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New puppy behavior problems: Maryland puppy experts

Owning a puppy is exciting, but one thing is important to be fully aware of and that is “puppies grow up quickly”.  It’s vitally important that every puppy owner understands each stage of your puppy’s development. Acquire appropriate training techniques to address such behaviors as they arise.  Below I have listed 3 most challenging “new puppy behavior problems” most people encounter.

Crate training your puppy:

New puppy behavior problem No. 1.

What exactly is crate training?  most of my clients are not sure exactly what crate training means. So here it is. Crate training

your puppy simply means we are training our puppy to enjoy being in his or her crate.  Your puppy should be happy to enjoy the crate for relaxation time.  Each time your puppy needs to take a nap, the crate should be used as that relaxation space. Start by feeding your puppy’s meals in the crate.  Crate your puppy even though you are home. This teaches your puppy to learn to be alone.  When owners only crate their puppy when they are leaving the home, the puppy quickly begins to associate being crated with being left alone, as a result the puppy starts to learn to dislike being crated. This can quickly become a puppy behavior problem. Teaching your puppy to enjoy crate is an important step.

Puppy biting:

New puppy behavior problem No.2

Puppies bite!  which is an important part of their development. Puppies use their mouth to communicate with each other, and as they bite, and puppy fight, they are learning how to effectively use their mouth to develop bite inhibition as they develop into adulthood.

When puppies bite,  although their needle sharp teeth can be rather painful, puppies are not biting to do harm.  When a puppy bites another puppy during this puppy biting stage, often times the other puppy will yelp loudly and this communicates to the other puppy .. “ouch that hurt” resulting in the other puppy backing off.

A great exercise is to cradle your puppy, as soon as your puppy goes to put his teeth on your hands, you yelp a loud “ouch” the puppy will back off, as soon as the puppy retreats, it’s important to praise the puppy. Providing the feedback “good puppy” for the absence of biting.  Overtime your puppy will learn when I put my mouth on my family I seem to hurt them and of course puppies don’t wan to hurt their owners so this behavior diminished or is completely eliminated altogether.

Housebreaking | Potty breaking

New puppy behavior problem No. 3

Teaching your puppy to go potty outside is and important part of puppy ownership. No-one wants a puppy going potty inside their home.  If you find your puppy is soiling inside the home, first of all the puppy isn’t sure where his “potty elimination” area is.   Its our responsibility to show our puppy where exactly we want him or her to go potty.

First and foremost we must prevent any or all opportunities for your puppy to go potty inside the home. Every time your puppy appears he or she needs a potty break, you must immediately take them outside to the spot where you want your puppy to eliminate, followed by an immediate reward. Rewarding your puppy when they potty outside communicates to them “yes good puppy you went potty in the place where we want”.

When you are not home and unable to watch your puppy, then your puppy must be crated or contained to ensure there is no possibility of your puppy wandering around the home eliminating randomly throughout the home.

If you are consistent in managing your puppy during potty time, this will result in a puppy learning to go potty outside and  becoming housebreaking in no time.

How we can help!

Always contact a certified professional dog trainer who utilizes positive reinforcement dog training techniques.

Be sure to contact The Maryland puppy training experts at Pawz For health in home dog training for all your puppy training needs: