Christmas Surprise: How to prepare for Fluffy’s arrival Part 2

A quick recap from our last blog: Making sure that you are prepared for your new Wet Nose Family Member is going to be monumental in ensuring early success. Knowing which areas are off limits and having a variety of toys will help keep your puppy occupied and out of trouble. Consistency, consistency and patience are the best practices for your puppy to understand what you are trying to teach. Accidents and mistakes are going to happen, and just like you wouldn’t discipline your baby for peeing on the changing table, you can’t discipline your puppy for having accidents inside, THEY WILL GROW OUT OF IT!

When I receive calls about training from new puppy parents, their tone of frustration and helplessness are all the same. The main reason I decided to write this Blog about training was because having a new puppy should be a fun experience for everyone, and when I hear owners feeling completely helpless with their puppy and second guessing if this was the right decision for them, I am happy they reached out for help and they are willing to keep trying with their Wet Nose Family Member, and almost all succeed. However, I am a realist and I know (and unfortunately so do many of the local shelters) that there are too many others who don’t pick up the phone and search for help in co-habituating with their new puppies. Again dogs are just like babies, we wouldn’t think about getting rid of a baby because it was too much work, we need to have the same mindset when it comes to our Wet Nose Family Members. Here are some of the most common struggles we hear from new dog owners and how we help them succeed.

Fluffy won’t stop peeing in the house – This is by far the most common scenario to overcome but consistency and patience is the key to fixing this problem.

• Controlling water intake is the solution to this. Only putting the water bowl out at specific times will allow you to time when your puppy will need to go pee. The important part to remember with this is when you take your Wet Nose Family Member outside to pee, if they become distracted and start to play or go exploring instead of doing their business, take them back inside and have them stay in their bed or crate for 5-10 minutes, then try the process over again. You are trying to teach your puppy that when you go outside the first thing they must do is “take care of business” and then they can play. Now there will be occasional accidents with this as your puppy takes in what you are teaching and matures but refrain from hitting or rubbing your puppy’s nose in the pee. This is not how puppies learn, it will instill fear in them and they will actually pee more, often times right in front of you. Patience is key to potty training.

Fluffy won’t stop chewing – This is in some part a phase that all dogs go through (to those of you who brought home a Lab puppy, the next 2 years is going to be tough) but having the right boundaries and toys in place will help this.

• Placing items that you don’t want chewed in closets or on shelves will help prevent your Wet Nose Family Member from getting to them. I know this might seem like an overly easy solution to this problem but remember that puppies are just like babies. You wouldn’t give your baby an important document or a fragile item to hold because it will come back with drool and teeth marks or get thrown across the room. Puppies will do the same thing with anything they are given. Limiting the amount of space your new puppy has access to will help you control what they are able to get into. Having a toy that your puppy can play with will help them stay occupied and less likely to chew on something else. Each puppy is different, so you will need to determine what type of toy and firmness they like. If you need some extra help with chewing problems we recommend Granicks Bitter Apple Spray. You can spray this directly into their mouth to correct or on items you don’t want them to bite/chew. For Lab owners, chewing is something that all labs do and trying to limit what they are able to get into is the only way to help you with this problem.

A great dog owner will be patient and consistent with their newest Wet Nose Family Member. The first week or so may be met with sleepless nights as the puppy and you adjust but consistency and patience will be key your success. If I did not answer a specific question you had about training, please email click here to send me an email and I will be more than happy to answer your question.