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Dog owners may be surprised to find how often trainers will bring up the subject of early puppy education. There are reasons, you know. This isn’t my first post on the subject, and it certainly won’t be my last.
The reason it’s brought up so frequently is because it’s a near desperate situation that seems to be very difficult to clearly get into the heads of puppy owners and potential puppy owners. Perhaps as a trainer I have been speaking too softly about it. Maybe it’s time to play hard ball.
Here’s the deal. If your “puppy” is over the age of about four and a half months, you cannot realistically call me for puppy classes or puppy training advice unless you are looking for advice on a future puppy you intend to take into your home. The dog you have is done being a puppy. You missed it. You messed up. You blew it. You are now asking me to let a teenager into kindergarten, and I can’t do that.
Maybe you couldn’t train your puppy because you had to move, you were getting married, the kids were busy with sports, training is too expensive, you got a new job, you were sick, your mom was sick, the car was broke down, the roof caved in or you were re-paving the driveway. Whatever the reason, there isn’t a trainer in the world who can reverse time and make your dog a puppy again.
If you used any of these excuses as reasons for not vaccinating or feeding your new pup and he got very sick or died, I doubt you’d garner much sympathy. Instead, it would probably be suggested that you had no business getting a puppy if you didn’t have the time or the resources to properly care for it. You might even be brought up on animal cruelty charges. Why is preventative training looked at differently?
The truth is that from the time you get your puppy, up until he becomes an adolescent, it is unbelievably easy to introduce him to other people, dogs, environments and situations. It is amazingly easy to teach him to sit, down, stand and stay. It is incredibly easy to teach him how to walk nicely on a leash, sit for greetings, pee outside and come when called. It is the only time that he can easily, naturally and sufficiently learn bite inhibition.
This truth doesn’t stop owners from blaming the dog and taking him to the shelter when he becomes an unruly adolescent. This truth doesn’t stop dogs from being euthanized because they are now fearful, aggressive dogs with no bite inhibition. This truth doesn’t stop dogs from being relegated to the solitude of a lonely backyard because the dog was never taught how to live indoors with his family.
THAT is where my desperation comes from. If owners were the ones who truly paid the price for not raising their puppies responsibly, I wouldn’t be so worried. I’d be perfectly happy to allow owners the natural consequences of their actions. However, it is the dog who pays the ultimate price.
Early puppy education is not just a fun thing to do with your new pup. It is a serious responsibility that goes hand in hand with feeding, vaccinating and otherwise caring for your pet. At the very least, it's a matter of quality of life for you, your dog and your community. In many instances, it's a matter of life or death.
If you are the owner of a new puppy or you are thinking about getting a puppy, PLEASE go to www.jamesandkenneth.com and download (for FREE) Dr. Ian Dunbar's book, BEFORE You Get Your Puppy.
If you failed to provide your pup with his early education, please visit www.apdt.com to find a trainer. Always ask a trainer about the methods they use to be sure that you'll be training your dog in the most up-to-date, positive and dog friendly way.
