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PLYMOUTH DOG TRAINING CLUB
Kennel Club Registered
Founded 1957
President – The Lord Mayor of Plymouth
Puppy Socialisation Class
WEEK ONE
Puppy’s name: ...............................................................
PLYMOUTH DOG TRAINING CLUB
Kennel Club Registered
Founded 1957
President – The Lord Mayor of Plymouth
Puppy Socialisation Class
WEEK ONE
Puppy’s name: ...............................................................
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Puppy Class – Help Sheet
Let the fun begin!
Write down 5 things your puppy likes to do most and is allowed to do. For example, playing with a tug toy, being fed or having a cuddle. As your puppy finds these rewarding, you may be able to use them to your advantage in later classes.
Puppy Class – Help Sheet
Let the fun begin!
- Practise the exercises during the week little and often
- Keep it fun and change what you do each time
- A big MUST is to be patient
- Start by getting your puppy’s attention and encourage them to look and follow you. Remember to be fun and vary your rewards.
- Make sure that you practise the ‘bite inhibition’ exercise and don’t move on to the next exercise until your pup understands what you are asking of them.
- Make a point of handling your puppy every day; check them all over eg between toes and in their mouth. Do this as you play and don’t make it formal – just let your puppy get used to you handling those areas.
- When toilet training, reward your puppy as much as possible and remember to take them out regularly, when they wake up, after they have eaten and after playing. Always reward them for going outside and don’t scold them if they have an accident in the house.
- Practise the ‘take it’ or ‘leave’ commands, or whichever cues you use every day so that they get used to the commands. Don’t tug objects away from your puppy as this will encourage them to pull against you and have a game.
- Read the handout and please ask any questions you have.
Write down 5 things your puppy likes to do most and is allowed to do. For example, playing with a tug toy, being fed or having a cuddle. As your puppy finds these rewarding, you may be able to use them to your advantage in later classes.
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Understanding Your Puppy
Training and educating your puppy will be more enjoyable and successful if you are able to understand and interpret their behaviour. Dogs communicate very successfully through a series of body postures and facial expressions. We can communicate our desire to the dog, by using similar techniques.
Your puppy will expect the presence of a pack leader and it’s important you adopt this role; you are responsible for the disciplining and protecting your puppy. Your puppy will be happier with a pack leader who makes clear rules. This does not mean you have to resort to shouting loudly or bullying your puppy until it complies with your wishes – remember a good pack leader is like a good parent, patient and forgiving, but firm and resolute.
A puppy which is allowed to assume the role of pack leader will behave like a spoilt child and try every trick in the book to be centre of attention and gets its own way. Your puppy will place more importance on certain situations than you will. These include:
Learning to read your puppy’s facial expressions and body posture will help you to interpret its attitude or intentions in different situations.
It is important to try to “think dog” and not attribute human emotions onto your puppy. Remember our puppy will view you and your family as it would any pack of dogs. If good behaviour is rewarded it is more likely to be repeated; if unacceptable behaviour is ignored, it is more likely to decrease, eg ignoring a puppy that is demanding attention can be extremely effective. If you push the puppy away, it may interpret this as a game and come back for more. Try ignoring the puppy, do not touch
Understanding Your Puppy
Training and educating your puppy will be more enjoyable and successful if you are able to understand and interpret their behaviour. Dogs communicate very successfully through a series of body postures and facial expressions. We can communicate our desire to the dog, by using similar techniques.
Your puppy will expect the presence of a pack leader and it’s important you adopt this role; you are responsible for the disciplining and protecting your puppy. Your puppy will be happier with a pack leader who makes clear rules. This does not mean you have to resort to shouting loudly or bullying your puppy until it complies with your wishes – remember a good pack leader is like a good parent, patient and forgiving, but firm and resolute.
A puppy which is allowed to assume the role of pack leader will behave like a spoilt child and try every trick in the book to be centre of attention and gets its own way. Your puppy will place more importance on certain situations than you will. These include:
- Possessions of toys, playing and winning games
- Feeding order
- Controlling pack movement and sleeping arrangements
- Social grooming
Learning to read your puppy’s facial expressions and body posture will help you to interpret its attitude or intentions in different situations.
It is important to try to “think dog” and not attribute human emotions onto your puppy. Remember our puppy will view you and your family as it would any pack of dogs. If good behaviour is rewarded it is more likely to be repeated; if unacceptable behaviour is ignored, it is more likely to decrease, eg ignoring a puppy that is demanding attention can be extremely effective. If you push the puppy away, it may interpret this as a game and come back for more. Try ignoring the puppy, do not touch
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surprised with how quickly your puppy can be clean. If you can’t keep an eye on them then try to restrict your puppy to a crate or confined to an easily cleaned area.
Learn to predict when your puppy will need to go to the toilet:
Don’t punish!
If your puppy has an accident, clean it up using biological detergent solution, or spray designed for the purpose from the pet shop, but never tell them off as any type of punishment can delay the training and harm your relationship with your puppy. Puppies learn best by trial and success!
Problems?
Question: My puppy is clean during the day, but still messes at night.
Answer: Some puppies take longer than others to have full control through the night. Make sure that you take your puppy outside right before going to bed, also try to confine them to a smaller area.
Question: My puppy refuses to go out to the toilet, even when the back door is open.
Answer: With the door being open the puppy can’t see any difference between the outside and the inside. Shutting the door and only letting the puppy out to go to the toilet should help them see the difference.
surprised with how quickly your puppy can be clean. If you can’t keep an eye on them then try to restrict your puppy to a crate or confined to an easily cleaned area.
Learn to predict when your puppy will need to go to the toilet:
- After sleeping
- After playing
- After eating
Don’t punish!
If your puppy has an accident, clean it up using biological detergent solution, or spray designed for the purpose from the pet shop, but never tell them off as any type of punishment can delay the training and harm your relationship with your puppy. Puppies learn best by trial and success!
Problems?
Question: My puppy is clean during the day, but still messes at night.
Answer: Some puppies take longer than others to have full control through the night. Make sure that you take your puppy outside right before going to bed, also try to confine them to a smaller area.
Question: My puppy refuses to go out to the toilet, even when the back door is open.
Answer: With the door being open the puppy can’t see any difference between the outside and the inside. Shutting the door and only letting the puppy out to go to the toilet should help them see the difference.
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Puppy Biting
It comes as a great surprise to many puppy owners that their little darling arrived with a set of teeth that the average shark would be proud of! Worse, the puppy likes to flex those needle-sharp points on humans! This information is designed for puppies under the age of 18 weeks which still have their puppy teeth. If you have a dog over this age which is still mouthing or biting then please ask your trainer or vet for help.
Biting during play is normal for all puppies, but you need to take action to stop it. Puppies have sharp teeth for one reason only – so that when they bite, it hurts! This helps them to discover what is alive and what is not.
Puppy biting teaches a pup just how hard it can bite other living things. Clearly, they can exert a huge amount of pressure on a lifeless object such as a toy, without causing any kind of reaction, while trying the same behaviour on another puppy, or us, will result in a big response! If you watch other puppies playing with each other this behaviour becomes obvious. They play by biting each other; this is quite acceptable until the pressure becomes too hard. Then the victim will often yelp and stop playing for a short time while the pup that bit too hard is left realising that biting that hard is not allowed.
This process is known as learning the “bite inhibition” and it is vital that all puppies learn this so that they know how to moderate how hard they are biting before they lose their puppy teeth at around 18 weeks of age.
Once home, puppies continue to learn about how hard they can bite by practising on us. This is normal and should not be treated as aggression. However, it is not acceptable for dogs to bite people and puppies need to be taught how to moderate their biting.
What to do:
Tip:
Try not to play rough and tumble games with your puppy as this is giving our puppy permission to bite.
Still having problems?
This process works well for most puppies but those which have not had the training from an early age may have learnt to bite to get our attention. If you find that yelping and turning away has no affect or if your puppy seems to become more excited and snappy if you yelp, then you will need to try a different strategy:
Puppy Biting
It comes as a great surprise to many puppy owners that their little darling arrived with a set of teeth that the average shark would be proud of! Worse, the puppy likes to flex those needle-sharp points on humans! This information is designed for puppies under the age of 18 weeks which still have their puppy teeth. If you have a dog over this age which is still mouthing or biting then please ask your trainer or vet for help.
Biting during play is normal for all puppies, but you need to take action to stop it. Puppies have sharp teeth for one reason only – so that when they bite, it hurts! This helps them to discover what is alive and what is not.
Puppy biting teaches a pup just how hard it can bite other living things. Clearly, they can exert a huge amount of pressure on a lifeless object such as a toy, without causing any kind of reaction, while trying the same behaviour on another puppy, or us, will result in a big response! If you watch other puppies playing with each other this behaviour becomes obvious. They play by biting each other; this is quite acceptable until the pressure becomes too hard. Then the victim will often yelp and stop playing for a short time while the pup that bit too hard is left realising that biting that hard is not allowed.
This process is known as learning the “bite inhibition” and it is vital that all puppies learn this so that they know how to moderate how hard they are biting before they lose their puppy teeth at around 18 weeks of age.
Once home, puppies continue to learn about how hard they can bite by practising on us. This is normal and should not be treated as aggression. However, it is not acceptable for dogs to bite people and puppies need to be taught how to moderate their biting.
What to do:
- Your puppy needs to know that biting hurts! Every time he/she mouths your hands or clothes, yelp loudly or shout “ouch”.
- Immediately turn away as if to nurse your wounds and ignore your pup, they will probably look bewildered.
- Ignore them for about 20 seconds, and then continue to play with them. If at any time they bite you again, repeat the “ouch” and turn away again.
- The biting will not stop straight away, but it should become less and less over a period of about 3 to 4 weeks. At this point your pup will realise that there should be no pressure on you at all. Then finally you can teach them they cannot bite you at all.
Tip:
Try not to play rough and tumble games with your puppy as this is giving our puppy permission to bite.
Still having problems?
This process works well for most puppies but those which have not had the training from an early age may have learnt to bite to get our attention. If you find that yelping and turning away has no affect or if your puppy seems to become more excited and snappy if you yelp, then you will need to try a different strategy:
- Take all the fun out of biting! Go quiet and stand still, don’t yelp, shout or laugh.
- As soon as you feel their teeth on you even in play, say “wrong” in a normal voice, then immediately isolate them either in a room behind a door or with a puppy gate. The isolation should only last a couple of minutes, after which they can re-join the family.
- If at any point they mouth you, repeat the process and be consistent with them – that is how puppies learn.
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Jumping Up
Nearly all puppies want to jump up. This is not a bid to dominate you, but to greet you and be friendly! The one reason why dogs persist in the habit is that they get rewarded for the behaviour – because people either pet or scold the dog when it does it – both highly rewarding responses!
Suggestions:
For some puppies, especially gun dogs, carrying a toy in their mouth has a magical effect of preventing them from jumping up. If yours is one of these dogs then you can send your dog to bring a toy to your visitor.
Toilet Training
The basics of house training are simple: never let your puppy go in the wrong place. Praise and reward when they use the right place. Be consistent in supervising your puppy and you will be pleased and or speak and avoid any eye contact. The puppy should get bored and move away and once it has settled, go over and praise it gently. This way the puppy is getting your attention when you want to give it, not when your puppy is demanding it.
Training should be enjoyable and fun for both handler and puppy. Keep your sessions short and sweet, finishing on a good note and this will then hep you to achieve the best results.
Good luck!
Jumping Up
Nearly all puppies want to jump up. This is not a bid to dominate you, but to greet you and be friendly! The one reason why dogs persist in the habit is that they get rewarded for the behaviour – because people either pet or scold the dog when it does it – both highly rewarding responses!
Suggestions:
- Start training your family and friends right away!
- Each and every time your puppy jumps up, turn your back and fold your arms.
- Don’t talk, touch or look at your puppy until he has all four feet on the floor, or chooses to sit.
- Then, and only then, can you greet them and treat or praise.
- This needs to be consistent!
- If you have even one person that pets the dog for jumping your mission will fail!
For some puppies, especially gun dogs, carrying a toy in their mouth has a magical effect of preventing them from jumping up. If yours is one of these dogs then you can send your dog to bring a toy to your visitor.
Toilet Training
The basics of house training are simple: never let your puppy go in the wrong place. Praise and reward when they use the right place. Be consistent in supervising your puppy and you will be pleased and or speak and avoid any eye contact. The puppy should get bored and move away and once it has settled, go over and praise it gently. This way the puppy is getting your attention when you want to give it, not when your puppy is demanding it.
Training should be enjoyable and fun for both handler and puppy. Keep your sessions short and sweet, finishing on a good note and this will then hep you to achieve the best results.
Good luck!