fed today, especially for owners who work during the day and have to leave their puppies alone.
It is done by measuring the exact amount of food he requires (depending on his age and type of breed). This amount of food should be modified as a puppy gets older to ensure proper dog health.
The portion is then placed in his food bowl once a day, preferably the same time everyday. This way your puppy will be able to nibble on his food throughout the day.
Most puppies ration out their meals throughout the day and eat only a small portion at a time, while some puppies will empty their bowl in one sitting.
Studies have shown that puppies that are brought up with this feeding method will not over eat when they turn into adult dogs.
However, if you are having a difficult time housebreaking your puppy, then this method of feeding will probably not work for you.
Dog Health And Free Feeding
With this feeding technique, you have to make sure that there is food in his bowl and let him nibble on it throughout the day. Although this is the simplest way to feed your puppy, this method is also the least recommended by most vets and breeders because of it’s possible affect on dog health..
Feeding your puppy will make it more difficult to house train him because you do not know exactly when he eats.
In addition, it is also difficult to know how much he eats on a daily basis, so becoming consciously aware of this will promote good dog health.
Proper Discipline for Effective Puppy Training
The idea of punishing when puppy training makes no more sense than the idea of punishing an infant child.
Have you ever heard of anyone spanking a baby? The only thing that would do is make the baby cry, and make the adult feel badly. A small baby won’t learn from punishment, and puppies are no different.
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Click Here Now to watch Chet’s Free Dog Training Video.
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Just like everything you do with a small baby is designed to let it feel loved, protected and close to you, the way your treat a new puppy can affect the way that dog views you for entire relationship.
If you choose to punish a puppy, the most you will do is scare it and make it wary of you. If you smack a puppy, even lightly, all it knows is the pain of the strike and the fear it feels at that moment toward you.
It doesn’t learn that it was doing something wrong because it’s too young to understand that concept.
If your puppy is chewing on something for instance, and you punish it with even a light tap, of course it will probably stop what it’s doing.
It’s surprised and possibly feels pain from the smack, and now feels very frightened of you.
It doesn’t link the punishment with what it was doing, though, and has no way of predicting when it might be punished next.
Shouting when puppy training can also do damage to your relationship. If you startle the puppy with a shout, of course it might stop what it’s doing. But again, the puppy doesn’t understand the relationship between its actions and your shouting. Even the angry tone of your voice can cause your puppy to be afraid for a moment.
If you use these punishments on a puppy, the puppy will learn to be afraid of you, or at the very least it will learn that you can be mean.
The puppy might not trust you, because it doesn’t understand why you frighten it. This can keep the puppy from every really warming up to you, and you’ll be unable to have a good relationship as the puppy grows.
Some dogs are very passive, and will respond to you in a very defeated way. Your dog might stay in line all the time, solely out of fear, but it won’t ever trust you.
Other dogs have a more stubborn streak, and because they feel threatened by you may attempt to dislodge you as the one in charge. Dogs are pack animals, and if your dog thinks it should be the leader, you might be in for many behavioral problems big and small.
At the very least, you won’t have as good a relationship with your dog as you could have.
Just as you would do with a very small child, use gentle correction when your puppy does something he shouldn’t do.
Use gentle movements when puppy training and a kind but firm tone of voice, so that your dog understands to stop without becoming frightened.
Basic Puppy Training Techniques
There are a number of important guidelines that you need to keep in mind when puppy training the basics about good behavior.
Exercising the right training techniques is what will make or break your training regimen with your dog. Follow these five important guidelines and teaching your puppy will be easier than ever.
1 – Be Gentle – Your new puppy is going to be extremely sensitive at first, and as a result will not be able to handle anything that is too stressful on both an emotional and a physical level. Although learning generally quickly takes place, now is the time where your puppy will react poorly to stress or being trained too rough.If fears are picked up too easily during the training process, then it may inhibit the puppy’s ability to learn, so make sure to be gentle but firm in your training.
2 – Keep Things Brief – Puppies have even shorter attention spans than children. Your puppy is only going to learn when his or her attention is on you, and you will not see the results that you are looking for when your puppy is tired physically or mentally. Make sure to be brief when putting your puppy through training activities, and then you can move on.
3 – Exercise Patience – Expecting overnight results is only going to frustrate you and cause your training regimen to lose its focus. Relax, and understand that things like this will take time, and puppies learn in spurts. Puppies also do go through brief memory lapses so do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed if your puppy seems to forget some of its training from one day to the next. Exercise patience when it comes to training and you will be just fine.
4 – Exercise Simplicity – Teaching your puppy should be done in a step by step process if you want to attain the best results. This is the best way that your puppy will learn. Exercise a simple, step by step approach and your puppy will learn more quickly and will enjoy the process more thoroughly than if you were to employ a more intensive training regimen.
5 – Build Confidence – Confidence is the core of every healthy adult dog, and confidence begins with building confidence in a young puppy. Building confidence in your puppy is not hard at all to do; all you need to do is spend positive time with your puppy as often as you possibly can. This will help to build self confidence in your puppy. You should not always be in training mode when you first get your puppy, but instead sometimes you should step back and play with your dog, having fun with him or her in the process. Training is important, but above all else your dog needs to know that you are friends.
These five fundamental training foundations are vital in preparing your puppy for an effective training regimen and will drive better results when properly integrated into your step by step puppy training process.
2 Items To Insist From Your Breeder When Buying A Puppy
1. Written Guarantee: Good breeders provide written guarantees against genetic disease. It is essential to get a guarantee on the hips and eyes of your pup, given the epidemics of hip dysplasia and various forms of progressive blindness among the nation’s dogs. The guarantee entitles you to a refund of the price of the puppy or a replacement puppy should there be a problem. The guarantee should also allow you to take your new puppy to your own vet within a certain period of time in order to have its good health independently confirmed before the sale is considered final.
Beyond the guarantee of your pup, you want to see copies of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) certificate on the hips of both parents, plus the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (GERF) certificate on the eyes of both parents. Do not take the breeder’s word that the parent animals are so registered. Good breeders will not be troubled by your request.
However, you must be prepared to run into the occasional breeder whom will not want to comply with your request. You are almost sure to run into “prominent” breeders who don’t believe in having their dogs’ hips and eyes checked, even if they are from seriously afflicted breeds.
Both in a personal quest for a dog and in researching this information I had this experience again and again. For instance, there is a dog breed about which Michele Lowell says in Your Purebred Puppy: A Buyer’s Guide, “He is susceptible to hip dysplasia and serious tumors.” She urges: “Buy only from OFA-registered parents.” A leading breeder of this breed, a person who sits on the national club’s breed standard committee, told me she didn’t have her animals OFA-certified because “I’ve never had any hip problems. If I ever start, I’ll have my dogs checked.” Even in the midst of a plague of canine hereditary disease, this ton-of-cure-is-worth-an-ounce-of-prevention attitude is still common. Be ready to decide for yourself if you find it acceptable.
2. Restricted Transfers: Responsible breeders are answering the distress call of America’s dogs by trying to minimize inappropriate breeding. One way to do this is with “restricted transfers.” These can involve a contract between the new owner and the breeder stipulating that the dog will not be bred until it is old enough to be tested for inherited disease and has been certified disease free. Some restricted transfers require that the animal be spayed or neutered at six months of age, with AKC papers not passing to the purchaser until this is done. You may not be interested in acquiring a pet under such conditions, but you can be sure that breeders imposing them are deeply committed to improving the quality of their breed.