Introduction Puppies are full of mischief and piddle. They are fidgety, stubborn, unruly, nosy, noisy, chewy, yappy, and totally dedicated to their "incoming" and "outgoing" stuff. They drive many dog owners crazy. Their human caretakers seldom understand a dog's nature or know how to manage a dog, especially a very young one. The canine problems mount, and the puppy simply compounds things because his owners don't know what to do. But take heart. Inside every unmanageable puppy is an endearing dog waiting to bounce into his grown-up dog suit and become a normal member of your family.
Living with a huggable pup that sits quietly with his tongue hanging out is a fantasy. Even in this age of megabytes and car phones we still daydream about a puppy that will chase a tennis ball and grow up to carry the newspaper home in his mouth.
Getting a puppy is part of the American dream. But some puppies turn daydreams into nightmares. The innocent little dog curled up in his soft nest may disturb your deepest sleep by howling all night, tax your patience by peeing all over your carpet and chewing up your favorite clothes, while not coming close to being your best friend. The truth is few puppies can make your dreams come true. It's not their problem. It's yours. Reality, however, is not bad. A real puppy will swing his tail with pleasure when you walk through the door and will be honestly glad to see you. A real puppy grows up to be a real dog and can reward you with companionship and loyalty and something that's a lot like love.
There is, however, yet another puppy trap, and you are advised not to fall into it by turning the unmanaged puppy into the overmanaged puppy. We call this the Superdog or Superpuppy Syndrome. It is normal to want to make your little dog a phi beta puppy. As there are overly ambitious parents, there are also overly ambitious dog owners. The burden of great expectations is placed on the small shoulders of dogs as young as three months. There is no question that their owners have only the best intentions. But overzealous puppy parents can do more harm than good.
There have been many feature news stories on television about the trend to create "superbabies." They show infants and toddlers (still trying to get oatmeal on a spoon) being taught how to read and being exposed to great art, poetry, mathematics, and various aspects of science. The glaze in the children's eyes and their smirking faces seem to indicate that they would prefer to have their diapers changed and be allowed to run off and play. Many educators feel that some of these "superbabies" will develop learning disabilities later in childhood because the parents are circumventing the normal growth and development process. When it comes to puppies it is all too easy to create serious behavior problems by introducing intense training methods plus caveman discipline, then expecting too much, too soon.
One of the myths of dog ownership is that you should never spoil your puppy. This is simply incorrect. It is a popular misconception that puppies must behave themselves at all times and that you must constantly discipline them and never let them get away with anything. In the beginning, expect puppies to do most things wrong. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves so that the appropriate methods are used to teach as we nurture a little dog.
For most dogs, maturity is reached at the end of the first year of life, although giant breeds mature a little later. Typically, puppies are taken to their new homes between two and three months of age. Try to compare a three- to five-month-old puppy to a nursery school or kindergarten child; a five- to seven-month-old dog to a grade schooler; a seven- to twelve-month-old dog to a teenager.
How much can you expect from a child in nursery school or kindergarten? Do not misunderstand: This is an important time for puppies as well as children. Rules must be established, but they should be more like boundary posts at first. Puppies must negotiate a learning process before we can expect them to behave like obedient angels. The learning process must not be harsh or unforgiving. A firm, demanding approach to training comes later, and even then it depends on the dog's temperament. The most important first step to managing your puppy properly is to develop a warm relationship with the dog, which is known as bonding. Gentle teaching comes next. Your puppy deserves good marks just for being himself. What we're looking for is your rapport card, with A's in Patience, Kindness, and Understanding. You just got a puppy. What do you do? Read on, dear dog owner, read on.
Copyright © 1992, 2002 by Mordecai Siegal and Matthew Margolis
CHAPTER TWO
Bonding with Your Puppy
Is there any member of the family more consistent, more reliable, trustworthy, giving, or loving than your dog? Probably not. However, as magical as the family dog is, he doesn't get that way by magic. If you've had any experience with dogs at all, then you know it doesn't always work out between every dog and every family. And even though it's terribly upsetting for the humans involved, it's far worse for the dog. In some cases, it can actually be fatal.
When you live with a new dog there is one thing that must come before training commands or even housebreaking: the creation of a bond between the dog and one or more members of the household. This is the development of an emotional tie between the family pet and everyone living with him. A new dog, young or old, must feel that he belongs, that he is a part of the family. Once the dog has been exposed to human contact during the earliest phase of puppyhood, his desire to become part of the human family is strong.
The Family Dog
So how do you create a good family dog? In order to explain that, we must first establish what exactly is a family. People, like dogs, are family creatures. But not all families consist of mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. Many are quite untraditional; they consist of various types of people spending some part of their lives together.
People band together out of common interests, a need for other people, for companionship, for intimacy, and for a bit of comfort, warmth, and security. As John Lennon wrote, "I get by with a little help from my friends." Make no mistake about it, all of us need our families, no matter what kind they are, just as dogs do. Dogs band together because they are pack animals and live in groups that share the responsibilities for survival. A dog fits into the human family quite well but relates to it as a substitute dog pack.
The traditional human family consists of a mother, a father, and one or more children. But a family can also be a mother and a daughter. A nephew and an aunt. Two friends, two lovers, or one person and a dog. If you don't mind, the dog certainly won't.
You could define a family as simply two or more creatures sharing their lives. For better or for worse, that is the essence of family life. And a dog will always fit into the equation, if you give it the opportunity.
If you already have a family, then why do you need a dog? Possibly for protection, companionship, or for the fun of it. But whatever the reason, a dog adds one more presence in your life for you to love and to love you back. It's why we have babies. But is having a dog anything like having a baby? In some ways it is and in others there is no similarity at all.
The Four-Legged Baby
Both babies and puppies are helpless and totally dependent, and both need to be protected from themselves. So we baby-proof a house and we puppy-proof a house. Both are adorable, huggable, lovable, enchanting, enticing, playful, demanding, noisy, irritating, and manage to keep us up much of the night.
So what are the differences between a puppy and a baby? A puppy will never grow up and go off to college, forget to write home, and then show up unannounced with six friends for dinner and a load of dirty laundry. Of course, a child will throw a graduation cap into the air someday, look his or her parents in their teary eyes and say, "Thanks folks, for everything you've done for me." A puppy can't do that. But a puppy can grow into an adult dog and love you, adore you, and stay with you till the end.
The principal difference between children and puppies is their view of the world. Children grow up and go out into the world on their own. Puppies grow up, stay home, and try to live in harmony with you. That is the clue for making your dog a happy member of the family. It involves the element of harmony, and it is so easy to accomplish.
Three Requirements for Succeeding with Your Puppy
So how do you get a new dog to enter family life with ease and comfort and create harmony? There are three important aspects to this. The first, and probably the most important, is bonding with your dog. The second is understanding your dog. And the third is learning to control your dog. That's all there is to it.
This chapter deals with the concept of bonding between pet owners and their dogs. Bonding techniques are no longer considered a new concept in child raising. It is a new idea, however, for humans and their pets. When humans bond with each other they develop strong feelings that create long-term relationships. This is not quite the same as pair-bonding between dogs, wolves, or coyotes. When they pair-bond it is for the purpose of mating and rearing pups.
When you successfully create a bond with your puppy, everything falls neatly into place. Obedience training becomes easier, behavior problems are fewer and less intense, and your ability to enjoy your dog is greatly enhanced.
When you establish a bond with your dog, you give him a sense of security. It tells him he is loved as a member of the family and helps him adjust more easily to his new home. He'll be able to cope with anything providing he is with those who love him. Bonding with your dog makes...
