In dealing with dogs and dog owners every day it is inevitable that a bulk of my conversations revolve around dogs.  There are several phrases and philosophies that I hear from time to time.  One of those phrases is, “Oh, he does that because he is a puppy.”

One thing I really help my clients to understand is that, yes, your young dog is jumping, chewing, nipping, peeing on the floor, pooping on your rug, etc. because he is a puppy.  I then go on to explain that although these are very natural puppy behaviors they are not acceptable puppy behaviors.

A lot of people reading this may say, “Well, of course they aren’t acceptable.  I know that.”  The reason I write this, though, is that many people have consigned themselves to the fact that they are going to have to put up with a year of hair pulling, teeth clenching moments before they can actually enjoy their puppy.  I think that many believe that part of raising a puppy is just putting up with these horrible behaviors as training and age begin to take effect.

I am here to say that it is important to recognize the limitations of a puppy mind when you begin training.  There is no need, however, to allow yourself to fall into the mindset that you just need to accept certain bad behaviors.  There are solutions to every negative puppy behavior.  Some take longer to implement but none of these behaviors need to be accepted.

I encourage you to seek out the best methods.  If you have been working on a specific puppy behavior without success for a time realize that you must seek out a different method, not throw in the towel and hope the puppy ‘grows out’ of the bad behavior.

Good luck with your puppy training!