Pet Help

Bringing a new puppy home is an exciting new adventure which brings with it a lot of responsibility for bringing the puppy up with proper training. The training should start at day one, when the owner should enjoy the cute little puppy, but should keep in mind that everything that he does with the puppy is reinforcing behavior that will continue when the puppy turns into an adult.

The puppy training should be consistent throughout its life so that the behaviors that are allowed with the owner are also allowed with people that enter the home. If the behavior would be an embarrassment or could cause harm or annoyance to the person entering the home the owner must not allow it with himself, otherwise the dog will be confused as to what behavior is appropriate to do with people.

Biting

One issue that is common with puppies that should be stopped through training is their biting. Puppies, while exploring their world would usually use their mouths and will likely bite, however this can be negatively thought of by other people.

When this happens, make sure that you do not hit or slap your dog when training it to stop biting as the puppy might think that the owner is actually playing with it, playing rough like dogs will make them do it with each other.

One way to train the puppy to stop biting is to refuse to play aggressive games with it such as tug of war, chase or wrestling. Although these activities are fun for dog and owner, they encourage aggressive behavior which is not acceptable for the dog to exhibit with all humans that come into the home.

One of the best ways to train a puppy not to bite is to let out a sharp “Ouch!” whenever the puppy tries to bite and then removing eye contact and turning the back to the puppy. This is the same method that dogs use with each other, letting the other dog know that it hurt and they are not going to play that way.

This method uses negative reinforcement to train the puppy that biting will not get him the attention that he wants. When the puppy calms down and does not try to bite, the owner should give it attention and praise so that the proper behavior is reinforced.

If a puppy bites on your hand, place a finger under its tongue and hold on to the bottom of the jaw firmly for about ten seconds and make sure that the puppy cannot get away. This will prevent the puppy from biting down and will provide the negative reinforcement that such behavior is not acceptable at all.