Puppy Training Academy

20/05/2022

One of the hardest things about having a new puppy is the amount of advice you’ll get, it’s all well meaning and comes from a good place, but can leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused. We all give advice based on our own thought patterns, beliefs, stories and experiences therefore while something may have worked for someone it doesn’t mean it’s the same for your puppy. Having one source of information, with it all in the same place is the best way for any new puppy owner. This is where Puppy Academy comes in, everything you need to know to have the perfect family puppy in one place.

Advice -

Try not to stress too much about toilet training, it’s not a sign of things to come there is so much to it, weather, breeder, size of garden, location of garden etc can all impact toilet training.

Puppy biting is normal, but it is also a sign that puppy is over aroused, tired, stressed, frustrated or in pain. Learning to read when they’re any of these things is the best thing you can do for your puppy. Puppies can show aggression as well, ask for professional advice if you’re worried.

Training should be a fun learning process between you and your puppy, you teach them something new, they get rewarded for it, you both enjoy the process. To start only focus on the important cues like recall, reward them every time they come to you. You could start to ask for a sit, reward them for following you, for waiting before going through a gate perhaps or a door. Have fun, don’t rush it.

Socialising is all about supporting them and helping them to discover the big wide world out there, we are lucky enough to share their journey with them, the more we can make sure we are in the moment with them, look for new places for them to discover at their own pace, and have their back if they need to go or are feeling over whelmed. Again it’s a process to enjoy, gradually introducing them to other dogs (not too many, and the right ones are important) and people, but allowing them to have choices and move away if they need too.

Have fun, the puppy stage can seem very tiring and hard work but it soon goes xx

13/03/2022

Every dog is individual, every dog has their own personality and character. Some dogs are able to cope with new environments more than others, some are able to cope with seeing more people or dogs than others. Some need more sleep, more downtime, longer to get used to being alone etc.

It’s so important to get to know your individual puppy.

When you’re out with them, watch their body language, do they seem comfortable? Are they trying to speed you up, to get the walk over and done with?

When they meet new people or dogs, what happens to their level of arousal, do they have more energy, do they become bitey later that day or the next?

All behaviour is information, really observe the behaviours and how they change, what causes them to change.

Doing this enables us to understand our dogs, and to not put them into situations they may struggle in.

I’ll do a live next week to explain what I mean, but I can’t stress enough getting to know your individual puppy. ❤️

29/09/2021

Puppies can regress with puppy training when there is a change in the weather, don't stress or worry, or it could make it worse in the long run, if you need to, go back to basics.

04/06/2021

We are at Dogstival this weekend, we are running a fun scent area and Hoopers, will also be on hand for any training abs behaviour advice you need.

27/12/2020

How was everyone’s Xmas, will come on to do a live tomorrow please let us know if there’s anything you’d like me to cover x

01/09/2020

Will do a live in about 20 mins and then regularly from next week once kids are back at school.

Gav is also going to do a zoom call for you all next week for any training questions 😃

31/03/2020

This video talks about why it takes some puppies longer, and how to toilet train your puppy.

31/03/2020

Along side having a new puppy or rescue dog comes a whole range of emotions, doubts, fears, joy.

Who can relate -

Where should they sleep?
How much sleep do they need?
What should they eat?
How much food should they eat?
How long can they survive if they won’t eat?
How many times should they need the toilet?
How do I train them to go outside?
When they toilet inside, does it halt the training?
Why do they sometimes toilet inside?
Why do they sleep ok in the day but not at night?
Why won’t they settle when they wake in the night?
How do I get them used to their crate?
Where should their crate be?
What should be in their bed?
When should I start to train my puppy?
What should I train them first?
How often should I train?
How do I socialise?
Where should I socialise?
How do I socialise?
How much exercise do puppies need?
Where should I take them first, and for how long?
Why do puppies bite?
How do I stop them biting?
Do I need to show them whose boss (definitely not)?
How do I stop them barking?
How do I stop them chewing items?
Why do they follow me everywhere?
How can I get my puppy used to being alone?
How long can you leave a puppy?
Can puppies show aggression?
Do I need to be able to take my puppies food away from them (no)?
Why does my puppy mouth when I put a collar or harness on?
How do I get my puppy used to their lead?

All of the above can soon become overwhelming, you can feel stressed, regret, guilt as well as joy, excitement and love. We are due to launch our online Puppy Course in the next few days which will answer all of the above, at the reduced price of only £49 for a six week course.

If however you don't want to join the course, I will also be answering many of the above questions here in a video series.

26/03/2020

Help – My Puppy is biting!!

So you finally brought home this adorable little bundle of fluff, after days, weeks, months or even years of imagining yourself and your family cuddling up with your new puppy. However, your puppy probably has other ideas, which may include biting hard on skin, clothes and anything they can get hold of. This can be very frustrating and worrying for you as an owner, especially as sometimes it can seem like we have an aggressive puppy, but worry not, we can help you with this.
When puppies bite it can hurt, they have small but very sharp little teeth that feel like mini razors and are painful. It can feel like you’re not able to spend time enjoying your puppy, as all they seem to do is to want to bite.

Sometimes it can feel like you are out of your depth and not sure the best way to deal with the biting. You then read online and are told a number of different ways to deal with it from yelping, saying no, bopping puppy on the nose, holding puppies mouth together etc, all of which I would not recommend any of them. Using punishment will have fall out, in could scare your puppy, they could then become scared of what ever they could see, hear smell at the time. You could also reinforce biting, pushing them away, pushing them down is joining in with them and likely to increase the biting.

Firstly, you are not alone. Nearly all puppy owners have the same concerns when it comes to the puppy biting, worrying about why their puppy bites, and also how hard they bite.

We want you to have a puppy that doesn’t feel the need to bite hard, are happy to redirect onto a toy, and an owner that understands why they are biting and how to stop it.

Puppies use their mouths to explore the world, they pick things up, chew them, pull on them and want to carry them. All of this is normal behaviour for a puppy. As much as possible we want to redirect them to a soft toy that they can grip hold of, if they are too hard or big then your skin is always going to be more appealing to them.

Telling puppies off for biting could scare the puppy, and make them less likely to want to be with us, or it could reinforce the biting as well. Redirecting to a toy, and removing yourself from the room (but with puppy being able to see you) are, in my opinion the best ways.
You will find your puppy bites differently through-out the day, with them, at times, biting harder:

* First thing in the morning when you are up is a time of huge arousal for puppy, they are super excited to see you and for the day to start.
* During the day when they start to get over-tired.
* During the witching hour (normally early evening)
* If they are not keen on being handled at that point of time.
If you only take one thing away from this blog, then the most important thing to learn is that when your puppy is biting hard (apart from first thing in the morning), they are almost always over tired or over stimulated.

First thing in the morning is a very exciting time for our puppies, I recommend at this time starting to get into a morning routine, so you are able to give puppy time, and then have time yourself to get ready rather than being followed around having your slippers clung on too.
Possible Routine:

* Get up earlier than you normally would or when puppy wakes you if this is before your normal time,
* Get pup outside for the toilet,
* Play with puppy with something long (T-Towels taped together, long snake toy) that they can grab on to and you play with them encouraging them onto the item. If they are still looking to use your skin as their toy, then have pup one side of a gate and you the other encouraging them to use the toy.
* I would then get some of pups breakfast and do 5-15 mins of training, where pup is following you around, and you reward them with their food for following you. Take a handful of treats, let pup know you have them, walk around, stop when pup sits or lays down, mark the behaviour with a ‘Good’ or ‘Yes’ and give them a piece of the food, we are getting them to use their brain by doing this.
* I would then suggest a snuffle mat or kong while you get ready.

During the day take notice of your puppies behaviour and if they start to bite harder, or seem to be hyper active. These are signs your puppy is tired and needs to rest, take them into a quiet area with something to chew to settle them. They may not seem tired, but almost always are If they have started to bite hard. If they are crate trained, encourage them into their crate with some treats, make yourself a cuppa and sit next to the crate to settle them.

If you are out and about with your puppy and they start to bite, chew perhaps seem hyper active, these are all signs your puppy has had enough, its important to take them somewhere quiet where they are able to settle, back to the car or home for a rest.
If you are walking and pup normally walks ok on lead, then starts to bite, chew the lead then again its likely that they are starting to get tired/over stimulated and again its time to take them somewhere quiet to be able to settle.

If we don’t allow our puppies enough time to settle and sleep, we can have over tired puppies a lot of the time, and may struggle with their behaviour. Ensure your puppy is getting plenty of opportunity to rest.

The Witching Hour

Nearly all puppies have what we call the witching hour whereby they are over tired/stimulated at the end of the day, and you normally get some crazy behaviour including the zoomies at this point. During this, they tend to bite hard too. During this time, they are rarely able to offer any thoughtful behaviour, or learn anything new. Telling them off, getting cross with them etc is likely to increase their arousal and reinforce the behaviour.

We recommend:
Allowing puppy to be able to run around safely,
Keeping children out of their way completely, if the children want to interact at this point, its best with puppy behind a gate and then training with pup. They could have some treats ask pup to sit, mark and reward for a sit, then throw the treat or food behind pup, pup goes to get it, comes back and repeat. (If pup wont sit then it could be that its not comfortable, floors cold etc so never force them)
Once they have had their mad time, they are then ready to settle down. Many people walk their puppy at this point, however they are actually tired, settle them down instead. Keeping a puppy awake at night doesn’t get them to sleep in longer in the long term. If they are tired its important they get to sleep. This also sets the tone for when they get older that the evenings are chill time.
Enjoy your puppy, YOU CAN DO THIS!!

25/03/2020

Help – I have a puppy and we are in a time of Social Distancing.

You may be overwhelmed, concerned and worried about how you will socialise your puppy, especially where vets aren’t able to carry out routine vaccinations. But there are things you can do, and there has never been a more important time to train your puppy.

Whilst we aren’t able to socialise with other dogs, and various people we can start to give them problem solving exercises, confidence building exercises and training.

We can:

• Get them used to different sights, sounds and scents
• Get them used to harness, collar and leads
• Get them ready to be groomed
• Prepare them for being left alone
• Prepare them for the vets
• Help to build their confidence through training and play
• Teach them to use their nose
• Learn their body language

Having a well thought out plan will help you with this, and where you live will also determine how to go about your socialising.

Get them used to different sights, sounds and scents

First things first:

Think about the area you live in, what on a daily basis going forward your puppy is likely to see, hear and smell. For example if you live in a built up area then they are more likely to need to get used to traffic, lorries, children playing, smell of fuels, people other animals etc.

Write down a long list.

People
Children
Dogs
Lorries
Buses
Cars
Aeroplanes
Horses
Cows
Etc

Then think about how you could get them used to some of the above, but taking your time. For at least the first week let them have the first week at home with you, help them to feel safe and secure.

You could take pup for a drive in the car to open spaces, open your car door with pup on your lap near to where there is other traffic.

Use your one exercise a day to go for a short walk with pup in your arms. Be careful as people will want to ask you about pup.

There are industrial estates where there will still be people working, safely park up and sit with door open (use your once a day).

If there are kids playing in gardens get pup in garden, scatter feed some high value food so they can hear the children at the same time they get the good stuff.

Sit with pup in your arms and your front door open so they can observe the traffic going past. Feed some nice high value treats, if they look worried go back in.

You could play noises in the background on Youtube while you play/train with your pup so they get used to the noises.

Get them used to harness, collar and leads

For a lot of puppies having equipment put on them is punishing, and they will often cower, run away and in some instances show aggression when having equipment put on. Now is the perfect time to get them used to the equipment, please don’t wait until we are allowed out and then just put a harness on them for the first time:

Get the equipment out for a few days, let pup sniff the items, if they grab them with their mouths, that’s also fine, encourage them to drop by offering a high value treat.

After a few days, when they are nicely tired from training, grab some treats attach collar, feed, remove collar, feed.

With their harness, first of all work out how it goes before putting it on your pup, use a cuddly toy to see, then set up a plate of something yummy they can lick, cream cheese, dog peamutt butter etc, gently put their harness on, do up, feed and remove. Do this for a few days before doing up and leaving on. Once they are used to it, put harness on every day before a training, play session or a walk so they get used to it. Take your time.

Get them ready to be groomed

Certain breeds need to be groomed more regularly than others, if you have a dog that will need grooming in the future then the time is to start getting them used to it. Have a look online for the best tools to buy, I recommend you give them something to lick or chew while you do groom, watch for signs they are uncomfortable: Tongue Flicks, whites of eyes, yawning. Use a hair dryer in the back ground while playing with pup and gradually move it towards pup. If you bath them always use warm water, do it slowly and gradually.

Prepare them for being left alone

Lots of puppies struggle to be left alone, and when you first get pup the best thing to do is to help them feel secure, by allowing them to follow you around. After a week or so though, I would look to start to get them used to being alone.

Wait until they are tired (not over tired)
Give them something to find (food on floor), lick (food on floor) or a chew
Walk into another room
Return
Do this a few times a day so it becomes the norm.
If pup is going to be left alone when you go back to work, then aim to build up in small increments to the time they are going to be left. If they seem to go backwards, give them a few days and then go back.

Prepare them for the vets

We can help prepare them for the vets, get them used to having various parts of their body touched, whilst pairing it with a high value food. For example:

Say “Ear”, touch ear and feed. Only do this when they are not over tired and bitey.

Help to build their confidence through training and play

Playing with our pups is super important, it releases all the good stuff in their brains and helps them to bond with their owner, it also helps with confidence. To find out more we cover this in our online puppy course.

Training – Super super important to train while their brains are still young and like sponges, leaving it to adolescence means training is a lot harder. It also helps with frustration, as it gives your pups an outlet. Recall training is a must.

Teach them to use their nose

When dogs use their noses, its mindfulness for dogs, they are able to completely focus with no distractions in the environment. When a dog uses their nose it helps to tire them out, 20 mins of sniffing can be the equivalent to an hours walk. Start by encouraging them to find treats. We also cover this in our course.

Learn their body language

Learning your dogs body language, how they feel and what they are trying to tell you is extremely important.

19/03/2020

If you have a puppy it’s important that you still consider socialising them. This is being made more difficult as many classes etc will close.

Things you can do:

Think about the different places they are likely to go as they get older, so if you live on a bust road, look to find somewhere quieter but with vehicles, get pup out of car and just let them explore, giving them high value food when they check in with you.

Create noise boxes to get them used to noise, find a large box, put various items in there and some treats for them to find.

Put food on top of tin cans, they can tip them over themselves so control the noise.

Go to places where other dogs have been walked to be able to smell the other dogs.

Take your time conditioning all equipment, the bonus with the social distancing is how we can slow down, being slower in your approach to everything with puppies really helps.

Crate train them now, this will make life easier for you going forward.

Start to get pup being left alone, start with very small amounts of time and just go in to the other room to start. Give them something to do, chew or find, its easier if they’re behind a stair gate, walk into other rooms, go back as if nothings happened.

Practice Recall, start in one room, grab some treats, move backwards saying ‘Come’ and reward when they get to you, keep doing this for a few days then play hide and seek, always saying the same word and always rewarding when they find you.

Teach them to follow you - grab some treats, walk around, each time you change change direction say ‘This way’ and reward, unless you are going to do agility when they are older then I would say ‘Left’ or ‘Right’.

Teach them not to jump up, again grab some treats, walk around and reward for four paws on the floor.

Play games, grab their food or treats, throw one piece at a time, telling them to “get it”, and then when they come back to you throw another piece.

19/03/2020