Managing Puppy Behaviour

Managing your puppys’ behaviour and rewarding all the ‘good stuff’

I think most puppies think their middle name is ‘No’!!

Constantly saying ‘No’ to your puppy is not only exhausting for yourself but can be very counterproductive for your puppy too.

First things first, make the environment a winning one….. but what does that mean?

A winning environment is one where no matter what the puppy picks up, chews or plays with… it’s items they ARE allowed.

The way a puppy explores the world is with their mouths, it’s the only way they can do it (they don’t have hands!).

Your puppy will want to pick up anything and everything so let’s make life easier for both of you and have things in reach they are allowed.

‘Legal’ chews and toys can be stuffed kongs, rope toys, nylabone type toys, a supervised age-appropriate chew, snuffle mats, lickimats (supervision required).

Your puppy hasn’t the skills to self-entertain for very long, so give them something to do. Mental stimulation is key. Why put all of their breakfast/lunch/tea in their bowl when you can keep them entertained for much longer by putting it into a kong!! They get nourishment, physically and mentally. AND …. you get 5 minutes of peace!! Win, win!!

We expect so much of our fur babies…. We want them to sleep through the night, not wee or poop in the house, not bite, learn to have some weird contraption around their neck (collar) and something dangling from that weird contraption (lead) that they’re also not supposed to bite or pull.

Puppies don’t ‘choose’ to be ‘naughty’, they are just being puppies. They have come into our big, wide, human world and they need to be guided about what we find appropriate and what we don’t.

So rather than always telling them what we DON’T want, tell them what we do want by rewarding them when they’re getting something right.

Whatever your puppy does well, reward them for it. Sitting nicely? Reward them. Laying down quietly? Reward them. Not jumping up? Reward them. Responding to their name? Reward them.

The more you reward and reinforce a behaviour, the more your puppy will do it.

My two R’s ……. Repeat and Reward. Reward and Repeat.

Ask your puppy to repeat a cue …. Let’s say you ask for a ‘sit’, they sit and you reward. The more you REPEAT the cue and REWARD the behaviour, the more likely your puppy will do the behaviour again and again.

REWARD a behaviour (even if you haven’t asked for it …. i.e they’re laying down or sitting quietly) and your puppy will learn that’s the behaviour you want them to REPEAT.

If you only react to your puppy when they’re making the inappropriate choices, you are reinforcing it by giving them your attention.

If they begin to choose to chew something ‘illegal’ (something they shouldn’t be chewing) then re-direct your puppy onto an item they are allowed. And check the environment is puppy legal and they are allowed the items available to them.

Rotate their toys. Don’t have every single toy out at a time. Save some for another day and rotate their accessibility. It will enhance your puppy’s interest in them.

Let’s make life happier and easier for everyone and let’s reinforce and reward all the GOOD stuff, make the environment a winning one and enjoy time with your puppy. It will help protect that all-important bond you are building with your puppy.

They’re not puppies for very long and your hard work and patience will reap the rewards.

Keep smiling and keep training with positive reinforcements 🐾🐾