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GENERAL INFORMATION

American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ) Breed Profile

The American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ) is a medium sized breed of dog. It has short hair which is relatively smooth to the touch. Pit Bulls come in all colors and patterns.

The Pit Bull breed has been developed over hundreds of years to be a worker and is well suited to most any task requiring strength, agility, and intelligence. A well developed American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ) should be muscular in build with well pronounced chest and legs. A Pit Bull's head is often described as brick-like but is actually more in the shape of a wedge. The muzzle of the Pit may vary in length but a Pit with a well developed head will have a wide muzzle at maturity ending at a muscular jaw.

The tail is often described to resemble a lever and ends in a tip. Although some Pits may have their tail cropped this is not suggested as it affects their balance. A Pit Bulls tail is never in the shape of a corkscrew.

The ears of Pit Bulls are set rather high on the head and may be cropped or un-cropped based on preference. When a Pit shows interest or expresses joy in something its ears will often move toward each other revealing wrinkles on the forehead.

Pit Bulls eyes are round or oval in shape and come in all colors including blue which is caused by the Merle gene. Merle genetics may also reveal itself in blotches on the coat and is typically manifested this way in reds and blues.

The nose of a Pit Bull can be any natural color but in most cases are black, red, blue, or speckled.

A well mannered and properly socialized Pit Bull will exhibit confidence in most every situation. When a task brings itself to light the Pit Bull is typically inquisitive and exhibits a can do and don't give up attitude. The Pit Bulls intelligence is unsurpassed and can get it into trouble sometimes once it figures out it is a natural escape artist and can climb tress almost as good as a cat. Because of this ability it is of the utmost importance to keep objects and trees away from any fences that are intended to confine them. Pit Bulls have a natural tendency to want to please their owners and strive for human attention. Pit Bulls make excellent family pets but should be watched around children as their exuberance, size, strength and weight may be overpowering.

Pit Bulls can be trained for most any occasion ranging from service and therapy work, guarding, hunting, rescue and the activity it loves best; couch or bed warming. Although all Pit Bulls need physical activity to help release their large stores of youthful energy, head pats and belly rubs are always a welcomed second.

A well developed and socialized Pit Bull is like a chivalrous knight clad in an armor of muscle covered with a well polished glossy covering of skin. Like the great knights of old, the American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ) will show unfaltering courage, dedication, be honorable in action and have a heart to do what is right by his king or queen, you.

Of course sometimes they will just insist on being the joker.

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                          UNDERSTANDING GAMENESS

The American Pit Bull Terrier of today has developed into a true and loyal companion; commanly involved with obedience, Schutzhund, therapy, weight-pulling and an all-around-family dog. There has been several cases reported with has helped to create a bad-rep for this breed but anyone who truly knows the breed knows that a properly bred and socialized APBT is one of the least likely breeds to bite a human being without being provoked!
There will be two terms that you will continue to come across when it comes to the bloodlines of a APBT. These are "game-bred" and not game-bred. I would like to help it be easier to understand the definition of the term "game-bred".
Gameness is not a dog's courage, fighting ability, or even endurance. Gameness is the never quit, fight to the death personality of what are called "game-bred" pit bulls. Game dogs were not necessarily the best fighters, but they were the dogs with the most fight in them. It is EXTREMELY important for a owner of a game-bred dog to understand the way his dog thinks when it comes to being around other dogs.
A game-bred dog does not fight like another breed of dog might. For centuries these dogs was bred for nothing but fighting; they excelled in fighting; fighting was their reason for existence. Dogs of other breeds can be trained to fight; the APBT does not have to be trained to fight other dogs-- to them it is a matter of survival. Most other breeds will bristle and put on the aggressive displays of dominence. If the opponet submits to this show of force, the fight is usually avoided. Pit dogs do not spend much time on displays; they simply walk up and fight until the opponent is incapacitated or dead and move on. Fighting is not a ritual or even a defense mechanisim for this breed --- it is simply a way of life. Centuries of breeding has developed a dog with gameness, a very high tolerance for pain, powerful jaws, and a muscular physique.
That is why responsible ownership is so important with this breed. There is seldom much time for intervention so the best thing to do is to practice prevention.
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an EXCELLENT site for breed information and literature about owning multi-dog homes.... http://www.badrap.org/rescue/owning.cfm

APBT COMMANDMENTS

1. Thou shalt NEVER trust thy Pit Bull not to fight.

2. Thou shall contain thy Pit Bull securely when not supervised by an adult.

3. Thou shalt NEVER leave thy adult Pit Bull alone and unsupervised with another do

4. Thou shalt attend obedience classes most faithfully with thy Pit Bull.

5. Thou shalt keep thy Pit Bull socialized with All Kinds of people.

6. Thy Pit Bull will Never be allowed off leash in a public place.

7. Thy Pit Bull will NEVER be allowed to roam free in thy neighborhood, EVER!!

8. Thou shalt take thy well-trained Pit Bull out in public and show
him/her off -always on leash for good breed public relations.

9. Thy Pit Bull shalt go forth into the world as an ambassador of the pit bull breed.

  10. THOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY WRONG DONE BY THY DOG.

TAZER PIT AND B-BULLS KENNELS DO NOT CONDONE OR ENCOURAGE ANY ILLIGAL ACTIVITY INVOLVING THE APBT OR ANY OTHER BREED. OUR DOGS ARE NOT BRED, RAISED OR SOLD WITH THE INTENT OF ANY ILLIGAL ACTIVITY AND ANY KNOWLEDGE OF DOGS FROM OUR KENNEL BEING USED FOR THIS PURPOSE WILL RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE POSSESSION OF THE DOG AND NOTIFICATION OF THE PROPER AUTHORITIES.

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                                                          IS THE APBT THE RIGHT DOG FOR YOU????
                                          YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER YES TO THE FOLLOWING:

You are responsible

  Image is not that important to you

  You have time to provide love

A Human friendly breed is important to you

You are healthy enough to provide it with good exercise

Your housing situation allows Pit Bulls

You can handle the financial costs involved with vet care, food, training, and toys

Your future is relatively certain and if you will be moving choosing a place
that allows Pit Bulls will be one of your primary considerations

You are educated on the breed and are prepared to deal with its individual needs.
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Responsible Ownership

Responsible pet ownership is probably the most overlooked yet most important aspect of owning a pet. There are many factors that go into owning a pet from deciding which pet is right for you to proper disposal of your pet upon its passing. Responsible pet ownership is a beginning to end and every day issue one must take into account when becoming a pet owner.

When deciding on whether or not you wish to own a pet you should take into consideration the time you have available to provide attention to that pet, the environment it will be living in, your family dynamics, and expenses involved in pet maintenance.

Choosing a pet IS NOT AN ISSUE TO BE DECIDED UPON TO CONFORM TO A FAD OR AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP OR MAINTAIN AN IMAGE.

A PET IS NOT A BABYSITTER FOR YOUR CHILD.

If you are wanting a pet but will not have much time to spend exercising it, you should choose a pet like a snake. Snakes make excellent pets for those with busy lifestyles. Snakes require very little exercise and can often go for long periods of time between feedings based on type.

If you wish to own a dog you should do some research on the characteristics of different breeds and find a breed that matches your lifestyle. It is unfair to expect a dog to conform to your lifestyle simply because it may be the breed you want. Both you and the dog you choose will have a much happier and rewarding relationship if your lifestyle and its breed characteristics parallel one another.

When choosing a method of confinement take into account your dogs physical characteristics. Short haired dogs should not be left out in the cold and long haired dogs should not be left out in the heat. Although there are many methods of confining your dog, tall privacy fences and indoor dwellings are preferable. 50% of all dog attacks happen on the owner's property. An overwhelmingly large percentage of these attacks occur when irresponsible children intentionally trespass, and in some cases, antagonize the dog. If you have children and as a responsible parent, it is your obligation to educate your children to respect other's property, belongings, and animals. No matter what type of confinement method you use, proper confinement is a necessary part of responsible pet ownership. Remember this is your pet and not your neighborhood's pet. DO NOT LET YOUR PETS ROAM. THE OFFSPRING OF A NEIGHBORHOOD INDISCRETION ARE UNNECESSARY AND PUT TO DEATH DISPROPORTIONATELY IN SHELTERS AND POUNDS. ALLOWING A PET TO ROAM IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PET IRRESPONSIBILITY.

If you will not be breeding it is advisable to have your pet spayed or neutered preferably before 6 months of age. There are millions of dogs and cats that die unnecessarily every year in shelters and pounds. Spaying and neutering can help eliminate the problem of unwanted breeding and spaying and neutering (especially before 6 months of age) can have many health benefits. To learn more about spaying and neutering please visit our health issues section.

When it comes to health care make sure that your pet meets all the required vaccinations for your area. Vaccination is the key to your pets long term health and happiness free of disease. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is also a necessity to proper pet health. When buying food make sure it is nutritionally well balanced. Some dogs do well on scraps from the table, others do not. The Pit Bull in general seems to be one breed that does well digesting table scraps. However, every dog is unique and maintaining proper dietary control can promote a long and happy life.

Water is essential to all life, and most importantly to your pets. If you own a pet such as a dog or cat make sure it has plenty of fresh water daily.

Training and socializing your pet to other animals and humans should be provided regularly. A properly trained and socialized pet is much less likely to cause harm to others. Proper training and socialization can assist you in communicating with your pet more effectively which will relate to a stronger and more rewarding relationship for you both.

When disposing of a pet who has passed on, make sure to follow regulations for your area. Never flush fish. When burying a pet that has passed on make sure the grave is of sufficient depth to discourage scavengers.
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Dog Bite Prevention
This page is brought to you as a public service announcement from
Dog Scouts of America

Ian Dunbar, respected animal behaviorist and DVM had this to say about dogs at a recent dog trainer's conference: "When they're upset, pissed off, or annoyed, they don't call their lawyer... they bite. That's what they do." He also said that 50% of dogs will have an aggressive encounter with you in their lifetime.

Dog bite statistics are alarming. We need to do more to educate the public on what to do to avoid an aggressive encounter with a dog, and how to respond when you find yourself in danger of being bitten.

Each year at Dog Scout Camp, we have a guest lecturer come and speak to us about "A look into the mind of the aggressive dog." Cheryl Carlson has been training dogs for many years, and her expertise and sense of humor are appreciated by the campers. Cheryl travels all over giving similar, "Dog Bite Prevention" workshops to postal workers, meter readers, dog catchers and delivery personnel. The information she shares with us is excellent, and I am going to share it here on the web page in the hope it will enlighten a few people, or prevent a few people from sustaining a harmful dog bite.

What makes Cheryl such an authority on dog bites? She gets bitten by dogs for a living. She trains Police K-9, security dogs, and personal protection dogs. She's a certified Campagne Decoy. She works in a full body suit, where the attack-trained dogs are allowed to bite everywhere and anywhere. Cheryl also teaches classes in protection training and trains other decoys. She exhibits in and judges various protection competitions. She is definitely an expert on how to get bitten by dogs. Who better to teach us how NOT to get bitten by dogs?

During the talk, Cheryl demonstrates with some of her own or her students' dogs, just exactly how to get the dog to bite. A perfectly friendly dog is brought out, who makes "friends" with the person acting as the decoy. Then the decoy's demeanor changes. They start crouching, moving erratically, and reaching toward the dog's head tentatively, as though they were afraid. This turns the sweet-natured dog into a raving maniac. The display put on by the decoy always reminds me of a nine-year-old child approaching a dog. Children have the ability to behave exactly as if they WANT the dog to bite them--it's no wonder they often get bitten.

So, lesson number one is: Teach your children how to approach dogs (and do the same yourself!).

First of all, children should be taught NOT to approach strange dogs at all, period. If the dog is unknown to you, anything could happen. I still recall an incident that happened when I was only a toddler. The neighbor had tied a friend's dog that she was watching to the property line stake. So the dog was able to come over into our yard (right next to the swing set). I toddled up to that dog and tried to look at his tags. The dog jumped up on me and knocked me OUT! I still remember coming to, on my back, looking at the sky and the five swing sets circling above me! By the time there was only one swing set, my mother came out and scooped me up. Having a severe head trauma at an early age like that is not a laughing matter. Also, I'm lucky it was a small, friendly dog, and that I fell BACKWARDS! Or my mother might have been picking me up in pieces!

If the owner of the dog is there, and says it's ok, have your child stand still and let the dog approach the child. I've been teaching community obedience training classes for 25 years, and my rule has always been to NEVER approach and touch a dog that doesn't approach and touch you FIRST (it's a good rule for identifying friendly people, too!). If the dog approaches and is not afraid, the child can extend a fist for the dog to sniff (extended, grabby little fingers are frightening to dogs). The child should be instructed not to pat the dog on the top of the head (most dogs actually hate this, anyway), because they usually do so in "attack decoy mode." They reach out and then pull back when the dog moves to inspect the hand. This is the fastest way to encourage a dog to nip at hands. Try to get the child to scratch the dog under the chin.

The best approach when introducing yourself to a new dog is a sideways one. A sideways stance is less threatening to a dog. Avoid direct eye contact. Look away, or look at the floor and pretend to be disinterested in the dog. This conveys a "calming signal" to the dog. It portrays a picture of a being who is not going to try to chase him, grab him or hurt him. If you look calm, the dog will be calm. Other calming signals [Read "Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas] include approaching by walking in an arc (the way friendly dogs greet each other), sitting or squatting, licking or smacking your lips, yawning, and sniffing (we humans don't sniff, so you could just inspect a blade of grass with your hand, or something). Basically you are almost completely ignoring the dog. This sets him at ease. You're telling him, "You don't have to worry about defending yourself from me, because I mean you no harm."

Now, that will get you through an encounter with a non-aggressive dog. What do you do if you find yourself suddenly confronted by a dog who thinks he is protecting his turf, or for some other reason wants to intimidate or bite you? The first instinct you may have is to run. That is the WORST possible behavior you could engage in. If there is ever a for sure piece of advice,
NEVER, EVER RUN from a dog.

Dogs bite because they don't want you near them, or an area they may be "protecting." Be it fear, or whatever reason, the dog wants to put distance between himself and you. If a fearful dog can not distance himself by running away, he will try to distance you by putting on an aggressive display to intimidate you. How you react can mean the difference of whether you get bitten or not. I remember an incident 25 years ago, when a man came door to door selling apples. When the man swung that apple crate up onto his shoulder to leave, my Doberman went into serious "alarm" mode. He decided that guy had ill intent. My Dobe was (like most Dobies), just a big cuddly lap dog, so I told the guy, "Aw, just stomp your foot at him, he'll go away." WRONG IDEA! Sundance just about came unglued, and I was lucky that he didn't actually bite the guy! I had never seen him act like that! He acted like he was going to rip his lungs out! The poor man must have just about wet himself. I felt so stupid!

Cheryl Carlson suggests that you never try to use intimidation to "chase away" an aggressive dog, unless you are sure that the dog is very fearful. A fearful dog will respect and avoid a "stronger being", while they may attempt to bite someone who runs away. First choice defense would be to activate the calming signals, while slowly backing off, sideways. Cheryl also says (and she should know), that the flesh on the outsides of our bodies (hips, outer thighs, outer calves, upper side of arms) is tougher than the inner sides of those body parts, and if you're going to get bitten those would hurt the least. As for a small child, Cheryl recommends that the child place the hands over the face, with the forearms protecting the throat. She tells little kids that if they see a "big, mean dog," he wants to play hide and seek, so stand still, cover your eyes, and count to 50. This places bone in front of the child's face and throat. Lying down on the ground is not a good defense against an aggressive dog, but if the child should happen to fall down, or get knocked down, they should remain still, lie face down, and not scream. NEVER, NEVER RUN!

If you're an adult, and you are faced with an all-out attack from an unfriendly dog, and all of the other stuff didn't work, what do you do? Cheryl says to stand up straight (and sideways), and in your best, most authoritative, primal yell, blast the word "NO!!!!!" from your very bowels, just as the dog gets within striking distance. This may take the dog off guard, as most dogs have been admonished with this word before (unfortunately).

Guess where most bites occur? Right in our homes. Sparky bites the child out of fear for his life (because the child has been taunting him). Or, Fluffy bites anyone who comes too close to his food bowl (because he's been allowed or encouraged to guard resources). These are what I would call environmental problems. They can all be "fixed," with a little effort, because the dog isn't truly vicious--he's just been raised improperly, and/or the environment has not been managed properly. It's unfortunate that these dogs usually get marched straight off to the dog pound. Then, the people get another Cocker Spaniel and teach THAT one to be the boss, too, and they go right through the same thing all over again. If people knew a little more about dog behavior to begin with, they wouldn't create these little "monsters." And, if they were willing to seek and pay for the help of a behavior counselor, they could probably work out the problems.

Jean Donaldson has two excellent books out. The first is called "Culture Clash," and it is absolutely MUST READ material for anyone who is even considering owning a dog. This book has the answer to all of the behavior problems in the universe. If this book were required reading to obtain a dog, there would be about 80% fewer dogs "thrown away" in the pounds (80% of dogs relinquished to shelters are given up for "behavior problem" reasons). Jean's second book is called, "Dogs are from Neptune," and is all about dog aggression. I highly recommend both of these books.

To avoid dog bites in the home I recommend the following advice:

1. Properly socialize your puppy. I can't begin to emphasize this enough. BEFORE the age of 16 weeks, your puppy must encounter all of the things he'll see in his adult lifetime. If he doesn't, then, in all likelihood, he'll be terrified of those things later when he encounters them. You must introduce him to friendly adults, children, old people, teenagers with blue hair, disabled people, people with beards, hats, bald heads, abnormal gaits, crutches, canes, and funny mannerisms. You must safely introduce him to cars, bicycles, veterinarians, loud noises, other animals, toddlers, stairs, water, vacuum cleaners, people in gorilla suits and other strange things. If the dog is not afraid of it, he won't try to attack it to defend himself. A well-adjusted dog is not a biting dog. I can't stress this strongly enough. There's only about an 8-week window, here. Get those puppies out and socialize them to everything!

2. Teach your children to respect life. Show them how to properly touch, pet, and handle a dog. Young children should not be allowed to carry puppies. They want to, because they see you doing it, but they don't know how to yet, and they lack the coordination to properly support the dog and keep him from falling. This terrifies the puppy, and if you want the puppy to grow up thinking, "When I get my adult teeth, Bobby, your butt is MINE!" Then just go on ahead and let your child continue to abuse the dog in this manner. NOT a good idea! You must teach the child that handling the puppy in this way is not comfortable for the puppy, and the child must not try to hurt the puppy, because he is a living, breathing, loving organism. There is a direct correlation between children who abuse animals and those kids, grown up, abusing or killing other people. Teach your children well.

3. NEVER trust your young child alone with your dog or puppy, EVER. I don't care how good or well-trained you think your child is, when you're not looking, the child is wanting to do all of the things you won't let him do when you're around. "Well, let's see... I wonder what REALLY happens when you pull the dog's ears, or poke him in the eye with a pen..." The child is usually "low man on the totem pole" in the household, and if he can have control over the dog, it makes him feel less powerless. You may not realize your child is pestering the dog until the day Bobby comes running to you, dripping blood, saying, "Doggie BITE!" At this point somebody's usually in trouble, and the dog usually takes the heat. He can't defend himself and he didn't have witnesses. This is when you go and get a rolled up newspaper and swat yourself on the head a few times, repeating, "BAD Parent! BAD Dog Owner! Bad! Bad! Bad!"

4. If you have toddlers, create a safe "haven" for your dog. Use a baby gate or something that the dog can get over or through that the child can not. When the dog does not want to be bothered with the child, he will escape to his safe place, and everything will be fine. If the dog is not able to get away from the thing that terrifies him, remember that "Plan B" is to try to get that thing away from HIM. This usually involves lip lifting, growling, snapping, or biting, all of which are proper social signals to avoid REAL aggression, by communicating that the dog wants to be left alone. However, children are not puppies, and do not understand this language, so it's important to give the dog a place to go where the child absolutely can not follow.

5. Don't tie your dog out. Tied dogs are frustrated dogs. They experience "barrier frustration" all day long. This tends to make them hyper and testy. A child entering the area where a dog is chained could be easily knocked down or bitten. If one or more of your neighbors ties a dog out, don't let your children go near these dogs. They are an accident waiting to happen.

6. Don't play "idiot" games with your dog. Some people think it's cute to tease dogs by pretending to beat up another family member (or a date) in front of them, or by playing "games" like "slap-boxing" with the dog. These mindless ways of torturing your dog are non-productive, and could cause the dog to become aggressive, or at the very least, teach him to snap at hands. Teenagers are usually the guilty parties in this scenario. Teenagers are children in adult bodies and that makes the teen years particularly difficult for kids. They feel all "grown up," and yet they are forced to continue to live in the "nest" and are bossed around by other adults all the time. Sometimes the only other being they can have control over is the family dog. This is a scary thought. From childhood, if you encourage your kids to put themselves in the dog's "shoes," and treat the family pets with the respect and love that they deserve, you won't have a problem as your child becomes an adult.

7. Enroll your dog (and family) in a home obedience course. This will help establish you as the leaders and give the dog a job to do. If your dog knows how to perform a few simple control behaviors on cue, you can have him "go to his pillow" or "lie down" when company arrives, so that he doesn't get over stimulated in a barking frenzy at the door. A dog can't lie down and bite the mailman at the same time. Use productive behaviors to counter competitive, non-productive behaviors. Your instructor will also show you how to stop your puppy from chewing your hands and teach him that gnawing on your body parts is "off limits."

8. If you start to see any resource guarding behaviors, call a pet behavior counselor immediately. You can not allow these behaviors to continue, as they often escalate. Resource guarding means the dog might growl at someone walking near his food dish, or might not let you take a bone away from him politely, or might even guard YOU so that other family members can't get near. Your trainer will put you on a training program where you will desensitize your dog to the things that are "triggering" his behavior now.

9. Get your dog used to having you touch and groom him at an early age. Dogs have to have a lot of care and grooming throughout their lifetime that involves touching, stroking, holding or restraining. If your dog does not allow you to touch him in certain ways or in certain places, this problem must be addressed. He may only be warning you with a growl, now, but if you let it be, there will come a time when you absolutely have to trim his nails, give him medication or otherwise restrain him, and he's liable to bite. From an early age (as soon as you get him), accustom him to having you hold and touch his paws, stroke him and hold him on his side. By teaching him that this contact is not-threatening and not harmful, he will accept it without a second thought. First impressions are important, and you want first associations to be pleasant ones. Before you actually trim your dog's nails, for example, practice holding the paws, rubbing the pads, touching the nails, and touching the nail trimmer to the nails.

Your Dog Doesn't Have to be an Outlaw

--Your dog spends all day making choices that he hopes will result in your attention or some other form of reward for him. You spend all day ignoring all the good behaviors, waiting for the dog to do something bad so that you can �correct� him. You are systematically teaching your dog to choose bad behaviors. Is it any wonder that so many people live with unruly dogs?

"Will this potentially wonderful puppy grow up to be a Doggie Outlaw?"

How does this sweet, angelic puppy turn into the monstrous bane of your existence? It�s simple. Just don�t do anything to raise him right, and you�ll teach him to be an outlaw. You�ll have a carpet-wetting, couch eating, child chasing, food stealing, hand biting, garbage raiding, yard digging, barking, wandering outlaw.

You may actually develop an adversarial relationship with your dog, until you say to yourself, something�s got to give! You are living with a creature that seems to have it in for you and is doing something �bad� every minute of his waking day. One of the dictionary definitions for the word �outlaw� is an uncontrollable animal. But the word suggests someone who is living outside the law. How can your dog break the �laws� in your family if you�ve never showed him what kind of behavior was expected from him in the first place. You have to set up the laws by which you want your puppy to live within your family.

There are just millions and millions of dog owners out there adopting cute, innocent puppies, and then dumping them in shelters six months later because they were out of control. Well, who was in charge of controlling the dog? These people erroneously expected the dog to control himself. It happens every day. People adopt a canine into a human family and are aghast when the little guy insists on behaving like a canine! How dare he! The people somehow get the idea that all you add is love, and the little cutie will grow into a charming, subdued, noble and judicious guardian of the family.

What I find equally unacceptable is that the ones that aren�t dumping their canine miscreants on someone else, are living with them! These people are accepting a life of daily combat with their dogs, because they don�t want to dump them in a shelter. They just think that dogs are supposed to be rude, wild, fiendish idiots. People see my well-behaved dogs in public and they are always astonished. It�s as though they are looking at an anomaly of nature. What is shocking to me is the description of their own dogs that they immediately start telling me about. �My dog would never be that calm in public,� they say. �He�d be jumping all over the place and probably biting people.� These people have made for themselves a life of hell, and they have made their dog a prisoner by not teaching him the simple things that I taught mine. To them, my dogs look like extraordinary departures from reality. They look flawless. Flawless dogs are made, not born. And it doesn�t take a genius to create one. EVERY DOG can become a well-behaved, model citizen. Every single dog in the world can be a wonderful pet.

People think it is beyond their capability to transform an unruly puppy into a perfectly behaved adult dog, but it is SO EASY! The fact that people just continue to not do anything to shape their dog�s behavior, and are content to live with an atrociously out-of-control beast really grieves me. So many people have lost hope that �Sparky� will ever be socially acceptable, so they do what they think is one step better than sending Sparky to the shelter. These millions of dogs get locked in the garage or basement, or are relegated to be chained in the back yard, like a prisoner. This is so distressing to me, when I know that these dogs could be mannerly family members.

Everyone has the capability of shaping a life. It�s a very simple matter of rewarding acceptable behaviors and ignoring or punishing unacceptable behaviors. If people can�t work this out with creatures as easy to mold as dogs, then what on earth are they doing, trying to raise children? All of the principles for raising dogs and children are the same. You don�t need to buy a special collar for the dog and go to an obedience class and learn to apply various punishments, as if you were taming a wild beast. Dog training is like child training. It is a 24-7 operation. You do it all day long, every day, with very little effort.

Every single decision your dog makes requires a choice. You simply have to teach him to choose wisely. To do this you apply consequences to each thing your dog does. Traditional training (yuck) relied on waiting until the dog did something wrong so that you could punish him. Well, guess what? From the dog�s point of view, he�s making choices based on what rewards he gets. Oops! We�re working against each other here! The dog tries lying quietly at your feet. Well, rats! That didn�t do him any good... �Let�s try another behavior to get some attention,� the dog thinks. �I think I�ll sit here and not cause any trouble. I�ll not bark and I�ll not jump up. I�ll just stare adoringly at my master.� Oops. �That�s not working, either, I can�t seem to get any attention from my owner. Not a glance, not a stroke, not a word... I wonder what on earth I can do to get someone to notice me around here... I think I�ll run at the glass door and bark at the squirrels.�

What a tragedy! While you were waiting for the dog to do something which needed a correction, your dog was making lots of choices (many of them GOOD ones), but you weren�t rewarding them. You didn�t see the dog as DOING anything. But in fact, he was doing plenty. He was NOT barking, NOT jumping, NOT destroying something and NOT getting into trouble. But what did you do? You ignored all of those good behaviors. Instead, you were waiting for the dog to make a mistake, so that you could �punish� him. When you yell at him for throwing himself against the glass door (the first excitement he�s had all day), he says, �Well, FINALLY! Something got a rise out of my deadbeat owner. From the attention I�m getting, I guess this is a pretty worthwhile behavior. I�ll choose to do it more often!�

Let�s review. Your dog spends all day making choices that he hopes will result in your attention or some other form of reward for him. You spend all day ignoring all the good behaviors, waiting for the dog to do something bad so that you can �correct� him. You are systematically teaching your dog to choose bad behaviors. Is it any wonder that so many people live with unruly dogs?

When you see your dog doing something good, give him a reward. Interpret �something good� as the ABSENCE of something bad. If you don�t reward these instances of what you might call �non behaviors,� they will go away and be replaced with a behavior that you probably won�t like. We�re used to a society that leaves you alone when you are remarkable or good, but climbs all over you when you make a mistake. For this reason, �punishment training� makes sense to us. But, do you like to be treated this way (by your boss or spouse)? Would you want your kids� first-grade teacher to work in this way? Positive reinforcement (rewarding good behaviors with pleasant consequences) works so much better than punishment.

With your guidance (no special training and no expensive training equipment needed) your dog will seek to perform the behaviors that earn him attention and rewards. And by controlling the consequences, you can be sure that he will want to choose the behaviors that keep him in the �reward zone.� You don�t even have to worry too much about punishment. The behaviors that aren�t rewarded will go away on their own. From the dog�s point of view, why repeat something that�s not working out for you? If you think that by not punishing something that you are rewarding it, you are wrong. Ignoring a dog is like a punishment for him. Remember the dog�s formula for making choices:

Is it working? Do I get favorable consequences for doing this? What�s in it for me? Will I get attention? Will I receive a cookie (or a click that means I will get a cookie)?

Is it not working? Do I get no response from my owner? No cookie, no praise, no dirty looks, not even yelling or chasing. Do I really want to pursue this behavior when it gets me NO attention?

Basically, the dog�s mind says, if it�s working, I�ll keep it in my repertoire. I�ll do it more often. It may even become my favorite behavior. If it�s not working, it will go by the wayside. It�s not a behavior worth repeating.

With this formula, it is ridiculously EASY to have total control of your dog�s choices. He makes the correct choice because you manipulate the consequences, providing positive consequences for good behaviors or the absence of bad behaviors. Remember, your dog has no idea which is which. Your dog hasn�t a clue that sitting calmly in the corner during dinner is good and begging at the table is bad. So don�t wait for him to form choices based on OUR notions of what is good or bad.

The thing that is so WRONG about traditional training methods is the waiting. While you�re waiting for a behavior you can punish, to teach the dog a lesson, you�re ignoring the hundreds of lessons that could be taught on a day-to-day basis if you were to reward all of those instances of �non-bad� behaviors. And, when you finally give the attention-starved animal the tongue-lashing he deserves for some misdeed, he�s thinking this is the �good stuff.� He doesn�t perceive it as punishment at all, because whatever you do to him, it�s better than the constant ignoring of all behaviors that you have been doing. The dog decides if something is a reward or a punishment, and a dog that only receives attention when he�s wrong, will think that this is a pretty good way to get noticed by the owner. By waiting for a bad behavior, that�s exactly what you�ll get. The dog will exhaust all of the possible GOOD behaviors and get nothing, so he will invariably start trying bad behaviors, and �bingo,� he hits the jackpot. See why so many people end up with �the dog from hell?�

With positive training, that sweet, angelic puppy will remain sweet and well behaved his whole life long. He will offer only the behaviors that have resulted in positive consequences. He doesn�t entertain any thoughts of naughty or unseemly behavior, because you have made sure to reward only the nice and appropriate behaviors. With hardly any effort, you have wound up with the dog you deserve. He�s not an outlaw. You can take him with you, and he�ll be on his best behavior. You will hear people say, �Look at that lovely dog! My dog would never be that calm and obedient in public

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Surviving Puppyhood

At Christmas time, and sometimes at other holidays, people often like to give gifts of puppies. This is a very bad idea. The holidays are usually very busy with people rushing about, guests coming to visit and much hectic activity. This is not an ideal time to bring a new puppy into your family, unless of course you totally devote your time to making the holiday frenzy a totally positive socialization experience for the new addition. Take him with you as you shop. Let him meet only calm, dog savvy individuals who are interested in helping form your puppy into a confident pet (no puppy gropers or screaming children). Call your holiday parties or functions "puppy showers", so the focus is on the new "baby" and make his welfare the central focus of everything. Basically, it's not too likely that this is going to happen. So let's go back to plan A: Don't give puppies as holiday gifts.

When the newness wears off, many times the puppy becomes forgotten (like many of the child's other "toys"), and his welfare goes by the wayside. Children who begged for the arrival of a new puppy become tired very quickly of all of the responsibility that goes with it, especially when there's so much else to think about during the holidays. Family members are not going to line up begging for their turn to take the Christmas puppy outside to do his business in the freezing weather.

Another reason NOT to give a puppy for Christmas, is that the recipient needs to be instrumental in the selection process. The pup needs to be a choice the recipient can live with. I know of a person who bought his elderly mother a Newfoundland puppy because HE wanted one. Soon the dog was bigger than the frail little old woman, and he took her off her feet one day on the icy steps and literally dragged her, face down, halfway down the block. Not a pretty picture. This was a relationship destined for failure.

The best thing to do if you have little ones begging for a puppy from Santa is to get them all of the "accessories" for Christmas. Buy them the bowls, the leashes, the bed and the puppy food, and give them a photo of a cute puppy attached to an I.O.U. to be redeemed after the craziness of the holidays is over. Or, give them a stuffed dog to go with those things, until you can get the real one, later.

This is the best advice I can give you. But, alas, many people will not heed my warnings, and you may somehow become the recipient of a Christmas puppy. Now what do you do? Here is my Christmas gift to you: Everything you always wanted to know about surviving your dog's puppy hood.

"He's chewing everything up!" "He's shredding the children's pant legs and untying their shoes!" "He's stealing my socks and eating magazines!"

Well, of course he is. He's a puppy! He's a little predator-built to use his jaws like our hands--for grabbing and inspecting things. He will also start "teething" soon after you get him, and he will be compelled to munch on everything within his reach. It is a NATURAL thing for puppies to want to explore their world with their mouths. It's your job to make sure he only has access to appropriate things. If you fail to keep your eye on him constantly, knowing that the whole world is nothing but "chew toys" to your puppy, then get a rolled-up newspaper and hit YOURSELF several times, as you say, "BAD OWNER!-What were you thinking?"

You can't STOP a puppy from chewing. Puppies are practicing the mechanics of predation (hunting, shaking, shredding, and consuming), and exercising their teeth. Make sure your puppy has plenty of appropriate choices for chew toys. Nylabones, rawhides (if you feel they are safe), hooves, pig ears, hard rubber toys, and stuffed Kong toys should all be available for your puppy. A safe, soft rope toy is also a favorite with puppies. They like to shake and kill it. Better that than your socks and other personal items. My first husband and I came home one day to find that our Doberman puppy had devoured my husband's wallet. He had just cashed his paycheck, and all the money was in there. We thought we were going to have to dissect the dog to get the money back, when we found the folded cash in a neat little heap, behind the large urn. Fortunately, "Sundance shook and killed" his wallet dinner before eating it, and the wad of cash and important papers went flying safely into the corner.

Manage your environment. Pick up your socks. Put away your magazines. Don't let your children make themselves fun targets by running and screaming. The act of chasing them is self-reinforcing, just as is chewing and eating. Remember, that's what predators are programmed to do. You must reward the ABSENCE of all of the behaviors you want to get rid of.

"He's peeing in the house!" "He's sneaky and takes a dump behind the couch." "He won't go potty outside."

Of course he is. Inside on carpet is more convenient, more absorbent, and warmer and drier than it is outside. Wouldn't YOU choose the carpet? He's not sneaky. Dogs don't know how to be sneaky. He's being smart. You must have punished him for going inside the house, and he didn't understand the message. He still has to go, but if you see him, he'll get punished, so he deliberately goes where you can't see him and "catch" him. You need to get that rolled-up newspaper again and swat YOURSELF a good one, saying, "Bad Owner!-You've taught the puppy to go behind the couch!"

What's in it for the puppy to go potty outside? What kind of "payoff" does he get? Do you think it's FUN to stand in the cold, with the wind blowing in your face and your toes freezing? Try it sometime. Why do you think we invented indoor plumbing? There has to be some kind of rewarding consequence for going potty outside, or the puppy will never develop the desire to stop using the living room carpet. I recommend clicker training, giving the dog a signal and a treat when he has done something right.

Give your puppy plenty of opportunities to empty his bladder and bowels, especially after eating, playing and waking. Go out with him, and reward the proper behavior. Keep him in your sight at all times in the house, so if he starts to make a wrong choice, you can interrupt him and whisk him outside. Never punish your puppy for going in the house. He can't possibly imagine that there is anything wrong with his choice of location, he just learns that you become an abusive monster when you see him trying to perform a normal body function. This is incomprehensible, because he's GOT to go! You know it and he knows it. Punishment REALLY confuses him. It makes no sense. SHOW him what you want, and reward the behavior.

"He's jumping up on the kids." "He plays too rough." "He's mouthing our hands-he's turning them into shredded meat!"

Well, of course he is. Dog social behavior dictates that puppies should lick the other pack members' mouths upon greeting them. It's kind of hard to reach your mouth, when you walk on your hind legs all the time. It's fun to get petted, too, but it's hard to reach those hands when they're so high up off the floor. It is very frustrating being a short little puppy. The only thing he knows is to leap up. He wouldn't keep doing it, though, if it wasn't WORKING for him. You didn't inadvertently PET him when he jumped up at some point in time, did you? My heavens! Get the rolled-up newspaper! This time as you smack YOURSELF, say "Bad Owner!-I've taught the puppy that jumping up is wonderful!"

Now you have to "undo" what you've taught the puppy (you liar!). Teach him that jumping up isn't wonderful-sitting politely for petting is wonderful. Only pet him and give him your attention if he sits. If he tries to jump up, move away and ignore him. Act like he has "kooties." Remember, you have to REWARD the behaviors you want to encourage. If you reward a behavior by paying attention to it, don't blame the puppy if that behavior persists. When you decide that jumping up is a bad idea one day when he's 10 months old and covered with mud, and you have on your good clothes, it's not fair to suddenly start punishing him for something you had previously been rewarding. It's not only not fair-it's too late. The behavior already has a reward history.

Do not play rough with your puppy. If you do, you will teach him that you are very tough-like his littermates, and that you enjoy being bitten. If your puppy mouths your hands, you must pretend you are very frail and fragile. Do not yank your hand away (puppies like to snatch at things when you play "keep away" with them). Hold still and in a high-pitched voice, say "Owww!" This sounds like the noise that his littermates made when they meant, "You're biting too hard!" The puppy will usually stop and become immediately "apologetic" when he hears this screech. He will think that you are really a wimp. But that's ok. He will stop mouthing and biting if you do this.

I have pinpointed what I think are the three major complaints people have about their puppy's behavior. These are all NORMAL, natural behaviors that your puppy WILL engage in because he is a puppy. Not because he's a "bad seed" or a naughty dog, or spiteful because he thinks you love the cat more... He is doing these things because he is programmed to do these things. He does not have human manners or a conscience that tells him right from wrong. He doesn't realize that ANY behaviors are considered "bad" by you.

Now that you know what to do to get your puppy started off on the right foot with learning your peculiar human manners, don't you dare blame the puppy if you disregard this information and choose to let his normal dog behaviors persist until he becomes an unwelcome vexation in your home.

There are not too many valid excuses for turning a dog in to the shelter. If you visit a shelter and just read the cards on the cages, it will make you sick. Look into the loving eyes of that energetic adolescent lab puppy and read the reason for surrender: "Too hyper-Jumps on kids." That's what lab puppies do. Someone adopted him and promised to love him because he was a lab puppy. They didn't hold up their end of the bargain and TRAIN him, and now, they're getting RID of him for the same reason-because he's a lab puppy.

Dog Scouts of America tries to work like preventative medicine. We try to eradicate the CAUSE of dogs being dumped at the shelters. Eighty percent of the adolescent and adult dogs are turned over to the shelters because of behavior problems. By educating the owners about dog behavior and how to modify the unwanted behaviors by replacing them with good behaviors, using positive, non-abusive methods, we are keeping dogs OUT of the shelters in the first place.

The key to fighting the huge unwanted animal problem in this country is by tackling the "unwanted" part of the equation. Turning a dog in to a shelter and hoping someone else might adopt him and be better equipped to handle the dog's normal behaviors is not an answer. The shelters are killing millions of dogs each year. Owners feel like a shelter is not a certain death sentence for their dogs, or they probably wouldn't take them there. People hold onto the hope that the pet that they've grown tired of will somehow live "happily ever after" with some wonderful new family. This delusion is what enables normally kind and humane people to dump their pets at shelters. The sad truth is that MOST of the older dogs that end up in shelters must be put to death. The ones that have already learned persistent behavior problems are doomed.

DSA wants to keep you with your pet-for life. We hope you have enjoyed these tips on coping with puppy behavior. We hope that this "gift" of advice will bring you a long and happy relationship with your new family member.

Now here's the commercial:

We get fan mail all the time, thanking us for our work. One family told us that if they would have known what we taught them two years ago, a dog that they had to have put to sleep because of aggression problems would probably still be alive. If they would have known how to socialize and prevent aggression problems from developing, they could have turned him into a better pet. Another family that rescued a "problem dog" said that we literally saved that dog. This was a dog who was learning (being allowed) to do as he pleased with his former family, and had a multitude of bad habits. Even after adoption and proper training, the dog was hard to handle. If not for the skills she learned from DSA, the owner says, she would have been totally beside herself and would have given up on the dog's rehabilitation.

We love hearing success stories like this. Shelters have statistics on how many dogs were successfully re-homed, and saved from death. With preventative work, we have no idea how many millions of people benefit from our teachings and learn to cope with and improve their dog's behavior. We don't know how many have become responsible dog owners and spayed or neutered their pets, keeping more unwanted dogs out of the shelters. I strongly feel that we have more of a chance of saving dogs on the "going in" end than we do trying to save them once they're in shelters.

DSA is a non-profit educational and charitable organization. If you (or an organization you belong to) wish to donate funds to further our work, please see our home page for the address where you can send your tax-deductible donations or you may use our secure, online donation form.

More Puppy Info at: How To Raise A Puppy

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How to Raise a Puppy
(that you will never want to part with)

If you have a new puppy the information contained in these pages is absolutely critical for you to know. Dog Scouts of America is an organization that seeks to teach responsible dog ownership and improve the bond between people and their dogs. We want to keep you and your puppy together, by teaching you about what kinds of behavior to expect, and how to encourage good behavior instead of allowing bad behavior and creating a dog juvenile delinquent! When you adopt a dog, it should be a commitment for the life of the dog. Sometimes there are problems that strain the relationship. We hope to help you avoid these problems before they occur, and to understand what to expect as "normal" behavior from this species of animal who is so different from us.

YOUR FIRST GOAL - SOCIALIZATION! When you get a new puppy there are some absolute rules you must follow to insure that your puppy grows up well adjusted. Puppies that are brought up through their critical socialization period correctly are less likely to become liabilities later in life. Click here to read our "How to Socialize" article.

WHY is this so important?

Properly socialized dogs are not fearful of a particular age group, skin color, or body type. If they are not fearful, they are less likely to run away from these people, bark at them or bite them to try to make them move away. Poorly socialized dogs lack confidence. These are the dogs that might bite a child in the face if cornered. They may pull out of a collar and run away in fear of a stranger. They may bark at the sight of every strange thing that they never became accustomed to during their socialization period-people in wheelchairs, people wearing funny hats, people who walk with a limp. These biters, bolters and barkers often end up with a one-way ticket to the dog pound-all because they were never properly socialized as puppies. (See web page on responsible dog ownership)

HOW do I socialize my puppy?

As soon as you get your puppy, start introducing him safely to all different sights and sounds. In a controlled situation, he should meet other animals, children of all ages, vacuum cleaners, stairs, crates, automobiles, pet stores, veterinarian's offices, and everything else you can think of. He should get to meet as many dogs as possible, as it is important to learn things from members of the dog's own species, like communication signals and social behavior.

Between the age of 8 and 9 weeks of age, the puppy goes through a "fear imprint" period. Be extremely cautious during this time. If the puppy develops a fear during this period, it can stay with him his whole life. When I was eleven years old, and my parents brought home the new 8-week-oldpoodle puppy, she went investigating around the house. She went to visit the horses lined up in my Barbie doll's stable. She poked one with her nose and tipped it over, causing a domino effect. As the plastic horses smashed and clattered all over the floor, the poor puppy panicked. She didn't know where to run to. Until her dying day, she would leave the room if you even showed her a plastic horse. This kind of trauma should be avoided at all costs.

The key is to try to form neutral or positive associations with as many different sights, sounds, smells, and types of footing, around all kinds of people, places and things as you possibly can. Some people don't want to take their puppies out at an age when they don't have full protection from their puppy shots. My feeling is that the socialization is far more important than the fear of ill health. If I have to gamble, I'd rather gamble on my puppy not coming in contact with a serious disease, than to gamble on his whole life being messed up because he wasn't properly socialized. That's how important proper socialization is. His very life may depend on being well socialized as a puppy.

When I say neutral or positive, this is very important. You must control all interactions with the puppy. Don't let some young child grope at your puppy and pull his fur. Don't let some adolescent child "rough house" with the puppy. Don't let anyone tease the puppy or try to frighten him. Everyone the puppy meets must be kind and gentle to the puppy. Never leave a puppy unsupervised with children of any age. Teach children who will be associating with the puppy how to properly touch, pick up, hold, stroke, and talk to the puppy. It is important for the puppy to learn that humans can be trusted.

NEXT JOB-HOUSETRAINING! Secondary in importance only to socialization, you must teach your puppy how to be clean in the house. This is extremely easy if done properly. Once your puppy is housebroken, it will be a lot less stressful for both of you to share your home. Many dogs lose their happy homes because their owners are unable to housebreak them. Even an older dog can learn proper toilet habits. I once was hired to housebreak a two-year old dog who was living in a shed outside instead of with her family where she belonged, because she had never been properly house trained.

The way things are...

Puppies are naturally clean. They are usually mostly potty-trained by 4-weeks of age. While still with the litter, the puppies learn to "hold it" until they are able to get out away from the nest or denning area. They will automatically try to relieve themselves in an area away from their sleeping, playing and eating quarters. This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. With just a minimal amount of effort, your new puppy will transfer what he has already learned at the breeder's home, and learn to go in the desired area at his new home.

Some facts about the "plumbing"

Puppies have very tiny bladders. They can't hold it for very long at one time. Puppies must be taken outside many times each day, and given an opportunity to relieve themselves. Puppies also spend a great deal of time sleeping and playing. Each time a puppy wakes up, he will feel the need to empty himself immediately. Each time the puppy has had an opportunity to play, he will want to eliminate, also. And, after eating, the bowels feel the urge to move, and he'll need to go again. What ever goes in, must come out. If it goes in on a regular schedule, it will come out on a regular schedule as well. Puppies naturally choose an absorbent surface to urinate upon, because then they will not have to slide around in it or slip on it.

Where it all goes wrong...

Knowing what you now know about the puppy's plumbing, it is very easy to snatch him up and take him outside when he will need to relieve himself. The problem is when you don't put forth the effort to BE THERE when the puppy wakes, plays or eats. This forces the puppy to relieve himself where ever he can, and it is no fault of his own if he chooses to use your rug. Some people can't arrange to be with their puppy as many hours during the day as would be optimum for proper housetraining. But even this doesn't have to mean that your puppy will learn poor housetraining habits. The big problem is when you place the responsibility on the puppy for "accidents." If your puppy had a chance to be clean, he would, so somehow you must be falling down on the job. Please don't blame the puppy.

If you give your puppy free range of the house, you are asking for trouble. Would you leave an undiapered infant home alone all day and expect not to find baby poop all over the place? You must confine your puppy to a small area, so his choices are limited. If he must urinate or defecate where he eats and sleeps, he will choose to hold it as long as he can rather than to soil his living space. If you are not right there to take him outside at intervals during the day, you must provide an absorbent medium, like the puppy litter made from recycled newspapers, or the housebreaking training pads you can buy commercially. If you don't have these handy, regular newspapers will work, but often, the puppies prefer to "redecorate" their living space with the newspapers after soiling them.

Make Potty Training FUN!

Other than keeping his den area clean, what's in it for your puppy to relieve himself outside? You have to attach some kind of positive reinforcement for the puppy using the outdoors to eliminate, instead of using your carpet. The puppy has a full adult brain at age 7 weeks. He can begin learning immediately. If you create a positive association with proper elimination, he will STRIVE to eliminate in the manner you desire to earn that reward. I highly recommend clicker training as an excellent means to teach the puppy proper elimination habits.

The clicker is a device that makes a snapping sound (see web pages related to clicker training) that sounds unlike anything else in the puppy's environment. Paired with food, the puppy learns that this sound predicts the arrival of a treat of some sort. Once the puppy makes this association, he will make a conscious effort to repeat whatever behavior he is performing when he hears the click.

When your puppy awakens, pick him up and carry him outside. Don't expect him to walk that far after waking up without peeing on the way to the door. If you make this mistake more than once, go get a rolled up newspaper and smack YOURSELF soundly, as you say "BAD OWNER, BAAAAAAAD OWNER!" Remember, the puppy is NEVER to be held accountable for "accidents." Everything that comes out where it is not supposed to is YOUR fault, so don't even THINK about punishing that sweet, innocent, helpless puppy for something you did wrong. Do the same thing each time the puppy plays, or eats.

Take the puppy, some treats and the clicker outside to where you'd like the puppy to relieve himself. Wait until the puppy squats. Get ready. You can gently give a "keep going" cue while he is going, like, "Good Potty Outside...." When the puppy is all finished going, click the clicker once to mark the behavior (the behavior you are marking is the "finishing up" of going potty), and give the puppy a treat. You don't want to click at the beginning of the squat, as the puppy will stop eliminating and run over for the cookie. He will also learn that he doesn't have to really go to the bathroom to get the treat, he merely has to "look" like he's going to the bathroom, and if he's cagey, he can get several treats out of you by "faking it" in several places. Wait until he's finished and is just starting to straighten his legs from the squat position before you click and feed. Do this every time you take the puppy outside. Give the puppy a chance to urinate and defecate each time he goes out. Reward each.

If you keep paying off the behavior you want, the puppy will have ONE thought in his head when he gets the urge to go: "Hold on! If I do it outside, it's worth cash and prizes!" Don't be surprised if you find your puppy in the middle of play, suddenly running to the door. He doesn't know how to GET outside, but he knows he has to GO outside to cash in his "chips," so to speak. Of course, you're going to be right on top of things, and jump up with the clicker and food so you can properly reward him for asking to go outside (after he goes). It's important for you not to ignore this first attempt at getting outside on his own.

Remember, he won't have a clue as to how to get the door open, or how to get you to open it, he just knows that the door is the way to the outside, and that's where he'll go. If you don't catch it, you may have to clean up a puddle, you'll have regressed on your housetraining, and you may have to smack yourself in the head with that newspaper a few more times to teach yourself a lesson! Pay attention! Your puppy doesn't know how to communicate his wishes yet. You'll have to teach him that. You'll have to come up with a "signal" which means "I need to go outside." You'll have to teach the signal separately, whether it's barking, scratching the door, sitting at the door, ringing a bell, or whatever. Then, when your puppy has the behavior down pat, ask for it each time the door opens. It becomes the "open sesame" for potty time door opening. Once you've taught it, never disregard your puppy's signal that he has to go.

Form proper habits (YOURS) and never ever blame the puppy for accidents. Just ignore the mistakes and capitalize on the good behaviors. If you got paid $50.00 each time for parking within the lines in the mall parking lot, would you ever TRY to double park? Of course not. It doesn't pay off. The dog would not intentionally eliminate indoors if he had a choice. Make it YOUR job to be there for him when he needs to go out.

My last puppy was raised this way, and she has always communicated to me when she has to go out. I don't have to reward her any more, and she never has an accident. She chose "scratching" to indicate to me that she needs to go out. At 8 weeks of age, she went to the door, looked at me, and scratched the door with her paw. I jumped right up and opened the door. She thought that was very clever (so did I), and she's been letting me know in this manner ever since. My woodwork is scratched, but my dog never makes mistakes in the house.

GOOD MANNERS-FOSTERING "POLITE" BEHAVIOR While you're going through the jobs of socializing and housebreaking your puppy, you need to be working on teaching him "socially acceptable" behaviors. Your puppy has no idea which behaviors are considered acceptable (by YOU) and which are not.

You Don't Have a BAD Puppy (you have a NORMAL puppy)

Face it, most NORMAL dog behaviors have some degree of unacceptability amongst humans. After all, they greet strangers by sniffing butts. Upon greeting a family member, they are compelled to lick the other's face. They know that the freshest, most cool water is in the toilet bowl. They insist on repeating behaviors that we humans REWARD with our attention-and the things that get the MOST attention are: Keep-away with the Rolex watch (Gucci shoes, computer disks and other personal valuables also work really well). The whole world is just "chew toys" to them, and they have no way of knowing which things were put on earth for little dogs, and which things are irreplaceable family heirlooms.

If you expect your puppy to somehow develop behaviors which are acceptable to HUMANS, then you must teach the puppy that performing these behaviors is where his advantage lies. An untrained dog is an opportunist. He will do things that reward him and avoid things that don't. Puppies can't reason and don't know that a behavior is good or bad. All the puppy can figure out is that certain behaviors are followed by pleasurable consequences and certain behaviors are followed by unpleasant consequences. It is YOUR job to make sure that none of the "bad" behaviors (ones unacceptable to YOU) get rewarded. For instance, if "counter surfing" or garbage raiding is successful in gaining the dog a yummy treat, he's going to try to repeat that behavior as often as possible. If sitting politely on the floor gets ignored by you, but jumping up gets you all excited and allows the dog to be close enough to lick your face, he's going to choose jumping up over sitting politely every time, because that's what you've selectively rewarded. Maybe not intentionally, but that doesn't matter-he's learned it just the same.

Remember that for every obnoxious behavior your dog can produce, you can think of an acceptable behavior to replace it with. You just have to stop rewarding the unwanted behavior and reward a more pleasing behavior in its place. Reward sitting with petting. Ignore jumping up. Reward staying away from the dinner table with treats (away from the table). Ignore begging. Don't let the pup "pull" you into a game of "keep-away" with something he shouldn't have. Steel yourself, and ignore him. Go pick up one of HIS toys, and act like it is the most special toy in the world. Toss it in the air and talk to it. Catch it and chase it. When he drops grandma's false teeth, engage him in a fun game with his own toy (unless, of course, you want him to prefer grandma's false teeth, because of all the attention it gets him).

It's sad to report that behavior problems are listed as the reason for the surrender of 80% of the dogs that are dumped at the pounds and shelters. Dogs are sent off to the shelter when the owners can't cope with normal dog behaviors, which they could have redirected with very little effort. Dogs are killed by the millions each year, guilty of committing various heinous crimes, which are within the range of normal dog behavior. The owner states "jumps on children," "chases the cat," "chews the furniture," or "runs away" as the reason for discarding the family dog like last week's meatloaf.

The tragedy is that people think that puppies can raise themselves to be model citizens (by human standards). Fat chance. People don't want to put in the time to prevent unacceptable behaviors and foster good behaviors. They often wait until the bad behaviors have a nice reward history, and they are as hard to remove as rust stains on a white t-shirt. In 25 years as a dog behavior counselor, I got thousands of questions about how to "stop" the dog from doing this or that obnoxious behavior. I never once got a question from anyone asking me how to prevent themselves from teaching the dog the obnoxious behaviors in the first place. It seems no one is into prevention, but everyone wants a cure, or a quick fix. What's worse, they never like the answer. They're expecting me to tell them something like, "Get a tazer gun, and when he jumps up, zap a few thousand volts of electricity into his cranium..." Everyone is focusing on punishing the dog to rid themselves of the behavior. My answer is always simply to find the dog NOT exhibiting the behavior, and reward the self control resulting in the absence of the behavior.

So, now that you know all of this, and you want to keep your adorable puppy in your family his whole life long, you have vowed that you will not be in the shelter 6 months from now, trying to rid yourself of an out-of-control adolescent dog, right? You're ready to WORK at creating a GOOD DOG, right? Ok. Here are some simple steps you can take. You can teach your dog these things starting at 7 weeks of age. You don't have to wait to get into an obedience training class to do them. It's a simple list of do's and don'ts. If you catch yourself doing any of the things in the "DON'T" column, get that rolled up newspaper and swat yourself with it until you come to your senses.

Reward the Good + Ignore the Bad = Success (a simple formula to produce a good puppy)
DO	DON'T
reward sitting quietly (sit for attention) encourage play with dogs own toys reward the dog for being quiet ("good quiet") feed the dog when he sits politely reward the dog each time he comes to you exercise him to prevent boredom let him earn his treats as rewards reward him for waiting at doorways reward eye contact every time you get it reward loose-leash walking with forward motion	DON'T stroke the dog if he jumps up (turn away) DON'T chase the dog to get back your belongings DON'T yell at the dog for barking (attention = reward) DON'T put the bowl down while he's jumping around DON'T scold if he runs off, then comes back (never scold when he comes to you) DON'T punish for habits developed due to boredom DON'T give him anything he wants because he's cute DON'T let him barge through (slam the door shut) DON'T let him reward himself for bad behaviors DON'T move at all if he pulls the leash tight

A reward can be a treat, a game, a toy, attention, petting, eye contact, or access to something the puppy wants (like to go through a door, or to continue a walk). Even yelling can be a reward to a dog who never gets any kind of attention. Be careful what you reward

A punishment is withholding a reward. You never have to get more nasty than that. The most powerful punisher is to ignore the dog. This means no reaction at all, not even eye contact, which could be perceived by the dog as successfully getting your attention.

Off to School - Obedience Classes are for Every dog

In the old days, people only signed up for an obedience training course if they planned to pursue competition obedience. Nowadays, everyone signs up for training classes, and they are called "pet dog training" classes, or "manners" classes, because they teach more than just the things you need to learn to compete in obedience trials. They teach the basics of control, and mix in some learning theory, and help with problem behaviors. Training classes, no matter what they're called, are a MUST for every puppy, just as going to school is a must for human children.

In your obedience class, you will go beyond what you've taught your dog at home, and working in a class will show your dog that he must obey you even when surrounded by distractions. If you are asked to harshly correct or punish your dog with leash jerks or other punitive measures, you do not have to do so. Maybe you should look for a different class that uses positive methods, which will make learning more fun for you and your dog.

Many people quit attending classes after having gained a modicum of control over their dog and teaching him a few basic cues. Perhaps an advanced course is not for everyone, but you might check to see if your club or training school offers other classes for your dog. Many places have trick training classes, agility, flyball, scent-work, or other fun things you can do with your dog. You don't have to have a desire to compete to enjoy these recreational activities. They're a lot of fun.

EMPLOYMENT -- Give Your Dog a Job!

The best thing you can do to keep your dog out of trouble and use up all of the energy he has in his body, is to give him a job. Most breeds were developed to perform certain tasks for their owners. Some hunt, some herd, some guard, some pull sleds, but they all need a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for their jobs. Many people can't just go out and buy a flock of sheep or take up sled dog racing, to allow the dog to use his natural instincts and inbred qualities. Therefore, many people find themselves with "high energy" dogs with nothing to do with all of that energy and intelligence. These dogs were not meant to sit home all day in a crate, or to be tied out in the yard. They need mental and physical stimulation.

How would you like to be kept in a room with no television, no books, no toys, and nothing to do? I'll tell you what your dog will do-he'll go nuts! Don't you dare leave your dog in the back yard with nothing to do, and then complain when he digs holes in the yard and barks at the squirrels all day. Your dog needs regular exercise and play with YOU. It's your job, and your half of the commitment to provide a safe and acceptable outlet for his energy and intelligence. If you choose a high energy dog, like a Border Collie, and don't expect to spend at least 30 minutes each day engaged in hard running (like fetch, flyball, or sheep-herding), you are asking for behavior problems. These dogs will invent their own games if you don't give them enough "work" to do, and these may include "redecorating the house," chasing everything that moves (kids, joggers, cars), or excavating the yard.

Dogs need to be doing SOMETHING. They weren't put on the earth to serve out a sentence of solitary confinement. The job you give your dog could be a very simple one. Teach your dog to fetch the paper. Teach him to play Frisbee. Let him carry the mail in from the mailbox. Take him jogging with you. Keep him busy with activities like flyball and agility, and you will not have the dog develop annoying habits to fill his empty, boring days.

THERE'S MORE YOU CAN DO!

Having properly equipped your dog for life with a good socialization, housetraining, manners, basic obedience, and productive hobbies, you may feel you've done all that you can to make sure this dog will have a long and happy life with you. But, there's more! Your job is not over yet. Your dog can still get into trouble or be killed if you do not take some additional steps of responsible dog ownership.

I recommend that you have your dog "altered" (spayed or neutered), for several very important reasons. First, It will drastically reduce the chance for developing cancer in the dog, and thus will prolong his life. And, the sooner in your dog's life that you have him or her spayed or neutered, the greater the health benefit. Secondly, it will remove the pre-programmed desire to roam in search of mates to propagate the species. Your dog doesn't run away because he doesn't love you, he is just compelled to search for a member of the opposite sex, to breed and reproduce. With pet overpopulation the problem that it is in this country, you definitely don't need your dog escaping every chance he gets, to go out looking for a one-night-stand. The removal of the reproductive organs will eliminate this "urge" to roam, and could prevent him from becoming a traffic fatality while out carousing. Third, the removal of the hormones will also calm down the dog and make him less energetic. A mellow dog is less likely to get into trouble for bouncing off the children and chasing the chickens. Their hyperactivity has just been toned down several notches. The lower energy output will also cause the dog to need to eat less, so be careful not to overfeed. Another benefit of surgically altering your dog is that it can not reproduce. Some people get so upset when they find out their dog "got pregnant" that they take the dog and all the puppies straight off to the pound and dump them there, along with their responsibility. This adds callousness to carelessness. If the owner would have spayed the dog in the first place, she wouldn't be in this condition. Spaying and neutering will give you a calm, healthy, rational (he's not thinking with his sexual equipment any more) pet, who will want to stay at home and be with you.

SPEAKING OF "STAYING HOME..."

Your dog should not have a choice in the matter of staying home. It is your responsibility as a dog owner to keep your dog at home. There are several ways to insure that the dog is always where he should be.

Keep him in the house. That's where your pet belongs, anyway-he's part of your family. When he needs to go outside, you can let him out and watch him. When he's done, call him right back in. If you have fallen down on the "obedience training" responsibility, or the neutering responsibility, your dog may decide to thumb his nose at you and run out of the yard. Reconsider investing some time and money into obedience training and a gonadectomy, which would eliminate the running away problem. Or, you can just always walk your dog on a leash outside.

Another option is to fence a portion of your yard, so that your dog can go out safely, and if the phone rings and you have to take your eyes off the dog for a moment, he will be able to amuse himself in the safety of his fenced area until you come back to let him in. There are two other outdoor containment options: tying your dog up outside and installing an electronic underground fence system.

I've never used the electronic fence containment systems. I've never had to. People who have used them tell me that they are great. My problem with them is that it might keep your dog IN, but it doesn't keep other dangers OUT. A stray dog or wild animal could come into your yard and injure or kill your dog. A child could come into your yard and do something that would cause your dog to bite. I just don't want the world at large having access to my dog when I'm not there to supervise and insure his safety.

Tying out would be the absolute last resort, preferable only to letting your dog roam freely. Either choice is not a good one. Dogs who are tied out develop a lot of frustration. They see things, but they can't get at them. They experience barrier frustration. Statistics show that most of the dogs which are surrendered to humane societies for problem behavior are dogs which were tied out. These dogs are more likely to bite a child or kill another animal if it comes within reach.

Containing your dog, by any means, will keep him at home where he belongs. He will be less likely to become lost, eat something that could hurt him, chase livestock and be shot (legally), or be hit by a car. In my career, working with dogs and their people, I have seen and heard about many sad situations. I watched a person's dog cry in pain, just sitting there, because it had ingested chicken bones from some garbage. I learned that the dog later died. I have heard many cases of lost dogs. Some have happy endings and some have tragic ones. I have heard about loose farm dogs tearing apart a baby calf, while it was standing there, helpless, and the dogs subsequently being shot. And I have experienced the horror of being in the car that killed a cute young Cattle Dog puppy of about 5 months of age. I'll never forget that image as he appeared from nowhere, running across the road. He was running gleefully, full of the joy of life. He was on his way somewhere... He was killed instantly, and we were almost killed in the accident it caused. We were very lucky, but I was filled with anger over the owner (I use the term loosely) who failed to contain this beautiful animal, and keep him safe.

If you can follow through with the advice offered here, you will have eliminated just about every reason for ever having to part with your dog prematurely. He will be well socialized and not likely to bite someone out of fear, he will be housebroken, he will have a start on some good manners, and basic obedience training. He will be happy and healthy, having been neutered and contained safely at home and out of trouble. He will be a real member of your family that you could never and would never give up. Of course we will all have to part with our beloved pets someday, but let's hope it is due to natural causes, after a long life of sharing a bond with a human partner who has prepared for the dog's every need.

Be sure to read through the other helpful pages on this site.

Please don't give gifts of Christmas puppies! But if you find yourself the owner of one, read these pages carefully. Puppies are cute, but they are also destructive, selfish and messy by nature. Be prepared for some of the normal puppy behaviors which may prove to be problems for you and your family.

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How To Socialize

Critical Periods of Socialization for a Puppy
(And what you should be doing with your puppy during each of them...)

This page is provided as a public service from Dog Scouts of America

Birth through 3^rd week (1 � 21 days):

Puppy needs mother and littermates. They can�t regulate their own temperatures very well, so they must have a warm place to sleep. Training is not effective at this stage. They have yet to open their eyes and ears and do much besides crawl around. Their instinct is to cry when separated from the warmth of the litter (so that mommy will save them). Do not handle more than necessary.

Fourth Week (21 days to 28 days):

Eyes and ears should be open by this time.

Ability to form an attachment to humans is forming at this time, so gentle handling is recommended. All handling should be supervised, and children should not be allowed to pick up the puppies.

DO NOT remove the puppies from the litter. Do not wean at this age. If complications with the mother dog require early removal from the litter, do it BEFORE 21 days or AFTER 28 days.

Do not allow negative events to take place during this period. This could result in shyness or other unwanted qualities in a puppy.

Fifth through Seventh Week (28 � 49 days):

The mother will be in the process of weaning the puppies. It is important that you let her do her job. If you abruptly remove the puppies from the mother, and begin feeding them puppy food, they will have missed out on a VERY IMPORTANT life lesson. By allowing the mother to wean the pups, gradually, they learn that RESOURCES ARE NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE. Sometimes the resource (mommy) is there, but is not available to the puppy (she�s not in the mood to feed them). You should supplement her feeding with moistened puppy food, during this time. But, if you go directly from mom providing food on demand to YOU providing food on demand, the puppies will get a distorted view of reality (they�ll be �spoiled�), and will not easily accept the disappointment of limited access later in life.

Give daily individual attention to each puppy, getting him or her used to positive human interaction.

Puppies at this age can begin to learn potty training, and will try to �hold it� until they can go on an absorbent material, away from their sleeping area. If you provide them with such, housebreaking will be a breeze.

DO NOT remove puppies from the litter. Wait until after 7 weeks of age to let the new homes take the puppies. While it is important that the puppies get time separate from the litter on a daily basis, if you remove them entirely, they will lose out on more IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS. Puppies learn to inhibit their bites by biting their littermates. When they bite too hard, the littermate will squeal, and either bite back in retaliation, or ostracize the bully, and refuse to play with him. This teaches the pups not to be too rough, and while they�ll still play fight and wrestle, they will bite down softly, not injuring the other puppies. A dog that does not learn this lesson could cause serious harm to a person or child later in life. When they bite, they don�t inhibit, and an uninhibited bite will require stitches. A dog can do a lot of damage with its mouth, and it is important that it remain with the litter to get this �weapons safety course� from its brothers and sisters. This training takes place between the ages of 6 and 7 weeks, so if the puppies are adopted before then, they are an accident waiting to happen.

The puppy is also learning other very crucial skills at this age. He�s learning to speak �dog.� He�s learning the social skills that will enable him to interpret unspoken messages from other dogs and give appropriate replies. Things like calming signals (a kind of a friendly, submissive gesture) are learned at this time, and this will help your dog to communicate with other dogs all through his life. If he is removed from the litter, unequipped with this vital information, he could possibly get �picked on� or attacked frequently by other dogs when they don�t receive the information they need from him. If he doesn�t �speak the language�, it will be hard for him to express himself. He could also become a �bully� himself, because he won�t understand the signals to �back off� that the other dogs are giving him. This could also lead to a nasty fight. The worst case scenario is that the puppy would not understand that it is a dog, and would fear all other dogs (as if they were aliens or something, which basically they would be for him).

Eighth through 12^th Week (49 � 84 days):

At this age, you will take over the role of being the �mother� to your new puppy. The puppy will cry when separated from the only caretaker he has known for his entire life. This is only natural. Especially when you consider that we as humans are a far cry from his doting canine mother. When he cries, she is usually there in a heartbeat, to see what is wrong. Humans on the other hand, tend to bring home a puppy and just stuff him in a crate or in the garage the first night, and then wonder why the poor baby is screaming inconsolably non-stop.

To make the first few nights easier on your new puppy, I recommend allowing the puppy to be VERY near to you. I don�t care what your future �hard-nosed rules� are going to be for the puppy, or even if he is going to remain an outdoor dog, separated from the family he will learn to love. Those first few nights should hold as little trauma as absolutely possible. If you lock up your puppy away from you when you get home with him, he�s going to assume he�s been LOST or abandoned, and will cry to be rescued. You merely have to assure him that he simply has a new home, with a human parent, and that you can be just as loving and comforting as his real mother (almost).

By VERY NEAR, I mean body contact. The choices are:

� Put your puppy in a crate or pen with open lid right next to your bed, with your arm dangling down into the pen to cuddle your puppy to sleep, where he can see, hear and feel you.

� Put your puppy in bed with you � (NOT RECOMMENDED) This is difficult for multiple reasons: The puppy is not yet housebroken

The puppy could fall off the bed and injure himself

The puppy could chew up your bedding

The puppy could start to think that the bed is HIS bed if you continue this past a few nights

(however, it is still preferable to listening to him squall, or terrifying him by abandonment)

� Put your puppy�s crate right in the bed with you (this prevents accidents, chewing, or falling, and gets the puppy used to his crate. You can still open the door and stroke or cuddle the puppy.

Once your puppy realizes that he merely has a new address, and that he has NOT been doomed to be locked up in a cold dungeon with no human contact for the rest of his life (what a dismal existence that would be!), he will not need to sleep on the bed with you, and his crate can be moved to another part of the house where it is more convenient for you.

The puppy is going to spend a great deal of his time in the crate, until he�s old enough to be allowed full access to the house, unsupervised. So, you should put the crate where he can see you throughout the day as you move about the house. If, for some reason you are foolish enough to let the sweet little furniture-eating, carpet-soiling, electrical cord-chewing puppy loose to wreak havoc in the house, because you didn�t think you needed a crate, then don�t you dare be upset at HIM when the little cutie raids the garbage, shreds your possessions, craps on everything, and TP�s your house. The crate also acts as his personal playpen, keeping him from injuring himself doing things that little puppies have no business doing. Mothers can�t watch babies or puppies ALL the time, that�s why they gave us playpens (crates) to keep them contained out of harm�s way. Tossing the puppy outside is NOT the solution. Why did you get him in the first place? Even if you plan for him to be an �outdoor� dog, it is a good idea to socialize your puppy to being indoors, and potty train him, if later on in life he moves up in the world.

This is the start of the socialization period where puppies need to meet as many kinds of new �nouns� (people, places, and things) as possible. This means more than just the company you might have over, or the immediate back yard. You must expose your puppy to all kinds of things in the world so that he will not fear them as an adult. The rule of Sevens says that you should introduce your puppy to AT LEAST seven new kinds of surfaces, seven new kinds of people, seven new kinds of foods, seven new kinds of sounds, and seven new places by the time he is 12 weeks old. All new situations should be introduced in a neutral or positive way�nothing frightening or hurtful.

The puppy is experiencing his FEAR IMPRINT PERIOD between 8 and 9 weeks of age, and any traumatic encounters will stay with the puppy for his whole lifetime, if you allow them to occur. You may think about postponing ear-cropping surgery or other traumatic events until after the ninth week. You should introduce your puppy to safe, calm children, and supervise the interaction carefully. Do not let the child hurt or frighten the puppy. The best way not to let a child accidentally drop a puppy is to not let them pick it up in the first place. They don�t mean to drop it, but try to explain that to the poor puppy who is scarred for life, and now runs from children.

Do not isolate the puppy from humans at this age. To do so will create a dog that is maladjusted for life, and one who is not a good candidate for the bond with humans which is a necessary part of training, and life in general with your dog.

Now is the perfect time to reinforce the puppy�s natural desire to be clean in the house. The use of a crate, scheduled mealtimes, and a reward-based training regime will maintain the clean habits your puppy has already started to develop while with the litter. If you allow the puppy full access to the house, and do not supervise him, or do not make it beneficial for him to eliminate outside, you will cause the puppy to start to be confused about where to �go.� So many people complain that they just can�t get their puppy housetrained. But, after playing foster mom to several litters of young puppies, I have come to realize that the puppies have themselves potty-trained before they leave the litter. It�s when they get into their new homes that the new owners confuse the puppies about where they should go potty. The new owners often take a perfectly clean puppy and teach him to soil the house by doing everything all wrong.

NOW is when you should begin training your puppy. DO NOT wait until the dog is 6 months old. The puppy is a learning �SPONGE� at this age, and to not give it structured training is to allow it to learn BAD habits. Puppies have a full adult brain at 49 days of age. There is absolutely no reason to wait longer than that to teach the puppy proper behavior. It is much easier to install correct behaviors than to let the puppy grow up like a wild savage and then try to �untrain� the bad behaviors later!

In the past, I think people recommended that the training did not start until 6 months because many training classes used �punishment� methods to teach obedience. Now, we realize that positive methods are so much more effective. Even a tiny puppy can learn the basics of sit, down, stay, come and heel without even putting on a collar or leash! The dog no longer needs to be 6 months old to withstand the harsh corrections given out in the name of �training.� If you find a training class and discover that they use corrections to train, RUN AWAY! If they tell you that they use a �praise� method, also be very skeptical. Praise alone is meaningless for a puppy that does not speak English, and without pairing it with something positive (like food), it is worthless. Many punishment trainers use �praise� alone as a positive reinforcement. In this context, the praise takes on the meaning of a �no punishment� marker. It�s not really a positive reinforcement at all. It just means, �You�re not going to get jerked right now.� So the dog is still working to avoid aversives. With positive methods, the dog is rewarded with something he actually wants, as his reward (imagine that!). He will work very hard to receive this reinforcement and will soon be doing exactly what you ask (gleefully). No punishment required. For more information on positive training methods, see other articles on this web site.

Keep on socializing your puppy up to 16 weeks of age. You should also continue to socialize your dog after that time, but it is never more important than the time period of between 8 to 12 weeks. You have a very brief window in which to get your dog acclimated to the big wide wonderful world. Don�t let the grass grow under your feet! Get that puppy out! Not just to the puppy class once per week, either. I mean really make an effort to introduce your puppy to as many positive situations as possible. Here�s a list:

� Take your puppy to the Vet when he doesn�t need a shot. Just hang out and feed cookies and have fun!

� Take your puppy to pet shops (most of them allow pets). You�ll meet a lot of dog-loving people who will be happy to introduce themselves to your pup. The puppy can possibly also meet other puppies and animals there. (Don�t take your puppy close to any �for sale� dogs at a pet shop�they come from puppy mills, and they are often very sick. They could transmit something to your puppy.)

� Take your puppy to a park (not a dog park�you don�t know what manner of germy, psychopathic dogs with inattentive owners are running out of control at a dog park).

� Take your puppy to a training class, or puppy playgroup.

� Take your puppy to daytime outdoor sporting events (for short periods)

� Take your puppy anywhere and everywhere that the proprietors will let him come in.

The important thing is that the puppy needs to get out for more than just a walk in the woods (or around the block). He needs to meet new people, sights, sounds, smells and environments every day.

You have to be particularly diligent about this if you have another dog in the house, or if you have adopted two young puppies at the same time. The puppies each need to spend time with you, separate from one another, so that bonding can occur. If they bond to each other, what do they need YOU for?

Sixteen weeks and beyond...

As I mentioned, you should continue to get your dog out to socialize with other dogs and people on a regular basis his whole life long. You don�t want him to forget important social skills and proper greeting behaviors. But you can never make up for a lack of socialization during that critical age of puppyhood (between 8 and 16 weeks). That�s why they call it critical.

You may find your dog enjoys regular romps with some of his doggie buddies. Or, maybe he�d like to join a flyball team and become an athlete! He might enjoy a trip to dog camp with you. At the very LEAST, he�ll want to accompany you on vacation. If you socialize and train him well, this should not be a problem. Socialization is the KEY to a well-adjusted, calm and happy dog. Training is great, too, but contrary to the old �wives tale,� you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. You can�t, however, give an old dog the socialization he should have had as a puppy.

Knowing what you now know about socialization, it should be clear that it would be optimal to adopt a puppy who has had proper early socialization. If the puppy�s past is unknown, as is often the case when you adopt a pup from a pet shop or a shelter, it�s a gamble. You could get lucky end up with a very confident dog, or you could get one who has many sensitivities (through no fault of its own). I�m not saying that shelter dogs are all automatically going to be

Tazer Extras

HELPFUL READING

Dog Bite Prevention This page is brought to you as a public service announcement from Dog Scouts of America

Your Dog Doesn't Have to be an Outlaw

Surviving Puppyhood

How to Raise a Puppy (that you will never want to part with)

Dog Bite Prevention
This page is brought to you as a public service announcement from
Dog Scouts of America

How to Raise a Puppy
(that you will never want to part with)