Puppy Management!

I hear all the time about puppies who’ve chewed up shoes; destroyed books; dug up plants; gnawed chair legs … you name it, somebody’s puppy has chewed it.

And my question is always the same:

“Where were you when your puppy was doing all this?”

You see, puppies, like children, are curious. They want to explore this wonderful new world they live in.

And to test anything, it goes in the mouth.

Now, IMAGINE your puppy is a toddler … There are things you wouldn’t let your toddler near!

And now imagine,

• That shoe = naked electric cable

• Chairleg = a fire

• The flowerbeds are bottomless pits

• The books are poisonous ..

Now, would you let your toddler touch them?

No?

So why do you let your puppy go near them?

If you didn’t want your toddler to get near these dangers, you’d take steps to make them unreachable.

Remove the object from the child’s reach, or remove the child from the area of the object!

❓ Would you leave your toddler to explore the kitchen while you watched tv in the living room?

❓ Would you leave your toddler unsupervised in the garden while you’re indoors on a zoom call?

If you REALLY didn’t want your puppy to destroy your possessions, you’d be serious about it!

How to prevent puppy chewing

The simplest way to prevent chewing is using some kind of containment. That could mean a crate or playpen when you are busy or otherwise unable to supervise.

🐶 Your puppy should always be in the same room/space as you, till trustworthy.

🐶 So he’s either with you - actively supervising - or he’s in his crate or playpen.

Baby Yannick sleeps peacefully amidst the wreckage in his playpen

And if you have a chewy puppy (some puppies never chew things), be sure to give him plenty of things he can chew, in his playpen. Cardboard boxes are winners here. Raw meaty bones are great. Some dogs like antlers or coffee root.

Don’t use rawhide chews, which are industrial waste and can cause huge problems (aka huge vet bills).

If he wants to chew his bed - then, it’s his bed! Give him something disposable (and safe), like an old blanket. Remove shredded things so he doesn’t swallow them. Save the expensive bed you’re so proud of till he’s able to use it safely.

Babies and toddlers have cradles and cots which can accommodate all kinds of stomach mishaps! They don’t get a “grown-up bed” till they’re more reliable.

And all those expensive toys you bought him? Keep those for when he’s out of the chewing stage. Give him toys you don’t care about. If he needs to chew, then you must provide chewables!

Survive the chewing stage

Yannick never chews anything now!

If your puppy is a chewer, he just is! And you have to work through this stage with him with as little friction as possible. Telling him off will confuse him and raise your blood pressure.

There’s no need!

Just adapt your living arrangements to accommodate your chewer while you teach him to play nicely with your toys, which you put away after the game.

Don’t leave valuable things with your piranha fish!

And for more down-to-earth ways to make the first few months with your puppy magical, Read New Puppy!

Easy dogs vs reactive dogs

You read a lot about reactive dogs these days.

“But my dog isn’t reactive!” you cry.

“My dog is friendly and easygoing!”

That’s wonderful - and I can tell you that many owners of reactive - shy, anxious, fearful, “aggressive” - dogs envy you!

But do spare a thought for them.

Their dog isn’t trying to be difficult - more often than not, he’s simply afraid. And keeping the thing he fears away from him is all he feels he can do (assuming he’s on-lead and can’t bolt).

As the saying goes, “Their dog is not giving them a hard time, he’s having a hard time.”

Keep in mind that this dog may be wonderful at home, where he feels safe, and is most likely much loved. The owner will probably feel very protective towards him.

A nasty experience

Recently I saw a dog approaching that I knew was going to bark at mine. So I moved my super-sensitive reactive dog off the footpath ten yards into the plough. Yes, her dog did kick off, and mine went ballistic in response!

So did she hurry by?

Not a bit of it!

She decided to stand on the path and harangue me - “Your dog’s this .. your dog’s that ..” she screamed, and as I turned and moved away up the path, she actually followed me, still screaming.

Madness, you’d think?

Perhaps she was trying to cover up the fact that it was her dog that started it!

This is no time for abuse, or withering looks. Both the reactive dog and his handler are having a hard enough time already.

They already feel bad, without someone else loading shame on them.

So what can you do to help these dogs?

Having had no experience of managing a reactive dog, you probably don’t know how best to deal with the situation when you come across one.

So here’s a quick tip for you.

If you are approaching a dog - any dog - who is on lead, put your dog on lead too.

This levels the playing field, and shows the worried owner that you’re willing to help.

If left loose, your friendly dog may bowl up to this reactive dog, all waving tail and lolling tongue, and give him the fright of his life!

This isn’t a pleasant experience for your dog either, when his friendly advances are met with teeth, ferocious barking, and leaping around.

What else can you do?

If you can change your route, cross the road, or move over to another part of the field, this is really helpful. You will be rewarded with a beaming smile from a relieved handler.

Sometimes this isn’t possible, like if you’re on a footpath with hedges either side. While the reactive dog owner will do their best to get their dog off the path and stand between them and you, it can be difficult to avoid passing.

Pass as quickly as possible, keeping your dog on the far side of you.

Stopping to talk, commiserate, stare at the frightened dog, perhaps stop your dog to tell him not to bark - this all lengthens the time the reactive dog feels at risk.

Remember, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this dog is not nasty - he’s just afraid!

So speed past, with just a quick hello as you whoosh by.

It’s not that the other owner is unfriendly, or doesn’t want to talk to anyone … it’s just that they can’t! Their whole focus is on keeping their dog calm.

It’s no fun hanging on to the lead with a bucking bronco swinging about on the end of it, snarling and barking - while trying to stay upright!

By keeping your dog - however delightful and friendly! - out of their way, you are genuinely helping them.

I’m sure you are not like the person in the story above. You wouldn’t be here at Brilliant Family Dog reading this if you were.

By the way, if the other dog is muzzled, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s dangerous - there are a lot of reasons for muzzling a dog. But the muzzle means that this is actually a safer dog - as all his weaponry is behind a grille!

Dogs … and life

It’s true about everything in life - we need to keep an open mind, learn continually, and see things from the other chap’s point of view.

How many tussles, battles, even wars, would not happen if we could just follow that?

Meanwhile, for a bit of help in perfecting your own, easy, dog, watch our free Workshop here!

Rewarding your dog

If you’re working with a dog who is so hyper-aware of his surroundings that he can’t spare you any attention when you’re out, take a look at your rewards -

• what?

And, critically! 

• how often?

It can be easy to fall into a trap of, “He can’t pay attention to me, let’s not push it.”

When, in fact, “I’m going to make it worth his while to keep checking in with me!” is the far better strategy!

Here’s a surprise ..

You see, your dog has to learn to take treats. 

Really!

It’s taken up to eight months of age before I can get my more anxious pooches to pause long enough to take a treat when we’re out. Keep shovelling them in - even if they don’t appear to notice - because once it becomes an automatic response, you’re away! 

So you need frequent treats - 

• for every check-in, 

• for every considered pause

• for every non-reactive glance at something alarming (dog, person, you-name-it)

• and for every 30 seconds

This will increase his attention to you, and his ability to detach from what is alarming him.

Whatever your dog finds rewarding - that’s what you do.

Zoe is waiting attentively for the next treat to drop into her mouth!

My dogs will now always take treats when we’re out. It took a surprisingly long time to establish this with the reactive ones. 

Toy play when out of the house is out of the question still, for my youngest.

But words and touch also rate fairly highly with him, along with treats.

You want to use anything that makes a connection between you.

Making a change for your reactive dog

If you’re used to trudging solo behind or beside your distracted dog, give this a try - and report back!

Combine it with the “pause before you start” strategy in this post: Slow your anxious dog down!

If your dog is happy to play outside the house - then this can definitely be one of your rewards! Need a super high-value toy? Check out our Dog Toys page

Dogs and children

We love our children to grow up with dogs. 

And we love our dogs to get on with children.

BUT

- and there’s a big but! -

We have to remember that a dog has limited patience. And a human - even one they know - getting up close and personal without asking .. well, you wouldn’t like that, would you! 

And while dogs have many ways to show that they are uncomfortable, most dog-owners don’t recognise any of them - until teeth are involved.

So have a look at this excellent chart from Kendal Shepherd: 

If people were quicker to pick up on just the first three signals at the bottom, many fewer instances of the top three would occur. 

Have a look at our picture at the top of this article. This dog is trapped by the furniture and is clearly asking the child to leave him alone.

And it’s up to parents to control their child! 

It can be very difficult for a dog-owner to manage the situation if a free-range toddler launches itself at their dog, squawking “Doggie!” 

After all, you don’t allow your child to be loose around an open fire! And we don’t see cute photos of babies lying in fires all over the internet.

But babies lying on dogs could be just as dangerous. 

And who gets the blame ….?

Special offer on my favourite toys!

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You won’t find this anywhere else …. Ready?! 

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These toys are really something special. I use them in so many ways to help with training. From recall to building trust and teaching new skills - they truly are the ultimate reward. 

To unlock your secret discount code, just tap the link below and you’ll get instant access to this fab New Year New Tuggies deal. But you’ll need to get a move on - it’s a limited time offer.

And if you need help with what toys to choose for your dog, just drop a comment below and I’ll be more than happy to help. 

How much should I walk my dog?

There’s no law that you have to take your dog out every day.

And if you have a reactive, anxious, fearful dog, you probably know this already. Venturing out into the battleground is too much if it’s being repeated constantly. After an outburst from your dog you need to give those hormones time to settle. Three days is the right amount of time.

Sometimes a vigorous game in the garden is the answer (especially if he’s had a fright recently). You can find some exciting new toys here to ginger up your games!

Sometimes a cuddle in the armchair hits the spot. Specially if you’re feeling under the weather, or you look out of the window and see horrendous rain and wind ..

A bit of training, some agility or hoopers or scent games will do a lot to tire your dog’s mind. He’ll love Hide and Seek, and so will your giggling children!

And as for walks - REMEMBER, your dog doesn’t need to be walked every day.

But you do need to have interaction and mental stimulation daily, and getting puffed out in a game is also good (for us too!).

What I do with my dogs

In the recent cold snap here in parts of England, we had snow and ice lying for five days. I can hear you over there in snowy countries, chuckling - but, you see, we have it so rarely that it’s not worth the money to gear up for it.

This meant that our local country roads were icy death-traps. I didn’t walk my anxious youngster, Yannick. I knew that if we met something he found alarming, he’d have me face down in the snow!

So I wrapped up well and we did lots of flirt pole games and Hoopers in the icy wastes of the garden. 

If you’re feeling trepidation about taking your dog out, that it all feels too much like hard work, DON’T!

It’s ok. You have permission!

Enjoy your dog. 

What’s a flirt pole? 

It’s just a lunge whip with a teddy bear limb attached. 

Here’s a video showing how I use it to exercise and amuse my dogs, all the while building huge impulse control!

Dogs and Christmas

Well, we’re coming up to the time of the Man in Red!

And I suppose it won’t go amiss to remind you of potential hazards for your dog - especially with visitors, children, general upheaval and chaos in the home. 

Your usual routines and precautions may go out the window, and if you’re not careful this can have tragic results.

First, physical dangers:

Chocolate, raisins, sultanas, grapes - so mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding etc are all off limits. You don’t want to be spending your holiday at the vets! 

There’s also ibuprofen (deadly), and xylitol (think sweets, low-calorie drinks), bits of plastic toys, packaging nasties, cooked poultry bones, alcohol, plates and glasses left on the floor, and doors left open (bye-bye dog!).

New Puppy

You need to protect your puppy’s routine as far as you can. 

An over-excited, exhausted puppy flying about on adrenaline is not going to end well. Think ahead to plan how you can ring-fence his naps, and ensure people aren’t giving his immature digestive system unsuitable things to eat. (That’s trainer-speak for giving him the squits!) I’m sure carpet-cleaning is not on your holiday agenda.

Christmas decorations and baubles? Keep them out of the way of the pup! Like with our babies, everything is tested in the mouth.

You may need to put a playpen round the Christmas tree if he can’t resist all those pine needles and electric wires ..

Family Dog

This won’t be such a culture shock as for the new puppy. He should know where he can slope off to to find some peace. Be firm on visitors resisting those limpid brown eyes and not stuffing him with dangerous foodstuffs. 

Teenagers have been known to think it funny to give alcohol to a dog. Remember, you don’t want to be spending Christmas with your dog on a drip at the vet’s.

Your family pet will be great for getting people to stop eating for a minute and go out for a walk. Let him run and dance and play! Snowballs optional.

Growly Dogs

For most of our reactive dogs we focus on keeping their life as calm as possible. 

So keep this up as much as you can. 

If you have visitors, be sure your dog has a safe place to retire to if it’s all too much.

And make sure your “But dogs love me!” visitors are kept under control!

If you have inquisitive children visiting, you may want to lock the door of the room your dog is sheltering in. It only takes a moment for things to go pear-shaped …

For all dogs!

Only ONE person should have responsibility for the dog. If you have to hand over responsibility to someone else while you’re busy, be sure you’re both quite clear on this.

You don’t want to hear, “But I thought YOU were watching him!” after some disaster …

If your dog is unused to visitors, pees with excitement, or gets over-stimulated at the doorbell, arrange to meet your guests outside the house.  

So, keep all these things in mind, make a plan for your particular dog/s, and have a wonderful holiday! 

(By the way, dogs don’t really like being dressed up and laughed at, in the main.)

Want to learn how Lacy could resist that carrot cake?

Leave It! is a step-by-step guide to a begging-free Christmas!

RESOURCES:

Your Puppy’s first Christmas is coming!

Keep your dog and your Christmas food safe!

Your Dog and Christmas Visitors

Beware the deadly mince pie! Christmas hazards for dogs