training
Raising a Puppy Sally Bradbury provides a range of tips to help new puppy guardians set their pup up for success while avoiding potential pitfalls
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f you've read the children’s book Jack and Billy: Puppy Tales that I co wrote with Steven Goodall, you may remember that we related the tale of two littermates who were placed into two very different homes. Explains Norris (2019): “In the case of Jack and Billy, both puppies go to homes that are similar: they both have children, both puppies have access to toys, both puppies are to be crate trained and house trained, and both puppies go out for walks. But there is a big difference in the two families’ approaches. While Jack’s family is organized in their puppy raising plan, it is easy to see that Billy’s family is not terribly prepared.” While Billy's family didn’t always get it right, it didn't mean they loved him any less, not in the beginning anyway. For example, at bedtime they left him in the kitchen shut in a crate from day one. He cried at night for a long time because he was scared and alone. They taught him to uri nate on newspaper in the kitchen but he was reprimanded for urinating in the kitchen if the newspaper wasn't there. They gave him lots of toys and left them on the floor amid the children's shoes and the TV remote and then got cross when Billy chewed the wrong thing. They didn’t socialize him with other dogs which resulted in him being fearful and then reactive when he encountered dogs on walks. As a re sult of being reprimanded when out for walks, Billy did not always have such a great desire to be with his family and so when he was let off leash it was more fun to chase rabbits and squirrels. One day Billy discovered a meat bone in the kitchen garbage bin but not before he had scattered the rest of the contents all over the floor first. Billy often got himself into trouble just for being a puppy and was destined to fail simply because his family didn't know how to help him succeed. It's actually quite straightforward to set your puppy up to succeed by just remembering these four points:
© Can Stock Photo / schorsch
Guardians can avoid potential pitfalls by setting up their puppies for success right from the outset
Think of your relationship with your puppy as a bank account. Every positive interaction is a deposit and every time you scowl or get cross or punish you make a withdrawal. As soon as your account goes overdrawn then things will most likely go from bad to worse but keep a nice healthy bank balance and you and you pup will soon end up as millionaires in the relationship stakes. Teach: Anything you'd like him to learn, e.g. outside is where you uri
1. Prevent 2. Reinforce 3. Teach 4. Interrupt Positively
nate; guardians are fun to be with on a walk, it’s a fun thing to stay on your bed and relax, can be taught with positive reinforcement.
Prevent: Make sure your puppy doesn't become distressed and scared at being alone by taking them to your room at night or by sleeping down stairs with them until pup is confident enough to be alone. During the day, let puppy be with you in the early days if that’s what he chooses to do. Put shoes in wardrobes when not on feet. Keep the TV remote out of reach. Use a puppy pen so that puppy is safely contained with his chew toys.
Reinforce: Capture behaviors that you like by giving praise and rewards when your puppy is engaging in desirable behaviors as this encourages pup to do it again at every opportunity. 38
BARKS from the Guild/July 2020
Interrupt: Teach a positive interrupter. Never get cross and risk frighten ing your puppy. Teach a word that means, "Quick, stop what you are doing and get over here and see what I've got for you!" With the best will in the world, no puppy goes through life never doing something we don’t want them to do!
Investment Think of your relationship with your puppy as a bank account. Every posi tive interaction is a deposit and every time you scowl or get cross or pun ish you make a withdrawal. As soon as your account goes overdrawn then things will most likely go from bad to worse but keep a nice healthy bank balance and you and your pup will soon end up as millionaires in the relationship stakes.
