The Art of Raising a Puppy

Text in black are quotes; text in green are my notes. I sometimes write in Spanish.

• When soiled papers are not picked up regularly, the pups wrestle and stomp in their own feces and lose their natural aversion to soiling where they play or sleep. They also quite likely will begin eating their own excrement. This may lead to health problems as well as habitual stool eating (coprophagy) as adults. Thus, kennel cleanliness is essential for proper socialization and should be an important consideration in determining where you adopt your new puppy. #

• Never adopt a puppy under six weeks of age. The interaction occurring within the litter at that time is too critical to a pup’s development. #

• Ordinarily, we send puppies to their new homes between eight and ten weeks, depending on particular circumstances. #

• Precisely because dogs are so absolutely honest, they mirror us all the time, reflecting how we’re coming across, how we are being understood. #

• We have often spoken of the fact that the word obedience comes from a Latin word that means “to listen wholeheartedly.” #

• There is nothing sentimental in regarding a new puppy as an additional member of your family: this is how he will view you. #

• Making a smart decision regarding a puppy is more complicated than most people imagine. #

• What almost all of these puppies have in common is that they have been separated from their mother and/or siblings prior to eight weeks of age. What is more, the closer the separation is to five weeks of age, and the more radical the separation, the more severe the symptoms are because the pups don’t learn how to inhibit their bites, much less how to act in relation to other dogs or people. #

• Many people do not realize when choosing a name that dogs are not people. A dog does not understand a name the way we do. She does not identify herself with it or take her self-identity from it. She recognizes the particular sound we have imposed on her only as a call to attention, having learned to associate it with our desire for attentiveness. #

• When you arrive home, first take the puppy outdoors to the spot you have chosen for his soiling area and wait for him to eliminate. #

• During these first days, whenever your pup begins to focus his attention on you—either to follow or simply to look up at you—say his name in a cheerful, pleasant tone that encourages him to hold eye contact. These simple dominance exercises quickly teach your pup his name while presenting you as his leader in a way that builds confidence and trust. #

• As soon as you rise in the morning, get dressed quickly and take your pup immediately to his soiling area. Let him empty completely; puppies will sometimes eliminate several times first thing in the morning. When he has finished, praise him cheerfully and return to the house. #

• So when is the right time to spay/neuter? This is not a question with a black-and-white, absolute answer. When clients ask us about this, we tend to take our cues from the current state of the dog’s temperament. If we’re dealing with a high-spirited, challenging dog, we might advise the client to trade additional bone density for the benefits of a more juvenile psychological state—the owner will likely be able to live more peacefully with the dog long-term. On the other hand, if the dog lacks confidence or is manifestly juvenile or submissive by temperament, we may recommend waiting until a heat has passed #

• So, for us, the answer to the question of when to spay/neuter depends on the specific dog rather than on a universal guideline. #

• First thing every morning, take your pup immediately to her soiling area. Do not let her out by herself, even if your yard is fenced. Taking your pup out ensures that she will consistently use the same spot and that your praise is properly timed. Always use the same door and route, and for the first several months leave one or two stools in the soiling area each day for her to smell. #

• Plan on feeding your young puppy three times daily, at the same times each day. An ideal schedule is 7:00 a.m., noon, and 5:00 p.m., because it ensures that your pup will be empty by the time he goes to sleep and can pass the night without having to go out. Keep to this schedule until the pup shifts to two meals daily, between fourteen and eighteen weeks of age. #

• During the house-training period, plan on taking your pup to his soiling area once every hour and a half. #

• Puppies live entirely in the present. They do not “remember” acts of house-soiling, and punishments given after the fact only confuse the pup and harm your relationship. #

• Everything should be geared toward conditioning your pup to remain close to you. #

• To top things off, your puppy will probably go through a second fear period, when his behavior will swing from being independent and bratty (twelve to fourteen weeks) to periodically cautious and fearful (sixteen to twenty-four weeks), even of things with which he had formerly been comfortable. #

• Make no mistake about it: training is never just optional. #

• In training, letting the dog ignore known commands or get away with unacceptable behavior is always a formula for future problems. #

• What is truly alive is never static. #