Puppy Advice and things to consider
So many people choose a puppy for looks, latest craze or fashion statements without taking a second to think of their lifestyle and how a certain breed would fit into their current situation.
When progressing from thinking of getting a puppy to then going out, choosing one and bringing it home we tend to overlook the basic tick boxes to ensure that the new edition has the best start possible.
So, I thought I’d help by adding in my top recommendations when bringing your new puppy home regardless of breed.
Crate Training
Crates are a bit like marmite, you either love them or you hate them. If you have had a problem in the past conditioning a dog to a crate, then it’s understandable to have a negative response to such an item but consider the following before throwing the idea in the bin. At some point in your dog’s life it will most likely be subjected to a crate, when they visit the vets they will spend the majority of the time in the crate whilst being cared for, when you take a dog to a groomers they will be in a crate until its there turn to be groomed. When travelling in a car it is the law to ensure a dog is safe and secure, so a crate is a great option for that. Based on those examples alone it makes sense to set them up for success for when those situations arise.
“Yeah, but that’s just a few examples”. I hear you say…..why is crate training on the top of your list for a puppy?
Simply put, the crate is somewhere safe the dog can be whilst resting and not being disturbed by children, other dogs or us for that matter. often overlooked when we raise a puppy is how much sleep they need against the amount of quality sleep they actually get. Puppies typically need between 16-20 hours of sleep a day so when we don’t use a crate but instead allow our puppy to sleep wherever it chooses (including at your feet or on your knee), we can find once we get up and walk past or move to go and get the post etc, a puppy’s natural response is to follow, resulting in a puppy that hasn’t entered a full sleep cycle which long-term can then lead to develop more problematic behaviours through being overtired and reduce that 16- 20 hours dramatically to more 10-12 hours. Lack of sleep is something we can all relate to and how it effects our daily routine, this isn’t going to be any different for a puppy.
Crates not only help with sleep but can provide a calm safe environment where a Puppy can find peace and quiet when the big world around it appears overwhelming, with that in mind it’s important to understand that when a puppy is resting in the crate to not stick our face or hands inside making the new addition feel confined or trapped, the idea is that the crate becomes a safe, den environment very much like our own bedrooms do for us.
Puppies are known for their destructive behaviours and can often become troublesome if left unattended, this is where the use of a crate becomes a valuable tool as it allows us to leave the house for a short period of time to do things like food shopping or meeting with friends for a coffee knowing full well our puppy is calm, content and in a safe secure environment avoiding us coming home to our new cushion shredded, skirting boards chewed or poo smeared all over the bed.
Toilet training
Toilet training is probably one of the biggest problems initially I hear of but can be easily sorted through the right level of consistency from you. The biggest thing to understand when it comes to toilet training is that your puppy will have accidents, but these accidents should never be punished. If your dog is regularly having accidents its most likely your fault not being consistent enough. To achieve good results from toilet training take your puppy into the garden every hour, allow them to have freedom on a lead to wander, when they have done a wee or a poo make a fuss of this and even use a small reward. This overtime builds up a consistent thought process that to get affection or a reward I must first wee or poo in the garden.
Nutrition
One of the things I see allot of is people spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds on a puppy but opting for the cheapest most convenient food available. Now, we all love convenience, but this should never compromise quality in my opinion so when it comes to food it really is important we get the best for our puppy. Allot of supermarkets we see the big name brands that have colourful labels that sound super good for our dogs health, however if we stop to understand the ingredients it can soon become apparent just how little nutritional content the food on display actually provides for our dogs. High nutrition is incredibly important to help prevent long term illnesses and overall muscle and joint development in your dogs. in recent studies it has shown that low quality dog food has linked to many conditions in dogs including pancreatic conditions in later life , so bearing this in mind spending a little more on a better quality of food and aiming for optimal health for your dog now could in theory save you heart ache and vet bills in the later years of your dogs life.
To simplify the difference in quality I’ve taken the ingredients of a very well know supermarket brand dog kibble and compared it to a dog kibble of a high quality brand that’s not as well known to the public eye. The difference is clear that the high quality food is full of meat, vegetables and supplements that’s specifically aimed at overall long term health compared to that of the poor quality food that contains very little and is cleverly marketed as dog food when realistically its not worthy of that name.
Poor Quality Dog food
Cereals, Meat and Animal Derivatives (22% including 4% Chicken in the Bone-shaped Kibble*), Oils and Fats, Vegetables (4% Peas in the Brown Barrel-shaped Kibble**), Minerals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (0.5% Beet Pulp in the Bone-shaped kibble*), Yeasts.
High Quality dog food
Raw whole pilchard (18%), raw whole mackerel (11%), raw whole hake (10%), raw flounder (6%), raw whole rockfish (6%), raw whole sole (6%), dehydrated mackerel (5%), dehydrated herring (5%), dehydrated whitefish (5%), dehydrated sardine (5%), dehydrated blue whiting (4%), herring oil (4%), whole red lentils, whole peas, whole chickpeas, whole green lentils, lentil fibre, whole pinto beans, pea starch, sunflower oil, dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole zucchini, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, dried chicory root, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh beet greens, fresh turnip greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehip
Without diving in to deep the difference in ingredients is evident with only 4% chicken being stated in the cheaper version and yet 71% is stated as meat in the high quality feed.
Feeding depends on budget and lifestyle so its very much a personal preference when it comes to you and your set up. To try and simplify the options for you the below may help when it comes to making a decision on what type to feed your puppy/dog.
Raw feeding is the best option in my opinion but can be troublesome if freezer space is an issue or you are a bit squeamish when it comes to blood, smells and squishy meat. That said if you have the time, space and stomach then storing, defrosting and feeding raw will serve you well given it’s the ideal setup for a dogs all round health. As raw feeding becomes more and more popular there are now 100’s of options in the raw world to choose from all of which have different levels of quality over each other so be sure to do your research and always strive for the best available.
Cold pressed has the benefits of raw but without the mess, this is the best system for those who don’t have the time or the space or don’t want to feed raw. Cold pressed is also ideal for those who are always on the move so are never necessary in one location at any one time.
Wet and dry food have huge options in the animal food industry, and this is probably where the main range over quality exist of good vs bad. There isn’t really any advantage over either except for personal preference for you.
To understand more on this or find the best quality of food for your budget and lifestyle then take a look at allaboutdogfood.co.uk where you can compare brands wet, raw and dry and really find the best option and quality for you and your puppy.
The Dog Food Directory - now listing 2733 dog foods! (allaboutdogfood.co.uk)
Mental and Physical fulfilment
Exercising the body isn’t always exercising the mind and quiet often people will walk there dog around a block for ten minutes a day and then wonder why there puppy or dog is pulling there ankles and house to pieces. On average dogs need around 1 hour of good quality exercise a day however many breeds need more than this so it’s very important to do your research and ensure you can fulfil your dogs lifestyle in comparison to yours otherwise the shift for you will be huge to work around your new dog that often results in the rehoming.
When walking your puppy structure the walk to build on some important foundations, practice some loose leach walking followed by some Frisby or ball on a long line. Walk slow, walk fast even run a little. Wait at the edge of a road, walk into a shop or two and most importantly find a spot, sit and do nothing, a skill so often overlooked on how to teach your dog to switch off and be calm.
Mentally stimulating your dog can often lead you to believe that you must have every toy and chew possible spread out all over the floor in every room, this is something I go against and often tell my clients to structure the play time throughout the day and keep all excitement outside the house. Doing so can help your dog to separate between outside and inside and help with undesirable wall and sofa surfing inside the home.
I often recommend to only have a dog chew like a yack bar, coffee wood or deer antler in the house and this be given to the puppy to chew when supervised as this helps provide mental stimulation, relaxation and is often a good form of frustration relief especially when it comes to teething.
Socialisation
When it comes to socialisation its very easy to use our own humanised version of what socialisation means. To us its meeting up withy friends, partying and meals out, therefore that means when we socialise our puppy we should meet as many other dogs and people as necessary right?......WRONG!!!
Doing so can create so many issues that we don’t originally see if we don’t understand our dogs body language. Many dogs are fearful of meeting new people and dogs and are forced into these situations that we think they are enjoying when truthfully they are displaying either fearful or threatening behaviours. Picture this, your out with a friend and a big male built like Mike Tyson comes over and your friend makes you say hello by forcing your noses to touch each other and be in each others intimate space face to face. How would this make you feel? Chances are you would display one of the 3 behaviours we typically see in these situations:
Fearful (Tail between legs, urinate through fear, cower or display stomach to show surrender and no harm).
Playful (play bow, sudden spinning, quick little jumps)
Aggressive (stiff, rigid body, forward body language raised hackles very pointed stiff tail, razor sharp fixation, intent to attack)
This isn’t a situation I would like to face yet we make our dogs do this daily and then worry when a dog snaps, is scared of the it’s surroundings or suddenly has become reactive to passing dogs and people. “ ok then ste, so how do I socilaise my puppy then?
I’m not saying don’t meet dogs and people but advocate for your dog. Find well behaived responsible dogs and owners that your dog can learn from. Allot of times this mistake is made with family or friends’ dogs. Just because your parents, sister, brother or neighbour has a dog it doesn’t necessarily mean it should meet it if that dog displays some unwanted behaviours or doesn’t fit your example of a role model dog.
What we really want to teach our new puppy/dog is to be ok in the presence of people and dogs without the need to interact with them. By following the basic steps discussed this can easily be achieved. If people ask if they can stroke your dog first study your dogs body language, is it looking fearful or unsure? Don’t feel like you are being rude by saying no, to often people think they have a given right to stroke a dog that isn’t there’s without permission. If you are happy with the other person meeting your dog then walk together first to build up some comfort and help relieve any initial stress or anxiety in your dog.
This is a very similar approach if someone asks for your dog to meet their dog. Again study both dogs body language and make a decision based on what yours is telling you. You must always advocate for your dog so they always feel safe and secure in your care. If a dog was to display some unsure behaviours at this point then its time to say no thankyou and carry on with your walk. That said if things look ok then progress with a walk to build pack mentality. They don’t need to be face to face or jumping on top of each other to meet initially. In fact the first association with them is perfectly fine to be nothing more than a walk side by side.
Socialisation is very much introducing our puppy to new experiences and surroundings and trying to ensure that’s these are all positive outcomes, Socialising your new addition can actually be a really fun and rewarding process for you and in fact if your reading this I challenge you to go out and explore this.
Find as many new experiences you can provide for your puppy without forcing a negative association with the task, some great things to get you going is introducing the following:
Objects: Binbags, Skateboards, Pushchairs, Different vehicles Etc.
Places: Car journeys, Town Centres, Roads, Vets, Cafés Etc.
People: walking sticks, Babies, Children, Cyclists, Tall men, Crowds, Postman Etc.
Sounds: Cars, Lorries, Sirens, Vacuum cleaner, Doorbell, Lawn Mower, Kids playing Etc.
Animals: Sheep, Horses, Cats, Household pets, Birds, Chickens, Older well-trained dogs, Cows Etc.
But remember, Advocate for your dog, ensure others respect their space and don’t be afraid to say no!
now all the advice above is only just some useful tips and advice that i offer to my customers, there is of course 100’s more things to take into account and consider but i do hope that you have taken some useful information from reading the above.
Ste Crane
Pure Canine