SUMMARY


• Puppies need our help to become sociable.

• Expose your puppy to as many people, sights and sounds as possible before he is twelve weeks old.

• Speed is of the essence in socialising your puppy.

• Don’t plan to train him to be a guard dog or to bark.

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The three outcomes

The learning process that has evolved in dogs and other mammals is very straightforward. Inside your puppy’s brain, the consequences of every single action he carries out are recorded and allocated to one of three categories. Those categories are: -Good (things just got better) -Bad (things just got worse) -Indifferent (nothing changed) Which of the three categories those consequences fall into will determine how your puppy will behave next time he is in the same situation. Let’s look at some examples. If your puppy pokes a tennis ball with his nose, it is quite likely to roll along the ground. If there is a bit of a slope, he may even get to chase after it. Things just got better for the puppy and his brain records a good consequence. Next time he sees a tennis ball, he will be likely to poke it again. On the other hand, if your puppy pokes a wasp with his nose, he may get stung, in which case things just got worse for him. A bad consequence is recorded and the puppy’s brain will l...
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Arriving home

At last. You have made it home with your precious new bundle. You pull into the drive and switch off the engine.  What now? The very first thing you need to do is take the puppy straight to his outdoor toilet area so that he can have a wee. Offer him a drink of water and make yourself comfortable. It may take him a while to decide that it’s okay to wee in this new place. Puppies vary in how they react to being placed on the ground in a strange place. Some are like little clockwork toys – you put them on the ground and off they go. Others will be more hesitant, and a few will freeze with fear. If your puppy seems worried, get right down on the ground with him, let him know that you are there for him and let him climb on your lap if he wants to, while he surveys this new world. He will want to stay near you but he will soon begin to sniff about and hopefully will decide to do a wee. Once he has emptied his bladder, you can take him indoors, but it is a good idea to set an alarm ...
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What to expect on the journey home

The chances are that your puppy has never been in a car before. He has also never been away from the home where he was born and where he feels safe. If you put your puppy in a crate in the back of your car and drive home with him shut in there, one or all of the following three things may happen. He will scream very loudly most of the way. He will be sick. He will empty his bowels.  This reinforces your position as pack leader and is just good manners! This is simply because the puppy is stressed and feels abandoned. He may be perfectly safe in the crate in the event of an accident, but your driving is likely to be adversely affected by the noise and the smell. All in all, it is not a very good start to his new life. For this reason, when I collect a puppy, I always take an adult passenger with me, or get someone else to drive. Then the puppy can sit in the footwell on the passenger side of the car. Pressed up against someone’s legs, he will feel safe and won’t scream with fear. I...
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