Too much, too soon

If you read about training FOR a situation, not IN the situation, you may have resonated with the initial picture…

So you got your new puppy! Adorable! Look at that squishy face as she sleeps in your arms. Look at the cautious, waddling steps she takes as she explores her environment. Oh wow! She’s so calm and sweet and your heart melts. You’re going to take her EVERYWHERE!! And show them EVERYTHING!!

And therein lies the problem. Everything. Everywhere. All at once!

Let’s think about humans for a moment (I know, boring! And yes, we do make dog to kid analogies a lot.) We don’t take a 4 month old baby, who just learned to roll over, out to buy new running shoes. We don’t ask our 12 year old who just mastered multiplication and division to enroll in a university level math course. We teach our children incrementally, at stages appropriate to their learning and brain development. Sure, sometimes we over or under estimate their needs, or realize we have a wonderful child who is developing outside the standard norms, so we course correct, we adjust. We learn!

If we take our child out to dinner with us and it was a good experience, we are likely to repeat it. If we take them out and feel like it was a disaster, we get frustrated, annoyed, anxious and maybe vow never to do it again.

But we can help our child learn by teaching them the skills necessary to cope with a dinner out. We may also teach them that a fancier restaurant requires a different skillset than a fast food restaurant. We teach them different voice levels are appropriate in different situations or environments. We teach them “manners”. And manners are subjective to who you are, where your are and your own moral compass.

Ya, ya, ya…shush about kids…get back to dogs!

When we take our puppy everywhere and introduce them to everything, all at once, they can easily become overwhelmed. They haven’t learned the basic concepts of HOW to manage themselves in different situations.

Sure, you may have heard that socialization is so very important to puppies and their development. But socialization is NOT synonymous to how we think about human socialization. It’s not just about hanging out with other dogs and getting used to a “pack”. Being introduced to healthy, stable dogs can be a bonus, but all too often stability is not found at the dog park or your neighbors back yard with their 3 grown dogs.

“We give our puppies access to too much, too soon.”

Puppies need gradual introduction to many sights, sounds and experiences in a positive manner. New puppies only need access to a crate, a potty area and you! They can be cuddled and handled and introduced to touching in all parts of their body in a positive way (eyes, ears, belly, paws, claws) but they do not need access to your entire house and back yard the first day they are home. Not even in the first week. Or the first month!

We need to teach our puppies that their environment is safe and they only have access to what we want them to have access to…and only AFTER they’ve shown us they are responsible enough to handle more space and experiences.

“No experience is better than a bad experience.”

What does “showing us they are responsible” look like?

When they can use the potty area we’ve designated in one area reliably, we can give them access to another area.

When they can remain calm in their enclosed play area in the living room with the kids active, we can allow them access to more of the living room (take away the crate, add a small fenced play pen; take away the play pen and use a leash to tether them near the couch; take away the tether and have them hang out on their bed).

Incremental steps!

Giving your dog access to the whole house, yard, car, town, friends sets you and pup up for failure. Introduce each piece in a calm, reliable way that reinforces positive interactions and rewards and you’ll find your relationship with your dog improves dramatically!

If you are thinking you introduced your dog to too much, too soon, you can always take a step backwards. Practice containing what your dog has access to today. Yes, they may push back if you’ve never asked them for some self-control, but that’s why you’re here. To learn games, concepts and how to reshape your dog’s brain.

But FIRST, you have to learn to be your dog’s best friend. And the first step in that is to limit what your dog has access to. That’s actually a positive thing, not punishment!

If you’re in the Grass Valley Area, check out our Semi-private, Group Classes to learn more!