Day 16 -- Surviving

So how do you survive puppyhood and adolescence? They sure keep you on your toes! And sometimes they just seem plain naughty.

I think one of the most important things you can do to help your puppy grow into a nice, responsible dog is to catch them doing things right. She's going to repeat behavior that works for her and if she gets smiles, happy voices, and scratches behind the ear when she is behaving nicely, she will want to repeat those behaviors.

Ideally I can catching her thinking about being naughty. If I see her getting ready to launch up on a counter to see what she can swipe, I can interrupt her before she makes the leap. It's much more effective to catch her at this point then to wait until she has her feet all the way on the counter. If she's got her feet up you then have to get her off and redirect her but she already been partly rewarded by discovering what was on the counter. It's even harder to fix if she's not interrupted at all and she is able to swipe something off the counter. This can easily happen if she is not in the same room as her people. This can be a big challenge with an open floor plan. I use baby gates and doors to keep puppies in the same room with me or I can attach them to their leash and attach it to my belt loop.

It's not always possible to catch them as they are thinking about doing something. Sometimes you are in the same area as the puppy, you look down and they are chewing on a chew toy, you praise them, you look away, you look back and they are chewing on the furniture. They are fast and they can be tricky. So just interrupt the behavior and redirect them to an appropriate activity.

Sometimes that works. Great! Praise away and keep an eye on her. But, if it doesn't and you have found yourself repeatedly interrupting her and redirecting her, try a time out.

Sometimes they can be a little naughty when they are really tired. This can happen in play with puppies too. If they start to get a bit cranky, it might be time for a little break. She has had a great start in her crate training too so it's a useful tool to manage her behavior. Not listening and still being naughty? Try a little bit of crate time. You're tired and don't want to watch her or you're busy and can't watch her? Try a little crate time. You have done yourself a big favor by helping her to be so comfortable in her crate. You can tell she likes her crate when she chooses to go into it when she's tired. What a good girl!

It's always a lot of hard work in the beginning but it will pay off so much in the long run. All the work you put in now will help her to grow into a nice, well adjusted, and well behaved adult dog.