Tag Archives: puppy training

default-image

Puppy care- feeding, vaccinating, worming, and training

Cavalier King Charles puppies

 How to care for your puppy:

 

Make sure that you have suitable transport for your new puppy.  Puppies may be put in a collapsible cage in your car, which ensures they are safe during a journey. Be sure to have them on a lead/harness so that they can’t run away. Also before your puppy has its first vaccinations it is imperative that your puppy does not touch the floor outside (other than your garden) and is only introduced to dogs that are vaccinated.

 

  • Night Time:

     

    Your puppy may whine about being left alone for the first few nights. Soft toys can be good company. If you are planning to train them to use a crate you can cover the crate to make them feel more secure. Leaving a radio station on (eg. Classic FM) quietly in the background can also help them to feel more secure. Sometimes a ticking clock can provide some company. A covered hot water bottle may also be a very warm friend (care though- it should be hand hot only – any hotter can cause burns).

 

 

  • Training:

     

    Make sure to train and handle your puppy from an early age. Plenty of handling will make them comfortable with human contact. Reinforcing good play behaviours with treats is also recommended. When doing any training always give verbal praise first, and immediately after give a little treat. Eventually your puppy will be happy to receive the verbal praise alone. Get the puppy used to being checked over (like at the vets). Lift and handle the ears, try getting a dog toothpaste and brushing their teeth, with a finger brush. Lift and handle the paws. Be sure to expose your puppy to as many different people as possible whilst it is developing. This can include a person in uniform (eg. A postman), someone wearing a hat, someone with a beard even! Puppy classes are a great way to socialise them. Other puppies will help to teach your puppy how to behave in social situations.

 

 

For further tips on training your puppy see our other puppy and dog training blog post here

 

 

  • 1st Vaccinations: 

     

    This can be done on the first vet check between 8-10 weeks of age. The 2nd vaccination is 2-4 weeks after. Until a week after the 2nd vaccination it is imperative that you keep the puppy away from un-vaccinated dogs and do not place him/her on the floor in public spaces where viruses could be on the ground.

 

 

  • Worming and parasite control–

     

    Puppies will need to be wormed as most will have picked up worms from their mother. This can be done with either tablets, or with a spot on treatment, which will treat other parasites such as fleas and lungworm. Your vet will advise on the most appropriate treatment.

 

 

  • Exercise:

     

    Puppies do not need long walks – they only have little legs! Puppies aren’t considered fully grown until 6-18 months of age (larger breeds mature more slowly). It is then that a good exercise plan can be implemented. Larger breeds especially may be prone to bone and joint problems, and should not be over exercised, when growing.

 

 

  • Food:

     

    Little and often. A puppy’s tummy is very small and so their food intake needs to be split between 3-4 meal times. Find out what your puppy has been fed on at the breeder’s and try to maintain that regime for continuity. If your puppy has diarrhoea, give them boiled chicken and rice. Introduce any new puppy foods gradually over 3 days, as a sudden change in food will often cause a digestive upset.

 

 

  • Play: 

 

Puppies like to chew a lot especially during teething between the ages of 3 and 6 months, when they will lose all of their milk teeth.  Provide rubber Kongs or rope chews. Avoid bones as they can crack their milk teeth on these.  Play is an important way of learning for your new puppy and can be a lot of fun too!

 

 

Finally enjoy playing with your puppy – they grow up much  too fast, and send your cute pictures to our facebook page here !

 

default-image

Puppy and dog training tips

Leave a reply

Puppy training tips

 

Puppy and dog training is  essential for all, and time taken early on with the basics will go a long way to prevent behavioural problems developing later in adulthood.

 

 

  • Remember that there are only two basic training techniques-

 

 

  1. 1- reward  for good behaviour, and
  2. 2- being ignored if badly behaved.

 

 

  • Always reward your puppy/ dog with verbal praise FIRST and a small treat such as a dog biscuit SECOND, for any good behaviour. It is important that you consistently keep this order so that the dog can learn that verbal praise is likely to be immediately followed with a treat.  Treats should ONLY be given as rewards for good behaviour not just for being “cute and cuddly.”

 

 

  • Over time you should start rewarding good behaviour with praise only sometimes, and do not give a  treat every time, but this will only work if you have followed the guidance above regarding the order of rewards.

 

 

  • You should still follow praise with treats often enough to make the good behaviour for praise only, worthwhile to your dog. The combination of praise plus treat , and praise only, for good behaviour is more effective as a training method than giving a treat every time.

 

 

  • DO NOT shout or try to tell your dog off if badly behaved. They will think the attention they are getting is a reward, so your effort will be counter-productive.

 

 

  • If your puppy or dog is badly behaved, they should be ignored, and you may want to put them out of the room, or if using a crate you could put them in the crate.

 

 

  • Dogs behave like pack animals, and in any pack there will be a leader. The leader receives the most attention.

 

 

  • As your puppy grows into adulthood, sometimes they may try to become higher up your “family pack” and become dominant over one or more people in the house.

 

 

  • Male dogs can be prone to this type of behaviour. To prevent this happening it is important not to give immediate attention when they want it particularly when returning to the house or first thing in the morning.  I would suggest you make a drink and wait a few minutes for your dog to calm down and THEN turn around and greet the dog.

 

 

  • In this way attention is always given on your terms, and this reinforces the fact that your dog is the lowest member of your family pack. It is important that ALL family members follow this advice.

 

 

  • Finally puppy classes are excellent and important ways to socialise your puppy with other dogs and people and are best done at 10-16weeks of age.