So you have your new puppy! Congratulations! You have decided to take the responsibility for a new life that will be beholden to you. This is an exciting and scary time. You are a new “Puppy parent”. If it is your first dog there will be a list of things you will need to get. Maybe the breeder or rescues has already given you some tips. If they haven’t or you want to double check you are in the right place.
All the basics
Puppy development
Puppies grow FAST! Like I mean real FAST! If you had a human baby and it left your house at nine months old. That is how fast I am talking. Every week you will have a new dog to learn and address it’s changing needs. In the long run you will have an affect on that dog’s behavior hopefully for the better.
From Birth to Ten Weeks Old
This is the Infant/toddler stage of doggie development. They may not move around much or very well. You do not need excessive collars leashes and harnesses at this time that will come in the next stage of development. All you need right now is a collar and a leash. Teething starts at this stage and goes on until six months, and it is very much a trial.
You wake up groggy in the morning (like me) and go to get your coffee, but wait CHOMP the small inncoent looking puppy comes right at you! How could this happen to you this is supposed to be “Man’s best friend” right. This is a small animal going through A LOT of pain. They go through two sets of teeth in six months. Human teeth are not fully in until much later. They like ice and ice is your friend at this time. If you can numb the mouth then the puppy will not be so inclined to bite you. They get their first set of teeth at four months and then loose all their puppy teeth and get adult ones at six months it is still a good idea to brush your dog’s teeth which will be addressed in another article. They need to get used to have their teeth being brushed.
Ten weeks to six months old
At this point this is the “Young puppy” stage. They do get their first round of hormones at four months. The size of the dog matters. Smaller dogs will hit adolecense sooner than larger dogs. They get three rounds of hormones at a year (but seriously this will not apply to every dog at exactly these times it is just a rule of thumb guideline). At six months they his a ground breaking point and become a lot easier to deal with in some areas, and worse in others. They can fully hold back their poop and pee a lot easier cutting down on those accidents that are very common up until this point. They also getting all of their teeth in and the pain lessens making those morning “attacks” less dramatic. At six months begins their “doggie adolecence” as they gain weight they will be sure to double check their position in the group by not listening as good as they used to . Without very rigerous training at this tme there can be some serious consequences to the dogs behavior. Such as biting concerning aggression or possesion of certain things which will be discussed in one of the socilization articles to come.
One Year Old
This is when I know what kind of trainer that person is when their dog has just come out of puberty. It is hard to constantly deal with a dog that will qestion you. Some will laugh and keep on training others will become frustrated and turn to shock and prong collars. They test your meddle thats for sure. There are certain things you can’t control that can make this time difficult. More Vetrenarians are recommending that Large breed or even purebred dog owners do not spay or neuter larger dogs for the first year or longer, because of bone delevlopment. I respect that they are not recommending it to have the dogs make more puppies. It is still hard to take care of the dog because the dog is going to want to make puppies because they are intact (not spayed or neutered).
They do not listen as well when they are intact. Their focus will go down when they see another dog to the point of being obessed with every dog that comes by making it a fight with the dog each time. Their come when called is weakened, meaning that if you call that dog over they will not want to because they will want to make puppies instead. I rally do not judge the dogs for doing what their hormones are telling them to do. They are dogs after all and sex and food are the biggest drive for just about every form of life on the planet.
Your dog loves you…. but lets be real when you want to get laid, you just want to get laid. So the training is going to have to counterbalance that intese desire. Luckily food will do that you just have to keep using food until your dog is spaid or neutered.
Immunizations
Your Vet is not going to want you to walk your dog where other dogs have been because of Parvo a dangerous virus that can kill your puppy or affect later development. The problem is that the puppy develops their idea of the world at around ten weeks of age. If they are not exposed to busy urban life especially they may not be able to cope later in life and they may BARK and then become agressive. I ussually try to work with people to find a balance maybe take your dog on a long lead to a park with less dogs so they can be exposed in a healthy way. It can also help your dog avoid later injury because they will have a healthy amount of exercise (esspecially in high energy breeds).
Pawvana 