Behavioural Problems

Let's be honest, we have all heard stories like the one on the previous page, but the sad thing is, they are true and they happen FAR TOO OFTEN!

That cute little puppy will become a handful and fully grown before you know it. Yes, it is sweet when they do silly things like chewing old shoes and old towels you have given them - but they will soon go on to chew your new shoes and all the buttons off the shirts in the washbasket on the landing. Not so sweet then, are they? We all know how easy it is to give all your time and attention when you first bring them home, but then the more mundane things of everyday life gradually take over as the novelty of your new puppy wears off. Cleaning up after a small puppy is no trouble at all in the early days, but if you allow housetraining to become a bit haphazard, then you pay for it when they are bigger - and so are the puddles!

Gone are the days when people used to rub their noses in it (thank Heavens!) and it has never taught a puppy anything to hit it (other than that the ones who love them can also hurt them). If you come home to a mess and you react this way, the puppy has NO idea that what it may have done 30-60 minutes beforehand is what it is being punished for. The trick is to make sure that in the early days you are able to supervise them virtually ALL the time, and you are on hand to praise them lavishly when they do the right things. Far more reward is earned from praise than by shouting or anger with a puppy.

One of the simplest ways of looking at it is - they speak dog - WE do not, WE speak human - THEY do not. But a dog is an intelligent animal and can probably learn more about our language than we will ever know about theirs! Just as we can tell a lot about a dog (or any animal) by it's body language, they too can read us in a similar way. Therefore they know when we are unhappy about something by our actions and reactions. What they are unable to tell in the early days however, is exactly why we are displeased with them. A dogs purpose in life is to make us happy, but he must find ways to do that whilst having virtually NO communication skills as far as language is concerned at all. That is one tall order for any of us.

Try to see your puppy as a foreigner in a strange land and give him an understanding and sympathetic start. He can only learn what YOU teach him - and you must teach him what he needs to know to make you happy in your language, not his own!

This can all sound very complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Give him time, give him guidelines but most important of all - BE CONSISTENT.

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