An Ounce (Or A Few Hundred Ounces) Of Prevention…

If you have read over most of my other posts, you will probably notice a trend. Many of my clients come to me for help correcting their adult dog's behavior problems, often after they have tried some different training, or another trainer. Many of these clients take their dog to a puppy class to learn basic commands and for some socialization, however, the irony is that I have often seen situations where behavior problems have their roots in an incident that happens in puppy class. Sometimes a far more mature, and larger dog gets the opportunity to dominate a much younger and smaller puppy, planting the seeds for future fear-based behavior. Other times families are given such a load of misinformation that they start their relationship with their puppy on a completely inconsistent footing, which is one of the leading causes for behavior issues down the road.

While the majority of my clients are older dogs, I love working with new puppies, and that was the case with Pele, a 9 week old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy. Pele's people contacted me nearly two months before her arrival, after I had helped one of their co-workers with their adult dog. They also had a chance meeting with another client of mine at a park, who also had a Rhodesian Ridgeback, so they were pretty familiar with my work.

I met Pele after she had been home for one day, and there had already been some accidents in the house, as well as a pretty sleepless night for her new family as she was adjusting to her crate. Pele is a very confident dog, and a great fit for this family, and I could immediately tell that they were suited for each other.

The first thing I did, as I always do, was explain my basic training philosophy and approach to make sure that everyone was on the same page. Next, I wanted to learn more about their general lifestyle. How long they were away from home on a typical day, if they planned to take Pele many places (she actually will spend time at the office when she's trained) and what their plans for the future were, since Pele would be part of their lives for many years to come. Because we are starting completely from scratch, and are barely correcting inappropriate behaviors, we have a great chance to begin to condition Pele to situations that she will face both now and in the future. Things like being comfortable around groups of people, children, etc, etc.

Next, I was able to immediately take care of their housebreaking issue and started them on a course to get her leash trained and used to living in a big city like San Francisco.

My approach is customized to work for every dog and family, and of course, when working with a young puppy like Pele, as well as with new puppy owners, one of the most important things I can do is to be available to them when they have questions or issues, which I am, just as I am for all of my clients, past and present. Pele is doing well and we're looking forward to teaching her how to adapt to her new life, and I have no doubt that I'll be the only trainer they will need to work with.

When you have a new puppy like Pele, one of the most important things is to understand all you can about her, how she fits into your life, and how to effectively and consistently communicate with her so that you can prevent future behavior problems. Because all dogs are different, all environments and families are different, and there's so much misinformation to be found in places like the internet and books, it's always helpful to have someone that can come to your dog's environment that can teach you how to start off and stay on the right foot for the rest of her life. An ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure.