Dog Manners

What are good dog manners? For me it is gentle play, easy handling, grooming, and overall respect. How do you get there with your puppy? Puppies learn a whole lot about their world early on through play. So this is what you will do, teach manners through play. Lets start with respect. Older dogs teach this to the younger ones by putting them down on their backs and holding them there till they relax. So you should do the same as you play with your pup. Flip him on his back in a matter of fact way. Don't talk much. Just flip him on his back and look him in the eye until he looks away and relaxes. When he does this let him up. By doing so you are establishing yourself as his boss and gaining his respect. Repeat this often when you play with your puppy. You may find that your pup resists this vigorously at first but if you persist it will become easy.

A common concern I hear is "my puppy plays too rough and I can't get him to stop". This is a natural thing for a puppy. Many puppies play very rough with each other because it is whole lot of fun for them. Yelling at them or giving them a scruff shake sometimes works but many times it ends up hurting the bond you are trying to develop with your puppy. They may learn you don't want to play and that's not what you want to get across. All you want is gentler play.

This is how you do it. The next time the pup starts chewing on your hand kind of hard simply slip your finger down his throat. This will gag him and is no fun at all. It is important at this time to pretend to still play and have a playful voice. He will think "man I love to play but boy this biting is for the birds". Quick give him a tug toy or something and he will chew on that instead of your hand. You will need to repeat this until he stops gnawing on you. He will quickly associate biting you with gagging and stop, the behavior. Of course make sure your nails are short so you don't hurt the puppy.

Puppies are full of energy and this can sometimes make handling and grooming difficult. If your puppy is squirming like crazy and has a full case of the sillies this is what you do. Your first instinct may be to put him down when he struggles. Lets say you do. What have you taught him? Well, you've just taught him when he struggles he gets put down to do what he wants. Not exactly what you intended.

Try this instead. Hold onto the puppy while he struggles. When he calms down and relaxes for a moment then release him. By doing this you are teaching him that calm behavior gets what he wants. If you do this on a regular basis you will observe your puppy become more calm and easy to handle.

It is a good idea to play with the puppies feet, ears and teeth. By doing this frequently it will make future grooming a simple task.