Choosing a Puppy, Part 2

Part 2: Where should I get my puppy from?

You’ve got an idea from the last post of what type, size, sex, and age of dog you’re looking for. Now, in Choosing a Puppy, Part 2, you can source your puppy.

• Breeder

Super critical! 

There are some fantastic breeders, dedicated to the improvement of their breed, and fanatical about rearing the best puppies possible. They invest a lot of money in genetic testing to ensure their puppies do not suffer from inherited problems (e.g. Hip Dysplasia, Eye diseases, temperament issues). They devote three months of their life to each litter. They really earn their money! They will give you a detailed Puppy Pack, with pedigree, registration forms, medical history, diet history, breed-specific advice, and so on.

• Then there are those who have a pet dog who has pups. If there is enough hybrid vigour in the mix you may get away with the absence of genetic testing, as long as the puppies are reared right. These puppies are often reared in the home with lots of love and attention from family and friends, so can be a good bet temperamentally. This would be the old-fashioned household mongrel dog, now sadly disappearing through over-zealous neutering programs. You may be taking pot-luck on size, type, and health.

• Sadly there are many people who I refer to as greeders. Their interest is in getting as much as possible for as little investment of time and money as possible. They often focus on the most popular breed of the time - currently the troubled brachycephalic breeds like Pugs and French Bulldogs - or more often the fashionable “designer breeds”. Greeders usually focus on small dogs, as they can pack more into their sheds and they cost less to feed. They may try and offload the puppies at 6 weeks for some spurious reason (the real reason is laziness - this is the most labour-intensive stage of puppy-rearing). No genetic testing is usually done. In my experience it’s not uncommon for dogs from these greeders to develop chronic conditions like Hip Dysplasia within their first six months of life, necessitating lifelong medication or surgery. This suffering is appalling when it could so easily have been avoided. These people couldn’t care less.

• The worst of these greeders are the puppy farms aka puppy mills, who have lots of tricks to fool you into buying something that was reared in a filthy cage in a cellar or shed, with no human contact. The poor, overbred bitches live a life of loneliness and misery till they’re thrown out as spent. Often these puppies are much older than is claimed. They even charge a lot of money for them! You’ll soon be paying much, much, more for behavioural and veterinary help to try to partially repair the damage these monsters have inflicted. A disproportionate number of dogs bought off the internet classified listings die within their first year. Do NOT feel sorry for the puppy and take it, even knowing or suspecting its background. You will pay for the whole of the dog’s life. Worse, you are giving money to help further this cruel trade.

As one otherwise intelligent businesswoman said to me, as she regarded her puppy who had clunky hips, wonky teeth, and was afraid of his own shadow, “I can’t believe I fell for those tricks”.

• You’ll find advice about all this through your national kennel club. Here’s the UK Kennel Club’s page. Many kennel clubs have a breeder assessment scheme.

Meeting your prospective puppy

• Your first viewing

Very important

When you first visit a litter, do NOT take the family with you. You’d be better taking a friend who hates dogs and will not be beguiled by the cute little fluffy puppies! Decide on your priorities before you go in, and interview the breeder carefully. Ask penetrating questions and require thorough answers with written proof. A genuine breeder will be interviewing you at the same time, to see if you are a suitable owner for their precious puppies.

The pups should be spotlessly clean and smell sweet, with no tangles or mats, no sticky bum, no runny eyes. Their mother should be interested but not concerned at you handling her pups. (This is an important pointer to the litter’s temperament later on.)

• Buying

Oh so critical!

On no account agree to a puppy on your first visit. You are looking at a commitment for the next 12-17 years: be fully prepared to WALK AWAY.

• Beware of a breeder who wants you to take a bitch and rear puppies from it for them. It’s your choice what you do with your dog. It’s not uncommon for a breeder to prevent you being able to register progeny at your national kennel club without their permission. They are trying to protect the health and standards of the breed and protect their puppies from those greeders.

Now you have some concrete issues to research. See how this will all pay off in the next post.

Thinking ahead - enrol in our free e-course on how to change the things you may not appreciate in your new puppy into the things you like - all force-free, of course!

RESOURCES:

dogstrust.org.uk/buyeradvice

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Choosing a Puppy, Part 1

Choosing a Puppy, Part 3

Choosing a Puppy, Part 1

Part 1: Narrowing down the choice

The time has come at last! You’ve decided that you are going to get a puppy for your family. Excitement is running high, ideas are fantastical.

Your older boy sees this new dog as a companion in his muddy adventures. Your younger girl views it as something to love and cuddle, brush and comb. You have fantasies about a dog curled up at your feet when your work is done and you at last hit the armchair. And perhaps your partner thinks of something butch and manly to show off at the pub from time to time.

How on earth can you combine all this into one dog?

The truth is that while different breeds have different mindsets and hard-wired behaviours, the individual dog will have his own ideas.

Just like when you have children you get what you’re given, so with puppies. It doesn’t matter how carefully you choose your puppy, he’s still going to have a mind of his own.

So you’re going to need to do a bit of educating your family so that everyone is not disappointed with the new arrival! Find out what it is they are expecting, and guide them to more realistic expectations.

But choosing the right breed or type in the first place is a huge help!

The right dog for your family

You’ll need to consider these points:

• Size

Critical

The larger the dog the more expensive he’ll be to feed, house, and take to the vet. Small dogs can be more inclined to jump up and scrabble (small child hazard). Very large dogs need very large beds, very large cars, very large floorspace. (Deerhounds traditionally live in castles …)

• Coat-type

Importance depends on your time and housekeeping standards

Double-coated dogs can shed year-round in our heated homes. Fluffy dogs will need a full groom every six weeks or so. (You can easily do this yourself - the groomer’s bills will add up alarmingly.) Long coats get muddy and tangled. Very fine-coated dogs get cold and need a jumper in the winter.

• Gender

Not terribly important

When you’ve decided on your breed or type, you’ll find that either dogs or bitches of that breed match your family better. They have very different characteristics, and of course size can vary a lot between the sexes. If you have an open mind you will have more choice in the litter.

• Original purpose of the breed

Critical

Hunting dogs (e.g. labradors, beagles, spaniels) will go all day long in any weather. Lapdogs (Shih Tsus, Chihuahuas) will expect a lap and as little weather as possible. Sighthounds (e.g. Whippets) want to sprint for ten minutes then sleep for 23 and a half hours. Jack Russell Terriers think they are German Shepherds. If your family is an outdoorsy one all year round, then you can get a dog used to striding over moors and mountain. If going to the shops is a big adventure for you, then something happy to mooch about at home is required. Be very honest about this.

Whatever the breed, familiarise yourself with the genetic health issues pertaining to each breed or type (your Kennel Club should be able to guide you here) and look for breeders who perform the relevant tests. You can never guarantee anything, but you can sure stack the odds in your favour by doing this essential research.

You'll find a handy download about breed characteristics to be aware of here:

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• Age

Absolutely critical

Your pup should be 7-8 weeks when he comes home with you. I would not take a puppy a day older. I’d walk away empty-handed - that’s how important I consider this. And you should not take a puppy younger than 7 weeks, for any reason.

Visit your puppy at least once before you finally decide. 5-6 weeks is a good age to visit.

Your puppy’s primary socialisation window slams shut at 14-16 weeks. You can never get this time back again. Do not listen to any sob stories or cajoling from the breeder of the pups. See written proof of the dog’s age. WALK AWAY if you are not convinced.

• Rearing

Critical

How has this puppy been reared so far? In a shed? in the house? Some dogs will manage to overcome a poor start in life because of the resilience of their personality. Sadly, many never fully recover from a poor start. Family pet puppies should be reared inside the house - in the busiest part of the house. They should have an enriched environment with lots of different things to interact with. Here’s an example of a thoughtful breeder’s set-up for her puppies. These pups have been given the best chance to grow up with no fear and anxiety problems rearing their ugly heads later on.

• Price

Irrelevant

The “running costs” of the dog will very quickly overtake any significance in the cost price. I tend to forget to ask the price till I’ve chosen the puppy. Proper, caring breeders are not looking to fleece you.

Chew over these points till next time, when I’ll give you more detailed advice on how to find your puppy.

You'll need to get your name down for the free e-course on common puppy problems.

Check out Errorless Housetraining page too - this free cheatsheet will get you started fast when the time comes!

Meanwhile, arm yourself with good, force-free puppy-training info. You’d be surprised if I didn’t direct you to my books now, wouldn’t you? So I won’t surprise you. Go to my Books page where you’ll find years of experience with young puppies and their new families distilled into four how-to books, and see how you can get the first two books completely free!

Choosing a Puppy, Part 2

Choosing a Puppy, Part 3

Is your dog or your little puppy throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Workshop and find how to change things fast!

I’d like to watch animals on tv in peace!

Many dogs don’t seem to “see” the tv at all. It’s just noisy wallpaper to them, and not worth a glance - even when there’s a screech, a bang, shouting, an explosion … They totally ignore it.

But there are some who enjoy watching it, will cock their ears to study the images, and look and listen calmly.

And then! There are those who go ballistic when an animal, a fish, a bird, an insect - anything other than a human - ventures onto the screen. They may hurl themselves - with a cascade of barking - at the television, now covered in snuffles and nose-smears, or they may back off barking.

So nature programmes, advertisements featuring pets, and dog programmes in particular, can be the trigger for extreme angst and noise in your dog.

Cricket the Whippet will watch for a while if the screen continually shows dogs or wolves, but she’s mildly curious, not upset.

Coco Poodle on the other hand, became a basket-case as soon as he spotted a bear, or a swan, or a cartoon cat in a cat food ad. As for lots of dogs running towards the camera, he would completely lose it. He’d plunge at the screen, genuinely frightened at this incursion of apparently real tigers or wolves into his home.

Bob says of his young dog Tedd that “if he sees another dog on the tv he runs and barks at the screen: amusing at times, but watching 'The Incredible Journey' would be a no-no.”

What to do?

Once we discovered we had this problem with Coco’s 2d-image reactivity, we actually took the opposite course, and started recording animal programmes and leaving them playing (usually silently, so that the repetition didn’t drive the rest of the household mad).

So we became intimate with the private life of the wolf pack in Yellowstone, we saw endless clear rounds and knocked poles at the Horse of the Year Show, and just lately, Crufts has been a wonderful opportunity to get lots of calm dog-watching in.

Crufts is the world’s biggest dog show, and while many watch it to see the procession of show dogs in the breed rings, my interest is in the performance dogs. If you go to Youtube and search on Crufts 2016 you’ll find hours of videos of flyball, agility, dancing dogs, gundog displays, and so on. Connect things so you can play these on your big screen and you can enjoy watching them with your dog.

I always have some treats near to hand, so as soon as the image appears on-screen - and before Coco has even drawn breath to bark - I say “Yes!” and hold a treat by the side of his muzzle. This means he has to turn away from the screen to take the treat - thus breaking his obsessional gaze - then he’s free to look again. More Yeses, more treats. And over and over again till he can watch the screen in a genuine state of calm. Aficionados will recognise this as a form of “Look at That”, a brilliant calming game devised by Leslie McDevitt of Control Unleashed fame.

Here you can see Coco on my lap, quietly watching some breed judging at Crufts.

To fix or not to fix

But if you like watching tv programmes with animals in, this is something you’ll want to fix.

Keep in mind that it’s a fear reaction, and it’s pointless trying to punish an emotional response. Use the Coco Method above to settle your dog and get him to realise that he’s quite safe and nothing is going to burst through the screen and attack us.

Quite soon your dog will point out creatures on-screen and look for his reward for staying calm and quiet. Treat away!

More tips to deal with daily annoyances here.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!

 

Here’s another blog that you might want to read:

Yes, you and your dog can now watch animals on tv!

Are you paying your dog MORE for what you don’t want him to do?

We all come across everyday problem behaviours with our dog that may seem difficult to resolve. Owners are often baffled as to how to approach this and have resorted to saying “NO” ever more loudly. With little result.

But quite often, the things we don’t like our dog to do have started, or escalated, because we have our focus on the wrong area.

Dogs do what works

If an action of theirs gets a consequence they like, they’ll do it again. And again. And again and again. If that action gets a poor consequence, or no consequence at all, they’ll give it up and try something else. Sometimes, what you think is going to stop him, actually makes your dog worse. “All this attention and shouting,” he thinks, “I’ll have to do this again!”

Keep in mind that they’ve always got to be doing something. They can’t NOT do anything.

So all we have to do is make sure to reward what we like, immediately and enthusiastically, to get our dog to realise that that is a profitable course of action.

It’s all about choice

We have choice points all day, every day:

• “Will I get up now or hit the snooze button?”

• Coffee or tea?

• Breakfast or none?

• Red jumper or blue jumper?

and so on throughout the day.

Your dog also has choices all day long:

• “Shall I bark at the window or watch quietly?”

• “Will I lie down in the kitchen during cooking, or try to steal food?”

• Jump up at the visitor or sit?

• Chew the chair leg or my toy?

and so on.

Your job is not to TELL your dog what he should be doing, but observe his actions and be sure to throw a party whenever he makes the right choice.

Watch our free Workshop and learn how to communicate effectively with your dog or your new puppy, right from the start!

“But he’ll never choose to sit for visitors!”

And this is where we do intervene, but only to manage the situation to prevent what we don’t want to happen. Putting him on lead and standing on the lead would be a good interim management technique for greeting visitors. Meanwhile your dog learns during training sessions that a Sit is a good choice and will always earn him a reward. This could be treats, a game, or an opportunity to greet that visitor!

If you

Reward what you like,

Ignore what you don’t like, and

Manage what you can’t ignore,

you’ll be on track for developing a responsiveness in your dog that may amaze you!

Here’s what Sophie said after giving this a try for just a couple of weeks:

“Just thought that I would let you know that your brilliant idea of rewarding for the behaviour that we want has helped Odin to become a very calm and patient puppy when it’s our dinner time. He will lie down nicely and play with his toys while we're eating. :) “

No “NOOOOOs”. No “Ah-ahs”. No frustrated nagging. No tellings-off. Just selecting the action she liked and rewarding it solved the problem for Sophie.

So how do I start with this?

I’d like you to pick just one thing that is annoying you about your dog, decide what you’d like him to do instead, then heavily reward him every time he makes the right choice. Don’t make this too hard - keep it simple!  The simpler you make the problem, the faster your dog will work out the solution.

Be sure that all family members are on the same page here! And after a week you should be seeing a vast improvement.

And for extra help, get our free e-mail course on puppy problems.

Tell me in the comments below what you picked, and how it’s going. I shall look forward to seeing just how resourceful you can be!

 

Why is my dog a nightmare on lead when he's fine off lead?

This is a question that perplexes many dog-owners. Their dog is no trouble when off-lead, but he turns into a snarling hoodlum when on-lead.

There are a number of things happening here. Your dog isn’t actually a Jekyll and Hyde, rather he’s able to cope in one situation, but not in the other.

Sadly it’s often us who make the situation far, far worse! Although I know that’s the last thing we intend to happen.

So let’s have a look at what’s going on

1. Off-lead, your dog is able to come across other dogs - maybe even interact with them - without any trouble kicking off. If you watch what’s going on very carefully, you may see that your dog is displaying some excellent social skills. Because he’s not restrained on a lead, his body movement untrammelled, he can display body language appropriate to the occasion. If you video some of these passages or interactions you may see a host of calming signals being employed - perhaps by all the dogs involved.

This could include:

• soft body posture

• approaching indirectly

• looking away

• sniffing the ground

• turning his body away

• moving with loose-limbed movement and wavy tail

All those things are telling the other dog they’re no threat. When free to move away, your dog may even decide on a nose-sniff and a bum-sniff before moving on.

On the other hand, careful observation may reveal that your dog is actually anxious:

• trying to get away

• or frozen to the spot

• licking lips

• yawning

• stiff and slow in movement

• tiptoeing round the other dog

• tail tucked or stiff

He may not be as “fine” as you think!

But it’s when we get into the picture that things can really start to go wrong!

2. On-lead, things can be very different. Because you are used to your dog getting upset when he sees or meets other dogs on the road, you are highly likely to tense up as soon as you see another dog. This lead-tightening tells your dog that you’re worried and that something dangerous is coming. He goes onto full alert and starts to square up to the impending danger. On his toes and ready to defend himself, he’s likely to start barking, bouncing, and lunging at the oncoming dog, in an effort to scare it away. Because the lead is tight, he’s unable to employ any of his natural body language skills and issue calming signals to the other dog.

And because these dogs are being forced to walk straight towards each other, with no chance to pause, look away, sniff the ground - or any of those other signals that work so well when left to their own devices - they become helpless to improve the situation.

What to do?

Now, if your dog is unpredictable and just as likely to start trouble off and on-lead, this doesn’t apply to you! This is for those whose dog has had only good interactions with others when off-lead.

1. Acknowledge that your dog can handle things well when you don’t try to influence proceedings.

2. Stop interfering!

How to stop interfering? Look back at what happens when you see the other dog coming. It’s probably you who tenses up first, winds the lead round your fist, pulls your dog in close, starts barking commands at him. So it’s you that needs to change things.

For your dog to change, YOU need to change.

If you can ensure that whenever you see a dog coming, the first thing you do is to relax your hands, keep the lead slack, and breathe normally - you may be very surprised at how calmly your dog behaves!

Stop it before it starts

I have often seen a barking and lunging incident snuffed out before it began - simply by the owner relaxing their hands on the lead and not reacting.

To begin with, this may take a superhuman effort on your part! It’s hard to change habits we’ve developed - especially if we don’t even know we have them!

But if you can rehearse the scene in your mind - perhaps take one which happened to you today or yesterday, and run through it in your mind - you can see exactly where you need to change something you’re doing.

Once you’ve cracked this, and you know exactly what to do and when, you’ll develop a new habit. And happily, good habits are also hard to break!

Dog Body Language? Whatever is this?

Hopefully this has piqued your interest in finding out more about how your dog communicates. I’ll come back with some more on this in a while. For now, become a student of your dog: each little twitch, blink, or sniff means something. And for more learning, get our free Growly Dog e-course here.

He’s telling us! It’s up to us to learn how to interpret what he’s saying, with empathy, and without pre-conceptions.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!

 

Keep your distance! Help for fearful dogs

Imagine you’re afraid of spiders. Or mice. Would you be happy to see a spider or a mouse sitting on the table in front of you, or would you feel easier if said spider or mouse were more like fifty feet away?

Your dog is exactly the same!

He’ll feel much more relaxed when he’s a comfortable distance away from something that frightens him. And for dogs who bark ferociously at strange dogs they see on walks, the further that dog is from him, the easier it will be for him to stay calm and not react as if the ravening hordes were descending on him.

It’s a very simple first step to making your poor, frightened, anxious, stressed-out, dog feel happier about the world he has to live in. You may think your dog is aggressive, but the chances are he’s actually just afraid.

Distance is not the total solution to dog reactivity, of course. But just see what a difference this one step made to Chris and her family:

“My husband who walks the dogs has taken on board your tips and is amazed at the change in her. He comes home saying, ‘We passed five dogs and she didn't bark once!’“

When you’ve got this working, and your dog knows you’ll always keep your distance from other dogs, and never make him go right up to them (this perhaps in the mistaken belief that all dogs love to play), life will suddenly become much easier.

How distant is this distance?

This really will vary from dog to dog, and from place to place. There are other things coming into play that will influence your dog’s reactions too, like when he last ate, when he last felt the need to bark at another dog, upsets in the home, fireworks, a change in routine, and so on.

So you have to find out what distance will work for your dog. This could be 20 yards, though it’s more likely to be 50 or 100 yards. Observe him and see when he’s sufficiently relaxed to be able to look away from the other dog, and to respond to you. Now you’ve found the distance to aim for.

Next time he may manage to be a bit closer to another dog (say, 5 yards closer), or he may need to be further away still!

Keep in mind that if your dog is on edge and hating every moment of your walks together, then there’s no need to keep doing them.

Really!

There is no law that says your dog must run the gauntlet of his fears on a daily basis. How would you feel if you had to confront all those spiders and mice at close quarters every time you stepped out of the door?

For exercise, you’ll do better having a fast fun game of fetch or chase in the garden. If you don’t have a garden, then drive to a suitably open space - as dog-free as possible - and enjoy your game there.

And for lots more help with your barky, growly, dog - get our free e-course to turn things round without force, shouting, or yanking the lead!

Peace and calm are on their way to you.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!