I was over in Cumming at the AT&T Store just off the 400 last week getting a new phone. My Apple 11 was long paid off and I needed to upgrade to a device with more memory so I could add some scheduling and mapping apps. After having Apple phones “all my smartphone life”, my sone talked me into looking for an Android phone. I went with the Samsung S21 Ultra. There is always a good amount of “We will be with you in a moment” time at cell phone stores, so I had a good amount of “wandering around the store time” on my hands. Another “waiting customer” and I got into a conversation about dogs while we were looking at some tablets.
He mentioned he had just brought home a ten-week Black Russian Terrier from a breeder in Tennessee. The whole family loves their new little puppy and he told me how much fun it was to have their new little puppy run all over the house. His kids loved to chase their new puppy and the entire family thought it was great to have him on their laps when they had dinner. He knew that they would eventually need training and asked me if there was anything they were doing now that might be “taking their puppy in the wrong direction”. From what He just told me, I responded “Just about everything”.
I told my “waiting phone-customer acquaintance” that his situation was not unique. I have delt with this same situation with many of my dog training clients that have cute, little puppies that are going to become very big dogs. They love to have their puppies nip at their heels, jump on their pants, chase after them, and do a whole lot of other high-energy activities. I co0tinued to tell him that these may be cute activities with their cute little Black Russian Terrier right now, but not in a year or two from now when he can get to weigh close to one hundred and thirty pounds.
It is essential to appreciate that what you teach your little puppy now, he will remember when he gets older and maybe much bigger. If you have always permitted him to jump on you, you are training him that it is perfectly fine to jump on everybody when he becomes an adult dog and gets really big.
The problem is that a misbehaved, highly adrenalized, very large dog can hurt when they jump on you. They may even send you to the hospital. We normally refer to these dogs as “out of control dogs”. They are often taken to the County dog pound because of the bad things that you taught them to do. This is terrible because their actions are not their fault and could have been easily avoided with early training and socialization.
Since we had been waiting a long time for our “phone associate”, I was sure that one of us would be called soon. Because of that, I tried to “cut to the chase” with my “waiting cohort” regarding what he and his family needed to do the moment he got home with his hew phone. I made it clear that he should not allow or teach their puppy to do things like:
- Jump on any family member or anybody else.
- Allow their puppy to bark to the point of “high annoyance” by encouraging him to get excited and adrenalated.
- Permit him to chase them as if they were playing “tag you’re it”.
- Play the tug-of-war game with him.
- Teach their puppy to give them “paw”.
I know that these behaviors I have just listed are a lot of fun to play with your young, cute, and cuddly little puppy. The issue is that you are now creating “learned behavior” that will become very difficult to reverse when that cute, little puppy turns into a very large, adult dog. Robin and I have seen the results of this mistake and the outcome never turns out well for the dog.
Please call Robin or me at (770) 718-7704 if you need any dog training help. We are blessed to have been your local dog training professionals for over seventeen years. We have trained over 5,000 great dogs and loving families and are ready to help you.
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