Puppy Socialization.
At the DogSmith we believe your puppy should start school after it has had its first round of shots if the puppies mother had a good vaccination history. If you have recently, within 7 days, adopted your puppy from a rescue group then its best to wait ten days before you enroll your puppy into a DogSmith class. Read the Pet Professional Guild's Position statement on Puppy Socialization. Yes go ahead and register your puppy in a puppy class as soon as possible.
The risks of Early socialization. Dr. Ian Dunbar says " The risks are minimal to non-existent and the benefits are positively HUGE, namely, learning bite inhibition (via dog-dog play-fighting),socialization with people (during off leash play), handling by strangers, and owners learning to train their pups in a controlled yet extremely distracting setting (integrating training interludes into play, so that rather than being a distraction to training, play with other dogs becomes a reward for training). Plus, it is a fun night out for dogs and their human families"
Through the PPG we also offer to you a great puppy socialization checklist to support our position statement on puppy socialization. Click here to download a FREE copy of this training tool. In a DogSmith puppy class your local DogSmith will help you to develop a puppy socialization program for your individual puppy
The Puppy Nipping Guide.
One of the most frequent problems owner report to us when they are raising their puppy is puppy nipping. Since puppies are born without hands, the only way they have to explore the world is with their mouths. And you may have noticed your puppy is quite the explorer. Everything goes into those little mouths, including your fingers, and those baby teeth are like little needles. Ouch!
It's completely normal for puppies in their litters to bite each other in play. When they engage in this "bitey-face" game, they learn a little about how to inhibit the strength of their biting. If one puppy bites another too hard, that puppy probably will yelp and stop playing. If that happens enough times, the biter learns to apply less pressure. If you need help teaching your puppy appropriate mouth behaviors then download our Puppy Nipping Guide and then contact your local DogSmith for hand on guidance and help.
The Proper Use of Food In Dog Training
Why should I use food when training my dog? Surely if I ask my dog to do something he should just do it? Dogs are thinking, feeling, intelligent creatures. Though they are not little people in fur suits, like us they will do things that are fun and rewarding and avoid things that are not. Asking your dog to do something ‘just because you said so’ is like your boss asking you to work for no pay. How motivated would you be to do it? You could force your dog to comply, but what would that do to your relationship? How would you feel about somebody who forced you to work? On the other hand, if you set up the game that your dog understands as “If I do what you want, you’ll give me a treat,” it’s a relationship-building win-win situation. The dog is motivated to learn, and both of you can enjoy the training session. You love your dog, so why wouldn’t you want to use a training “tool” that gets him excited and makes him happy? Download a copy of this article
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