Puppy!

June 10, 2018 12:30 PM

I'm getting a puppy. I've owned dogs before but only who were already adults. What are some good resources to make sure I've got this puppy thing down. Will be an only dog and has already been chosen (mixed breed).

Just looking for resources that don't assume I know nothing about dog ownership.

posted by Aranquis to Pets & Animals (5 answers total)

I really wish we had worked on absolute, no-excuses, rock-solid recall when my dog was a puppy. 95% seemed good enough a couple years ago, but it really isn’t for some circumstances we find ourselves in.

One thing we did really well was socializing him and getting him used to everything under the sun. We used something like this checklist to make sure we really exposed him to everything and there’s pretty much nothing he won’t tolerate or is scared of. We got a *lot* of boxes checked standing outside of Wal-Mart for an hour a bunch of times in our very diverse city asking everyone if they wanted to let the puppy and give him a tiny bit of string cheese.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:58 PM on June 10, 2018 [9 favorites]

Try a beginner obedience training class. Annie was about 16 months old when we did a basic $100 one at Petsmart. I wish we’d gone sooner. We learned very helpful basics like sit, come, stay, and recall, but mostly it was so good for us because it taught me how to communicate with my dog. How to get her attention, how to make sure she was listening, how to motivate her. And how to use vocabulary, tone, correction, and praise consistently so she always knows her boundaries, what to expect, and that she'll be rewarded. It really bonded us and was the springboard for learning all sorts of new things.

Dogs are so smart -- the training is really more for the person than for the dog.
posted by mochapickle at 1:41 PM on June 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

Before and After Getting Your Puppy

The Culture Clash (this book literally changed my life when it comes to dogs)

The Puppy Primer

Avoid anything and everything by The Monks of New Skete and Cesar Milan.

Get into a well-run positive reinforcement puppy class.
posted by biscotti at 2:33 PM on June 10, 2018 [6 favorites]

Came in to recommend The Culture Clash so will second it.

Also, "Don't Shoot the Dog" (book) and learn how clicker training works.
posted by dobbs at 2:53 PM on June 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

We got a puppy 2 weeks ago (we've owned an adult dog before and I've had a puppy, but it's been a loooong time) and here are the things I've found super useful:
- leashing the puppy to us in house so he can't wander off and pee/poop/chew things up (we had zero(!) accidents inside last week)
- Perfect Puppy in 7 Days by Sophia Yin (we're not following all of it exactly, but it gave us a great idea of how to structure our days)
- Before and After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar
- enforcing naps! Our puppy is up for 1-2 hours and then we put him in his crate for a 1-2 hour nap. We can absolutely tell when he needs a nap (he gets nippy and WILD) and he's so much better after he's had time to rest.
- puppy socialization classes (all the puppies have age-appropriate shots and the room is disinfected for parvo etc. before and after the class). This tires him out, helps him learn to play appropriately with other dogs, and lets us commiserate with other puppy owners.
- Zak George on youtube
- puppy101 on reddit. This sub is incredibly helpful and supportive and I don't know what I would do without it. This post and this post are good round-ups of general puppy advice, but the sub has information on house training, nipping, separation anxiety, general training, etc. It's great!

Good luck!
posted by vakker at 7:10 AM on June 11, 2018 [2 favorites]