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PROACTIVE PUPPY LESSONS - EARLY EDUCATION & PREVENTION

WHEN & WHERE:

• A series of 4 lessons in your home
• The first educational, preventative, and bonding experience for you and your pup
• A pup/owner MUST if you’re aiming to do all you can for behavioural health
• Begin as soon as you bring your new family member home & get settled in

This program guides you week by week through all the early puppy stages

Topics include:

House training, Crate training, Scheduling, Feeding, and Exercise Nipping, Chewing, Teaching bite inhibition, Creating good chew toy habits.

How To’s:

• Socialize effectively
• Prevent bites and guarding behaviour
• Manage puppy unruliness
• Create good habits from day one!
• Handling, bite prevention, preventing guarding behaviour, how to socialize effectively

BENEFITS:

• Teaches owner awareness (understanding how dogs think and learn)
• Easy methods to manage your pup from day one preventing bad habits from forming
• Hands on help, educational material, and resources provided
• Weekly guidance, through each stage, on topics of (management, prevention, positive reinforcement training, and proper socialization)
• Phone/e-mail support in between sessions

CAN I WAIT UNTIL PUPPY CLASSES:

• Waiting cuts pups optimal socializing/learning time short
• Socialization includes much more than pup-to-pup play
• Studies prove dogs socialized early are much less likely to develop behavioural issues
• The optimum period for learning and experiencing new things is over by about 16weeks in puppies.
• Missing socialization during this window of opportunity is the main cause of fear, anxiety, and aggression down the road. Research shows:
• “the risk of a dog dying because of infection with distemper or parvo virus is far less than the much higher risk of a dog dying (euthanasia) because of a behaviour problem”
• Robert K. Anderson DVM, Diplomat, American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Behaviourists
• “We need to recognize that this special sensitive period for learning is the best opportunity we have to influence behaviour for dogs and the most important and longest lasting part of a total wellness plan”

THE SOCIALIZATION PERIOD

Dogs have a short period of time in puppyhood up to approximitely 4 months for optimal learning and acceptance of new things to occur. During this period dogs are most able to learn and to willingly accept new things (sights, sounds, smells, objects, people places). Ideally, you would want a pup to ALREADY have experienced every new thing he would ever be exposed to over his lifetime BEFORE this 4 month mark ‘window of opportunity’ or ‘Socialization Period’ ended!!

Socialization does not just refer to people other pets and animals. It includes different sounds (think of the first few times you turned on your hair dryer, blender, or a big truck drove by). It includes items, movements, fast speeds, different substrates (pee pads vs. real grass or gravel) smells, different locations and riding in all types of vehicles are all a part of the SOCIALIZATION PROCESS.

Lack of proper early socialization can often lead to serious behavioural issues. Behaviour is poorly understood by the general population. Mismanagement of behaviour issues or inability to cope with them often leads to surrendering the pet. In turn euthanasia is often the end result.

One of the more common ways lack of early experiences manifests itself is as fear and anxiety. This can quickly lead to ‘fear aggression’. A dog can learn in just ONE situation that ‘aggressive acts’ like growling, lunging, or1 snarling work very well to keep the enemy (feared person, animal, etc) at bay!

This behaviour escalates quickly because the dog feels more secure with this new powerful tool. Fear aggression now becomes more overt, dominating aggression and the larger the dog the more dangerous the situation. If there is no bite inhibition (ability to choose biting down with very little pressure) or if unpredictability is a factor there are few options and euthanasia is often the only choice.

Death is a huge consequence for a preventable problem. It’s a ‘no brainer’ really! APPROPRIATE, EARLY SOCIALIZATION AND PREVENTION ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR A PUPS BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH, A MUST WHEN YOU KNOW THE ALTERNATIVE.