puppy Archives - Brisbane Dog Training & Pet Behavioural Specialist

Why we don’t do puppy play in our classes | Puppy School

puppy play | puppy school

Why we don’t believe that puppy play has a place in puppy school

It may be surprising to you, but puppy play is not an integral part of your puppy’s learning and development. You are not alone if you thought it was. I hope that this article will help you to understand that there are far greater skills that need to be focused on first.

Puppy School is a place for puppies to learn. If we introduce puppy play in a class, not only is there significant risk but we are not teaching our puppy the most important skill, which is to learn to be calm and focused on their own family in the presence of other dogs and people. If we want dogs to not be hyper-motivated to greet people and dogs on a walk or when coming to the home, then why would we imprint their first experiences with direct interactions and play.

Socialisation is so much more than puppy play

Socialisation is teaching your puppy how to feel when in proximity or when experiencing same or other species, surfaces, sounds, objects and more! Imagine if your first experiences of meeting someone was that they ran up to you very excited and hugged you and licked your face. It doesn’t sound like a positive experience, does it? Or maybe you did like it (stranger things have happened). If you did enjoy it, then when this person is around you will struggle to focus on anything but them. Not exactly conducive to learning, is it?

We do introductions slowly, when everyone in the room is comfortable, and after you have bonded with your human and learnt to listen to them. This way you are surely more likely to have a positive and safe experience, all the while setting you up with many more skills and knowledge to raise a resilient and calm dog.

Let’s talk about the risks of puppy play

We see so many dogs in our behaviour consults that have been imprinted with fear and anxiety due to attending an inappropriately run puppy school during their critical socialisation period.

Even being in the room with other puppies playing can be overwhelming for some pups. A lot of movement and excitement for a nervous or shy dog can be overwhelming and start to teach them to feel scared when in the presence of other dogs. Not only is fear a risk, over-excitement is, too. An overstimulated puppy is more likely to have less control of their mouths and bodies and more likely to injure themselves or others as they do not have the ability to think in an overstimulated state.

Playgroup and playing with others

Puppy play is not a necessity during socialisation. Once they have learnt to be calm, confident and have some impulse control, polite play will follow. We do offer playgroups for those pups that will find it a positive experience and we do keep it nice and calm and controlled but just like some people, parties or group situations are not for everyone.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us at any time.

– Written by Cassandra Roland

Puppy’s First Lead

How would I feel if this was me?

In the case of introducing your puppy’s first lead, it is useful to imagine yourself in your puppy’s position. Imagine you have a collar or harness on. You’ve only really just started getting used to this on your body. Then, the humans attach a lead to you which restricts your movement and it sometimes jangles around your face. Initially, at what seems to be random times, you feel pulling on your collar when you reach the end of that lead. Over time, you learn that this tension happens when you get to the end of the lead. This tension is generally uncomfortable. Plus, there is the frustration of not being able to move in the direction you want to go.

So, this sounds perhaps a bit annoying or a bit frustrating, but not too big of a deal right? Not too big of a deal if it happens just once, but most puppies will have their lead on at least once a day for walks or other outings. This feeling of frustration every single day then compounds and long term affects our pup’s feelings towards their lead. This is where you may see the puppy biting at the lead to try and control the tension, or other frustration based behaviours.

How to introduce puppy’s first lead so they love it

Instead of having our puppy frustrated when on lead, we want them to love it. We’ll use the same approach we used in introducing puppy’s first collar. Note, it is best to introduce your puppy to the lead after you have had some sessions getting them comfortable with their collar or harness.

Puppy Fear Impact Periods | Dog School Brisbane

Puppy Fear Impact Periods – bringing home a new puppy or teenage dog

It’s exciting bringing home a new puppy. Most people who bring home a new puppy get themselves prepared for all of the fun and challenges of puppy hood. However many new puppy parents don’t know about the puppy fear impact periods. To help your puppy feel supported and safe as they develop, it is important to know what to do when they are experiencing their puppy fear periods.

What is the puppy fear impact period?

Our puppies go through several fear impact periods. This is where your pup may suddenly appear fearful of new things or things they have been comfortable with in the past. For example, your pup may have previously been comfortable with different people coming to the house. During a fear impact period they may now appear fearful or even aggressive towards visitors.

Fear impact periods for puppies usually coincide with different stages of their development. The main hypothesis for these fear periods is that each of these life stages is when puppy develops greater levels of independence. When our puppies become more independent, they need to have an increase in their fear response to any change in the environment.

When do these fear periods happen?

Puppies usually have their first fear period at around 5 weeks of age. This is when they are with their mum and siblings, so most puppy parents won’t see this stage.

The second puppy fear period occurs during the 8-12 weeks of age period. So, if you bring your puppy home at this age range, they are most likely going through a fear period. This second puppy fear period coincides with the end of our pup’s socialisation period. This socialisation period is between 3 weeks of age and finishes anywhere from 12-16 weeks of age depending on the breed of dog.

The third puppy fear period occurs at some point between 5-14 months. This coincides with further developmental changes and sexual maturation of the pup.

During these fear impact periods, try to ensure your pup is not exposed to anything particularly scary or stressful. If this does happen, it can impact on our puppy’s ability to cope with changes in the environment and to cope with stress for their adult life. For example, if a puppy has a bad experience with kids during a fear impact period, they can develop a long term fear of children.

My dog Henry, in the photo above, was in a council pound for his first two fear impact periods. It is an unfortunate reality that these kennel style environments are scary for most animals. This experience in the first four months of his life meant that Henry’s ability to cope with any change in the environment had been significantly compromised when he first came to live with us.

As Dr Ian Dunbar notes, these fear impact periods for our puppies do not start and finish at exact times. These periods are rough guidelines only and vary greatly depending on the breed and individual dog.

What to do during a fear impact period

If you see your puppy being fearful of something, the biggest thing to do is to try not be worried or upset. We want our voice and body language to be relaxed. This means our puppy sees that we are relaxed and not worried about the thing they think is scary. Try and add a light happy tone to your voice and talk to your puppy. For example, “what’s that silly thing over there, what a clever puppy you are!”
Give your puppy the choice to move further away or go closer to the thing they are scared of. We never want to force our puppy to interact with something they are scared of. Similarly, we don’t want to lure them closer to the scary thing using food or a toy. If we do this our pup will follow the lure and then realise how close they are to the scary thing and become even more scared of it.
Pair a tasty treat with your puppy seeing the scary thing. Over time your puppy will build a new association that when they see the scary thing, good things happen. If your puppy is not taking treats in this situation then it is likely that they are too scared. In this case you need to get your puppy much further away from the scary thing straight away. Always work at a distance where your puppy is not so scared that they don’t want to eat.
Avoid any big changes where possible. If you think your puppy is going through a fear impact period, try and avoid doing things such as invasive vet procedures, long distance travel or changes in the household.

Is it a puppy fear period or something else?

We offer one on one consults and both puppy and adolescent classes to help support you during your puppy’s development. Please get in touch if you would like some extra support.

In particular, if the level of fear that you puppy is experiencing towards something is not changing or is getting worse over time, please get in touch so we can help reduce your puppy’s fear.

Biting and Mouthing | How To Stop Your Puppy Biting

Biting and mouthing by puppies are common and normal behaviours. Like babies, puppies use their mouths to explore the world. Everything goes in your puppy’s mouth including human hands, feet, fingers and toes.

Puppies are also used to rough-and-tumble play with their brothers and sisters with lots of biting and mouthing. A puppy’s bite will start to hurt as their canine teeth come through and they grow and become stronger.

Below are some tips for teaching your puppy the rules when it comes to interacting, getting your attention and playing.

Be consistent and help your puppy to make better choices

Your puppy needs to learn how to behave properly including how to play politely. Bite inhibition is the ability for your puppy to use their teeth without causing distress or hurting other people or dogs.

Teaching “bite inhibition” will help your puppy have fun, and to be safe, with other people and other dogs.

Below are two suggested methods for teaching your puppy bite inhibition – (1) using toys and (2) meeting your puppy’s needs.

Direct to a calming activity

Chewing, licking and sniffing is naturally calming to dogs and helps to meet their needs from a biting and chewing point of view.

When your puppy goes to use their teeth, direct them to either a long lasting chew, kong or lickimat. They need to do this calmer activity for minimum 10 minutes so you may have to be creativity with what you use or what you have prepared or on hand. Make sure all energetic or exciting games are mixed up with a calming activity, for example scent games or puzzles. Swap between the two types of play ensuring your puppy does not get overstimulated. Teach your puppy to self-regulate their excitement. An overstimulated puppy will bite.

Meeting your puppy’s needs

Although, biting and mouthing is a natural behaviour, it is often worse when we are not meeting your puppy’s needs.

Make sure you are getting the balance right with the following:

Getting enough sleep or rest. An overtired puppy will be a biting monster. Make sure you teach your puppy to rest every hour.
Meeting their exercise needs. Pent up energy means they will struggle to make good choices and control their impulses.
Meeting their mental stimulation needs. This is the one that will make the MOST difference. When your puppy starts to bite re-direct them onto a puzzle or do some training that engages their ability to problem solve. When a puppy is thinking they are calm and less likely to bite.
Give them six new things to do with their mouth everyday. Feed their meals out of enrichment toys, give them rubbish to destroy and chew (always supervise at first to make sure they don’t swallow anything). Give them natural long lasting chews and ice blocks or meals frozen in a toy is a great way to sooth teething.

What doesn’t work

Always use positive reinforcement techniques when training your puppy.

Never punish them or yell at them. It will only make your puppy anxious and scared of you and create other behavioural issues that you don’t want. Dogs that are physically or verbally punished are more likely to retaliate with aggression. And it’s cruel.

We have also found for some puppies yelping or making a loud noise can overstimulate them and make the behaviour worse or frighten your puppy. So we no longer recommend this strategy.

Lots of praise

Remember to reward your puppy when they play well and politely. Give them their favourite treat or toy. This will show them that good things happen when they play nicely.

Supervise play between puppies and children

Children can’t use these training techniques on their own and will need adult help. And children often do things to get puppies excited, for example squeal and run around. Children must be supervised with puppies at all times.

Final thoughts

It’s important that everyone in the family or household practices these training tips. Everyone who interacts or plays with your puppy needs to be consistent.

If your puppy continues to be too rough, then seek help from a professional dog trainer that uses positive training techniques.

At Fur Get Me Not, our qualified canine coaches can support you in using positive training techniques to teach your puppy bite inhibition and other critical skills. We’re passionate about puppies and their humans forming strong bonds. Get started today by clicking here.

Puppy’s First Night | How To Prepare

The time has come; it’s your puppy’s first night at home. Bringing your puppy home is very exciting time. But it’s important to prepare for your puppy’s first night at home.

Start by remembering that everything’s new to your puppy. Everything will be a first for them. They don’t know your home. They will be away from their mother, brothers and sisters for the first time. There will be new people, new smells and new sounds in your house that your puppy hasn’t experienced before.

Follow these steps to ensure your puppy’s first night at home is an easy transition for you and your puppy.

Set up your puppy’s crate

Puppies like small, confined spaces when they are feeling insecure. And we cannot stress enough the importance of crate training your new puppy.

Your puppy’s crate must be big enough for them to stand up, stretch, turn around and lie down. Crates can be made of plastic, wire (which are collapsible) or fabric.

A puppy’s crate should be their safe space or security blanket. Outfit their crate with a soft bed or blankets.

Having a crate for your new puppy will teach them the boundaries of the house and keep them safe.

Traveling in the car, visiting the vet or keeping your puppy settled after an injury or surgery, is so much easier if your puppy is crate trained. We’ve written another blog about the secrets to crate training which you can read by clicking here.

Puppy’s first night

For the first 2 to 3 weeks, keep your puppy in their crate but raised next to your bed at night. You may need to put their crate on a sturdy chair, so your puppy’s crate is the height of your bed and they can see you.

You want to be able to reach out and comfort your puppy during the night, but don’t let them out of their crate. If they are having trouble settling, try giving them a stuffed dog toy to snuggle with.

Don’t let them sleep in your bed with you, unless you’re happy for them to sleep there for the rest of their life. If you let them sleep in your bed, it will form a habit that will be incredibly hard to break later. But if you’re happy for them to sleep in the bed with you – then go for it!

By keeping them in their crate next to you, they’ll feel secure in their own space and you can sleep knowing they aren’t causing mischief.

Every puppy is different. Some puppies will settle quickly. Others will need more time. If you’re puppy is settling okay at night, then after a few weeks you can start moving their crate further away from your bedside.

Take toilet breaks

Your puppy will need to be taken outside frequently during the night and early in the morning to go to the toilet. Set an alarm at least twice to remind you to take them out during the night for toilet breaks, before they let you know. You don’t want them whining or barking to let you know that they need to go to the toilet.

After they have been to the toilet, put them straight back in their crate. Don’t give them any treats or play with them. Put them back in their crate straight away and they should go back to sleep quickly.

What if your puppy is whining or barking?

If your puppy is whining, crying or barking during the night, it’s important to leave then in their crate and reach out to them and comfort them. But don’t let them out of their crate.

We know, this is hard. But you must be comforting, consistent and patient. It’s important that you make their first few nights as stress-free as possible. Maybe they’re not settling because their crate has been moved away from your bed too soon.

Final thoughts

Let’s be honest. The first few days with your puppy may be challenging. If possible, take a couple of days off work. If you can’t, then bring your puppy home at the beginning of the weekend.

Make your puppy’s first few days at home very quiet. Don’t bring them home during busy times like birthdays and holidays. The noise and confusion will frighten them and overwhelm them. Plus, you’ll be too busy with other things to spend time with your puppy and help them become comfortable in their new home.

Being there as much as you can in the beginning will strengthen your bond with your puppy. It will also give you time to get them used to spending time on their own, slowly.

Above all, have fun with your new puppy – puppies are so much fun and bring so much joy. Make sure you enjoy this special time!

Do you need more help settling your puppy into your new home? At Fur Get Me Not, we offer basic puppy training classes through our puppy school and puppy playgroups. We also offer private or one-on-one training. Click here to contact us. We’d love to help you and your puppy settle into your new life together.

Why we don’t do puppy play in our classes | Puppy School

Why we don’t believe that puppy play has a place in puppy school

Socialisation is so much more than puppy play

Let’s talk about the risks of puppy play

Playgroup and playing with others

Puppy’s First Lead

How would I feel if this was me?

How to introduce puppy’s first lead so they love it

Puppy Fear Impact Periods | Dog School Brisbane

Puppy Fear Impact Periods – bringing home a new puppy or teenage dog

What is the puppy fear impact period?

When do these fear periods happen?

What to do during a fear impact period

Is it a puppy fear period or something else?

Biting and Mouthing | How To Stop Your Puppy Biting

Be consistent and help your puppy to make better choices

Direct to a calming activity

Meeting your puppy’s needs

What doesn’t work

Lots of praise

Supervise play between puppies and children

Final thoughts

Puppy’s First Night | How To Prepare

Set up your puppy’s crate

Puppy’s first night

Take toilet breaks

What if your puppy is whining or barking?

Final thoughts

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