Do you know what to expect when bringing your puppy home?
Are you excited about all the great puppy adventures you’re going to have?
But maybe a little bit nervous, not sure what you are missing?
Michele here with HTTADD…
I’m here to help you make sure your expectations are in check
You’re probably bringing home your puppy around 8 weeks of age.
This is the most common age for people to introduce a new puppy into their home.
Here are few things you are probably expecting:
Cute puppy snuggles Adorable puppy wobbling
Puppy breath - this is a real thing and it’s so and so many people love it
An accident or two on the floor Nibbles on your fingers and toes
You are right, these are all going to happen.
But there’s a lot more that’s going to happen too, and I want to prepare you.
Let’s dive in.
The first week you have your puppy home is an adventure all on it’s own.
It’s so important that I recorded a video all about it.
If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
But what about after the first week?
Will everything just be rosy and you’ll see a linear progression of puppy growth and
development?
Not so fast!
We might think that puppy development looks like this where there’s a steady progression
to your pups training
but in actuality it looks a little more like this … you can see it looks more like a
roller coaster
There will be lots of learning curves for both human and puppy.
Sometimes I have to ask new puppy owners to lower their expectations because they get
frustrated that there puppy isn’t potty trained in only a few days
Or that their puppy won’t stop biting with a few quick yelps, redirects to an alternate
toy or a 5 minute break…
our puppies do not learn that fast
Now after the honeymoon period has worn off you might experience a little bit of the puppy
blues.
What are these?
This is a time when you might wonder if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew,
You’ll wonder if you really have the time for a puppy, you’ll second guess your energy
and skills to be a new puppy owner,
and perhaps you’re just tired and frustrated that your new pup is not quite so easy.
This is normal!
It’s not easy, but it’s normal!
This is why I developed my online course 30 days to Puppy Perfection.
I know that raising puppies is not easy - I’ve been training people on how to do it for 20
years!
But I also know that with the right tools and techniques you can have a dream dog.
But you need more than just a class on how to teach Fido to sit.
Of course we want him to learn that, but we have so much more we want to teach!
This is where the support of my online course comes in.
We are more than a class, we are a support team who can help you through the ins and
outs, ups and downs of everything from potty training, crate training, biting, leash skills
and beyond.
But let's get back to expectations.
For the first few weeks - AND MONTHS, I’m not going to lie to you, it can take months
-
you’re going to be dealing with potty training.
This phase may seem like it lasts forever but it really will get better.
While you’re in the thick of it you’ll need to do all the right things, even if you
aren’t seeing any progress.
It’s really there but can seem like it isn’t
This means sticking to a routine, limiting access in the house, praising heavily for
the right behavior, using a leash and using the right cleaning products.
Over and over again, day after day, just like your shampoo bottle says: lather rinse repeat.
You just have to keep on doing it and one day, you’ll start to notice fewer accidents.
And one day, your pup will ask you to be let outside to go potty.
Celebration!
This day will come but while you are waiting for it, we are here for you!
Remember that newborn babies are not able to tell us when they need to use the bathroom
and we can’t expect our pups to do it early on either.
Our pups might confuse us a little because after all they can run, and jump, and play,
and “speak”, and when our humans do that they might be ready for some potty training!
But pups aren’t like that and they can do all those physical things much earlier than
they can create a connection between the brain and bladder.
We still need to do all the training but we definitely have to keep our expectations in
check.
Remember, pups often take weeks and MONTHS to fully potty train.
I’m going to say that one more time: MONTHS.
Let’s talk about the crate.
If you’ve paid any attention to my channel, you know how important it is.
I have six videos about crate training alone!
But this is also not an easy process.
This skill is not so hard on your floors like potty training is, but it’s sure hard on
your heart to hear your puppy cry.
I’m going to ask you to put on your tough love hat and stick it out, because it’s
best for you and your puppy.
Because your pup needs to be able to stay in a crate when you leave the house, so they
don’t chew or destroy something and cause harm to themselves
They need to learn how to settle on their own… a skill that doesn’t come easy for
them like asking a little kid to sit through a 2 hour movie without wiggling or asking
questions
It’s just not going to happen without some work
If we don’t start crate training from day 1 we are missing the prime time to work on
this skill.
Some day when they are more mature, potty trained and past the chewing and curious phase
you may be able to try short durations out of their crate when you’re away
But I’d think long and hard about that.
I always tell my students about the story when a dog set their house on fine because
it got curious and knocked something over igniting a fire that destroyed the home.
My dogs are 7, 2 and 1 and a half years old and I still crate train them.
They actually prefer their quiet safe place when we aren’t around and even when we are
As a puppy going through the crate training process …
Your pup is going to need to cry it out for many times before he figures out that you
are not returning for him when he cries.
For more information on what to do when your puppy is crying in the crate watch this video
here when you’re done with this one
Moving on to the next topic that many puppy owners expect will go away sooner than it
actually does...
Biting!
You probably can get the hang of crate training first, and then when you are still in the
throes of potty training you get the added phase of biting!
Puppies have a natural instinct to explore the world with their mouth and this means
they bite at everything.
The are drawn to movement and of course hands, feet, and even kids all move, and puppies
are drawn to these too
There’s no magic formula for how to stop biting.
Biting can’t be extinguished with one quick fix but it can be endured and eventually lessened
with the right training techniques
I go over more about biting in this video here
but it’s important to note that between 3 and 4 months of age, this is going to be
a big part of your time - redirecting your pup to bite something OTHER than you.
Proper rest, good exercise - both mental and physical - and teaching pup what we want him
to do instead are all important parts.
I think people under estimate how much sleep a puppy needs and when they put puppy in the
crate for a time out for biting it should be a nap not a 5 min recharge session
We don’t use the crate as punishment so we aren’t screaming, yelling or slamming
the door when pup is put in their for a nap or downtime
During the biting phase is where we see a lot of misaligned expectations.
We often think our pups have the impulse control needed to simply stop doing what they are
instinctually programmed to do.
I’m going to give you another baby analogy.
We can’t just tell our baby to stop putting their fist in their mouths.
This is a natural way babies explore their world and their brains are not developed enough
to simply NOT do it.
Our pups are no different.
So we have to endure the phase while slowly helping our pups find other ways to express
themselves and their curiosity.
It’s also during this phase that we see a lot of puppy owners asking for extra support.
In the pro level of my online course you’ll be invited to zoom calls 3 days a week where
we can examine your situation and give you tips and suggestions, and then follow up with
you on the next call.
Again it’s SUPPORT, not just training, that many people need when they have a new puppy
in the home.
Next puppy owners think that when their pup’s are finished with their puppy vaccinations
schedule that it’s time to start heading out the door on that leash and get out some
of that energy!
I recently saw someone post in my Facebook group… you can join that by clicking the
link below… don’t forget to answer the 3 questions when requesting to join
Otherwise my team members won’t approve your request.
This is how we keep spammers out
Ok so this person recently posted that she just finished the 3rd round of vaccinations
for her pup and the first place she went was the dog park
YIKES!! we tried to tell her that it’s important to set up a play date with a dog about the
same age and temperament as hers so pup doesn’t get overwhelmed and potentially picked on
by other dogs at the dog park
Without proper play style and communication, which is learned from other dogs she would
be bringing her young pup to a place with lots of rowdy dogs ready to take advantage
of her dog.
This isn’t the best place to take your brand new dog who doesn’t have good socialization
skills just yet.
We tried to explain that if something would have happened it would have had a lasting
impact on her dog possibly for the rest of his life.
Besides her dog hadn’t even learned any leash skills yet.
Pre training is a very important part of leash skills.
Our pups are not born knowing how to walk well on a leash and it’s up to us to teach
them what we expect!
This means a lot of practice at home, where distractions are minimal.
And sloooowly introducing them to the outside world while on leash.
It’s not uncommon that our pups will pancake and refuse to move when they first start walking.
We go over that in the online course and help you find ways to motivate your pup
AND have realistic expectations about how much physical walking distance should acutally
be covered during this phase.
I’m going to give you a hint: it’s not a lot!
Once you are past potty training, crate training, the biting has calmed down and you and Fido
have a handle on the walking,
maybe you think that you’re in the free zone and it’s all smooth sailing from here
with a lifetime of your puppy pal laying at your feet.
I wish I could tell you that’s what happens!
But there are a lot of other situations you want to prepare for, and if you do it now,
you’ll have a lot easier time when pup encounters these situations.
Before I share some more advice.
Do me a favor, go ahead and hit that subscribe button so you can get notified when more lessons
like these are released.
Now, These situations we’ve been talking about include not pulling on the leash, not
chasing after a small animal and dislocating your shoulder in the process,
not jumping on our guests or begging at the dinner table and not destroying our things
that are not dog toys.
Like couches, curtains, shoes, electronics… on the list could go on and on
These trainings can all be going on almost simultaneously at the time you are working
on things like leash skills and biting,
but it’s important to work on them in the right order and with the right pre-training.
We guide you through that in, you guessed it, the course!
By 6 months of age you might start to notice a little less of that initial puppy energy
that started to increase at 10 weeks of age
Your pup might be more relaxed but not asleep, he starts to look forward to those walks and
lets you know with his behavior when he doesn’t get them.
He might start to give you a little more peace throughout the day so you think he needs a
lot less from you.
Don’t give up on training just yet!
This is where we can work on some of those advanced skills like how to wait in their
bed nicely while you cook dinner, how to come when called (every time) and how to greet
and play with other dogs.
These are skills that come a little later in the development of our puppies, when their
brains can handle a little more impulse control.
Have I convinced you not to get a puppy yet?
I hope not!
Dogs are wonderful companions and really add a lot of joy to our human lives.
But getting one from the very early weeks of his life presents it’s own challenges
that you might not have been aware of before.
I want you to know that we are here for you when you are facing those challenges
and I can guarantee you that we’ve heard of just about every situation before, and
we can help you.
But you are the one doing the hard work.
So just to recap… accidents, and biting may take months to work through, crate training
may start out bumpy but if you stay consistent and positive your pup will love their crate
Your puppy will learn how to walk nicely on a leash with the right training and you can
teach your puppy to come when called if you know how to create more value around you.
I look forward to teaching you these skills inside 30 Days to Puppy Perfection.