Episode #210 The Biggest Mistake People Make When Bringing Home A New Puppy

Unlock the secrets to raising a well-behaved puppy as we tackle one of the biggest hurdles new pet parents face: giving their furry friends too much freedom too soon. Discover essential strategies to create a structured environment that promotes security and prevents behavioral issues. From setting up a comforting "Zen Den" to the effective use of crates, leashes, and tethers, I share actionable tips that will help guide your puppy toward becoming a content and well-adjusted member of the family.

Join me, Amy Jensen, as I explore the heartwarming journey of building a strong bond with your puppy. Patience, consistency, and love are the cornerstones of this rewarding process, and with time and dedication, you’ll see your efforts reflected in a delightful canine companion. By tuning in, you'll gain insights and encouragement to foster a harmonious relationship with your puppy, ensuring your home is filled with joyful experiences and lasting memories. Don't forget to subscribe for more support and resources, and let's embark on this exciting journey together.

Chapters

• 0:00 Puppy Training Tips for New Owners
• 8:46 Building a Bond With Your Puppy

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

The biggest mistake people make when bringing home a new puppy is giving that puppy too much freedom too soon. Bringing home a new puppy is one of the most exciting moments for any pet parent, but it's also a time when things can easily go off track if you're not careful. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter 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 and welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for listening. Today's audio comes from our YouTube channel at Baxter and Bella, so we are talking about the biggest mistake I see people make. Let's jump into it. If you want to see the video, head over to our YouTube channel.

Speaker 1: 1:00

When we give our puppies too much freedom too soon, this can lead to a lot of unwanted behaviors. They can get into a lot of mischief, mostly doing puppy things which are normal behaviors to them, but things that we don't want them doing in our house. It's tempting to give your puppy all the space to roam and explore because they're so cute. But the truth is giving them too much freedom too soon can lead to major behavioral issues down the road. Remember, your puppy is just that a puppy. So they're going to do puppy behaviors, like digging, maybe, in your carpets. They might want to jump up onto your sofas. They might want to go and steal that sock, especially if it's a smelly one. They're going to explore and want to get into mischief. I know it can be tough, but puppies need structure, boundaries and routine to feel safe and secure. When a puppy feels safe and secure, they're more likely to relax and settle in your home. It's easier to begin with a good habit and build the good habits rather than undo an unwanted habit. So what should you do instead? Start with structure. The first few days that your puppy comes home, we want to have a nice routine in place and a plan as to where that puppy is going to spend their time, to set them up for success. Today I'm going to share with you four tips on how to make this process easy. Number one is set up a Zen Den. Create a space that looks very similar to your puppy's previous home. This will help soothe and comfort them as they transition to your home. When they first arrive they don't know who you are, if you're safe or if you can be trusted where they are, or if it is again a safe environment. There are layers of stress there and it can take up to several weeks for your puppy to relax and settle in. Zenden's can speed up that process by making them feel at home.

Speaker 1: 2:36

Bella's Zenden was a crate with an exercise pen attached. Her food and water bowls were inside as well. I also made sure a variety of toys and chews were in it to keep her entertained, and a soft bed if she chose to sleep on it. Sometimes you'll be in the pen with your puppy. Other times you'll be outside and they'll be inside the pen and there's going to be that barrier there. But that's the first step in teaching your puppy how to be alone and to feel safe. When they are in fact alone Remember they don't know that they came from a litter of puppies. They were sleeping in puppy piles, they were playing with their litter mates, pretty much 24-7. So again, when they come to our house, they're all alone. They've never been alone. There's going to be a little struggle there, but we can definitely help them feel safe and secure in their new home.

Speaker 1: 3:17

Number two let's talk about crates. Crate training is really important with your new dog. Again, it's Crates aren't just for house training. They provide your puppy with a safe, quiet space where they can feel calm and secure. It helps them learn where they should and shouldn't go potty and gives your dog a place to rest when they're feeling overwhelmed. So do your dog a huge favor and, from the beginning, teach them how to be okay in a crate. If you need help with this, check out our online puppy school. We can show you exactly how to do it.

Speaker 1: 3:48

Next, let's talk leashes and tethers. Even when you're inside the house, use a leash to help guide your puppy's movements and prevent them from exploring too much too soon. This helps you keep control and reinforce positive behavior while they learn. We start training by letting our dogs have one room to play in train in. This is where they eat their meals. This is where their crate and their Zen Den are. Now, yes, of course, your puppy can go elsewhere in your house. That's totally fine. But if they do, we want to make sure they just went potty outside and then attach a little leash to them, and that's the safest time to then bring them into your home and other areas. So with that little leash attached, it's easy to keep track of where they are. There's not going to be running and hiding behind a sofa or under a coffee table and you can't find them. You can tell where they are and it's helpful for you to keep a watchful eye on them, because when they come in and they're not in that one room area, you've got to watch them like a hawk. If they start to circle and sniff the carpet, I don't need to go to the bathroom. Let's interrupt that, redirect them back outside, whereas if I'm not watching them closely, a lot of mistakes can happen and then these unwanted habits begin to form, which we don't want.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Leashes act as tethers as well, so they can be tethered. To me, I can have my puppy tethered to a door or a heavy piece of furniture. We want to make sure our puppies are safe, so always supervise them while tethered. But if my puppy's tethered, they can't be jumping on the guests that just came over. They can't be bothering my children who are playing with toys on the floor. There's a lot of behaviors we can prevent just by using a simple tether. They can be in the room with us, they can be doing family activities, but they are restricted to a certain area so they're not just running freely, causing chaos and mayhem for everybody.

Speaker 1: 5:22

As I mentioned, we want to always make sure we're supervising our puppy when tethered and we want to keep these sessions super short. They can be positive. This is not a negative experience that our puppy when tethered and we want to keep these sessions super short. They can be positive. This is not a negative experience that our puppy is tethered. We want to make sure that we're including them in on the fun. So asking them to do simple behaviors, tricks even that the kids like to do with the dog is great, and we're rewarding the puppy for being calm and entertaining themselves really off to the side while the family is doing something over here. So again, kids playing on the floor with toys. Have your puppy tethered over here. Yeah, your puppy can have their favorite chew or every so often you're dropping them food rewards for just relaxing on the floor next to the family.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Number four is setting clear limits. Think of your puppy like a toddler. They're constantly learning and it's our job to teach them what is and is not appropriate to do and make sure we're setting them up for success by showing our puppy. This is what I want you to do when we're eating dinner. This is what I want you to do when I'm unloading the dishwasher. This is what I want you to do when I'm vacuuming, and then we reward them for that and they'll continue to choose that behavior in the future. Now have a family meeting before your puppy comes home. In our program we have a sheet that will go through the questions for you and you can start to talk and discuss about what it is you want it to look like when your dog comes home. Make sure you're all on the same page. Use a leash, as we discussed, to prevent unwanted behavior like jumping, and then we're going to teach our puppy what we want them to do. So reward that sit to say please or that really nice go to bed behavior.

Speaker 1: 6:43

All right now that we've talked about the four ways to manage our puppy training. So management and training go hand in hand. We can't have one without the other. We need both. When we talk training sessions, we want to make sure we keep them short. Remember the concept that our puppy is like a human toddler. Their attention spans are really short. So training three to five minutes throughout the day, maybe when they first get up in the morning we do a little session, then maybe mid morning we do another one, maybe lunchtime another couple minutes. Afternoon, another few minutes. In the evening, another couple minutes.

Speaker 1: 7:12

As your puppy gets older and they become house trained, then they're going to be out and about with you more often and the training will just become part of your day. But when they're little and they're brand new and we haven't done much training with them, we need to set aside time for dedicated sessions. But again, super short three minutes here, five minutes there. And remember, as part of those training sessions we want to be saying yes way more often than we're saying no. Remember, we want our puppies to be cooperative, not frustrated. So right now, grab a paper and a pen or put this on your phone as a screensaver.

Speaker 1: 7:45

Think what do I want my dog to do? And then teach your dog to do that. A lot of us tend to think of I don't want them to do this, I don't want them to do that. That just leads to a lot of nose, a lot of frustration. So think instead what do I want my dog to do when guests come over? What do I want my dog to do when we're eating dinner? What do I want my dog to do when I'm watching a show? Right, I'm sitting on the sofa relaxing. What do I want that to look like? And then I shape that, I teach my dog how to do that, I reward that behavior and that behavior starts to become the habit.

Speaker 1: 8:15

Puppies are really eager to please and they love to be with you. They're social creatures, but they need guidance. So make sure that you're giving them that structure, those boundaries and the rules in which we run our households, so that they can understand what they can do and what they can't do, and they'll be less frustrated by the time your puppy is a little bit older and they understand the rules of the house. Yes, absolutely. We can give them more freedom, but that has to be earned. Through training and trust. They demonstrate to us that they know how to follow the rules of our house and then the household opens up to them.

Speaker 1: 8:46

So this comes with time. Be patient, don't be in a hurry to make this happen. It will come with time and training, being super consistent, patient and loving with these new puppies and helping them figure out what it means to live in a house with humans. 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.