Raising Safe dogs - The Early days
Congratulations on your new best friend!
We have tried to put together a series of short informative articles and clips to help you make the settling in period as easy as possible and to help with any problems along the way. Most importantly we want you to enjoy your time with your new puppy. Be aware there will be accidents they will chew things and in the beginning they may try to transfer puppy play behaviours such a nipping biting and chasing to you, your children other animals or humans in their vicinity!
If they have just left their doggy family to come into your human home it will now be your job to teach the rules some super cool nrw tricks but most importantly we want to help you raise a safe friendly dog that is not fearful or aggressive in later life.
Prevention as we know is so much easier than curing more serious fears and phobias and behaviour problems such as dog to dog or dog to human aggression in later life.
Your new dog or puppy may become very excitable in his new surroundings or he may become quiet and frightened. Like any animal your new rescue dog or puppy will need some time to adjust to his or her new family and surroundings — just as the family will need some time to get used to having a new dog or puppy around.
Living with dogs is an extremely rewarding experience but requires commitment and time, as well as patience, tolerance and a great deal of understanding. We hope the following information will help you get through!
THE LEARNING PROCESS
Puppies begin learning from the moment they are bom and it is essential that training and socialization begins as soon as you collect your new puppy.
Dogs are pack animals and will regard everyone in the home as part of his or her 'pack' or family (humans and animals alike). It is therefore important to establish some ground rules from day one. For example closing off certain areas of the house at certain or all times, not feeding from the table or allowing jumping, mouth licking etc.
We would recommend that you try to find a puppy socialisation class in your area, so that your new puppy can continue to interact with other puppies and adult dogs and humans of all shapes and sizes & continue the most important process of learning the communication skills needed when dealing with their own species.
If this is not possible introductions with friends or neighbours dogs, providing they are well-mannered with other dogs and vaccinated will be imperative to prevent dig to dog problems later in life and to ensure they have the best chance of continuing to learn their own language and how to interact with their own kind. The more interactions at this time the better equipped your puppy will be to deal with any meetings and situations in later life.
Puppies which are kept from meetings with dogs, people, other animals, noisy or strange objects, people etc at an early age usually always develop fears or phobias in later life, so we need to try to do as much as possible with them early on. They may well show fearful behaviours at first in a new environment or meeting new people or other animals however they will slowly accustom to their surroundings and adapt early on, later when they are past the critical point of socialisation (after roughly 6 months or so) things become more difficult and their reactions and distress more noticeable.
Fearful dogs will often cower, lower their body, tail tucked under rather than raised they will alter their posture and may even try to flee if you move too close too soon they may start to bark move back to a safer distance if you cannot calm the puppy or dog it is sompler to remove them to a safe distance let them watch a while and then try to approach slowly again if things escalate to barking aggression it may be worth walking away altogether tlrather than get stresses and try again a day or so later. You may well be pleasantly surprised and find their second and third meetings /outings aren't quite as dramatic as the first.
Using training methods which rely upon kindness and positive rewards i.e. a food treat, toy, praise or affection will enable you to quickly build a close bond with your new puppy or rescue dog and should ensure success in training new behaviours if used correctly. We use these to train behaviours quickly then can startbto phase out the rewards once the behaviours and request commands are learned equally we increase the reward for extra quick or super good attempts. When we train with rewards our puppies and dogs learn to offer us the behaviours we have rewarded them for more and more - try to notice when they do a good sit or down all on their own - its really important and will speed up your training whiskt building a trusting loving relationship with your new four legged friend or friends.
If however, you experience any problems please find help from an experienced dig behaviourist or trainer in your local area as soon as possible the sooner a puppy can be corrected or any bad behaviours the more chance you have of eliminating the behaviour altogether. Please however do not listen to those who recommend or insist on physical punishment to correct behaviours there is never any need to physically smack or hit dogs and it will only ensure they becoke more eary if strange people and also may well develop a 'hand phobia' it confuses them thaylt hands are used for strokes and smacking thus many dogs as they mature learn growling (which is a normal dog behaviour) as a means to keep all hands that approach at bay. So try not to use this method to break naughty behaviours it often is just oit of frustration when they are being naughty however simply things like noise distractions, clapping hands, clicking tongue knock on the bookcase anything to distract from a bad behaviour into a better one once you have their attention you can ask for an alternative behaviour if theyvhave learned to come to sit or some other good behaviour just reward and praise them and ignore the naughty thing happened. If we focus on the naughty behaviours they learn to do them more because they get some attention they learn we come when they cry bark or whine we reward the behaviour we do not want by inadvertantly giving attention by going back so touching talking etc are rewards and it is counter productive so best to try to ignore the naughty stuff distract them and trick them into doing a nicer behaviour we like.
SOCIALISATION
This is the process where puppies becomes familiar with people, other anmals, smells and objects as they grow up. It is also the period In which the dog will learn its 'position' within your new human 'pack' and the social rules within your family, just as they would if living within a family of dogs. It is vital to start this process as soon as possible. Of course we also need to ensure puppies do not pick up any of the fatal diseases such as parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis and leptospirosis so it is really important not to let them walk around outside until they have received both or in some cases all three vaccinations, A booster vaccination will be needed each year to keep them safe. PARVOVIRUS AND DISTEMPER are particularly nasty and often fatal diseases which unfortunately are still all too common these days so when introductions with other dogs or puppies occur it is also wise to check first that they are vaccinated too.
The most important time to carry out socialisation is between the ages of 3-14 weeks, the second stage of socialisation will carry on up to 24 weeks (known as the two critical periods) our dogs behavioural development depends on both genetic traits inherited from their parents and grandparents but they will also become a product of their life experiences so we must try to ensure they are mostly good ones!
Socialisation with other animals people places and objects should be continued throughout the dog's life to ensure we raise well balance happy healthy dogs.
Introducing a new puppy to as many different people, children, animals and objects during this time will help prevent problems in the future. Also, it is important that your new puppy meets adults (men, women, people with glasses, beards, hats, in uniform, wheelchairs, on bikes etc,.), children (boys and girls) of all races and colours and is introduced to noisy or moving objects (balloons, the hoover, lawnmower, etc.,) at this time you may see some concern initially however they usually adapt fairly quickly. Some may be more apprehensive than others, never force them tondeal with something that is clearly terrifying but allow them to sniff and watch and approach at their own pace.
When dealing with new animal introductions it is important to try to have some control over your rescue dog or new puppy, so ensure they have a collar and lead as a minimum requirement. Remember introductions must be done slowly perhaps starting with the object/person a short distance away and gradually moving closer. If your puppy appears at all apprehensive slowly and gently encourage them but do not force them. Try not to stroke or reward apprehensive or fearful, barking or beligerant behaviours by stroking or offering treats (this will encourage the fearful behaviour or barking more) simply move away to a safe distance until they are calm and then reward and praise. This is especially important when dealing with large animals such as horses and cattle as well as small animals like cats and hamsters as we also do not want the other animal to become stressed. If they run this may well incite your dog or puppies chase instinct so be prepared however by the third or fourth introduction to the animal object or person your puppy and the other animals should be less concerned and become more inquisitive gently steppong forward to sniff eventually they may well begin to ignore its presence altogether.
If you live In a city, visit the countryside and vice versa thus preventing fears of farm animals, trees, open spaces, rivers, wild animals and alternatively noisy streets, cars, carhorns etc in towns all must be overcome, if done early enough this will reduce reactions and problems developing later in life. If your puppy or rescue dog panics, jist calmly walk away and back off to a safe distance and try again later. Going to a local dog trainkng class will have huge benefits to both you and your new puppy or rescue dog more than most people ever realise! If we put in the ground work and learn the basics as well as an understanding of our dogs needs in our homes and society then we are all much better equipped to raise safe dogs that dont bite and dont react in most situations unless of course we want them too. By learning our dogs language we can also learn to better understand what they are trying tell us. Equally important is that we teach young children how to interact with dogs safely so as not to provoke a situation, bite or attack. So if we put in lots of work while our puppies are little we will be raising safe well balanced non reactive happy adult dogs! We wish you all the best with your new four legged friend - life will certainly never be the same again it will be better and if we get it right you may well wonder how you ever lived without a dog at all evet! We will do our very best to help you understand them and ensure thebsettling in period goes as smoothly as possible but there will be frustrating days when things go wrong, keep smiling, stay calm - we will teach you the way of the dogs as we go along and how to get the very best out of your new four legged friend.
From the age of 5 i knew dogs would play a major part in my life I've saved many but many more times dogs have saved me. So now its my time to help them and you to understand them and buid the very best bond & get the very best from your new family member. We are all still learning! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP US HELP MORE DOGS PLEASE DONATE TO OUR RESCUE DOG TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND NEW KENNEL FUND Below photo Thankyou!
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