When you are bringing a new member of the family home, you can certainly get by with the bare minimum of supplies, but life can be a lot easier when you are prepared for puppies and dogs to be, well, normal puppies and dogs. That could mean chewing baseboards, eating shoes, and going potty on your favorite rug. This list is comprehensive but of course, there might be things that specific dogs really like that have been missed and many of these things are certainly not essenti

Click through any links you see for supplemental information about each topic. Enrichment Imagine sitting alone in an empty house or in a crate all day while your family is gone, coming out for a few hours at night, then it's bedtime. Pretty boring! Keep a variety of toys and chews in rotation - have a few out and a few stashed, then swap every few days. Imitate the mouth feel of the things he loves to chew. Chair rungs? Get a ruff root Rugs? Get a rope toy Dog bed? Get stuff

Most of the calls I get about fighting dogs fall into a handful of categories, with some overlap: 1) two female dogs are fighting, 2) a third dog recently joined the family, 3) a puppy has joined a family where they already had a senior dog, 4) the youngest dog has recently turned 2 (e.g. reached social maturity), 5) the senior dog is old enough to have less accurate vision, hearing, and perhaps has arthritis, 6) the dogs aren't really fighting, they are playing roughly but i

This post is geared toward Puppy 101 clients. You will find so much info here by clicking through the links. If your puppy is driving you mad, first try to remember that nearly everything a puppy does is totally normal for baby dogs. This cute article about puppies coming from another planet is a good one to read and remember in those moments when you feel frustrated. This article is a nice overview of what you should be doing before you really know what to do from training l

Puppies use their mouths to explore the world and to play. The problem is, their little teeth are very sharp and can really hurt when they explore or play with you. They also are teething and find relief from chewing. Teething is typically over by 8 months of age but dogs enjoy chewing for their entire lives, so it’s good to teach appropriate behavior early. “Bite inhibition” refers to a dog’s ability to control the force of his bite. Puppies usually learn bite inhibition

Housetraining your puppy or dog takes time, consistency, patience, and lots of walks! This post includes a lot of info geared toward puppies, but the methods work for dogs, also. If you are struggling, don't miss the troubleshooting info at the end. Bladder and bowel control is not fully developed before 12 weeks of age and varies among dogs. Some puppies learn when and where not to eliminate within a few weeks while others take longer to learn, as late as 7 months of age, s

Your puppy is a sponge until about age 12-14 weeks, so help him soak up good stuff! If your puppy is under that age, read on. Socialization - introducing your puppy to other animals Habituation - introducing your puppy to sights, sounds, surfaces, and objects Every interaction you have with your puppy is training, whether you are officially training, or not! Most people use the word “socialization” to mean all of these things, together. If you are going to DIY your puppy's s

Puppies don't naturally want to use crates. Help your puppy learn to love going inside instead of making it a battle.