Episode #202 Involving the Entire Family in Training Your New Dog

Training a puppy doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be a delightful game that fosters family bonding and boosts confidence. Discover creative ways to transform training into a fun adventure for kids and pups alike with activities like “find your food” or toy scavenger hunts. We also explore how to keep the enthusiasm alive long after the novelty fades by praising children’s efforts and encouraging them to take on more responsibilities. Learn how participation in local classes and celebrating milestones can cultivate a team atmosphere that enriches your family life and creates a joyful experience for all.

Chapters

• 0:00 Family Involvement in Puppy Training
• 9:06 Family Bonding Through Puppy Training

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I know some of you are about to bring home a new dog, so on today's episode, we are talking about how do we involve the entire family and create consistent training. Welcome to the puppy training podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter and Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hello everybody, thanks for listening. I really appreciate you sharing this show with your friends and neighbors who may be getting a new dog soon. The holidays are coming and that tends to be a thing, so if you know anybody bringing home a new dog in the next several months, please share our podcast with them and send them to our website, baxter and Bella. We would love to coach them through the process.

Speaker 1: 1:06

Now, on that note, today we are talking about okay, this dog arrives, we're all super excited, and how do we move forward? Making sure that everyone is involved and that the puppy is not overwhelmed and we get everybody off to a good start. So let's talk about first preparation. I think it's really important that we set realistic expectations before the puppy arrives. So before you bring your dog into the home, we want to have a family discussion. We have a family meeting outline for you in our program if you need some guidance there. But we want to talk about the role of each person and how they'll participate in the dog's upbringing. Setting clear expectations from the beginning can help prevent confusion and it can ensure that everyone is on the same page. So we want to discuss roles and responsibilities. While you may be the primary caregiver, your spouse and children can still contribute in a meaningful way. Now we want to discuss with our spouses how they can support us, even if they're not interested in the puppy's training on a day-to-day basis, or maybe they're not as excited about the puppy as we are. We might want to ask them to help with feeding, bathroom breaks or taking the puppy to the vet. Uh, with children in our home, we can assign age appropriate tasks such as teaching teaching basic behavior like sit and the tricks the kids love to teach the tricks or they can participate in short training sessions and games. We have a games and activities page in our program that you can direct the kids to, to choose. Hey, what do you want to do with the puppy? Go, pick a game. This is how we play. Are we ready to play it? Okay, let's let the puppy out.

Speaker 1: 2:40

So I think it's important that people know who's going to feed the puppy, who's going to train the puppy, who's going to be in charge of potty trips, and that might vary on a day-to-day basis and it also might vary from potty trip to potty trip. There's going to be a lot of them in the beginning, but as long as we are on the same page as to how it's to be done, it goes a little more smoothly. So we also want to emphasize the importance of consistency. Now, family members need to understand that it's really important for these puppies that we have consistency. It really is a key to success. So we want to set a schedule for feeding. We want that puppy to eat about the same time every day. We want to do our training sessions throughout the day in small increments. We want to encourage everyone to stick to this routine as much as possible.

Speaker 1: 3:27

Now, in that routine, another thing that's really important are naps. It's really easy to forget those or overlook them and some puppies won't settle themselves down. They'll actually just play harder and they'll get more mouthy and more bitey and then pretty soon, you know, kids are in tears. So we want to make sure that we're monitoring the play and the training sessions and including appropriate nap times in that schedule as well. So even small things like using the same word. So when we ask the dog to lay down, are we saying down? Are we saying lay down? Are we saying settle, like what is the cue for the dog to lay down? So as part of our family meeting guide that I mentioned is in our program we walk through the language, what is going to be the language that we use with our dog, so that it's consistent from person to person. That will just up the speed of training that you experience with your dog. So we also want to talk about rewards and how we deliver those and what we're going to use as rewards, and all of these things will help the puppy understand what is expected of them.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Now that we've talked about preparation, let's talk about involving our spouse or our partners. We can encourage support without being overwhelming. So this will depend a lot on how supportive your spouse is. Hopefully they are on board before you make the decision to bring a dog home. It can be really complicated if there's one who doesn't want the dog and one who does. It goes much more smoothly and it's happier for everybody if we can both be on the same page before that dog arrives. So let's assume that our spouses are supportive and maybe they're not particularly enthusiastic about it or they don't maybe want to be overly involved with the dog training. We can definitely strike a balance between encouraging them to be involved and not overburdening them. Here are some ideas in how to make that happen.

Speaker 1: 5:19

So first again, training sessions are short. Most people, especially those who aren't interested in the intricacies of puppy training, appreciate shortness. Okay, keep training sessions short. About five to 10 minutes at a time is really all your puppy's attention span can handle. 10 is probably even stretching it. I would say well, maybe like three to five minutes for some puppies. It just depends on your dog. But focus on specific, manageable goals. Keep them realistic. So realistic expectations are going to set you up for success and your dog as well. For example, maybe my spouse enjoys being involved in teaching the puppy to do tricks Great, let's put them in charge of. Hey, teach the puppy something fun. Today We'll all be more responsible for the house training, maybe teaching the puppy to like their crate, some of those harder behaviors I'll take those ones on. Okay. Now we can also encourage the fun side of training. So that goes with the tricks that we just talked about.

Speaker 1: 6:14

But spouses who are hesitant about getting too involved may simply be overwhelmed by this new responsibility that we're expecting out of them. So remind them that, hey, having a dog can be fun. You can just bond with the doc, you can just lay on the sofa, watch a show and give the dog a belly rub. Or every time the puppy comes to you and sits, just toss a little food reward on the floor for them, and they can be part of this puppy's development in easier ways. So we take on the main bulk of the training and. But then our partners can be a big part of the downtime, the bonding, the trick training, all of the fun things, playing, the games, and that might inspire them to be actually more involved than you think initially.

Speaker 1: 6:59

So also leverage their strengths. So if my partner loves to go on walks, they can take over the leash walk training. Now we're going to have to start inside and there's going to be some prep work there. They might not be too interested in the prep work, so maybe I do the prep work and then, when the puppy's you know training is sufficient to go outside and start walking up and down our street. Maybe that's when my partner steps in and takes over that responsibility. So there'll be some give and take, there'll be some back and forth, but try to think of things that they are naturally good at and how they could transition those skills to puppy training.

Speaker 1: 7:32

Another example would be problem solving. Maybe they're really good at solving problems or they really like to problem solve. You know, your puppy is going to have some behavior that crops up that you don't love and you want to change. For example, maybe your puppy starts to chew the table leg and you really don't like that. Get your spouse involved on being creative and thinking. How can we change this behavior pattern? How can we teach our dog a new pattern of behavior that we like and the dog enjoys as well? So by involving them in areas that they're already comfortable with, we can make it easier for them to contribute positively without feeling pressured, and they'll even start to do it willingly. They'll want to be more involved.

Speaker 1: 8:12

Okay, next, let's talk about our children. If you have children in your home, how do we keep their interest alive, first and foremost with children? Recognize if it's the children in your house who are asking for the puppy, just realistic expectations. They are going to be super excited for the first little while, but that honeymoon phase will end and you'll probably need to be that primary caregiver. So just plan on that. Don't plan on my kids will take care of this puppy, because I promise in about a week it will be you. So keep that in mind as you bring a dog into your home and are you ready for one? We need to take that responsibility on ourselves. But yes, absolutely. Let's get our kids involved. So children can be some of the most enthusiastic participants. We just need to keep their expectations realistic and realize their attention spans may wane, just like our puppy's attention spans. So to keep them engaged and motivated, we'll need to tap into their natural love for animals, but also foster some of that responsibility and teach them to care for the dog.

Speaker 1: 9:06

Now we could do things like create fun training routines. Children often respond best to training. That feels like a game. If you can turn it into a game do it. We love in our program to make everything a game if possible, and training sessions feel like that. They're just fun. So we have a game called find your food, where your kids get to hide food around the house and the puppy has to search for it. You can do the same game with toys. Show your puppy a really fun, squeaky toy and ask your dog to stay. Or somebody holds their collar because they might not know stay initially, unless you've taught it to them. You can see how these games can evolve over time, but we'll ask our puppy for a stay. The kids can go hide the toy and then say, okay, go find your toy, and the dog gets to run through the house and search for it. So definitely make things fun. Your kids will want to play more with the dog and guess what your dog will want to do more training.

Speaker 1: 9:58

If we can make it fun, the dogs want to keep working. Also, we can reward progress. So kids, just like dogs, need feedback and they love praise and rewards right. So praise is one of the most effective ways we can get our kids involved with the training and give them a sense of accomplishment. We can celebrate little successes, whether it's their ability to teach the puppy a new trick or maybe their consistent effort with daily tasks like feeding. Maybe they cleaned up the yard right. Reward that for sure.

Speaker 1: 10:30

As your children become more comfortable with the dog, you can also begin to delegate more responsibility. So initially they might need help. They might need you standing right there by them to get the same behavior results that the puppy gives you. We want the puppy to give that to your child as well. So, for example, if your child says sit, we want the puppy to recognize oh, I know how to do that. I practiced that with Amy before right, and we can help shift that over to the child just by you being present. But eventually they'll start to be able to do that on their own and they won't need so much of your support. So as the dog is learning and you're teaching them new behavior, get your kids involved in practicing the behavior that you've taught the dog, or even give some of those fun things to say hey, who wants to teach the dog a new trick today? And let the kids totally take that part.

Speaker 1: 11:14

Over Again, set clear expectations and limits. We don't want things to drag on too long, because puppies get tired and when they're tired they get more mouthy, more bitey. They're irrational. They really just need a nap. So I even just set you know Siri device, set a timer saying you know, give us three to five minutes, and then, when that little sound goes off, oh, the puppy is ready to do something else and let's move on to a different activity. It could also just be it's time for nap time. So definitely set limits and help the children understand how important it is to notice how the puppy is reacting and when they start to get tired they'll show some signs that they're wearing out of this current session and we need to change activities, probably move into nap time, before they get too crazy.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Now we want to keep them involved even after the newness wears off. So as those first initial weeks end and the kids are not as excited about the new puppy because it's not as new, that novelty is worn off. We need to find ways to rekindle their interest so we can make new challenges like learning advanced behavior. We could encourage our kids to take part in maybe a local class such as agility or scent work or something that our dogs naturally love, and you'll start to learn your dog, you'll start to learn their natural instincts and the things that they thrive at. Some dogs love to search for things, some dogs love to catch a Frisbee. Some dogs love to just play and be with you. They just want to snuggle. So it's going to be dependent on what your dog loves to do. But help your kids set some future goals or some long-term goals as well, and that can rekindle some of that excitement with the dog.

Speaker 1: 12:57

Next, let's talk about building long term consistency and being a team, as a family. So we want to incorporate training into our family's daily routine. We want to ensure that everyone, even the less enthusiastic family members, are involved. So morning routines might include a quick leash training session or a brief potty session. Evening routines might include practicing some recall, or maybe we do some game time. Everyone's participation, however small, can really add up, and it's important that the puppy is treating each person similarly. So greetings, if we're all on the same page. That when the puppy comes to us, they sit and then we get down on their level and pet them. That's really helpful. Instead of having one person that accepts jumping and one person that doesn't. I get it. If somebody wants to have the puppy jump on them, let's just put that on cue so that we can ask the puppy to do it. And if we don't ask the puppy to do it, they just assume that person doesn't want it. So things like that will be important.

Speaker 1: 13:52

We also want to foster open communication, have regular check-ins with each family member about how they feel the training is going, have family meetings to discuss what's going well, what is challenging, and then we can have brainstorming sessions together. By creating a sense of teamwork and mutual support, we can help everyone feel that they have some play in the puppy's training. We can also celebrate the milestones together, whether it's our dog learning to sit maybe they've mastered potty training and now they have more space to roam in our houses, they have more open space to them or simply just growing up into a confident, happy dog. Take time to celebrate progress as a family. This reinforces the idea that everyone's efforts are important and valuable and it builds a sense of pride and accomplishment in the process.

Speaker 1: 14:39

Bringing home a puppy is so fun. It's a joyful experience. It is a lot of work. It takes patience and commitment. So set those realistic expectations with your family beforehand by making puppy training a family affair and encouraging each member to play a role. Whether it's small, consistent actions or just providing emotional support, we can create a positive and enduring bond with our new dogs. With thoughtful planning and consistent effort, everyone in the family can contribute to raising a well-behaved, happy dog, which is what we're looking for Now.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Recognizing our program, we really want you to be successful. We have a preparing for your puppy section. We also have the first week together section. So these are do-it-yourself learning modules on our site. You get in on your own time. You watch short little videos. You can read how to do it if you prefer that we explain the process like a recipe and then you head right into our basic training or puppy kindergarten. So definitely go check that out If you haven't already. You guys have a wonderful rest of your week and happy training. Thanks for tuning in to the puppy training podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online until next time. Happy training.