Developmental Stages

Good Puppy Manners become Good Dog Manners

When you are working with an young puppy remember that this puppy will soon be a dog!   So think about the behaviors that you would like your dog to have and teach and reinforce those behaviors to your puppy in a positive way.

If you use positive, consistent and rewarding training methods you will have a puppy who will have a better relationship with you. 

Puppies go through different developmental stages that we all need to be aware of.   There is the 'Socialization Period' which can be from the age of 8 - 16 weeks approximately.  This is a time when you want to socialize your puppy in a CALM & SAFE manner to things that he will need to deal with as a dog.  This is when we want to introduce our puppies to the outside - to short grass, long grass, pavement, cement, gravel etc. so that they get used to walking on all different surfaces.   We want to safely introduce them to children and unfamiliar adults.

At the same time that your puppy is going through this 'Socialization Period' he is also going through his 'Fear Period'.  Anything that frightens your puppy during this time can remain with him for life.  That is why is is so important that we do not let others scare our puppy, threaten our puppy, or force our puppy into a situation that the puppy is clearly uncertain about.