Important Puppy Milestones

There are 6 important developmental deadlines a puppy must meet in its first 3 months according to Dr. Ian Dunbar's Before and After Getting Your Puppy. If your puppy fails to meet any of these deadlines you will "probably be playing catch-up for the rest of your dog's life"

Your Doggy Education
Before you even choose your puppy you must decide what kind of dog you are looking for, research their temperament and have a training game plan in mind. Dr Dunbar has some good online videos to help you understand puppy training.

How to evaluate your puppy's progress
By 8 weeks of age your puppy should be happily accustomed to your home, scary noises, your puppy should have met and been handled by many persons especially many shapes and sizes of men and children, house training and chew toy training should progressing and have a beginning understanding of good manners.

House and chew toy training
It is important to understand the reasoning behind confining your puppy both for long term and short term. The first day your puppy arrives at your home he should begin his house training. Keeping him confined with chew toys teaches him to settle down and happily chew his toys. Letting him out every 20 minutes and taking him to his pee spot then rewarding him when he does his business will eventually lead to a house trained puppy.

Socialization, Socialization, Socialization
By 3 months of age the puppy must be fully socialized. The rule of thumb is a puppy should meet at least 100 different people during his first month at home. This is the period when puppies learn to enjoy the antics and actions of all kinds of people, they will be hugged and handled and will even give up favorite objects such as bones and food bowls.

The Importance of bite inhibition
This is the most important lesson a puppy must learn and the window if time for learning it begins to close at about 4.5 months of age. At this time the adult teeth are starting to show. It is important for puppies to learn to inhibit the force of their biting before they stop biting and mouthing altogether.

Introduce your puppy to the big wide world
Walk your puppy so he can meet unfamiliar dogs and people, take her for rides in the car, visit friends houses, introduce her to the big wide wonderful world so you both can eventually enjoy walks at the dog park, picnics at the beach, car trips and all sorts of companionable fun.

Keep these milestones in mind as you journey through the first few months of puppy ownership. What you do at this stage will determine how well you and your dog interact through out its life.

Visit Sirius Dog Training for more information on Dr Ian Dunbar