AFTER You Get Your Puppy

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CHAPTER ONE

Developmental Deadlines

C

ongratulations! So, you have your new

puppy. Now what? Basically, you are at a fork in the road. The success of the relationship depends on your teaching your puppy the rules and regulations of domestic living. The most critical time in your dog's life is right now—puppyhood! First impressions are indelible and long-lasting. Consequently, the next few weeks are crucially important for your dog's development. Help and guidance at this stage will have a profound and everlasting effect that will enrich the dog-human relationship for many years to come. BEFORE You Get Your Puppy addressed your puppy's first three developmental deadlines: your doggy education; the search for and selection of a suitable puppy and how to assess its developmental status; and teaching household manners during your puppy's first week at home. The first three developmental deadlines were extremely urgent, crucial, and left precious little room for mistakes. In view of their importance and tight deadline, household manners will be summarized here. AFTER You Get Your Puppy will focus on your puppy's next three developmental deadlines during the first three months your puppy is at home. The clock is still ticking, and you only have three months to get a lot of things done.

The Remaining Three

Developmental Deadlines
The 4th Developmental Deadline

Socialization with People
The Most Urgent Priority—by 12 weeks of age The 5th Developmental Deadline

Learning Bite Inhibition
The Most Important Priority—by 18 weeks of age The 6th Developmental Deadline

Preventing Adolescent Problems
The Most Enjoyable Priority—by five months of age The most urgent priority is to socialize your puppy to a wide variety of people, especially children, men, and strangers, before he is twelve weeks old. Well-socialized puppies grow up to be wonderful

companions, whereas antisocial dogs are difficult, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous. Your puppy needs to learn to enjoy the company of all people and to enjoy being handled by all people, especially children and strangers. As a rule of thumb, your puppy needs to meet at least a hundred people before he is three months old. Since your puppy is still too young to venture out on the streets, you'll need to start inviting people to your home right away. Basically, you'll need to have lots of puppy parties and invite friends over to handfeed your pup and train him for you. The most important priority is that your puppy learns reliable bite inhibition and develop a soft mouth before he is eighteen weeks old. Whenever a dog bites a person or fights with another dog, the seriousness of the problem depends on the seriousness of the injury. Hence, the ease and success of retraining depends almost entirely on the dog's degree of bite inhibition. The reliability of your dog's bite inhibition determines whether you have a minor problem which may be easily corrected with a few safe, basic training exercises, or whether you have a serious and potentially dangerous problem which is going to be extremely difficult to resolve. In a perfect world, you will successfully socialize your puppy so that he thoroughly enjoys the company and actions of all people, all dogs, and all animals. More realistically, though, accidents happen. Someone accidentally shuts the dog's tail in the car door. Someone runs to answer the telephone and accidentally treads on a sleeping dog's leg. A child runs and trips and falls on top of the dog while he is gnawing on a bone. When dogs are hurt or startled, their natural response is to snap, lunge, and even bite. Even wonderfully friendly dogs may feel inclined to protect or defend themselves when picked on by other dogs and people. For example, when hurt or frightened a dog may snap and lunge at a person. But if a dog has wellestablished bite inhibition it is unlikely his teeth will even touch the skin. Or if there is skin contact, it is unlikely that the teeth will break the skin. The dog has caused no damage and the potentially serious problem has been easily and safely prevented. If, on the other hand, the dog has inadequate bite inhibition and his teeth puncture the skin, then you have a serious situation which may be difficult and time-consuming to resolve. The most important priority is that your puppy learns reliable bite inhibition and develops a soft mouth before he is

eighteen weeks old. Whenever a dog bites a person or fights with another dog, the seriousness of the problem depends on the seriousness of the injury. Hence, the ease and success of retraining depends almost entirely on the dog's degree of bite inhibition. The reliability of your dog's bite inhibition determines whether you have a minor problem which may be easily corrected with a few safe, basic training exercises, or whether you have a serious and potentially dangerous problem which is going to be extremely difficult to resolve. In a perfect world, you will successfully socialize your puppy so that he thoroughly enjoys the company and actions of all people, all dogs, and all animals. More realistically, though, accidents happen. Someone accidentally shuts the dog's tail in the car door. Someone runs to answer the telephone and accidentally treads on a sleeping dog's leg. A child runs and trips and falls on top of the dog while he is gnawing on a bone. When dogs are hurt or startled, their natural response is to snap, lunge, and even bite. Even wonderfully friendly dogs may feel inclined to protect or defend themselves when picked on by other dogs and people. For example, when hurt or frightened a dog may snap and lunge at a person. But if a dog has well-established bite inhibition it is unlikely his teeth will even touch the skin. Or if there is skin contact, it is unlikely that the teeth will break the skin. The dog has caused no damage and the potentially serious problem has been easily and safely prevented. If, on the other hand, the dog has inadequate bite inhibition and his teeth puncture the skin, then you have a serious situation which may be difficult and time-consuming to resolve.

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