Establishing a good relationship with your new puppy

When your puppy first arrives, you will be getting to know each other and during this period he will be forming an impression of where he fits socially within your family group. It is therefore important that you interact with him in a way that will teach him the basic rules so that he learns that it is you who is in charge, but without the need for any force, shouting or aggression. To teach your dog that you are more important than he is in the family group, you need to control the things that are important to him ie: his food, his toys and most importantly your attention. By doing this you will develop a positive relationship between you and your dog.

Of course we all have dogs to spend lots of time playing with them and cuddling them. You can spend as much time as you like interacting with your new puppy (the more the merrier), however, there is one simple rule, you should be the one who decides when.

You can give your puppy attention whenever you like, except for when he is demandingattention from you.

If your puppy demands your attention completely ignore him, don’t talk, cuddle, play or even look at him.

Puppies are expert attention seekers and very difficult to ignore! They may steal things, jump on you, cry, or simply give you a special look. Responding to this, will train your puppy that he is in control and you are at his beck and call. Even telling your puppy off can be rewarding to him (“bad attention” is better than no attention!)

you should also decide when you want to stop talking to him, cuddling him or playing with him.

give your puppy a signal that you wish to stop, by saying a word such as “finish” or “enough” to let your dog know that you have had enough, and then ignore him. Always use the same word, so he quickly learns what it means.

when you come home only say hello if your puppy is quiet. If he is excited or greets you over effusively, ignore him until he settles down, and then say hello.

These rules mean that you decide when to touch, speak to, or even look at your dog!

This doesn’t mean ignoring him most of the time, but instead having positive interaction with him whenever you feel like it.

Your attention is probably the most important thing in the world to your puppy and controlling your attention in this way will give you a very powerful tool in training your puppy how to behave.

You can use your attention to reward “good” behaviour and ignore all “bad” behaviour.

Remember we are not saying simply ignore your puppy, spend lots of time with him just on your terms rather than his!