A TOILET ROUTINE - Be proactive about taking your puppy outside to go to the toilet.
They need to go out when they have woken from asleep.
after eating
after playing
after relaxing with a chew
throughout the night.
Reward generously when the puppy gets it right and they will soon learn where the best place to go to the toilet is.
SLEEP ROUTINE - Healthy development in any species requires proper sleep and rest. A tired puppy can become over-aroused, are more prone to bite and less tolerant of handling. Ensuring puppy has a space where he can rest after they have had food, water, and a little play will help your puppy be more calmer.
HANDLING - New puppies are really exciting and we all love a puppy cuddle. Is important that owners learn how much handling their puppy is comfortable with. If a puppy is wiggling to get out of your arms I think it is safe to say the puppy is not happy about cuddles. It is also massively important that children are aware of overhandling puppies. One, we should be building up trust with our new puppy so learning to read their body language is essential to understanding what they are comfortable with. Two, its for children's safety over-aroused, frightened puppies WILL bite. So it is important we teach children to have appropriate interactions with all dogs in an effort to keep them safe. You can spend time hand feeding them using some of their food to teach them that approaching hands are kind. We could also call them or use distraction methods to move them instead of picking them up.
REFLEX TO NAME - Teach puppies to love the sound of their name. We can start by taking 5-10 bits of food to feed our puppy. All you have to do is say puppy's name feed the treat. The puppy just has to hear their name and eat the food. Don't ask for any other behaviours so NO SIT, NO WAIT or LEAVE, just hear their name and eat food. Now that sound, that is their name is the predictor that the food is coming. Repeat the exercise a few times a day until the puppy is whipping their head around when they hear their name.
REWARD GOOD BEHAVIOURS - Dog owners are reactive. what I mean is we normally react to unwanted behaviours and we fail to notice all the time's puppy is calm, relaxed or playing on their own. So get proactive! Have a few small boxes scattered around your home. Place puppy food or treats in them and begin rewarding any of the good stuff you'd like to see more of. For example, a puppy climbs into their crate to lie down, calmly drop a few treats in there. They are lying chewing an appropriate chew toy, drop them a couple of treats. If he picks up a toy give him 60 seconds of your time to have a play, it will encourage him to pick that toy up again which keeps him away from your stuff.
