Puppy Behaviour

If you’re a first-time puppy parent, you already know that puppies are cute, but they can also be a handful! Working on teaching your puppy as soon as he arrives home with you will require patience and understanding. Cute puppy behavior will develop into adult doggy behavior problems if left untreated. Here is a collection of training techniques to help you quiet down some of your puppy’s more unwanted yet common tendencies.

Socialization

Preventing behavioral problems requires proper treatment of puppies throughout their vital socialization stage. Depending on the breed, the critical socializing period for puppies begins at three weeks and lasts until 12 weeks.

Proper socialization requires exposing your puppy to a variety of new people, animals, places, and situations. Early socialization promotes good social behavior development and can help prevent aggression motivated by fear of other canines, people, or unfamiliar settings.

Mouthing and Chewing

Puppy chewing and mouthing are everyday puppy actions. It may feel as if the nipping would never cease, and breaking the habit might be difficult. However, it would help if you split it to avoid worse difficulties when the doggy is older. Teething is a common occurrence in puppies, and it is similar to teething in humans. Offering a chew toy with one hand while caressing your puppy with the other will help deter biting.

If your puppy still tries to nip your hand, stare at them and yell, “Ouch!” loudly and abruptly, then stop caressing or paying attention to them. Ignore your puppy, even if you have to leave the room, to make it clear that mouthing is not acceptable behavior. Return to the chew toy method once your pet has calmed down.

Games

Although tug-of-war or wrestling games are entertaining, they encourage undesired behaviors such as grasping, lunging, and competing with you. The same approaches should be used by everyone in the family. Otherwise, your doggy may become confused, making the training process more difficult.

Puppy Timeline

0–7 Weeks

All of this period’s developmental tasks revolve around learning acceptable social behavior with other doggies. Bite inhibition, proper submissive and attention-soliciting conduct, attention-receptive behavior, and general confidence with other doggies are taught through interactions with the mother and siblings.

Orphan puppies and litters of one puppy are at a disadvantage when it comes to learning how to be a doggy among doggies. Some of these skills can be known later in properly orchestrated and monitored circumstances. Without expert remedial behavior shaping, orphan puppies, especially those bottle-fed from a young age without a mother or siblings, become very challenging pets.

7–8 Weeks

This is a perfect moment to return home, and this is the ideal time to build strong ties with others. Puppies are psychologically developed enough to adapt to changes and begin manners training. According to research on this critical period, the 49th day is the best day to move into a new home.

4–6 Months

The progressive rise in independence and confidence characterizes the pre-adolescent period. Because of his own curiosity and growing confidence in the world, the puppy will go more and further away from you.

Continue your workout, preferably in a group setting. Start adding distractions to your practice sessions. Take the puppy around with you! This time is critical for forming a friendship that will outlast the rigors of adolescence. By the age of six months, make sure your puppy has been spayed or neutered. There’s no reason to make their life more difficult because of the disruptive effects of sex hormones.

12–18 Months

Your doggy will reach emotional maturity at some point during this time; for tiny breeds, it will be sooner, and for large breeds, it will be later. Doggies with dominant inclinations will begin to assert themselves at this time, aiming to elevate their place in the group (your household). This action can only take place inside a structure of familiar relationships when the animal is approaching emotional maturity

Living with a dominating doggy does not imply that the guardian must “conquer” him or abandon control attempts. However, the doggy’s issues must be acknowledged and treated seriously right away. Punishment is not the best way to cope with this, and it will almost certainly result in a hazardous reaction. When the first signs of dominance aggressiveness appear, seek the advice of a qualified behaviorist.