Starting off that new puppy

Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting time for most, new beginnings and sometimes it brings us all full circle from grief at the loss of our much loved oldie.

The timing of taking on your next pup is defined by many factors including opportunity, finances, family pressures and just simply 'it was time'.

If it has been awhile since you have had a pup in the house then your memory may be a little fuzzy as to the workload and chaos that arrives with that little bundle of fur.

Compromises are made, new patterns of behaviour are set in all who live with the pup. Sleep may come second, clean floors are a distant memory and your washing pile increases. The daily planning of just getting out the door now requires an extra 30 minutes minimum...just getting your shoes and socks on may take 15 minutes!

If the pup travels with you like mine do then dusting off the old puppy crate or investing in another one for car travel is first on the list. Suitable bedding, bowls, a collar small enough, a suitable light weight lead, suitable diet, puppy level toys, jackets for winter pups....

From a trainers perspective, the following list of work to get done has a critical timeline and this must be factored into the timing of bringing that pup home.

Critical periods of development end by 16 weeks of age and this cannot be 'caught up on' later.

We can only try to fill gaps by careful conditioning and an overlay of training as well as management.

Touch/handling:

Pups that will have regular human contact as far as handling such as being picked up, examined by a vet, groomed by a groomer, lifted into a vehicle, placed on laps, patted and interacted with require conditioning to this from birth.

If the 'breeder' has not done this already then you MUST start the moment you bring that puppy home so as to develop a safe and happy headspace dog.

Touch tolerance, spatial pressure, wearing a collar, feeling pressure via a lead or collar grab are all a baseline.

From there we develop a need for touch, a calm mind and build relationship via touch.

We want to be able to use touch as a reinforcer for good behaviour, if the dogs finds touch stressful then it will be interpreted as a punisher to the dog instead...wrong quadrant!

How we use our hands is critical to building trust and the energy we put out is as critical.

Grabby/rough hands will create fear and intolerance so children should not be allowed unsupervised access to pups. I have seen the results and it takes a long time to rebuild trust once the dog has decided that a particular family member is to be avoided or that aggression is required to keep them feeling safe.

Fear from the human will transfer to mistrust in the dog, calm confidence translates to trust.

Dealing with behavioural issues from a baseline of anger, rage, hormonal responses, etc will cloud communications and make for heightened conflict instead of resolutions and productive learning. If you cannot deal rationally then walk away and come back when you are clear headed and better rested, sleep is everybody's friend.

Environmental development

This starts the moment you bring the pup home, so that may be via car, plane, train etc.

An appropriate sized crate can be used so that the pup feels safe and is contained so that it cannot panic and cause issues in a vehicle. There are many forms of crate available, some specific to air and car travel. Others such as the wire crates can be used multi purpose. If you are short on funds then put the word out that you will be needing one and many dog people have spares they can either gift or lend. There are always second hand ones available, just give them a damn good sanitise and don't reuse old bedding unless it can be washed and sanitised too.

The reasons for this is that your pup if it is only 8 weeks of age will only have had one vax at this stage so is still open to infections that can be transmitted. A 10 week old pup may well have had two and stands a better chance of immunity.

The level of vax defines my methods of enviro work, it does not STOP enviro work.

At 8 weeks there is much that can be done at home with all of the noises, surfaces, smells, locations, other animals etc that exist right there.

We live on a small farm so this will include things like power tools, chainsaws, ride on mower, log splitter, brush cutter, chickens, horses, sheep, cows, wildlife...then there is everything inside too.

Then there are surfaces, slippery floors, enclosed spaces, different levels, stairs to negotiate, gravel, grass, mulch, mud, water, inclines, declines, scramble courses and balance boards.

If you are working with your pup off property then simply pick them up and carry across areas that you feel may be an issue. Stay out of dog parks (actually do that for life please) and areas that have heavy canine traffic and light maintenance from their grubby owners. Use open sunlit areas that are kept well maintained or stick to hard surfaces such as concrete and roads. If in doubt then simply carry the pup from the car and sit them on your lap at a bench seat and let them watch the world roll past.

Do that until the pup gets bored and falls asleep then move onto another location with different stimuli.

AVOID COMMUNAL DOG BOWLS, never use them as they are a petri dish for disease, always take your own bowl and water supply.

Be mindful of where you have been already and change it up for the next trip. Out this way there are very few traffic lights and a few of the dogs coming through class have shown an over arousal for the Doot Doot noises at crossings so again be mindful and include novel things in your lists. City type noises are difficult to work on if you live rural so make the time to take trips to the larger centres or get a city run in within that 16 weeks if you can.

The whole concept of enviro development is to allow the dogs to experience and have a reference point later on when they experience similar. We always want to work towards a neutral state of mind, neither over excited or fearful to anything, curious is good and bored even better at this stage. This will create a resilient and brave dog in the future who can transition into any location with minimal stress or fuss. They will be a pleasure to travel with.

As the pup grows and becomes physically stronger then the enviro work can become more challenging and of longer duration. There may be a beach visit or longer walks and less carry time. At home there can be longer durations left to amuse themselves with a bone, digging in a sandpit or wrestling with toys or an older safe dog.

That 16 week closing mark will rush at you fast so DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! this time cannot be caught up later and the legacy of gaps will come back to bite you later.

Reactivity, nervousness, fear based aggression, anxiety of every kind.

All of these can be reduced by careful training, counter conditioning, brave building but the baseline of resilience will never be as good as it could have been if you had put the work in.

How much work does a pup need??

Well look at the genetics that you start with, research the parents, the littermates or previous breedings.

Recycle dog? No history? Ok then you will have to start by observing and careful testing of responses in every enviro that you can and to every stimulus that you can.

What are the dogs responses? are they calm? fearful? aggressive?

This will tell you the gaps and what you need to manage while you work on building up the failings to a more reliable level.

A poorly raised dog with weak genetics will give you a lifetime of careful management and will limit the dogs lifestyle. This in turn limits yours as the dog may not be safe to have around new people or children...or other dogs etc etc. Put the work in and reap the rewards over the lifespan of that dog. They should be an enrichment to your lives not a legal liability or one that isolates you.

Start right, raise well, train appropriately and manage reliably.