Managing Your Puppy’s Behavior

Managing Your Puppy’s Behavior   

Raising a puppy can be really enjoyable or really frustrating. It all depends on how you manage his environment with the amount of freedom being the number one mistake people make.

Your puppy should be treated like a human toddler until the age of at least 1 1/2 years old. Puppies will act like puppies which means you can count on the following behaviors both when you are watching and when you are not.


✗    Urinating and defecating when they feel the urge, anytime anywhere
✗    Chewing anything they can put in their mouths,
✗    Whining, crying and barking if they find themselves alone
✗    Eating any anything they think MIGHT be edible
✗    Greet by excitedly jumping up,
✗    Mouthing and biting all living and moving things.

These are all NORMAL behaviors for any puppy and sadly there is nothing on this list that we as humans approve of.    

 If you want a dog that eliminates outside, chews only his own things, can settle down alone and quietly, does not jump up or bite unless instructed, the onus is on us humans to mould the dog’s behavior.  Puppies need management. 100 % OF THE TIME. Here are some important rules for managing your new puppy or dog:   

✗    Confine any puppy or untrained dog to one room, like the kitchen, to make dog proofing the room and supervision easier.

✗    Supervise like crazy: feedback about both housetraining and chewing lapses has to be immediate. 

✗    Never punish a dog late: it is ineffective and abusive. 

✗    Help him get it right most of the time: provide stuffed chew toys and praise him when he uses them, take him out often (every hour for a young puppy!) And praise & reward him immediately when he performs outside,

✗    Enroll in a reward based training course like Sirius Puppy Training to teach you how to communicate with him. You have done that! Yay!

✗    Don’t reward whining or barking when the dog is left alone by returning to the dog – this teaches him that whining works at getting your attention. Get him used to being alone by coming and going ZILLIONS of times for very short periods the first few days you have him, all done very matter of factly

Burn your dog’s energy, both physically and mentally!  A Tired dog is a well-behaved dog. 

Teach him basic commands and tricks with treats, and life rewards like fetch, tug and hide & seek with his toys, get him out daily for walks & runs, trips to new places and give him regular opportunities to play with other dogs.  If you work long hours, consider a walker, or day-care.