PPG's Puppy Nipping Guide

PPG's Puppy Socialisation Checklist

Potty Training

Puppy Socialisation

Read the PPGA's Position statement on Puppy Socialisation. 

Yes: Register your puppy in a puppy class as soon as possible.

Pet parents are now aware of the necessity of providing dog/dog socialisation opportunities for their puppies. Nevertheless, when and how to do it is still misunderstood largely because many veterinarians, as well as breeders and pet-store owners, advise new pet parents to avoid socialising their new puppy with other dogs until the age of four to six months in order to avoid exposure to illnesses that vaccines protect against.

This is a great article featuring a round table discussion on the risks and benefits of early puppy socialisation.

The Puppy Nipping Guide

Since puppies are born without hands, the only way they have to explore the world is with their mouths. And you may have noticed that your puppy is quite the explorer. Everything goes into those little mouths, including your fingers, and those baby teeth are like little needles. Ouch!

It's completely normal for puppies in their litters to bite each other in play. When they engage in this "bitey-face" game, they learn a little about how to inhibit the strength of their biting. If one puppy bites another too hard, that puppy probably will yelp and stop playing. If that happens enough times, the biter learns to apply less pressure. If you need help teaching your puppy appropriate mouth behaviours then download our friends at PPG's Puppy Nipping Guide.

The Proper Use of Food In Dog Training

Why should I use food when training my dog? Surely if I ask my dog to do something he should just do it? Dogs are thinking, feeling, intelligent creatures.

Though they are not little people in fur suits, like us they will do things that are fun and rewarding and avoid things that are not. Asking your dog to do something ‘just because you said so’ is like your boss asking you to work for no pay. How motivated would you be to do it? You could force your dog to comply, but what would that do to your relationship? How would you feel about somebody who forced you to work? On the other hand, if you set up the game that your dog understands as “If I do what you want, you’ll give me a treat,” it’s a relationship-building win-win situation. The dog is motivated to learn, and both of you can enjoy the training session. You love your dog, so why wouldn’t you want to use a training “tool” that gets him excited and makes him happy? 

We know that, while puppies are beautiful, they can also be frightening, perplexing and downright annoying.

So, from time to time, we will have a special event on for puppy owners, to help them with some of the problems. Keep updated by becoming a free pet owner member.

FREE WEBINAR FOR PUPPY OWNERS

Things new puppy owners want to know... and are sometimes too embarrassed to ask!

Behaviour Management

Boredom Busters

 Dr. Ian Dunbar's Before You Get Your Puppy

Dr. Ian Dunbar's After You Get Your Puppy

Pet Owner FREE Membership