There are many things to take into account and think about when the dream of a little warm puppy comes knocking.
In collaboration with instructors and behaviorists from Powerdog, we have collected 10 pieces of advice for the future dog owner in a small mini guide.
Did you miss parts 1 and 2? You can find them here:
Advice 5: Family life
Children and dogs enjoy each other very much, and it is a really good idea for the children to become part of your everyday life with the dog. There are very few dog breeds that are suitable for family life if they are not exercised every day. In our opinion, a good friendship between children and dogs is based on trust and respect. This means that you must ensure that your children can be with the dog, and that the dog can be with the children. No dog should be forced to speak up, and no child should experience being afraid of dogs.
Create a quiet corner for the dog where it has its basket and talk to the children that when the dog goes there, it is because it needs to be alone, and you should not go looking for it.
Feel free to let the children help train the dog so that they also learn to interact with the dog in a good way. Training between a child and a dog creates a relationship. Play between a dog and children is great, but try to avoid the game being about throwing balls, because that can easily stress the dog. Instead, try letting the children hide treats around the house that the dog has to find by using its nose. Practice reading your dog's body language together so you can see when the dog is saying that it needs a break or to be alone.
Don't let children be responsible for walking and training the dog. Children are often busy with a lot of other things, and the dog shouldn't be affected if the children forget something or don't have time for the dog.
Be sure that there is still time for the dog when it becomes everyday life and the interest in the news has subsided, and the children are engaged in other activities - especially if you have got a dog that needs to use its brain every day.
Tip 6: Training and routines
Your new dog is learning all the time – both when it is out and when it is at home. It is a good idea to think about from the very beginning what routines the new dog should learn, which will apply throughout its life. These could be routines around mealtimes, walks, and where you stay. For example, make an agreement with yourself from the start that the dog should never get food directly from the table if you want to avoid a dog that begs. If the dog only gets food from the table sometimes, it will quickly develop an expectation that this will always happen.
Remember that it is really cozy to have the puppy on the sofa and bed when it is small, but when it grows up and weighs 45 kilos, the space may become a bit cramped, but the dog cannot understand that it is suddenly not allowed anymore. Dogs generalize quickly, so if the dog is allowed to be on the furniture at home, it will also think that it is okay to be on the furniture when it is visiting other people.
It is a misconception that dogs should be introduced to everything before they are 16 weeks old. We know that a dog's learning window is greatest up until 16 weeks, and what we teach the dog about life during this period is what lays a solid foundation for the rest of the dog's life. However, this does not mean that you should rush to achieve 100 things with the dog. It is more important that your new dog has 3 positive experiences with other dogs than 50, half of which were not super good. If you have a cautious dog, this does not mean that it should be introduced to many things, because you risk overstimulating it. Dogs learn their entire lives, and if your dog has had positive experiences before it is 16 weeks old with other dogs, strangers, train rides and driving in a car, then you have laid a solid foundation for the dog's life. Your breeder has probably also done his part, and thus the dog is already well socialized.
As a general rule, try to avoid giving your dog the opportunity to do anything you don't want. If you don't want your dog to bite shoes, see if you can block access to the shoes by hiding them away or closing the door to where they are. If the dog does find a shoe to bite on, take a toy that it is allowed to bite on and give it to the dog so that it will let go of the shoe voluntarily. Have plenty of toys available for the dog so that it will be easier for it to choose the right one to play with. It is always a good idea to give the puppy chewable snacks that it can lie down with, to minimize the puppy chewing on our furniture because its teeth are itchy.
Find a good dog trainer who can give you tips and tricks to get you started with your new dog. Remember that all dogs need to be trained. If we don't teach them anything, they'll just teach themselves what works. It's a really good investment in your future to go to dog training with your dog.
Powerdog is a gathering place for dedicated instructors and behaviorists.
Here, students are offered many different courses within most dog sports both online and in the premises in Roskilde. The motto behind Powerdog is that dog training should be fun, for everyone! Both the dog and the owner.
The team behind Powerdog covers a wide range, from the family dog to the hardcore competition dog, and they all love to give dog owners new knowledge and understanding of their dogs.
SEE MORE AT POWERDOG.DK
Mini guide - part 3: 10 tips for choosing the best dog for you
There are many things to take into account and think about when the dream of a little warm puppy comes knocking.
In collaboration with instructors and behaviorists from Powerdog, we have collected 10 pieces of advice for the future dog owner in a small mini guide.
Did you miss parts 1 and 2? You can find them here:
Advice 5: Family life
Children and dogs enjoy each other very much, and it is a really good idea for the children to become part of your everyday life with the dog. There are very few dog breeds that are suitable for family life if they are not exercised every day. In our opinion, a good friendship between children and dogs is based on trust and respect. This means that you must ensure that your children can be with the dog, and that the dog can be with the children. No dog should be forced to speak up, and no child should experience being afraid of dogs.
Create a quiet corner for the dog where it has its basket and talk to the children that when the dog goes there, it is because it needs to be alone, and you should not go looking for it.
Feel free to let the children help train the dog so that they also learn to interact with the dog in a good way. Training between a child and a dog creates a relationship. Play between a dog and children is great, but try to avoid the game being about throwing balls, because that can easily stress the dog. Instead, try letting the children hide treats around the house that the dog has to find by using its nose. Practice reading your dog's body language together so you can see when the dog is saying that it needs a break or to be alone.
Don't let children be responsible for walking and training the dog. Children are often busy with a lot of other things, and the dog shouldn't be affected if the children forget something or don't have time for the dog.
Be sure that there is still time for the dog when it becomes everyday life and the interest in the news has subsided, and the children are engaged in other activities - especially if you have got a dog that needs to use its brain every day.
Tip 6: Training and routines
Your new dog is learning all the time – both when it is out and when it is at home. It is a good idea to think about from the very beginning what routines the new dog should learn, which will apply throughout its life. These could be routines around mealtimes, walks, and where you stay. For example, make an agreement with yourself from the start that the dog should never get food directly from the table if you want to avoid a dog that begs. If the dog only gets food from the table sometimes, it will quickly develop an expectation that this will always happen.
Remember that it is really cozy to have the puppy on the sofa and bed when it is small, but when it grows up and weighs 45 kilos, the space may become a bit cramped, but the dog cannot understand that it is suddenly not allowed anymore. Dogs generalize quickly, so if the dog is allowed to be on the furniture at home, it will also think that it is okay to be on the furniture when it is visiting other people.
It is a misconception that dogs should be introduced to everything before they are 16 weeks old. We know that a dog's learning window is greatest up until 16 weeks, and what we teach the dog about life during this period is what lays a solid foundation for the rest of the dog's life. However, this does not mean that you should rush to achieve 100 things with the dog. It is more important that your new dog has 3 positive experiences with other dogs than 50, half of which were not super good. If you have a cautious dog, this does not mean that it should be introduced to many things, because you risk overstimulating it. Dogs learn their entire lives, and if your dog has had positive experiences before it is 16 weeks old with other dogs, strangers, train rides and driving in a car, then you have laid a solid foundation for the dog's life. Your breeder has probably also done his part, and thus the dog is already well socialized.
As a general rule, try to avoid giving your dog the opportunity to do anything you don't want. If you don't want your dog to bite shoes, see if you can block access to the shoes by hiding them away or closing the door to where they are. If the dog does find a shoe to bite on, take a toy that it is allowed to bite on and give it to the dog so that it will let go of the shoe voluntarily. Have plenty of toys available for the dog so that it will be easier for it to choose the right one to play with. It is always a good idea to give the puppy chewable snacks that it can lie down with, to minimize the puppy chewing on our furniture because its teeth are itchy.
Find a good dog trainer who can give you tips and tricks to get you started with your new dog. Remember that all dogs need to be trained. If we don't teach them anything, they'll just teach themselves what works. It's a really good investment in your future to go to dog training with your dog.
Powerdog is a gathering place for dedicated instructors and behaviorists.
Here, students are offered many different courses within most dog sports both online and in the premises in Roskilde. The motto behind Powerdog is that dog training should be fun, for everyone! Both the dog and the owner.
The team behind Powerdog covers a wide range, from the family dog to the hardcore competition dog, and they all love to give dog owners new knowledge and understanding of their dogs.
SEE MORE AT POWERDOG.DK