You want a puppy?

Much forethought should go into deciding to get a puppy of any breed or mix. Of course, puppies are adorable. Even if you weren’t specifically looking for one when you went to a rescue or a shelter, or knew someone who breeds puppies, they are pretty much irresistible. But, the commitment is huge.

The major issues when you first get a puppy are going to be housebreaking/crate training and, of course, the dreaded nipping, biting, and chewing. Regardless of whether you have an adult dog in the house, you are starting from scratch with a puppy.

One of the major things to remember is that puppies need boundaries. They do not automatically get the same privileges that an adult dog gets, whether you have another one in the house now or you had one in the near past. You are starting from scratch.

What do you need to think about? What are the hours that someone is home, whether it’s a dog walker or an owner? Do you have physical space for the puppy to play safely without getting into things? Do you have enough room for a crate and even possibly a playpen? Are you prepared to get up at night, if needed, to take the puppy out? Do you have a trainer lined up to help you and guide you through the initial phases of potty training and nipping and biting?

We forget, when we have been lucky enough to have had adult and older dogs, what the process was of going through puppyhood or have never been through puppyhood. Often times we just don’t remember all that it took to achieve an adult dog that was happy to work into your life and schedule. We end up with a lot of frustrated pet parents usually saying, “I don’t remember doing all of this for my last puppies,” when in fact they probably did, but it was so long ago they don’t remember.

When a puppy is nipping and biting, 99% of the time it is not a form of aggressive behavior. All puppies come into your household wanting to play the same way they played in their litter. They play with their paws and they play with their teeth. If there is no other tolerant dog in the house to play with, then the humans become the playthings. It is incredibly important at roughly 10 weeks of age to begin training your dog to understand that people don’t play the same way as dogs.

Before you make that decision to get a puppy, please think about the months, possibly even a year, of how that puppy will change your life and your lifestyle. Many puppies are given back to breeders, and/or sold or put up for adoption, just because the owners really hadn’t thought the entire process through.

Is your puppy going to learn to walk on a leash to potty outside? Or are you planning on potty pad or potty patch training your dog? It depends on the size of the dog and your ability, physically, to be able to walk a dog not just for potty but for exercise.

One of the critical things about having a puppy is that they cannot socialize with other dogs outside the family until they have had all of their required vaccinations. There’s a serious downside to this, which is that those are the formative weeks and months to develop their social skills, and it helps dramatically in the nipping and biting area.

It also helps if there are multiple people in the house to help. If they’re all aware of the correct training process and the schedule, it takes the burden off of one person, who can literally be overwhelmed going through puppyhood.

We all love puppies, and we want them to grow up with us and have a long life, but please think this process through before you decide to get a puppy. Make sure that this decision in the short run is one you can, and are, prepared to handle.

Abby Bird is the owner of Alphadog Training Academy. AlphadogTrainingAcademy@gmail.com