I was over in Gainesville at the AT&T Store last week getting a new phone.  My Apple 6 was long paid off and I needed something with more memory.  After having IPhones “all my smartphone life”, I thought I would take a chance and go with an Android phone.  I went with the Samsung S9 Plus.  There is always a lot of “down time” when at phone stores, and last week was no different.  The salesperson and I got into a conversation about dogs and she mentioned she had just brought home a nine week Newfoundland Water Dog from a breeder in South Carolina.  She loves their new little puppy and told me how much fun it was to have him run all over the house.  She and her boyfriend loved to chase him and have him on their laps when they had dinner.  She knew that she would eventually need training and asked me if there was anything they were doing now that might not be good.  From what she just told me, I responded “Just about everything”.

This is the exact issue I have with many of my dog training clients that have cute, little puppies that are going to become very big dogs.  They love to have them jump on their legs, nip at their feet, run after them, and do a whole lot of other adrenaline-filled crazy play activities.  This might be cute and fun with your ten pound Newfoundland puppy, but not when he starts to weigh over one hundred pounds.

It is critical to understand that what you teach your little puppy now, he will remember when he gets older and maybe much bigger.  If you have always allowed him to jump on you, you are teaching him that it is OK to jump on everybody when he gets really big. The problem is that a jumping, really big dog can hurt.  We normally refer to these dogs as “out of control dogs”.  They are often returned to the dog pound because of the bad things that you taught them to do.  This is terrible because their actions are not their fault and can be corrected.

Do not allow or teach your puppy to do things like:

  • Jump on you or anybody else.
  • Have him to bark like a crazy dog by getting him excited.
  • Allow him chase you or you chase him.
  • Play the tug-of-war game with him.
  • Teach him to give you “paw”.

These little tricks and activities I have just described are really fun and cute with your little puppy, but can become annoying and even dangerous as your dog naturally does them when he is older and much, much bigger.  

Please call Robin or me at (770) 718-7704 if you are in need of any dog training help.  Find all our phone numbers, text addresses and email contacts at Dog Training Help Center Gainesville Georgia.