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| Frequently Asked Questions  What age should I get my puppy? The optimum time for taking a puppy away from its mother and litter mates and bringing it home to live with its new family is between 8 and 10 weeks old. The period before this is crucial to be spent with its family as this is when puppies learn the basics of playing nicely with other dogs and the beginnings of bite inhibition. Make sure that you have fully researched the breed you are considering adding to your family and are aware of any needs the dog may have ie. Extra grooming, lots of exercise etc. My dog dig holes all over the backyard how can I stop
this? Digging is an instinctual behaviour for dogs and they get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Rather than attempting to stop something that your dog gets so much enjoyment out of, what you need to do is redirect it to an appropriate place so that your garden and lawn can be left alone. Ideally, create a ‘digging spot’ in your backyard where your dog can dig to its hearts content. To encourage digging in this particular place, half bury some biscuit bones or your dogs favourite toy, by leaving ‘surprises’ buried it will become more rewarding to dig there as not only will your dog get enjoyment from the digging, it will end up with a lovely treat. I regularly
take my puppy outside to toilet, but he usually waits until
he is let back inside before deciding to go, how do I make
him go when he is outside?
Your puppy doesn’t yet understand where his toilet is and requires a little more guidance. When you take him out specifically to toilet, pop his lead on and make sure you take a couple of small food pieces to reward his success when it comes. Take your puppy to the spot you wish him to use and then stand still. Allow your pup to wander around you and sniff whatever he pleases, just don’t move from your spot or interact with your pup at all during this time. He will soon smell everything there is to be smelled around you and grow bored and elimination will soon follow. Praise your pup as he is eliminating and as soon as he is finished give him the treats and a lot more praise, the more you praise the easier it is for him to make the connection that what he just did was great. Don’t forget that if any accidents happen in the home they need to be cleaned up immediately with a non ammonia cleaner in order to thoroughly remove any trace of the smell, if this does not occur the puppy will smell where he has been previously and return to this spot in the future to repeat the behaviour. There is also no point in punishing your dog – they are called ‘accidents’ for a reason, and punishment will not help him learn any quicker, but will instead make him wary of toileting near you which means you may start to find surprises in the strangest places throughout the house. I have a problem with my dog jumping on everybody all the time including visitors who come over, we keep telling her to get down and push her away but she doesn’t listen, what else can we do? To stop a dog from jumping you need to remove all rewards, namely – eye contact, touch and speech, your dog is most likely jumping up to receive some attention from you, and even though you are telling her off and pushing her away which for people is an obvious sign you are displeased, to her she is getting the attention she is after. The most effective way of dealing with this is to ignore the behaviour entirely. When your dog jumps simply turn around so that she is now jumping on the back of your legs, as soon as she gets her 4 paws on the floor again you need to praise her effusively, often this will cause jumping again, so you need to repeat the entire procedure. It is vital that as soon as she is back on the floor you give her the attention she wants as this is how she makes the connection that to get attention jumping will not work, she must remain on the floor at all times. Be aware that even if one member of the household continues to reward your dog with attention when she jumps, then she will continue the behaviour, so everyone needs to be consistent and work on this together. Advise visitors before you let them in the door what you would like them to do if she jumps, if you think they will not co operate try to give your dog something to chew, or scatter some treats on the floor when you let your visitors inside or simply remove her from the room.
My puppy continually nips me and sometimes it’s quite hard, how do I stop her? Mouthing is quite normal for puppies as they learn by having a nibble on everything, at this stage although their teeth are needle sharp, their jaws are quite weak so it is very important that bite inhibition is taught before they become adults. The best way to go about this, is when your puppy does touch you with her teeth you need to emit a little yelp and cease any interaction with your pup for 10 seconds or so. Essentially you are aiming to mimic what fellow puppies would do so you need the yelp to be quite high pitched. Normally the puppy at this stage will lick your hand in an appeasement gesture, and once this occurs you can resume play. There is no need to ignore your puppy for longer than the 10 seconds as puppies have short attention spans and she will forget what has just happened. Everyone in the household needs to follow these steps or else it will not be effective. If your puppy continues to nip, growls whilst biting, bruises or draws blood please contact our qualified dog trainer immediately. My friend washes their dog with wool wash but I have heard that you shouldn’t do this, which is right? Also how often should I wash my dog? Providing your dog does not have a skin condition or parasite infection as diagnosed by your vet, the general rule for washing is to do it when they are dirty or smelly or else once a month. There is no need to give the dog a weekly bath ‘just because’ and in fact it is good for your dog to go longer between washes as it allows their coat and skin to retain its natural oils which keep it looking nice and healthy. Wool wash is not a good idea to bath your dog with and neither is soap or any human shampoos or conditioners. Dog skin is a lot more sensitive than human skin and these products contain inappropriate levels of pH which can cause irritation to your dogs skin as well as stripping both the skin and coat of sebum. Therefore, it is best to use specific dog shampoos as these are less likely to damage your dogs skin or coat. I am uncertain whether or not I should castrate my male dog although I have heard that this can stop him from marking everything in sight, can you advise me please? If you have no plans to breed from your dog, then there is no real reason why you shouldn’t castrate, as the benefits of having your dog desexed are many, both from a behaviour and health point of view. Health wise, you cut down on the risk of problems occurring in the prostrate gland, perineal hernias and hepatoid tumours as well as testicular cancer. Behaviour wise, you cut down on marking, humping, aggression, and wandering. As an added bonus, the council also charge less for the registering of desexed animals so it will also save you money! Every time I come home from work my dog has destroyed something new in the backyard including our sprinkler system, our outdoor setting and she has even pulled out some small bushes, how can I stop her? It sounds like your dog may be suffering from boredom when you are not home, and there are several options you can provide which can occupy and tire out your dog and thus save you losing all of your possessions. Exercising your dog before going out – whether with a walk, swim or an energetic game of fetch, can ensure that your dog will require a nap shortly after you have left the house, as can feeding your dog in the morning. Providing a nice big bone to chew on is bound to occupy several hours as well as aid in keeping your dogs teeth and gums healthy. (Always provide RAW bones, never cooked, cooking bones removes all the healthy nutrients bones contain and as well as tending to splinter when chewed, they can also set like concrete in your dogs stomach.) Provide various toys such as balls and squeaky toys, and there are other options which combine activity and feeding such as Kongs, Tucker balls and Home Alone toys. If your dog likes water to play in, then get a childrens pool (such as the plastic clam) and fill one half with water and make the other half into a digging pit. To make things extra fun, arrange doggy play dates with a dog you know that gets along well with yours, just make sure when leaving them unsupervised that all toys and bones are removed to avoid any potential conflicts. My dog has been barking and I am worried that my neighbours will get upset with her, how can I stop it when I am not at home? Dogs bark for many reasons, - territorial & protection, boredom, attention seeking, anxiety, playtime fun, health problems, hunger/thirst or shelter requirement. There quite often is a genetic influence as well, some breeds have been bred to bark more. What you first need to do is determine why the barking is occurring before you can address stopping it. Speak to your neighbours and find out when your dog barks, is it when you first leave him alone? Maybe it’s when the postman comes around? Examine the times she barks and look at the above list of barking reasons and you should see a connection, you may need to restrict her view of the road, provide more toys and stimulation or put barking on a ‘speak’ command, or for anxiety you will need to contact a trainer. For help with identifying and addressing why your dog barks please contact our qualified dog trainer. |
