Treasure Your Puppy Today: Adjusting To A New Puppy
Written By Lauren Tsao, MS, CDBC, CPDT-KA
As an animal trainer, I find one of the most important concepts I can teach new puppy owners is this: Treasure today.
Too often I get requests to "stop" puppy teething at eight weeks old, "stop" zoomies during playtime, or put an end to pottying inside the home this instant!
In today's world, we are used to instant gratification. We can have items shipped to us from across the world in mere days, we can download a new game in less than an hour, and we can have a fully cooked meal given to us through a drive-thru window within minutes.
However, there is nothing like living with an animal (especially a young animal) to teach you patience.
Puppies are not computers in which we can install the latest software instantly. There's no magic word to make them "stop" or "start" certain behaviors. They are babies and we need to treat and protect them as such.
Puppies need to explore their world with their mouths to learn. Puppies need to be given time and kindness to learn new unnatural skills, like where and when to potty (their bladders aren't even fully developed yet!) And puppies need proper outlets for their energy, frustrations, and anxieties.
All too often I see owners who really needed older dogs, adopting puppies, and trying to force the puppy to grow up much too fast. It is a big world out there for these little pups. Guide them kindly, love them, and treasure your puppy for what they are - learning, growing, and innocent puppy.
One day, they will no longer be a puppy and I promise you will miss these days soon enough.
