It’s hard to believe delightful Dogue de Bordeaux puppy Boris is only fourteen weeks old because he’s so big!
The household has a range of ages including two little children, therefore it’s vital Boris grows to be a stable and gentle family dog. I do so love helping people to get things right early on.
Already the lady has been socialising him. His toilet training is going great. Circumstances mean they have to take him out down the road on lead to toilet, so already he is learning to walk nicely and not to get too excited about going out. They have to deal with the usual things like nipping and grabbing kids’ clothes when they run about and I advised that for now puppy and little children should be separated as soon as there is any excitement.
The most important area needing work is changing away from scolding and harsh ‘uh-uh’ and ‘no’ which apart from teaching Boris very little can cause him frustration, to showing Boris what he should do instead, using food rewards and praise – positive things – along with distraction. If he picks up something he shouldn’t have, chasing him, shouting at him or forcing it off him encourages defiance. Teaching him to exchange it for something better means he’ll be a willing and cooperative puppy.
Preempting (catching him when he’s just about to do something they don’t want him to do and calling him away or diverting him) is the very best tactic.
It’s important that every member of the family is on board otherwise mixed messages could cause a problem. A puppy is most likely to grow into a gentle, trustworthy and kind adult dog if the people around him treat him in a gentle and kind fashion. Little children must be taught to respect a dog and learn the kind of touching dogs like and don’t like. Just as it is important for a puppy to avoid contact with dogs whose behaviour could later make him fearful of dogs, it’s important for a puppy to be protected from people whose behaviour could later make him fearful or aggressive with people. We need to pick our puppy’s friends just as we would our child’s!
Boris is a clever boy. He catches on really fast. HIs lady owner is really switched on and she has done really well already. This first couple of weeks with me is about getting the basics right. I am sure that when I visit next time everyone will have worked hard at finding ways to reinforce good behaviour and to drop any scolding, and we will move forward to other interesting and fun things.
NB. The precise protocols to best use for your own dog may be different to the approach I have worked out for Boris, which is why I don’t go into exact details here of our plan. Finding instructions on the internet or TV that are not tailored to your own dogs can do more harm than good. One size does not fit all. If you live in my own area I would be very pleased to help with strategies specific to your own dog (see my Get Help page).
