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If you like to do interactive things with your puppy to ultimately tire them out and help them calm down, then this is the article for you. Here are five simple ways you can easily add mental stimulation to your puppy's everyday routine without spending a lot of money or adding hours to your day. When people think of wearing out a puppy, they immediately think of exercise, longer walks, more playtime, more running around the yard. While physical exercise is important, it's on

Today I'm going to talk about something that many loving puppy owners never think about. You may actually be creating stress, fear, and anxiety in your puppy without even realizing it. The good news is that almost every owner does this at some point. It doesn't make you a bad owner. It simply means you don't yet understand how your puppy experiences the world. This article will help you recognize the signs that your puppy is becoming overwhelmed and show you how to become th

This article will focus on the importance of building a relationship with your puppy, why your relationship matters, five ways to build your relationship, and mistakes that damage your relationship with your puppy. Why the Relationship Matters Because your puppy won't work for strangers. It isn't going to work for people that it doesn't trust. Your puppy is constantly learning whether they can trust you. A strong relationship between you and your puppy creates: Better atten

Puppies are not miniature adults. They are babies, learning how the world works. Punishment often creates confusion, fear, and damage to trust, while teaching and reinforcing creates understanding and lasting behavior change. Have you ever caught your puppy chewing on a shoe, having a potty accident on the floor, jumping on guests, or nipping at your hands and thought, “How do I punish this behavior?” I get calls about this all the time, people asking me how to punish their

A lot of new puppy owners want to teach their puppy all these extravagant obedience commands and training too soon, which can create problems for the puppy down the road. It also creates problems with the puppy learning the foundational skills effectively. Why It's Best To Keep It Simple You don't want to overwhelm the puppy too early. You wouldn't want to try to get a 10-year-old kid into college. They are in elementary school, and then they need to go through junior high s

These are the same tips that we give all my clients when they hire Top Gun Dog Training for the Puppy Training Program . Use a slip lead (one-piece leash) in the house at all times to prevent potty accidents, jumping on people, jumping on furniture, and counter surfing. Keep your eyes on the puppy at all times. You would not leave a baby unsupervised out of the crib, so don’t do that with your puppy Your puppy should NOT be free to roam around the house. They will get into

Goals aren't just for people. Your dog's health and happiness matter too. Luckily, now is the best time to set fresh goals that help both of you. Instead of making vague promises like "be a better pet owner," try these five clear goals. They improve your dog's life. Also, they are practical and easy to follow. Best of all, they make your bond stronger. Goal 1: Commit to Daily Exercise Most dogs do not get enough exercise. As a result, they gain weight and may act out. Dogs wi

Most owners assume their dog just picked up bad habits, but in reality, the owner usually taught the behavior without realizing it. The owners are reinforcing unwanted behaviors and not reinforcing the good behaviors. Dogs learn from consequences, not intentions. Owners think they are correcting, comforting, or managing their dog, but the dog is simply learning what works. Examples of Reinforcing Bad Behaviors The dog jumps up on you, and you give it attention by pushing it

Many people mistake their dogs' exhaustion for calmness. They're not the same. Most dog owners think they know what a calm dog looks like, but they usually picture a tired or inactive dog. Just because your dog is doing nothing doesn't mean they're calm. Real calmness is different, and when owners learn to recognize it, behavior problems often improve more quickly. I have a very calm dog. She's been calm since I first got her. She's a therapy dog. She's a 6-year-old mini Aus

This is a very important topic, and I get a lot of calls about this. Most owners think their dog is stubborn, ignoring them, or choosing not to listen, but in many cases, the dog is not being disobedient; it is confused. After years of dog training, I have learned that many behavior problems are really communication problems. Keep in mind also that dogs don't use their ears as well as they use their eyes, and they don't use their eyes as well as they use their nose. If I wan

On day one, most people focus on the cute parts of bringing home a puppy, like cuddling, playing, and taking lots of photos for Instagram and their friends. What if, starting on day one, we focused on the habits that prevent behavior issues from forming and your puppy having serious behavior issues later in life? 1) Always use a house line on your puppy from day one. I recommend a slip lead, and the reason for this is because you want to control your puppy’s space. You don'

Dog training is not just about teaching commands; it's about helping owners understand their dogs and giving families tools that actually work in everyday life. This sums up about 90% of what I see in real life as a dog trainer. Most people don't come to dog trainers because their dog can't sit. They call us in desperation because life with their dog feels hard. People are desperate to get this fixed. Walks are stressful. Guests coming into the house are stressful. Even relax

Potty training is a problem for many people. I have found that people either get it or don't, and it's not an issue with the dog. It's not the dog's fault. It's an owner issue. People call me to discuss puppy training, and their entire focus is on potty training. This happens a lot, and it's been happening ever since I've owned Top Gun Dog Training . The goal of this article is to shift the new puppy owner's focus to the bigger picture of raising a puppy, beyond potty train

Many people underestimate the level of responsibility needed to raise a puppy. So go back and listen to that first episode of What's Needed to own a new puppy. And today we're going to talk about the truths and the myths of raising a puppy. The Truths: 1: Raising a young puppy is a part-time job. For some people, it's a full-time job. You have to be on top of that puppy all the time. They're going to potty 10-12 times a day. They need a tremendous amount of sleep. They need

Building structure with your new puppy is one of the best things you can do to create a happy, healthy, and obedient puppy. There are many reasons we want to build a structure, and several ways to do so. Why you should build structure in your puppy's routine Structure creates calmness in the puppy. When you have a structure where they know what they're going to do next, they're not stressed out overthinking what's going to happen next. They are not concerned about when they

After training a couple of thousand puppies and using this technique on my own puppy, Dixie, when I got her at 10 weeks old, the very first thing I taught her was go to your bed and stay . I have a video on my phone of May 5, 2020, at seven o'clock at night, where I'm showing people how I trained Dixie to go to her bed and stay the very first day that I got her. My clients are amazed at this video and how well Dixie picked it up, and how easily I taught it to her the first d

Puppy socialization is the most important thing to teach your puppy from ages 8 to 16 weeks. Some experts say from 4 to 12 weeks. The breeder will usually start socializing the puppy from 4-8 weeks by exposing it to a variety of different people, animals, sights, and sounds. And then when the owner takes the puppy at eight weeks, they continue until 12 weeks or even 16 weeks. When we start socializing our puppy, we need to consider vaccinations. Your veterinarian will provide

A lot of people get these two confused. They don't even know there's a difference at all, and they don't know that there's many different...

Puppy behavior modification entails modifying the puppy’s behavior to decrease unwanted behaviors. Unlike obedience training, which...

Dog owners typically accept that their canines will have more needs and require more daily interaction than more independent, hands-off...