As a trainer, there are a lot of recommendations I give my clients – especially with puppies – to make their life a little easier. The real question is, what puppy training rules do I ignore when it comes to my personal dogs and why (I might just be slightly masochistic)? And what consequences do I suffer because of my decisions.
Puppies Should Sleep in a Crate Next to Your Bed and Overnight Potty Breaks Should Be Completely Boring and Uneventful
I mostly follow this one, the crate is beside my bed and truly middle of the night potty breaks are as uneventful as possible. BUT if my puppy wakes up after 5:00am we’re going outside and then he’s going into the bed with me for snuggles while we go back to sleep together unless I have a reason I have to be up that early.
Is that great? No, it heavily reinforces waking up around 5-5:30am every day for the puppy (and at 6 months that habit seems pretty set now). For me though, it’s worth snuggling up with hi and having a little quiet bonding time until it’s time to actually get up. It also wasn’t easy at first, he’d get in the bed ready to have crazy play time and I had to work to help him settle or give him a pacifier to help him learn to be calm in bed. Now at almost 6 months, he curls right up with me and falls asleep until it’s our actual wakeup time.
Supervise Your Puppy at All Times
This is a BIG one that I tell clients. An unsupervised puppy has the potential to cause major chaos. Buuuut, I did say I may be a bit masochistic. You won’t find baby gates or playpens in my house. When I’m home, the puppy gets the same access as my adult dogs (though he is in the crate if I’m not home).
There are absolutely times when it backfires, and I have to clean up a mess that wouldn’t have happened if I had fully supervised him. Ambriel in particular has a fondness for shredding (not eating) cardboard and other paper-esque items so if something’s available and I’m not aware of what he’s up to then he’s probably going to shred it.I’ll find it, shake my head at myself for leaving it where he could get it, and clean it up. It’s not the puppy’s fault—I know he loves shredding things, and I left it within his reach.
There are also times I realize he’s been suspiciously quiet and go looking for him only to find him on a dog bed with a toy just being the best puppy ever. From day one, I’ve taught him his basic rules by consistently praising him whenever he makes a good choice while he’s in sight. If I go looking for him and find him being awesome he gets praise and the occasional treat. As he gets older, he improves, and by raising dogs this way, I find that I can leave them loose far more reliably when they’re older compared to dogs that didn’t have full access to the house.
Don’t Feed Your Puppy Human Food From the Table
I kinda follow this. I never share my meals with my puppies. However, I’m horribly guilty of sharing snacks with them. Why? I dunno, they’re cute and I can? I did mention being slightly masochistic, maybe it’s that. Is it a great habit? NO. I have to work harder to counteract the begging that I practically create so that they learn I only share food when I choose to, not just whenever they want me to. It’s terrible, I beat myself up for it knowing full well that I’m doing this to myself and making both our lives harder. Yet I still do it, what can I say? I’m only human and puppies are cute.
Don’t Encourage Biting
So uh. I should explain myself I guess. There should absolutely be hard and fast rules when it comes to mouthing humans. Nobody wants to get bitten. Redirecting, removing attention, freezing, all these things and more that we talk about extensively with clients to prevent inappropriate biting. I utilize each of them with my own puppies as well. But I can’t count the number of times I’ve told clients something along the lines of “if teeth touch your skin, the game is over” and there is a circumstance where that rule doesn’t stand with my dogs.
What on earth am I doing with my own dogs that contradicts this and what is wrong with me?
I play a game with all of my dogs that specifically allows for (encourages) biting. I control when it starts and when it ends. If they lose their ability to inhibit their bite, I end the game (so if they bite hard enough to make me uncomfortable, we’re done). I only allow their mouths to touch my hands—if they touch any other body part, the game ends.
But WHY. I have a high tolerance for mouthing because teaching really solid bite inhibition is so critical in my puppy raising. Having this game in particular builds impulse control because they can have an “ask” to start the game (with my youngest pup, he sits and wiggles his butt a certain way) but they can’t just pounce and start it themselves, I have to make the choice to let the game begin. Then since they enjoy the game, they want it to keep going. However, if they lose their bite inhibition the game ends which encourages them to work hard on maintaining their bite inhibition even as they get more excited.
This isn’t something I’m going to start recommending to clients – however, if they ask about rough housing with their dogs they’re going to get the same list of “rules” for the game that I use when I’m playing this way with my puppies.
Okay, so what’s my point?
There aren’t many hard and fast rules when it comes to raising puppies. As you can see, I accept the consequences that come with breaking my own recommendations. My goal is to make my clients’ lives easier with their puppies, and I gear everything I recommend toward that goal.
At the end of the day, you are the only one that lives with your dog. You get to make decisions on what recommendations you follow and what you don’t mind dealing with. In my own house, I just want to live with my dogs even if in some ways I end up making my life harder than it has to be. I chose the consequences I can live with (like waking up early) and train to counteract the ones I dislike (like the begging I create).
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