DEFINING WHAT IS A WELL BEHAVED DOG!Now you have some idea of what you have invited to live in your home. You need to work out what you want your dog to do in every situation you can think of and then teach your dog. If you do not know what you want, how is your puppy supposed to know? You have to give them clear instructions and guidance regarding all of these situations and any other situation where you may consider “dog behaviour” is different to what you want. Below is a list of some common situations your puppy will experience in the next few months. If you have worked out what you want your puppy to do in these situations and then teach them it will minimize the tension between you and your puppy and often save you a great deal of time and money.
What do you expect from your puppy?
What do you call a well-behaved dog?
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Table of common – situations to What is appropriate to chew on? Where are they supposed to dig? What are they supposed to chase What is appropriate to eat? How they are supposed to react to strangers? How do they cope with living by themselves? When are they supposed to bark? How are they supposed to play with tug toys? Children? Soft toys? Cats? ETC? How should they react to loud noises? When is it appropriate to Jump? It is not appropriate to guard food? Handling his/her feet, eyes, mouth etc. will not hurt? Where they are supposed to sleep? It is not appropriate to demand attention? When he is meant to stay? It is not appropriate to be always boisterous? When is it appropriate to get off the chair? When to come? When not to touch food? They must eat everything they are given? When should they relax? Etc. ???????? So now you can start on the exciting pathway of educating your puppy. Remember it started as soon as you got your puppy and it will finish when you say good bye to your faithful friend. Good Luck!
This checklist suggests many things that you should introduce Your Pup to. In an ideal world you would expose your puppy one hundred times to each of the items listed. Nobody manages this but do as well as you can. If you cannot manage all of them use your imagination to add items that may be more relevant to your puppy. Variety is the key! Remember, you cannot overdo socialization but keep exposure short and ensure your puppy is relaxed and confident at all times. If you think something is likely to be scary, then get take it slowly and ensure you have someone to available to distract your Puppy with a toy or a treat. Introduce the item at a distance, which is then gradually be reduced each time your puppy is exposed to the item. Use the tables below as a Socialization Diary for your puppy and tick off / keep track of how many exposures your puppy has particularly prior to 14 weeks of age.
Home Page After 14 weeks continue to expose your puppy to as many of these as possible. The goal is for the puppy to show no fear or trepidation around new situations. If introduced before 3 months of age, most puppies show no fear, and this is good. If the pup does show fear, do not try to comfort it, as this soothing talk and stroking may be perceived as praise and may increase the fearful behavior. The correct response is to ignore the fear, distract the puppy with a treat or favourite toy and reintroduce the stimulus/situation at a greater distance. Make sure you are acting very relaxed. Take it slowly and praise your puppy in a happy tone. Once the pup shows no fear in the situation, you can check it off the list. Continue socialization throughout the first year of life. Try for multiple contacts for each category ideally 100 times is perfect. A puppy needs many positive experiences before 4 months of age to promote a confident, friendly adult personality.
