The Power of Puppies is CUTENESS. Absolutely adorable. Its their super power and we need to know how to Combat that Cuteness so they stay relaxed. Families have been waiting so long to get this bundle of fun home and all you want to do is stroke and cuddle them. You can get away with this for a few weeks…but done repeatedly will lead to the problems families come to me with from 6 months onwards…
Play has serious purpose for all dogs. They are constantly questioning their position with everyone around them. In the litter they do it with each other, jumping, growling, running, lying over each other. This is done many times during each day testing each others strength. Size means nothing its also all about attitude too and physical height can be shown by jumping up. There is a constant interaction working out hierarchy. Playing chase is all about who comes out on top.
The saying TOP DOG is well known and is very true, we don’t want it to be the dog in the household.
Dog parents will allow young puppies to climb over them, because its very clear who is the boss, so they are dismissive of this behaviour but they don’t encourage it, they ignore it. The parents know who is stronger and faster they don’t need to prove it.
We humans are therefore at a huge disadvantage, by the time our puppies are adults they are faster and stronger than us. We can’t bare our teeth or growl because we want our dogs to know we are kind and caring and don’t want to scare them. We want calm confident dogs who literally look up to us for guidance in surviving in our confusing human world.
By learning dog listening we use gentle, silent, calm body language so the puppy understands they must respect us, they don’t have to constantly question us. We do this with body placement to send the right message to the puppies. Here is the HEADLINES:
Never lie down next to them and place your head at the same height as them.
Never let any part of their body rest over yours.
Never let them lean/nudge into you.
Never chase them, walk away.
Never lift the dog up to the same height as you (apart from to pop on a grooming table or in a situation of extreme danger when you start walking).
Never let them fall asleep in your lap this is cute the first time, the following behaviour will not be.
So with every interaction think :
Was I training the dog or was the dog training me?
Was every decision made mine or did the dog manipulate me?
Who is TOP DOG today?! P.S. It needs to be the humans everyday.
You can still have fun, I just did some disco dancing with Lupin and Tuli in the kitchen this morning – on my terms!
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