Choosing Your Pet
Before you adopt a dog or puppy, make sure you educate yourself and your family prior to your pups arrival to your home. It begins with choosing the right dog for your lifestyle, researching positive reinforcement training methods, preparing for your dog's arrival, and beginning training and socialization early on.
Choose the Right Dog for Your Lifestyle
Every dog is an individual, with a unique personality, background, and their own quirks and behaviours. That said, learning about typical dog behaviours, breed traits, and special considerations with different ages, can help you be more prepared for bringing Fido home, and ensures you are selecting a dog that suits your lifestyle. Do you want a high energy and active dog, or a dog that prefers to kick back on the couch? Do you live in an apartment where you are restricted in breed or size? It can be difficult to predict what size a puppy will grow to! Are you familiar with medical conditions that are typical of specific breeds? Here are a few things to consider:
- Know your species - dogs bark, growl, jump, lunge, dig, and chew
- Learn traits of your breed/mixed-breed
- Appreciate your dog’s unique personality
Preparation for Pup's Arrival
It's important to prepare your home, as much as yourself, before you bring your pup home. This will make the transition easier for your pup, and allow it to settle into a space and routine that has been thoughtfully prepared for it. You'll feel better equipped and ready to engage with your pup if you have all the supplies you need.
Tools and Equipment
- Dog food suitable for your dog's age, treats, food and water dishes
- Collar and/or harness, seatbelt, and leashes of various lengths
- Crate, bed, and toys (including chew toys)
Research Training Tips
Not only is it important to be prepared for your pup's arrival with supplies, but it's also just as important to know how to train your pup, both to instill desired behaviour and correct undesired behaviours.
Positive Reinforcement Based Training
We strongly recommend researching positive reinforcement based training methods to make training a fun experience for you and your pup! We have a great playlist of online dog training videos available to get you started. Below is a list of some of the most important things to focus on:
- Bite inhibition
- Basic commands
- Household etiquette
- Being home alone
- Socialization with people
- Socialization with other dogs
Suggested Literature
- Before You Get Your Puppy - Dr. Ian Dunbar
- After You Get Your Puppy - Dr. Ian Dunbar
- Good Little Dog Book – Dr. Ian Dunbar
- Decoding Your Dog - American College of Veterinary Behaviourists
Consider Puppy Socialization or Dog Training Classes
In addition to doing your own research on training, it is a good idea to enlist the advice, tips and tricks of professionals. Dog trainers can have a wealth of information and puppy socialization during their critical learning period will only serve to set your pup up for success!
Objectives
- Socialization with other dogs and people
- Bite inhibition
- Teach polite play with other dogs
- Basic manners
- Sit – your dog should always default to sit when a person or other dog approaches
- Look – at handler waiting for next cue or release
- Down – calming/settling
- Release Cue - (ok) release from position
- Loose Leash Walking
During the warm months, we offer Puppy Socialization classes for dogs aged 3-5 months old to facilitate socialization with other dogs and people, and for dogs older than 5 months, we offer Essential Life Skills classes to work on basic commands and common behaviour issues. Once you've mastered the basics, check out our Beginner Agility classes to further your dogs physical and mental enrichment! The goal of this training is consistency, and treating your dog as an individual. It is important to make training fun so your dog wants to please you!