When to Start Dog Training, featuring Brody

Meet Brody!

Look in the dictionary under the word "cute," and you should find Brody’s picture! Brody is a 9 week old Boston terrier pup who's too cute for words! His owners made the right move and called us immediatly after bringing him home.

Why is starting early so important? If you look through the eyes of a brand new puppy, who was just taken away from him home, him Mom and litter mates -- you'll see the world can be a scary place if you don't know what to expect. It is important to mention that the first few weeks of your puppy’s life will determine whether or not he grows up to become a well-adjusted adult. This is why at first puppy socialization is more important than teaching commands like Sit, Down and Stay.

For a new puppy, typical city life, a car driving down the street, the UPS driver or even your crazy Uncle Gordon -- might be scary! Like any puppy who just left his mom and litter mates, a young puppy may be wary or fearful of new people, places and things.

That is why we need to be proactive and make the world a less-scary place for our dogs, with lots of socialization. To socialize your dog play Treat For Confidence, a game where we identify things that upset your dog. The game is to act calm and use treats to help our dog cope with new "scary" experiences.

Soon, your dog will associate formally scary things with something good, like a tasty treat! It is so important to do this early on in your puppy's life. Remember: the socialization period typically ends at the 13 week! In other words, the ideal time to expose your dog to everything you want him to be comfortable with as an adult is between the 8th and 13th weeks.

Many people wait too long before getting their dog used to city life. Set your puppy up to succeed by getting him accustomed to all the noises, sights and sounds of the outside world before the socialization period ends. It's not too late! Dogs under 6 months are still ideal candidates for more socialization.

For more information on When to Train, Socialization, and Treat for Confidence, visit Zen Dog Training Online.

What is Early-Intervention Training?

Early-intervention training addresses your puppy’s age-specific development issues before working on any obedience training goals.  Trainers use this to  determine whether or not your expectations of your puppy are realistic. We also want to prepare your dog for life with humans and to build their confidence, so they don't resort to more instinctual types of behaviors, such as biting or resource guarding.  

Remember, dogs do not operate with the same kind of "moral compass" that we humans use.  Dogs aren't able to manipulate or spite you... they simply do what works!! I know that many of us consider our dogs to be members of the family; it's important that we remember that our pets aren't people, and expecting them to behave as if they are is setting you and your pup up for disappointment or worse.  Behaviors like peeing on your new rug or nipping your hand as you hold food works for a puppy.  It's up to you to teach your dog that some of those behaviors just don't work for you.

The focus of training dogs 3-4 months old — and younger — should be socialization, not obedience. These are lessons that will stick with your dog for the rest of their life.  Teach your dog that even though the outside world can be loud and unpredictable, it’s a happy and fun place he shouldn’t fear.

This can be done by staying calm and using treats to help your puppy make positive associations with people of all sizes and ages, cars and bikes, other animals, and all things loud and noisy.  At this young age, puppies are very impressionable and easily accept new things, but this openness to new experiences doesn’t last forever! For socialization to be a success, it must occur before your puppy is six months old. The idea is to expose your puppy to new, nonthreatening, positive situations and people now, and to increase the likelihood that he will be a comfortable and confident adult!

Your top priority should be your puppy’s daily socialization. This process will take both time and effort, but is of critical importance — especially for puppies under 4 months!!! Take them with you to new places: friends’ homes, children’s school, the hardware store, the dry cleaners, the bank…  Expose them to a variety of people and environments as often as you can. Let your puppy meet men and women, the elderly and the young, children and babies, people in hats and men with beards. Don’t forget about cats, birds and other animals, or loud or strange noises like a door slamming or a bus rumbling by!  Take your dog to the vet, to your groomer or kennel. Once you get there, give him lots of treats for no reason other than getting him used to going to these places.

Helpful tips:

• Never force a situation to the point where your puppy becomes frightened.  If he appears unsure, reassure him calmly and matter-of-factly, and then go on.
• Always be sure your dog is safe and that he has a positive experience. Allow him to investigate and approach people, places and things at his own pace.
• A tasty treat can do wonders in changing a fearful situation or person into a great experience!
• Be proactive. Teach your dog to feel confident and safe with the noisy, busy, fast-paced world we live in!

When socializing your puppy with other dogs, use your discretion! Find out whether the dogs your puppy meets are fully vaccinated and properly socialized themselves. Make sure older dogs are friendly and accepting of your puppy’s uninhibited, frisky advances. An unexpected attack at a young age can cause future phobias.  If you’re unsure of a situation or another dog, it’s okay to pick up your dog and walk away.

Last but not least, try not to coddle your dog or pick him up all the time. Puppies are adorable and the most fun to snuggle with so this is understandable difficult but  whether you’re answering the doorbell, meeting other dogs, meeting new people… Whatever you’re doing, just let your dog experience the world on his own four feet!  

For more information on Early Intervention Training and Socialization, visit Zen Dog Training Online.

Olive the Pit-Mix.

Meet Olive!

Olive is one energetic and joyful pup. She just about wagged herself to pieces when she met us, and continued the entire time we were there. We had to ask her owners to send us a picture because she was just too excited to stay still! While she was thrilled to be with us people, when around other dogs happy, bouncing Olive unfortunately became very unsure of herself.

When Olive would see a dog from a distance, she would first get very tense. As the distance grew smaller she would continue to stare and start to bark, and if the dogs met, Olive would run straight up to the other dog. This may not seem like a big deal to us, but in doggy language, Olive was being very, very rude. If she were human, it would be similar to pushing her way through a crowd, stomping up to a stranger, and yelling in their face “HI! MY NAME IS OLIVE! WHO ARE YOU?”

That doesn’t sound like someone you’d really want to stick around and meet, does it?

While Olive learned to be more confident and proficient in dog communication, we decided to teach her and her owners how to Leash Tango. The dance is simple:

When you see another dog, walk briskly towards him while keeping your own dog relaxed with Jolly Talk. If your dog pulls ahead, stop, take a step back and turn your dog back around to face you. Once you’ve spun your partner, head briskly back towards the other dog. Repeat this as often as the leash goes tight until you reach the other dog. A brisk walk-to-jog does help, but you want to avoid your dog rudely meeting strangers, so make sure to Leash Tango once or twice.

Playing Leash Tango accomplishes many good things at once. First of all, it keeps your dog from going straight at a stranger, and teaches them more appropriate behavior. It also helps the dog you are meeting; for dogs, turning to the side and not approaching straight on is the polite way of saying, “I’m friendly and I would like to meet you!” On top of that, Leash Tango keeps your leash loose. Since the leash is a direct line of communication, a tight leash signals tension. If the leash is loose, your dog is more likely to be relaxed as well. The first step of proper play is a good greeting, so use Leash Tango to help your pup get off to a good start!

To learn more about Leash Tango, as well as how dogs communicate, check out Zen Dog Training Online!