So you have a new puppy? This is what you need to know!

Mabel as a new Puppy!

Congratulations on your new puppy!

Having new puppy can be a challenging, but rewarding experience. I'm posting this guide to help both new and experienced dog owners get a good start on owning and raising a well adjusted dog. This article assumes that you have brought home an 8-week-old puppy, however, much of it is still applicable if you have an older dog you have rescued.

Basic Principles

before we get started, I want to state what I believe to be some basic principles in terms of the mindset we should have when approaching our puppies.

1. Dogs are not humans. Their brains are wired differently from ours and they view the world in different terms. That said, it's not all nature with a dog and it's not all nurture either. If I were to guess, I'd say that the Nature:Nurture ratio in a dog is 60:40 or something along those lines. So you will be dealing with the genetic characteristics of your dog's breeding, in addition to how you raise and train your puppy. Strong enough training and reinforcement can overcome some genetic tendencies, but not all, and not always.

2. Regardless of why you obtained a puppy, one thing we need to be very clear on is that Dogs have mental/emotional and physical needs and as an owner, it's your job to ensure that those needs are consistently being met. THis guide aims to provide the foundation required to ensure those needs are met. Please read this blog post on the Family Pack for an understanding of the principles of leadership within your family (that now includes a non-human canine.)

3. Dog's cannot read your mind. THey do not have a magical 6th sense. Please review our article on canine communication so you understand the primary means with which you will be communicating with your dog (whether you intend to or not.) Remember that they will always be watching you and learning from you, so make sure to model the behavior you want.

4. The critical socialization period for a dog is between 3-14 weeks of age. If you miss this, you can never do anything that will be as impactful or as lasting as if you didn't miss it. The number one reason for missing this time period is that vet's often will put the fear of god into you about diseases like Parvo and request that you keep your puppy indoors until they have had all of their shots at 16 weeks of age.

   1. They aren't wrong - parvo is deadly for puppies and very prevalent in places like Texas. Taking them out of the house will always pose so risk, but not taking them out also poses risks that come with not having a properly socialized dog.

   2. While the vet's advice is justified, it's also unfortunate. After 14 weeks, puppies become more cautious and may be more likely to develop fears or anxieties towards unfamiliar things. In order to mitigate this, my rule is: Take your puppy with you everywhere you go, but No feet on the floor until your dog has all of its shots. If you have to carry your puppy, do that; if you cannot carry them, put them in a cart or a stroller. Until your dog is fully vaccinated, avoid interactions with other dogs and avoid high-traffic dog areas.

   3. How are you supposed to Socialize your dog if they cannot walk on the ground? This is a question I often get, but it is based on a misunderstanding of what socialization is. Socialization is not having your dog meet every person they see and play with every dog they encounter. Socialization is about being able to take your dog everywhere you normally go, and have your dog able to be comfortable while leaving everyone else and every other dog alone.

      1. Partly for this reason I have another rule: No dog parks (ever) and doggy day care's should be kept to a minimum. One or two short visits to a doggy day care early on in a puppy's life may be ok to get your puppy familiar with playing with other dogs, but it should be approached cautiously. If your puppy is "shy," I'd avoid it. I'd also look for a place that keeps the puppies separate from the adult dogs, evaluates all dogs for aggression issues, and have experienced dog handlers on staff to monitor and regulate interactions. Dog parks and dog day cares can quickly become 'lord of the flies' for dogs, so responsible monitoring needs to be in place. I also recommend keeping the visits short, 1-2 hours at the most. If your dog develops a tendency afterwards to get very excited when seeing or greeting other dogs, stop all doggy day care visits immediately and proceed with play times in small groups of other puppies around your dog's age that are known to be good with other puppies.

   
   

Behavior

Speaking of modeling behavior, if you don't want a dog that excitedly jumps up on everyone they encounter, then make greetings with new people boring. Have the other party ignore your adorable puppy (a very difficult task for sure!) until the dog is calm and relaxed, then keep the greeting minimal. Until then, no touchy, no talkie, no lookie. Touching should be restricted to a gentle and brief touch on the side of the face. The new person's tone of voice and facial expressions should remain neutral to flat without excitement. They can and should appear happy, but not excited or to the point that causes uncontrollable excitement in your puppy.

Nutrition

A dog's nutrition is fundamental to their healthy growth and development. I highly recommend reading our article How to Choose the Right Dog Food for You.

Avoiding the Mistakes Most New Owners Make

Many new puppy owners are in a rush to teach their puppies basic commands. While those things are essential skills for your dog to have, you can teach those skills at any time. I say skills because those skills, and obedience are not the same thing.

Although you can start to give your puppy some basic understanding of simple commands, like sit or down, they should not be the focus of your efforts right now, as there are much more important skills that need to be addressed NOW. Puppies between the ages of about 7 to 16 weeks are at a crucial time in their lives.

This is the time where we can make or break them socially, a time where we can encourage desired behaviors or inadvertently encourage unwanted behaviors, and a time where we can teach them to be brave or shape them into nervous and fearful dogs. This is extremely important, because often you cannot go back in time and address certain issues. Some of the behaviors that are developed now will form your dog’s personality for the rest of its life.

It’s very common to look at an older dog that has fear issues, human aggression issues, nervous behavior, or any of the other handful of common dog issues, and assume that the dog was abused when they were younger. I have heard many people ask, “I wonder what happened to that dog when he was younger that can explain these behaviors.”

It may very well be a case of abuse that can be responsible for these behaviors, but more times than not, as a trainer, I find myself asking, “I wonder what didn’t happen to that dog when he was younger that can explain these behaviors.”

Lack of exposure to any variety of things often explains a lot of our dogs’ undesirable traits, fears, and problematic behaviors. As responsible dog owners it’s our job to prevent these issues and work through issues that arise so that our pets remain in our homes and don’t get surrendered into shelters or put down for preventable issues.

We are all aware of the extremely large numbers of dogs that are currently in shelters. It doesn’t matter if you adopted your puppy from a rescue organization or if you purchased your puppy from a breeder, but now that you are a new puppy owner, make sure you and your family do everything possible to ensure that your new puppy has a forever home with you, and does not get surrendered to a shelter.

If you take only one thing away from this it should be this:

Basic commands can be taught at any time. It is more important to address other skills now. It is very difficult to undo things later in life that are not addressed at the right time - that right time is NOW!

In my opinion, if you have an 8 week old puppy at home, your priorities should be as follows:

1. House Breaking (potty training)

2. Establishing Structure, healthy leadership, and expectations

3. Socialization & Normalization
   

If you have not already done so, please go read the article the Family Pack for an understanding of the principles of leadership within your family (that now includes a non-human canine.)

Leadership & Resource Control 

There are thousands of years of evolution separating dogs from wolves, but they are still pack animals and they have some similar mentalities. Nobody is suggesting you get on the ground and growl at your dog, or that you need to be Alpha, but understanding the pack structure and the expectations involved is invaluable to informing how we should behave to help our dogs fit into to our lives.

Dogs expect to have an established pack structure that they are a part of. Your family will become its pack, and it will consider all of you its pack members. A pack structure is a hierarchy with no expectation of equality, which means that there needs to be leadership. Dogs without leadership are left to make their own decisions, and 9 times out of 10 those decisions are going to be the wrong ones simply because your dog’s agenda and sense of priorities and manners is very different from yours.

Leadership does not mean that your puppy should be afraid of you, leadership does not entail us being mean to our dogs, and leadership does not involve forcing your dog to submit to you. If you provide proper leadership, your dog will fall in line naturally with a sense of security and trust.

Establishing leadership should begin as soon as your puppy sets foot into your home and should be an ongoing process with your family and your puppy.

Your puppy is going to expect direction and stability to help it feel safe and secure. That means knowing who is in charge, where it fits in and what the rules are. If your puppy cannot determine this with clarity and consistency, dysfunctional behaviors and bad habits will result.

Canine Leadership Characteristics

Dog’s trust stable leaders. Stable to a dog means consistent, calm, confident and controlled. Let’s look at some leadership do’s and don’ts.

Strengths in a Leader

• Calm, confident, controlled, and consistent in all interactions (you must manage your emotions.)

• Assertive and Decisive

• Clearly communicate boundaries and expectations and apply them consistently. Consistency, stability, and an enforcing of boundaries will build trust and confidence.

• Leaders determine the dog’s job. All dogs need a job to earn rewards. Food, attention, and affection should all be based on performance, desirable behaviors, or response to a command.

• Fair, predictable, and even-tempered without emotional outbursts or loss of control

• Leadership is established and reinforced through training.

  
  

Leaders do not

• Repeat commands – they expect a prompt response to a known command. If you have a new puppy 8 weeks old, your puppy probably doesn't know any "command" or "skills" yet so leave this for after your puppy is trained by one of our pro-trainers.

• Converse with meaningless chatter

• Allow a dog to put his body or body parts on the leader. Leaning, stepping on your foot, jumping on you are signs of disrespect and pushiness. If a dog is mouthing on you, you’re not the leader.

• Become involved in dominant games like wrestling, chase or tug-of-war. Dogs will win these, and your respect will be diminished. Also, chasing your dog teaches them that running away from you is fun and a game. Good luck teaching “here” or “come” later.

• Supply indiscriminate petting or rewards for no reason

• Act inconsistently. Instability or inconsistency denote a lack of confidence on the part of the leader and may invoke fear, apprehension, and mistrust in a dog.

There are a few best practices that I’d like to impart with regards to the leadership you provide:

• If problems arise, look first to yourself as the source of any problem, then to the circumstances of the situation or your training methods and last to the dog.

• Try to think of things from the dog’s perspective, looking first at yourself. Dogs are perceptive. They can see your anxiety, stress, fear or tension in your face or smell it in your sweat. They know if you are paying attention or distracted, your mood, mindset, and focus.

• Behaviors that may be cute when your puppy is 12 weeks old, may not be cute when he’s 2 years old and weighs 65lbs. Never tolerate behavior from a puppy that you don’t want to tolerate from a teenager or an adult.

• All behaviors you reward, good or bad, intentionally, or not, are entrenching those behaviors. Intermittent rewards entrench behaviors more firmly than anything else, so be particularly careful. Note that a reward is not limited to food, treats or praise, a reward can be as simple as your dog getting what they want.

• Your dog is always learning and will constantly test your boundaries. If you are not consistent – a sign of weakness to a dog - bad behaviors will develop as well as a feeling by the dog that you are not a suitable leader and that even, perhaps, it may need to assume leadership.

• This one should be burned into your mind, do not forget it! If you treat your dog like a human, your dog will treat you like a dog. Why? Because treating your dog like a human will invariable violate many or all of the leadership attributes and behaviors that dogs look for, respect and require to feel safe and confident.

Engagement

If you act like a leader, your puppy will look to you to provide them with direction and all the important resources that they need. These main resources include food, water, space, affection, and toys. More important than teaching any commands is for the puppy to learn that all good things come from us and that we are the source of fun and happiness. This builds motivation for them to work with us.

• An engaged dog knows that listening to us is in their best interest. They will be more focused and, hopefully, less distracted.

• An engaged dog is more than a dog that is looking at us directly. With an engaged dog, we have their eyes and their mind.

• If you find that your dog is often off in la-la land instead of focusing on you and following you around, here are some ways to build engagement:

• Hand feeding, especially if you have a dog who comes to get their reward and then immediately checks out. Extend the amount of time they pay attention to you by giving rapid fire rewards and hand feeding. We talk more about hand feeding in the next section.

• Eye contact: teach your dog the look or focus command and reward them when they do it! A dog that is watching you is 100% engaged and ready so that when you do start to ask them for more complicated behaviors, they are committed.

• Hide and Seek: Make a game out of engagement with you. Hide somewhere with a high-value treat and call your dog to find you. The more your dog is aware of where you are and wants to find you, the more they have learned paying attention to you is beneficial.

• Tethering: if you have a pup or a dog who is new to you, sometimes tethering a dog to you (attaching them via leash to you) can be a simple way to encourage them to focus on you instead of everything else that’s going on around them. As we’ll see later on, tethering is also a good way to aid potty training.

• Teach basic skills: this should not be the focus of your puppy’s education at this phase, but if you are doing all of the other things in this booklet and still have time, then teaching basic skills gives us the opportunity to teach our dogs how to learn from us, how they get rewarded and how communication works. This makes all other training easier.

Controlling Resources: Your Puppy & Food

Food is one of the most important things we need to control. Feeding time should be a scheduled and interactive experience between you and your puppy.

Hand feeding is a great way for your new puppy to learn that you provide and control the food. During hand feeding your dog will be eating directly from your hand. Only let your dog have possession of the food when they are in a somewhat calm state of mind. If your puppy is jumping at your hand, simply pull your hand away and wait for him to relax. When he has calmed down, present your hand again and let him eat. You will soon see that your puppy will start to look at you, asking for permission to proceed.

Continue to hand feed your new puppy until he looks to you for the next handful of food on a regular basis. Then you can think about switching to a bowl and doing some exercises to prevent food guarding in the future.

A common mistake many new pet owners make with their puppies is to constantly take their food bowl away and then give it back. This step is usually repeated over and over again with the intentions that the dog should be non-reactive to a human taking away the food bowl. Doing this drill time after time will often create the very issue they are trying to prevent. Instead of creating a puppy who is always expecting a hand to come down and take away their food, we can instead teach them that every time a hand comes down, more food gets dropped into the bowl! So instead of taking away the food bowl and messing with the puppy during mealtime, here is a better solution.

• Separate your puppy’s food into two piles, one pile can be put into his bowl, the other pile should be kept aside in a different bowl.

• Present your puppy with the food in one of the bowls and while he is eating, take handfuls of food from the other bowl and drop it into his bowl while he is eating. Again, this will teach him that when a person comes near his food bowl it means he gets more food!

• Holding the food bowl when your puppy is eating is another exercise you can practice with your new puppy. What you are doing is not giving them full possession of the resource but allowing them to eat while the bowl is still in your possession. This teaches him that the food belongs to you, therefore guarding is not appropriate.

• Don’t let them dig in. Teach your puppy to wait while you are presenting their food and to wait for permission from you to eat. Not only is your puppy learning to work a bit for his food but learning that he needs permission from you to proceed before digging in.

• Food guarding is very common in multiple dog households. If you do have another dog, don’t let your other dog or your new puppy float back and forth between bowls while eating. It’s generally a good idea to separate the dogs during mealtime to prevent any of this unwanted behavior.

• Free feeding, i.e. food remains in your dog’s bowl at all times and your dog can eat whenever he wants, is one of the worst things that you can do to your dog. Free feeding goes way beyond putting unhealthy extra weight on your dog, it also makes your role in their lives much less important, as they cannot make the connection that you are the one filling the food bowl hours before they decide to eat.

• Regardless of if you are feeding your puppy two or three times a day, set up general feeding times, morning, noon, night. If you are having challenges with potty training, it’s important to remember that solid food takes about 8-10 hours to be digested, so you want to setup a feeding schedule that will allow them to eliminate before bedtime. I personally feed at 6:30am, then again at 2:30pm so that their bowels can be emptied before bedtime. This, however, may not work for everyone, so find what fits your schedule the best.

Once fed, if there is any food left in the bowl after about 20 minutes, pick it up. Your puppy does not get a chance to eat again until the next scheduled feeding time.

This may be very difficult for some of us as we sometimes let our emotions take over. But once your puppy catches on to the rules you are providing, they will eat at mealtimes.

Leaving the food out for them to eventually eat can produce a slow and picky eater who only grazes through the day and wastes food, then is always hungry at the least convenient time.

It’s important to be fair to your puppy. Don’t try to feed your puppy while there is a lot of excitement in your home. Set your feeding times for when things are generally calm and give your puppy a chance to be aware that it’s feeding time.

Not only will schedule feedings get your puppy on a more regular potty schedule, but it will definitely help them make the connection that you are the greatest thing on earth because it always comes from you!

In addition to hand feeding and scheduled feeding times, interactive toys are also a great way to feed your puppy. There are a variety of interactive toys available, but one of our favorites is the Tug-A-Jug.

Tug-A-Jug is a great interactive toy because it really forces your puppy to problem solve and figure out how to get the food out of the jug. Not only will interactive toys like this make your dog work for his food, but he will be exercising his mind as well.

Proper feeding involves so much more than just throwing food in a bowl; it’s about leadership, respect, self-control, and discipline. We strongly encourage all members of the family to be a part of your new puppy’s feeding routine, you will be glad you did.

Controlling Resources: Your Puppy & Water

Water is another resource that we should get in the habit of controlling with a young puppy. While controlling water may not seem as important as controlling food, it is a valuable resource to your puppy.

Just like with food, water is not something you want your puppy to initially have free access to. As you puppy matures and gets older you can ease up on the water restrictions. Of course, we must let our puppy consume plenty of water throughout the day, but in a controlled manner.

Potty training is going to be one of your top priorities during the first few days and weeks of bringing a new puppy home. How much and how often your puppy is drinks is directly related to how frequently your puppy will have to go potty. If you know how much and when the puppy drank water, you can be proactive in your potty-training.

We will get into potty training in much more detail later on, but the success rate is crucial in potty training and having more information available to us will only speed up your potty-training efforts.

Controlling Resources: Your Puppy & Space

Space is not one of those resources that is immediately obvious, but controlling space is absolutely a huge benefit for you and your puppy.

At this age, your puppy simply can’t be trusted with the run of the house, that’s when they get into the most trouble! All the common puppy problems owners typically experience, like destructive behavior, having potty accidents in the house, eating things they are not supposed to have, and digging, can all be avoided by controlling space. Although controlling space to some degree is a life-long duty, you can relax the restrictions as your puppy matures and when he knows how to behave. However, at this stage in your puppy’s life his space definitely needs to be controlled.

Controlling space simply means controlling the areas in which we keep our puppies. This can be anything from closing bedroom doors to putting up a gate to the stairs, crating our puppies, not allowing them on the furniture, and keeping them on a leash.

Crate Training

We will discuss the benefits of crate training later, but for now let’s highlight a couple of points. Crate training your dog is one of the best ways to control space. Not only do crates offer our puppies safety, familiarity, and aid in potty training, but they also act as “puppy sitters” when we’re not home.

Baby Gates

Baby gates, closing doors, or some other type of boundary, allows our puppies to be contained in a larger space when we are interacting with them. Blocking off stairways or entrances into other rooms will help keep our puppies safe and out of trouble, and at the same time we should have enough room to still play fetch or other games with our puppy.

No Furniture

Although they are cute, cuddly, and warm, do not initially allow your new puppy on the furniture. In a dog’s mind the leader always gets the best sleeping spot, your bed, the couch, etc. By allowing your puppy onto the couch or bed with you are putting them on the same level as you and the rest of your family, this can confuse your puppy or help them to think that they are equals with you, or perhaps even above you! There is nothing wrong with inviting your puppy onto the couch as he gets older, but for now - no furniture.

Use the Leash Inside Too

When you and your family are at home relaxing or watching a movie, we, of course, would love to have our puppy with us so that he can feel like a true member of the family and not be stuck in a crate or behind a gate secluded away from the rest of us. When you are in situations like these and are entertaining or simply have your main attention focused somewhere else, I would highly recommend tethering.

Tethering is simply keeping your puppy on his leash and wrapping it under your foot giving him enough room to turn around and get comfortable without giving him too many other options to find trouble. Depending on the size of your puppy, about 2 to 2.5 feet of leash should enough. The main thing that we are doing by tethering our puppies is to simply keep them in one location and teaching them to chill out while you and the rest of your family does the same.

Initially your puppy may get frustrated about being on the leash and not being able to travel freely. He may also start to bite and chew at the leash. While these behaviors are normal for a puppy, you can interrupt them and redirect him into something more desirable. To help decrease the desire to chew or bite the leash you can give your puppy a toy to chew on or interact with during tethering.

Remember, tethering is not a punishment but simply a way to control space. As you continue to practice tethering your puppy, you will see that after a few minutes of playing with his toy or biting on the leash, he will start to relax, calm down, and go to sleep. Not only will you have an easy way to manage your puppy, but you are also teaching him that when the rest of the family is relaxing, he should be relaxing, too!

In addition to tethering, keeping your puppy on a leash in the house will also be a great aid in controlling space. While you don’t have to keep the leash in your hand at all times, there is nothing wrong with having your puppy drag his leash behind him when in the house. Having a dragging leash is an easy way to guide them away from hazardous things, helps us direct them outside when it’s time to go potty, and allows us to manage them more easily. Be aware that a dragging leash can get caught on furniture, get stuck in doors, and is very tempting for your puppy to chew on. Keep an eye on your puppy at all times, even when his leash is dragging behind him.

Controlling Resources: Puppies & Affection

Controlling affection can be very difficult for most dog owners, simply because all puppies are so adorable, and it’s normal to want to hug them, kiss them, and shower them with all kinds of affection. While this is completely natural, and we all want our puppies to be friendly, loving, and affectionate, it’s important to remember that affection is a resource a leader needs to control.

Being obnoxious, pushy, and not respecting personal space are common behaviors that puppies learn when raised in a household where affection has never been monitored or controlled.

Imagine that every time your puppy approaches you, he starts immediately jumping on you, licking your face, and putting his paws on your lap; alright, maybe that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing!! But now imagine that your full-grown 80-pound Labrador does exactly the same things not only to you but also to your friends, relatives, and every other person he meets. It gets old really fast, and few people will appreciate it.

Many of these behaviors are learned early because owners immediately pet their puppies when this happens. These puppies are effectively rewarded for these behaviors and are in total control of the affection. The puppy learns that jumping up, incessantly licking your face, and jumping onto your lap are ways to get affection from you.

A better way is to be affectionate with your puppy on your terms. Encourage your puppy to come over to you. When he gets there, hug and kiss him, pick him up, and squeeze him.

When your dog does something good or makes you laugh, pet him!

Remember, the whole point of leadership is that we want our puppies to look to us for things that are important to them. Handing out affection on your terms will quickly have your dog looking to you for the affection, not demanding it.

Remember that affection is also a reward, it can be used to encourage behaviors and mark a particular state of mind. Never pet your puppy, pick him up, or praise him unless he is in a desirable state of mind. Never pet your dog or tell him “it’s ok” if he is nervous, fearful, if he is hiding, barking, or doing something similar. Marking that unstable state of mind will only encourage those behaviors more often in your puppy.

Instead of using affection to reward and encourage unwanted behaviors, let’s use it to reward using the potty outside, being brave, bringing a toy back to you, and to show them that you love them. Always use affection to mark the right state of mind and hand it out on your terms.

Socialization

Socialization is the process of exposing your puppy to the wide variety of people, places, dogs, sounds, smells, sights, and experiences that he will possibly encounter in his life. The goal of socialization is to normalize and desensitize your dogs to these things to minimize fear and distrust and to build confidence. Through this process, they need to learn that you are always there to support them, that you will always keep them safe, and that you won’t push them into a situation they aren’t ready for. If they are afraid, don’t push them. Ignore their fear reactions and encourage them to be brave. Reward them for bravery.

The proper outcome of socialization is that your dog learns to co-exist peacefully with other people, dogs and situations he may find himself in, in a way that keeps his attention and engagement on you, not everything else.

Without proper socialization puppies often grow into dogs that become reactive to other dogs, show signs of fear around people, shut down in new environments, and are even scared of simple everyday items such as mailboxes and bicycles. It’s very difficult to extinguish these behaviors later in life, and many dogs end up in shelters because of behaviors that result from a lack of early socialization.

The Critical Socialization Period

A dog's critical socialization period is generally between 3 and 14 weeks of age. This is a crucial time in a puppy's development when they are most open to new experiences and learning about the world around them,  except for the developmental fear periods mentioned below.

Here's why this period is important:

• Rapid Learning: During this time, puppies are like sponges, absorbing information and forming associations about their environment. Positive experiences during this period will help them develop into confident and well-adjusted adult dogs.   

• Fear Development: After 14 weeks, puppies become more cautious and may be more likely to develop fears or anxieties towards unfamiliar things.

• Socialization Foundation:  Early socialization sets the stage for how your dog will interact with people, other animals, and various situations throughout their life.

What to do during this period:

• Expose your puppy to a variety of:

  • People (different ages, appearances, etc.)   

  • Animals (dogs, cats, etc.)   

  • Environments (parks, streets, busy areas, etc.)   

  • Sounds (traffic, household noises, etc.)   

  • Surfaces (grass, concrete, carpet, etc.)   

• Keep it positive: Ensure all interactions are safe, positive, and fun for your puppy. Avoid overwhelming or frightening them.   

• Gradual Introduction: Introduce new things slowly and gradually, allowing your puppy to acclimate at their own pace.

• Training: Start basic obedience training early to establish good behavior and build a strong bond with your puppy.

  
  

A General Rule for Young Puppies

• 7 new places, 7 new people, and 7 new dogs each and every week.

• Get your dog used to riding a vehicle where the ultimately destination is not the Vet. it’s a good idea to start taking them on short trips in the car with you. Even if your puppy doesn’t get out of the car on short trips there is still a huge benefit of bringing them along for the ride. Taking him along for trips to the bank, picking up the kids from school, and grabbing some take out will get him used to riding in the car and seeing more of the world. Riding in the car will allow him to see new things, smell new smells, hear new sounds, and avoid that unpleasant connection between the car and the vet.

While the critical socialization period ends around 14 weeks, socialization must continue throughout your dog's life. However, early exposure during this key period is vital for their long-term well-being.

New places

Many dogs do not like riding in the car because they only do so when going to the vet. If this is their only experience in the car they will quickly make the unpleasant connection between the car and the vet. Also, it’s common for dogs to get car sick or anxious if they didn’t experience riding in cars at early ages, or if you drive crazy. - So make the dog's first few car rides gentle and fun.

In order to get your puppy exposed to as many new places as possible it’s a good idea to start taking them on short trips in the car with you. Even if your puppy doesn’t get out of the car on short trips there is still a huge benefit of bringing them along for the ride. Taking him along for trips to the bank, picking up the kids from school, and grabbing some take out will get him used to riding in the car and seeing more of the world. Riding in the car will allow him to see new things, smell new smells, hear new sounds, and avoid that unpleasant connection between the car and the vet.

Of course, you will want to get out of the car to socialize your puppy fully. Taking it to friends’ homes, shopping centers, pet stores, parks, children’s sporting events, and other appropriate locations are great opportunities for socialization and learning. In addition to specific locations, you will want to seek out locations with certain attributes that are sometimes intimidating to puppies, such as:

• Locations with shiny floors

• Places with steps and staircases

• Doors that open automatically

• Homes with different types of plants and landscaping

• Places with the occasional loud noise

• Locations with a constant flow of people

• Locations with a constant flow of cars and other traffic

• Places with high ceilings

Be sure to let your puppy potty outside before entering an indoor location, as nerves might take over and result in him having to potty. When you arrive at a new location, let your puppy sniff around, check out the new location, and soak it all in. In most cases, it may be the first time he is seeing certain things that you and I simply take for granted; it’s all new and exciting with a twist of scary thrown in too! Don’t force your puppy to do much; simply follow him around on his leash and let him explore without interfering in the process.

Once vaccinated, let them walk around on their own. When a puppy is the on the ground walking on his own, he is learning to be brave and explore, he is also smelling all of the new things that different locations offer. When puppies are carried around, they don’t get the full experience of being in new locations. Which is OK if they don’t have all their shots yet! Remember that he needs to be learning and soaking it all in right now. As he is brave and explores, he will gain confidence.

Don’t forget about the good old fashioned walk. While he is on his walk he is going to smell a lot of new things, see and hear new things, and possibly see new people and dogs as well. During a walk your puppy is most likely going to pull on the leash, don’t worry about that right now, let him; the purpose of the walk is to socialize him.

While it may be tempting to take your puppy absolutely everywhere with you, it is not always the best idea. In addition to certain places simply being not appropriate for your puppy, he also has to learn how to function and exist when he is home alone. There is a balance here, on one hand you want to socialize him, but on the other you don’t want to create a clingy and needy dog. Simply use your best judgement and make sure there is a balance of socialization and independence.

New People

During this early socialization period, you will want to introduce your puppy to as many people as possible. Inviting friends and family members to your home is an easy way of getting your puppy around new people. The best way to introduce your puppy to new people is to bring him up to your friends and family, as opposed to them approaching your puppy. This is very important because puppies and dogs can be easily intimidated when one or more people are approaching them if they are a bit nervous to begin with. Bringing your puppy closer to friends and family will also give him an added sense of confidence. Although most puppies will be more than happy to interact with people, still bring your puppy up to the person.

Have a leash on your puppy during new meetings, even if they are occurring inside your home. The leash gives us a bit more control. If possible, have a bag or dish of treats near your front door because you will want new people to offer your puppy treats during initial greetings.

As you bring your puppy up to new people and initially have them ignore the puppy. Then when the puppy is calm, have them hand your puppy a treat and pet the puppy on the shoulder, side of the face, or under the chin in a calm manner. Avoid petting them on the head because standing directly in front of a dog and reaching over their head can sometimes be intimidating. This mainly applies for initial greetings, but it’s still something to consider for later as well. We are going to use a lot of treats during greetings for now because we want to create an initial association that all new people have something to give to your puppy! This can be cut back a bit later but remember the whole point of socialization is to create positive associations and avoid behavior issues.

You need to make an effort to have your puppy meet a wide variety of people in addition to your immediate friends and family. This is very important because the world is full of people that look, act, smell, and behave very different from those closest to us. Your puppy has to be exposed these people as well. Be sure to seek out certain types of people that appear different when you are out and about with your puppy.

Some examples include:

• Children

• Teenagers

• Adults

• Elderly

• People of different races and ethnicities

• Tall and short people

• Men with facial hair

• People wearing hats, sun glasses, backpacks

• Men with deep voices

• Women and children with high voices

Although these people may be strangers, having a cute little puppy often breaks the ice very quickly. If anyone shows an interest in your puppy or smiles when they see you coming, ask them if they want to meet your puppy. Most people will say yes! Just like with your friends and family, have them give your puppy a treat and pet him calmly on the shoulder or under the chin, the same rules apply.

When your puppy is meeting new people, he will most likely jump all over them, and may actually mouth them a bit. Although this is something that we are going to want to change as he gets older, don’t sweat it too much for now. Simply use your leash to put all of his paws back on the ground if he is getting carried away, but don’t punish him or not introduce him to people because he jumps. I often just make a joke out of it and announce something like “Oh he’s a real jumper so watch out” as we are approaching new people.

Whether it’s someone new, or someone you know or someone you and your puppy are meeting for the first time, have them give your puppy a treat, pick your puppy up, and pet them. It’s ok in the beginning for the dog to get a little excited. You are going to have a very social dog if good things like these continue to happen throughout your puppy’s life.

New Dogs

Introducing your puppy to other puppies and dogs is also going to be one of your main areas of focus right now. Just be aware that not all dogs and puppies are going to be appropriate playmates for your puppy. You also need to be careful of dog-to-dog introductions at this point because your puppy is most likely not going to have all the necessary shots and vaccinations for another few weeks; always consult with your vet first.

Not all dogs are good with puppies or well socialized with other dogs. It’s not enough to simply get your puppy around a lot of dogs at a young age, it’s more important to get your puppy around a lot of the right dogs at a young age. This is very important because we need all of your puppies’ experiences to be pleasant and proper in order to assure that he will grow into a dog that is good with other dogs. So how do you tell which dogs are going to be good with other dogs and puppies?

Well, here are a few pointers on that topic:

• If you see an owner with his dog’s leash wrapped around his arm and hand about six times and he is getting pulled down the street, that might not be a dog you want your puppy to meet.

• You want to avoid someone if you ask them if their dog is good with puppies and they reply, “Um, yeah, most of the time.”

• Avoid introducing your puppy to barking and lunging dogs behind fences.

• Avoid dog parks. Large groups of dogs that you don’t know very well is not the best position to put your puppy in right now. Instead, try to find friends that have dogs that are vaccinated, tolerant, well-socialized, and playful.

• Try to find large, medium, small, short haired, long haired, old, and young dogs that have these types of personality traits; you always want to look for a wide range of dogs.

• Young puppies are less likely to have behavior issues so you may want to seek out other puppies in the same age range as yours. If you are not good at reading other dogs it can sometimes to be a bit hard to tell if a dog is going to be a good playmate for your puppy or not.

• Enroll in a puppy pre-school class that is offered in your area. While I wouldn’t take the education part of the class very seriously, it’s a great opportunity to get your puppy around other dogs in a more structured environment.

• Find a local social meet up group that focuses on puppies and dogs. These groups are usually made up of dog lovers who tend to have very social dogs.

Alright, now that you have found some appropriate playmates for your puppy, you are going to want to take some things into account. It can be very difficult to introduce dogs when they are on leashes. 

Leashes often prevent a dog from being able to move freely during an introduction. When a dog’s ability to move freely is taken away, it may be common for a dog to get defensive if he feels he doesn’t have any other option. So when at all possible, try to introduce dogs in a safe area without leashes. If you must introduce two dogs while on leash, be sure that both owners always keep moving and adjusting themselves so that the slack always remains in the dogs’ leashes.

You are going to want to keep everyone moving during initial meetings, even if that means you constantly walk around in a small area. Having humans and dogs remain moving simply dissipates stress and decreases any nervousness that may build and escalate. Movement is just a much better alternative to stillness and helps prevent feelings of being trapped. Also, be sure to pick up all of the toys before allowing your puppy to meet a new dog or have a play date. Puppies and other dogs are more likely to have a disagreement or argument if there is something like a toy around to fight over. Let the dogs concentrate on getting to know each other, not the toys. When your puppy is interacting with another dog or puppy, there is probably going to be some wrestling, chasing, play biting, and maybe even some growly noises; all of which are acceptable forms of play.

It’s not uncommon for some owners to confuse certain types of play with fighting because dog play is actually a form of play fighting. Be careful not to correct your puppy for appropriate play because it will confuse him about proper interactions.

During the play sessions you will want to look for opportunities for the dogs to take short breaks for a few seconds and go right back to it. These breaks are initiated by the dogs as a way of making sure each dog is still in the mood to play and it hasn’t escalated too much. After the confirmation has been received, they pick up where they left off. You can go in and separate the puppies if you are not seeing any natural breaks in your puppy’s play sessions, this will keep things from escalating.

By letting your puppy meet and play with other dogs you are giving him the opportunity to learn from the other dogs as well, which is why it’s so important that the other dogs are well socialized.

Some of the typical things that puppies learn during early social sessions are listed below:

• How to take a proper correction when it’s justified

• How to properly greet a dog

• How to properly be greeted by another dog

• How to respect personal space

• Bite inhibition and appropriate levels of play mouthing

• How to pick up on body language cues from other dogs

• It’s crucial that your puppy learns these skills at an early age. Things like these are best taught by other dogs because they can communicate certain things much better than we can. Again, hopefully you can see the value in getting your puppy around the right types of dogs.

Again, avoid dog parks for now. If you must go to a dog park, consider the following:

• Observe the dogs from outside the fence before entering. Get a sense of who the playful dogs are and who is bullying. Pick out a handful of dogs that you want your puppy to play with and see if their owners are up for maybe going off to the side for a “private” play session.

• Keep moving when you are in the dog park. While most owners may be standing still or not even watching their dogs, make sure you keep moving and you dog stays moving as well.

• Stay off to the side or away from the main “pack” of people and dogs. Remember, the chance of a scuffle increases when many people and dogs are huddled into one place with no easy escape routes or movement.

We can’t guarantee that all of our puppy’s experiences will be pleasant, proper, and peaceful, but taking these precautions can help add to the chances. Although it’s nice to have repeat play dates with friends and neighbors’ dogs, remember that getting your puppy around large numbers of well-socialized dogs is extremely important, not just a handful.

Risks of socialization at dog parks and doggy daycare

Some owners incorrectly believe that socialization is about having them play with every dog and person they meet, so the logical decision is to frequently take their dogs to doggy daycare and dog parks. The challenge with these places is that they provide little informed oversight, control, or structure. I’ve seen many people take dogs into dog parks that should not be there, resulting in fights and other behavioral problems.

Generally, canine body language is frequently misunderstood, and as owners, we are often blind to the poor behavior of our dogs. There is usually a lack of awareness of what is happening between dogs interacting in these places. To make it worse, as visits to a dog park become more frequent, humans congregate and socialize with their friends, mostly ignoring what the dogs are doing. Doggy daycares are only a little better; they are often staffed by people with minimal training if any at all.

Dogs that spend too much time in these places learn poor manners. Often, these dogs fail to read the body language of other dogs who are not open to rambunctious play with a dog they’ve just met. This frequently leads to a fight. These environments can also lead to other issues like reactivity and aggression. The other thing that they learn is that other dogs are much more interesting than humans, who are boring – so why should they ever need to pay them any attention when other dogs are around? This is the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.

If you have a dog that is shy or insecure, then these places may be more akin to lord of the Flies for dogs than a fun environment, and flooding them with this experience may backfire.

The Fear Periods

Puppy development is punctuated by what is known as "Fear" periods. Fear periods are a normal part of puppy development, and knowing when they occur can help you prepare and support your pup. During the onset of a fear period you may discover your puppy acting afraid of things that, just the day before, weren't an issue. When that happens, encourage them to be brave and ignore the fear reaction.

First Fear Period:

• When:  Between 8 and 11 weeks old.

• Why: This often coincides with the time puppies are separated from their litter and brought to a new home. It's a time of significant change and can be overwhelming.

• What to look for: Your puppy might seem more easily startled, hesitant to explore, or show signs of fear in situations they previously handled well.

Second Fear Period:

• When: Between 6 and 14 months old.

• Why:  This period is linked to adolescence and hormonal changes.  Puppies are becoming more independent and testing boundaries, which can lead to increased anxiety and fear in some situations.

• What to look for:  Similar to the first fear period, your puppy might exhibit fearful behaviors, but they may be more pronounced or directed towards specific triggers.

Not all puppies experience fear periods to the same degree. Some may have minimal changes, while others may be more affected. Fear periods are temporary. With patience and proper support, your puppy will overcome these phases and develop into a confident adult dog. Continued socialization throughout your puppy's first year is crucial, even during fear periods. Focus on positive experiences and avoid overwhelming your puppy.

If you notice your puppy exhibiting signs of fear, it's important to be patient and understanding. Avoid forcing them into situations that scare them, and focus on building their confidence through positive reinforcement and gradual exposure to new things.

Rewarding Behaviors and Marking States of Mind

While on your outings to new places and meeting new dogs and people, it may be common for a young puppy to show signs of uncertainty and fear in a few situations. Some signs of uncertainty or fear may include hiding behind you, trying to get in between your feet for comfort, barking, and you may even see your puppy back up and try to escape from certain situations. Although this is common at young ages, it’s something that you want to address right when it’s happening and not allow it to continue.

If you see your puppy exhibiting these or other similar behaviors, it’s crucial not to pick up your puppy, pet him, allow him to hide behind you, or assure him that it’s ok. These are human attempts to comfort, which is instinctual and works on and for humans, but your dog is not a human. Although these are all attempts to comfort our puppies, they are actually receiving a different message from us. Let me use a very common example of thunderstorms to elaborate on the point I just made.

Thunderstorms

Many dogs dislike thunderstorms, they’re loud and can be scary to some puppies. Often, puppies and dogs will cry, whine, bark, and panic during a storm. Many owners try to comfort their dogs during these times by picking them up, petting them, and verbally praising them. As I said, we all know that the intentions are to comfort the puppy, and that’s what you would probably do for a child in the same situation, but our puppies think differently than our human children. Instead of the message of comfort being received by the puppy, they are receiving the message that you, the leader, likes what they, the puppy, are currently doing. He may be thinking, “Mom and Dad like when I whine and cry, I’ll do it even more the next time I’m scared or insecure.” Constant repetition of these types of behaviors reinforces them and encourages them to come back more intense and more often.

When your puppy shows signs of insecurity or fear, redirect them into something more productive to take their minds off of the source of those feelings. As your puppy gets older you can use obedience as a redirection tool, but for right now you can simply play a game of fetch, take them on a walk around the inside of house, play a game of hide and seek with a treat, or anything else that takes their mind off the loud noise from the thunderstorm. Always

remember to reward bravery, not insecurity.

The same principles apply to when you are socializing your puppy out in the world. If your puppy hides behind you when you go somewhere new, step to the side and let him realize that he doesn’t need you as a security blanket. When your puppy sees something that looks unusual to them, a shopping cart, a bag blowing in the wind, or anything else, take them up to that item and let them figure out that the blowing bag is nothing to be afraid of.

If they are intimidated by a new person wearing sunglasses or a hood, if possible, have the person remove their sunglasses and offer your puppy a treat. If your puppy accidentally gets rolled or stepped on by another dog during play, don’t dwell on it or shower your puppy with attention. Simply make sure he is not injured and move on, make sure he gets back into the play group and doesn’t remain focused on that one experience.

Always be aware of the state of mind your puppy is in before offering praise and reward. A lot of behavior issues result as a lack of exposure, but I’ve also seen a lot of owner created issues as well. These behaviors are learned by dogs as a result of consistently poorly timed praise and affection; remember that puppies and dogs are learning 24 hours a day, it’s up to us to make sure they’re learning the right things.

Building Tolerance to Being Handled

The earlier you start this the better

I’ve never met a dog that likes having his nails trimmed, but it’s important that they learn tolerance to this and to being handled in many ways, which include everyday interactions such as having their ears cleaned, taking a bath, checking for ticks, brushing their teeth, being examined at the vet and wiping their paws off after running through the mud. Puppies don’t just spring out of their mothers’ wombs being ok with being handled. We need to teach them, and the earlier you start the better.

The exercises described below are designed to help normalize your puppy to handling and to help prevent behavioral issues from emerging. Some, or most dogs, will not ever experience this type of training, which is unfortunate because it’s one of the most important things you can do with your puppy. Lack of tolerance to touch can prove to be challenging as your puppy matures. Sometimes, once mature, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to develop this tolerance, the lack of which can lead to unnecessary surrenders to shelters. I recommend that you perform these exercises at least once a day for several months. Your puppy will thank you for it! 

Steps

You can begin this exercise in one of three positions.

1. The first is in a kneeling position with the puppy in between your legs in a sit, facing away from you. This is a bit less invasive for the puppy and easier to perform.

2. The second, preferred position, is to sit on the floor with the puppy laying on its back between your legs. I like this position because it’s easier on my back and if the puppy gets squirmy, I can use my legs to control him by applying gentle pressure. If they seem to be alarmed when you try to put them into this position, then take a couple sessions to get your dog used to laying on or in between your legs with you sitting on the floor. Lure them over with some nice treats, pet them and love on them and try to get them to lay down. As your puppy grows you will need to swing the puppy around so you can reach his hind legs.

3. Another useful handling position is tucking your puppy under your arm securely, supporting his chest with your forearm and hand. Your hand should be resting in between his two shoulders on his chest. The exercise and the principles are the same as the above exercise, and I usually prefer this body position of the pup while teaching tolerance to having his front paws touched.

4. Start with your hands under your puppy’s chin, you are basically going to give your puppy a mini massage.

5. Work down toward the paws, in between the pads, toughing his nails, ears, over the head and neck area and down the back and/or stomach. Practice the motions associated with ear cleaning, even if it’s just with a plain cotton ball. You can also mimic wiping “gooies” from his eyes by starting at the corner of the eye with a gentle movement toward the nose.

6. Practice checking his teeth by lifting the upper lip. These types of activities are exactly what happens at the vet.

7. If your puppy is squirmy, which indicates a sign that they are uncomfortable, gently but firmly, pull him close to you just as you were giving him a hug. If you are sitting on the floor, put your hand on his chest and squeeze gently with your legs. Once he stops squirming and relaxes, you can continue with your massage. What you are actually teaching him is tolerance and also that the squirming does not stop the interaction. If he tries to escape from you, it’s very important that you hold him in the position he’s in – you need to win that battle or he will always try to squirm away from you. It’s also crucial to keep your hand(s) moving and on the puppy at all times. One hand may be still while the other is moving but both hands should always remain touching your puppy.

8. Continuing your touch is essential in the learning process. Make sure you repeat these exercises until he understands and starts to enjoy the interaction and touch. I would recommend starting out with short, frequent sessions and always end on a good note, with your dog relaxed; remember to always finish what you started.

9. Building tolerance to having your puppy’s paws touched should be started and performed often before it’s time for that first nail trim. If they only time you touch his feet is to trim his nails, that association may set in.

10. When teaching tolerance to having paws touched, you should keep movement in and through the pads. If your puppy tries to pull his feet away, he is telling you that he is uncomfortable with the exercise and that is normal at this stage and to be expected. If he tries to pull his feet away you will need to apply gentle but firm pressure to the paw, making sure to not let go. Remember, squirming does not stop the interaction and neither does pulling away. In some cases, the slightest touch will cause an overreaction in the puppy sending owners into a frenzy thinking they have hurt their dog. These are the pups that need these drills the most!

    
    

Although your puppy will most likely not enjoy these drills initially, you should definitely stick with it and should be seeing some improvement as your efforts continue over time. However, if you think that your puppy is exhibiting behavior that is a bit over the top, consider contacting a dog trainer in your area that has experience building tolerance to touch.

Potty Training for Life

Potty training takes a significant amount of effort on our part. Even on rainy nights, cold days, and times where you’re not feeling well, your puppy will still have to go out and potty! Trust me, putting the work and effort in now will quickly get your puppy potty trained, then you can sit back and enjoy the fact that your efforts have paid off and you are the proud owner of a dog that knows the proper place to go potty.

There is nothing worse than an adult dog that is still going to the bathroom inside your home. The constant cleaning, mopping, deodorizing, and bathing gets old very quickly. Potty training, however, can be a challenge for some puppies, based on their experience.

For example: A puppy was purchased from a pet store. Due to the scheduling and demands of the employees most pet store puppies are spending a lot of time in their crates where they are essentially forced to eliminate in their crate because they have no other option. Although the puppy may have only spent a few days or weeks in this situation, they have already learned and successfully practiced this routine - remember, they are learning all the time. This puppy will probably take longer to potty train as he has to unlearn some bad habits.

Alternatively, imagine a puppy who has been living with his breeder for the first few weeks of his life. To some degree the breeder has already started potty training your puppy. Whether it’s the trips outside to play with his siblings, or pressure from the puppy’s mother, these pups are most likely starting to understand that eliminating where they sleep and eat is not good. This puppy is likely to pick up potty training faster.

Regardless of your puppy’s previous experiences, potty training requires discipline, effort, timing, and supervision on our part, but there is no reason why your puppy can’t be potty trained.

Newspaper and Potty Pads

These items have been around for years and many people have used them as aids in potty training, and they seem to be very popular. But the best advice when it comes to potty pads and paper training is to just throw them away! The only thing you are teaching your puppy with paper and pads is that it is okay to go to the bathroom in your house. Potty pads can be very useful for those dogs who live on the 78th floor of a downtown high-rise, but unless you’re in that situation, get rid of them!!

There is some logic to using newspaper and potty pads as a transitional step to complete potty training, but that logic is flawed. The more often your dog eliminates inside your home, the harder it is to extinguish the behavior later in life. If you put the work in now and do it right the first time you will enjoy the benefits of your efforts for years to come.

Potty Training Mechanics

The first thing we are going to do is put our puppy on a leash. This allows us to direct them into one location in your yard and keeps them focused on the task at hand. Secondly, you are always going to take our puppy outside through the same door in your house. This will create a routine, and as puppy gets further along in his training, you will see him start to go to that door automatically when he has to potty.

Once you get outside, take your puppy to the desired spot. I would recommend taking your puppy to the same spot each time you go outside. This plays to the routine of the entire exercise. As you reach the spot, give your puppy about 4 to 6 feet of leash and you are going to stand still and anchor yourself like a fence post. By being anchored and not moving, your puppy has no choice but to eliminate in the area you chose for him. Make sure he still can circle around you and have enough freedom to go potty, 4 to 6 feet of leash. As your puppy is smelling the ground and circling around he should be getting ready to go. Once your puppy has started, you can start to overlay a word or command that will eventually be his cue to potty.

While your puppy is going potty, calmly repeat the cue. You’ll probably get all excited and start praising your puppy when he starts to potty, but DON’T! That praise should be delivered as soon as he is finished going potty. Early praise often breaks a puppy’s concentration and leads to the puppy getting so excited that he doesn’t finish going potty, which means he will probably finish going potty as soon as you take him back inside. Likewise, if you find that repeating the potty cue while your dog is eliminating is too distracting, then for now, save it for the second he’s finished.

Praising your puppy can be anything from hugging and petting, high pitch “good boy”, or a treat. Your praise must be delivered within a second of him finishing his potty because his attention span is so short right now that he won’t make the connection that “potty in this spot equals good,” if you wait to treat or praise him once you are back inside.

If you follow these steps and your puppy doesn’t potty after 5 minutes or so, take him back inside and put him in his crate. Keep your puppy in the crate for about 10 to 15 minutes and repeat the process of taking him out again.

The amount of time required to potty train a puppy entirely depends on the success rate of your efforts. If your puppy quickly reaches the point where he is eliminating outside of your home 80% of the time, he is obviously still having accidents inside the home 20% of the time. While an 80% success rate is great for a young puppy, we must get to the point where we are reaching a 100% success rate. When we reach and stay at 100% consistently, for more than a month, we can consider our puppy potty trained. So, to be as successful as possible, I highly recommend that you always have your puppy in 1 of 3 places during potty training: in his crate, in front of you, or on the grass.

In his Crate

Assuming your puppy has been properly introduced to a crate and the crate is set up correctly, you will see a greatly reduced risk of a puppy eliminating here. Don’t worry if your puppy hasn’t yet been properly introduced to a crate, we will cover that in an upcoming section.

On the Grass

The goal of potty training is to have our puppy’s potty on the grass, so as long as their feet are on the green stuff, life is good!

In Front of You

This one can be the trickiest for a lot of new puppy owners as we face constant distractions all the time when we are at home. The reason that it’s so important to have eyes on your puppy at all times is because, murphy’s law, as soon as we take our eyes off the puppy, he has an accident.

If you and your family members can stick to this outline of always keeping your puppy in one of three places, the likelihood of your puppy having an accident is greatly reduced, making your efforts more successful.

So, your puppy is in front of you, how do you recognize the signs that he needs to go out?

Signs That Your Puppy Has to Go Potty

• Your puppy’s nose is to the ground and is “following” a smell

• Your puppy suddenly stops interacting with you to sniff around

• Puppy hangs out somewhere near the door that he is usually taken out

• Slight staring at you (more likely in an older puppy)

• Slight whining (more likely in an older puppy)

In addition to the signs that your dog is showing you, there will be certain situations where your dog should automatically be taken out to go.

Situations When Your Puppy Should Be Taken Outside to Potty

• First thing in the morning

• Before or After a nap

• Regular intervals during the day (from 20min to 1 hour, extended as the puppy gets older.) As a rule of thumb, while awake a puppy can hold it for 1 hour for every 4 weeks of life (maximum) this max's out at 6-8 hours even for adult dogs.

• After a lot of excitement (playing, meeting new people)

• Shortly after drinking water (within 20 to 40min, depending on age)

  • Shortly after eating a meal

  • Right before you leave the house

  • Last thing before bed

  • After having a bath

These signs and situations may vary slightly for each puppy but use them as a guide to get started. Try to notice the unique signs that your puppy shows you. Because potty training largely depends on your success rate, follow this motto: When in Doubt, Take them Out! It’s better to be wrong then it is to miss a sign from your puppy.

It should be mentioned that while often people on Facebook will brag that their puppy was housebroken in 1 day, this is likely not the case (they may have already been housebroken at the breeders.) Some puppies catch on quickly, some take longer. Some breeds are prone to have a weak bladder, which can take up to a year to strengthen to the point where they can hold it for long periods of time. Just remember that every puppy is different. There is no absolute measure you can or should compare your puppy to. Just be vigilant and consistent.

Follow the steps outlined above and you will get there.

Of course, even with the best intentions and efforts, your puppy will have the occasional accident in the house. If you see your puppy eliminating in the house or stumble onto a pile or puddle left by your puppy, I want you to do the following: Take a heavy magazine or newspaper and roll it up nice and tight, then smack yourself in the head!

Of course, we’re not going to hit our puppy, the point I am making is that in order for your pup to have had an accident it means that we were not doing our part in supervising them!

But on a serious note, if you do see your puppy going to the bathroom in the house and they are still in the act, simply scoop them up and take them outside as fast as possible. Don’t say a word of punishment or scolding. When they eliminate outside, praise them. If you find evidence of an accident after it has happened, do not rub your puppy’s face in it, yell at them or anything along those lines; your puppy has a very short attention span right now, they will not make the connection. Simply clean up the mess and move on.

Crate Training

Before we get started on this topic, lets address the notion that crate training is cruel. It absolutely is not. While we love our puppies, it is crucial to remember that they are dogs. They do not think like us. In addition to being pack animals, they are also den animals. Remember that we have to train our puppies from their perspective, not our own. If we treat our pets as people, we are not going to give them what they need to flourish, and that’s just not fair to them.

This attitude is, however, understandable. Some people take one look at a common wireframe kennel in the store and think that the crate is a jail! Well, it does kind of look like one. After all, jail keeps us separated from our loved ones, it has bars, it is tight, confined, and is a consequence for people who have misbehaved, or worse. But that is us attaching human thinking to something that a dog views completely different.

When introduced correctly, your puppy will view his crate as a safe spot, his den, his sleeping quarters, and they will often go into the crate on their own when they are just looking for their own space.

Remember – we are not asking YOU to stay in a crate. We are simply using the crate to manage our puppy's space, ensure his safety when not around, control resources and give him a safe space to retreat to.

I strongly urge everyone, not just puppy owners, to crate train their dogs. Having a dog that crates well is a huge advantage that comes in handy in so many situations both now and in the future. Let’s look at some of those advantages.

Safety

Leaving a puppy unattended in the house, or gated off kitchen, bathroom, or other small space, leaves them with access to a variety of dangerous temptations. Whether that means they get into the trash and eat something toxic, or they chew on an electrical cable and get electrocuted, tear apart a pillow and choke on the stuffing, get into the household cleaners, or they jump on the kitchen chairs and they fall and get injured, the list just goes on and on. One of our jobs is to keep our pets safe, a crate can help us do this.

Potty Training

Controlling space while we are not interacting with our puppies is very important. In a large space like a gated off kitchen, a puppy can casually eliminate in one corner of the room and simply lay down, play, or nap on the other side of the room without consequence. A properly fitted crate will not allow your puppy the luxury of doing this and allows all of your potty-training efforts to be reinforced and practiced while you are away. Crates help with potty training because a puppy will have learned from its mother not to mess in the area it lives in. We use a create to take advantage of this fact and help with the potty training.

Traveling

A crate will provide something familiar for your dog when traveling to new places. Whether it’s a friend’s house for the night, relatives’ home for the weekend, or a week-long vacation with your dog, the crate will always be something that your dog understands and can instantly relate to, making traveling and other types of transitions less stressful. WHen first beginning to transport your dog in your vehicle I recommend using a crate in the vehicle. It will be less scary and safer for your dog. Dogs that are free to move around in the back seat while we are driving tend to drive up their anxiety levels through this type of pacing behavior as the stimulus they see in the windows causes stress.

The list of advantages goes on and on. Hopefully you can see the benefit of having a dog that is crate trained. Starting to train your puppy to understand the crate should start as soon as your dog steps into your home. But before starting to train your dog to behave in his crate, let’s make sure you are working with the right equipment.

Choosing a Crate

There are two main types of crates that you will find on the market, wire-frame crates and plastic crates. Wireframe kennels have the advantage that they can be purchased with a divider that can enlarge the dogs living space as it grows. This is less expensive overall and very convenient. I have not found any plastic crates that can do the same thing. There is a risk to your dog from a wireframe kennel, however. Dog collars can get caught on the metal and if you have a dog that has anxiety and persistently tries to escape his crate, a plastic crate is a much much safer alternative. Some dogs have seriously injured themselves, some have even died, trying to escape from a wireframe kennel. Still, for growing puppies a wireframe kennel may be more convenient and less expensive until your dog is reliably potty trained and fully grown. At that time, I highly recommend switching to a high quality plastic Crate (not the petsmart special travel crate.) Please read our articles on kennel recommendations for more detailed information and recommendations.

If you have selected a wireframe crate, you will want to get a crate that is appropriate for the size that your dog will be when full grown, not the current size of your puppy. Make sure the model you buy comes with a divider panel. The removable divider panel is what’s going to allow you to adjust the size of the crate, ensuring that it’s the right size as your puppy grows and gets larger. Additionally, find one with a plastic pan can easily be slid in and out when cleaning up the occasional accident. If you choose a plastic kennel, you will need to buy multiple kennels until the dog is fully grown. At each stage the kennel will need to be sized appropriately.

When determining how much space your puppy needs, and where in a wireframe crate that divider panel should go, follow this general rule: the crate should only be large enough for the puppy to be able to stand up, turn around, and lay down comfortably. An area larger than this will only allow your puppy to potty on one side of the crate and lay down on the other side, defeating the purpose of using a crate to help potty train your puppy. Be sure to remember to adjust the divider panel in the crate and give your puppy more space as he grows.

Now that you have your crate you are going to want to stuff it full of cushions, blankets, stuffed toys, water bowls, and other accessories, right?

Wrong! When beginning to potty and crate train a puppy you shouldn’t have much inside the crate with your puppy. Your puppy is very likely to chew on the blankets, drink too much water, shred those stuffed toys and who knows what kinds of trouble they will get themselves into. During the beginning stages of crate training the only things that should be in the crate are your dog and some “safe” toys.

Safe toys mean hard rubber toys or toys that are designed to be chewed on without small pieces that can be torn off and easily swallowed. Initially keeping blankets and other bedding out of the crate will also allow for easy clean up when your puppy has an accident.

After you have the crate sectioned off, you will want to find a spot for your puppy’s crate. The location of the crate is totally a matter of personal preference, but there are some guidelines I would follow that are listed in the following section.

Crate Training Guidelines

1. Do not put your crate in your bedroom or the bedroom of any other family members. In addition to needing our own space, your puppy has to start learning to function out of sight from your and other family members. Now is a perfect time to have your puppy understand that they do not always have to be within touching distance of you; independence is a good thing. Not creating independence leads to dependence and possibly to separation anxiety.

2. Avoid putting the crate in a garage, basement, or any other location that is not climate controlled; extreme heat and cold are not good for your puppy. Some other suggestions for crates are living rooms, laundry rooms, spare bedrooms, or other areas of their homes that are suitable for living in.

3. Food and treats can be great tools to use when first introducing your puppy to his crate. Laying out treats in a trail-like fashion leading to the crate can be a great first step to getting your puppy into his crate.

4. When you are making the first introductions to the crate you will want to leave the door open at all times and just get your puppy used to traveling in and out of the crate on their own. As you continue to practice this drill you can be verbally overlaying a “crate” or “kennel” command. As you continue with this drill you can start offering your puppy more treats when they are inside the crate, again leaving the door open. Do not try to block their path if they try to leave the crate, instead simply lure them back into the crate with more treats. I would also suggest leaving the crate door open, even when you are not actively practicing these drills. Providing your puppy with access to his crate will often encourage curious behavior and you will see him wander over to the crate on his own time to investigate. 

5. As you continue these drills it’s important to start leaving your puppy in his crate with the door closed for short periods of time. Even if you are not leaving the house, start teaching your puppy that small increments of time spent in the crate is just something he is going to have to get used to. There is nothing wrong with initially sitting next to the crate and continuing to offer treats to your puppy for a few minutes at a time. Just be sure to eventually start walking away from the crate for a few moments. 

6. Providing your puppy with interactive toys during crate training sessions is encouraged! Filling a Twist & Treat with some peanut butter or some kibble is going to keep your puppy busy for a while and he will not concentrate on the fact that you are out of sight. As your puppy finishes interacting with his treats and toys it may be common to hear some whining or barking. Although your puppy is vocalizing that he wants out of that darn crate, it’s important to not let him out and to not mark that type of behavior. 

7. 7.   If we let the puppy out of the crate while he is barking and whining, he will quickly learn that this is what gets that door to open. If we run into the room and coddle the pup at the first sign of whimpering, he will also learn that this works for him. So, when your puppy cries, screams, barks, or whines in the crate, simply ignore him. This can be emotionally trying, and it can get very annoying, but we have to overcome this hurdle if we want the crying and barking to ever stop. Even in the middle of the night, DO NOT let your puppy out when he cries (aren’t you glad the crate isn’t in your bedroom?)

8. If barking and crying works, they will continue to practice it. When behaviors don’t work for dogs and puppies, the behavior extinguishes itself. Your puppy has to learn that the only time and the only thing that gets him released from the crate is him being quiet. Even if you are ready to let your pup out but he is crying, wait for a brief pause and then let him out. If you know that your puppy isn’t whining because he has to go potty, wait until the barking, whining, and crying stops and count to 20. Then you can open the door.

9. Never use the crate as punishment. The crate should be a happy, safe, and quiet spot for your dog.

There are going to be times when you have to close the door and leave your puppy in his crate for extended periods of time, quite possibly before they are really ready. Turning in for the night or leaving the house for work are times when your puppy is simply going to have to learn that they need to remain in their crates.

How long is too long?

In a perfect world we would all quit our jobs and crate train our puppies until they are totally comfortable. In reality, we have jobs, commitments, obligations, and social lives. The answer is that your puppy has to learn to adapt to your schedule; if that means they are going to be in the crate for 4, 6, or 8 hours at a time, then so be it. We all love our puppies and dogs, but I promise you they will be fine with being crated, provided they have the correct introduction.

To be fair to our puppies, however, they need physical and mental exercise. When your puppy has been in the crate for extended periods of time make sure you are still giving them a sufficient outlet for all of their energy. Taking your puppy on walks, playing fetch, puppy play dates, and other games are absolutely required; there is no getting around this.

What do you do if you get home from a long day at work and you see that your puppy has eliminated in his crate?

Nothing. Simply let him out of the crate and take him outside to potty again. Do not punish your puppy. At this age some puppies will have no choice but to eliminate in their crates when being crated for a long period of time. Their little bodies just may not be able to hold it.

The rule of thumb for how long a puppy can hold it is 1 hour for every 4 weeks of age.

As your puppy gets older this will no longer be an issue. In order to help decrease the likelihood of an accident in the crate, be sure to feed your puppy with enough time to eliminate before being crated for long periods. The same goes for water, cut the water off a few hours before bed and before leaving for work.

Leaving the house is not the only time your puppy should be in its crate. Here are some guidelines for when your puppy should be crated.

Overnight

When we are sleeping our puppies could be doing almost anything if they are not in their crates. Also, we want them to know that everyone sleeps at night, crating will help make that association.

When no one is home

This should be a given; for safety reasons and the main fact that no puppy has earned the right to wander freely throughout the house. Even when we are not home, crates can act as an extension of our rules, boundaries, and regulations.

Nap time

Crating your puppy at times where they are most likely going to “pass out” will stack the deck in your favor and your puppy is much more likely to have a calm and peaceful experience in the crate. When you are not directly interacting with your puppy - It’s prime timing for puppies to potty in the house or get into other trouble when we are cooking dinner, working on the computer, or putting away our laundry. The crate acts as a “babysitter” for times when we cannot monitor and interact with our dogs.

When coming inside from a potty run without eliminating

As we discussed in the potty-training section, crating your dog for those 10 to 15 minutes after coming inside from an unsuccessful potty trip is important. The crate will act as a preventative measure for an accident in the house until we can take the puppy outside again.

Random times throughout the day

Doing this will help create an association with your puppy that just because you are within site and in the house, the rules of the crate still apply. Crating is helpful if you see your puppy becoming overstimulated. This is common if you have many small children and your home has high levels of energy. If the dog is getting too amped up, a couple of hours of downtime in the kennel is good practice for helping them learn how to calm down.

Other times that are unique to your life

If you feel that your puppy needs to be crated, follow through on that idea. If crating your pup prevents a potty accident, keeps your puppy safe, or provides some other solution for you, go for it.

After Puppy-Hood

Implementing the practices and following the advice we covered in this article are absolutely going to benefit you and your puppy. Your puppy is going to be happy knowing that you and your family are his leaders. He will be confident about going out in public, meeting people and other animals, and will have the knowledge of where to go potty and will thrive in his new home with you and your family.

Although this material is targeted to puppies, older dogs can absolutely benefit from the same information as well. Because the information we covered goes beyond puppyhood, it’s important to keep up with the structure and stick to the outlined information as your puppy gets older and reaches adulthood.

While most of the skills we discussed are lifelong training practices, as your puppy matures you can begin to change some of the exercises once your puppy has earned your trust.

For example:

• Over time you will be able to monitor the water a lot less because your puppy has proven that he knows where to go potty, is able to hold it during the appropriate times, and hasn’t had an accident in the house in a few months.

• If you want to, and your dog is stable and well-balanced, you can start to invite your dog onto some of the furniture; the key word here is invite. Don’t let your dog automatically jump onto the couch, that is still a resource that you want to control and inviting him up at your approval is still controlling it! SOme dogs cannot make the distinction, however, and one invite to them means that it's forever allowed. If this is the case then back to off of the furniture.

• You can start allowing your dog more and more time out of his crate. I would still keep the crate as part of his daily routine, but if he can be trusted to sleep on his dog bed without getting into trouble then good for you!

The things I mentioned above should not be rushed into.

Don’t be in a big hurry to start throwing more and more responsibility at your dog or puppy before they are ready. If you relax your rules and boundaries too much before your dog is ready, you will see a backslide, and you will need to return to the same old rules that were previously working and keep them in place for longer.

Also, as your puppy matures, his brain will be maturing as well, and he will be ready for more intensive training. It really depends on the maturity level of the puppy, but by the six-month mark, he may be ready to start real obedience classes that will set him up for later success in life. That is the perfect time for a dog to enter our Board and Train Program.

Remember that obedience can be taught at any time. It is more important to address the skills we covered in this article as soon as possible. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to undo things later in life that are not addressed at the right time - that right time is NOW!