Your biggest puppy mistakes

[foreverinmyheart]

I am currently sat with an 9 week old puppy after a lovely 5am wake up call from him! Keen to get as much right as possible with his training and I wondered... Looking back what have been your biggest puppy mistakes / regrets that with hindsight you wish you could do differently?

My biggest mistake was thinking socialising my dog meant letting him play with other dogs rather than teaching him how to ignore other dogs.

My other mistake was not reading all the information on the Facebook group 'dog training advice and support' earlier.

Not addressing lead pulling from day one
Ex not being in agreement with care/training from day one - so much easier if dog is getting one clear message from all the family.

@lorisparkle THIS!! If I could do anything again it would be teaching her to ignore anything and everything apart from
Me

@lorisparkle ooo that is a really interesting & good one... thank you! I am imagine that's one to get in early

I can imagine lead pulling quickly becomes a bad habit... Will bear this in mind once we attempt lead training. Thank you so much!

I am sure we found something on the internet (too late for us) which gave suggestions of experiences puppies should have at different ages (being carried not on the ground before they have had their jabs). We were very inexperienced puppy owners and definitely did not read enough early on. I so wish we had joined and read all the units on the Facebook group I mentioned when we first had our puppy,

Buying a crate was my biggest mistake, such a waste of money. It’s easier to restrict where they can go.
And in the summer he was far too hot in it. He likes to stretch out on carpet when it’s hot.

How do you stop this? Just stop and stand still until they stop pulling or anything else?

Try and get puppy into your routine, not theirs. My dog is 4 years old and in the summer he wakes earlier and we are also woken at 4.30/5 am with him raring to go.

Don’t let him on your bed, unless you are willing to have him there when he is fully grown. My lab was so cute and cuddly, I had him up for cuddles every morning. He’s 31kg, 11 years o and still jumps up for cuddles 🙄

Really, figure out your house rules and train for them from day 1.

Mine was getting myself in a tizz about training and them being completely obedient from day one. Straight into puppy school and thinking I had the dog from hell.

I didn't attend the full puppy school in the end and just relaxed things a little, just reinforcing what I'd learnt on a day to day basis going about our business (I.e not fixed "lessons"). As a result of that I now have an 11 month old that understands my language and understands commands and most things have just gradually clicked into p,ace as he's matured. He's not perfect but he's getting there.

I realise it's not the same for all pups though.

If one or both of you are having a bad day with any training, do something you know he can do easily even if it’s just sit, and then just praise and stop doing any more. You both end on a positive note, and the next session will probably go better.

www.facebook.com/groups/dogtrainingadviceandsupport/?ref=share

don’t encourage stuff that is cute now but won’t be in a fully grown dog with muddy paws or soaking wet. Looking at you DH letting her jump on the sofa…

Wish we’d discouraged the barking when the car stops.

Wish we'd let her sleep in our room earlier. Four months of broken sleep and trying to get her to sleep alone downstairs. On our bed and she sleeps 10pm until 8am.

Definitely will check out the Facebook group thanks for this @lorisparkle.

Gosh @Mindymomo !! You poor things!!

Wish we'd worked on getting him to 'drop' items earlier- struggling now with grabbing and guarding stuff

There are some great ones here thanks everyone for sharing! If anyone has any tips on the biting stage that's also welcome..!

The biting stage is tough. We have a Labrador (otherwise known as a land shark!). We found the making sure he had lots of enforced rest made a difference (not huge but an improvement!).

We also would say 'thank you' if he 'found' something he should not have and then 'swapped' it for something better. This really avoided the 'grabbing and running away' as he would bring the stuff to us.

Not getting a good grooming schedule in early enough. Ddog is 3/4 poodle so curly, but wasn't as a puppy. We now have to send her to the groomers to be cut super short hair regularly (for all the money), because she wasn't used to being brushed daily and it has been a painful fight to get her used to it. For everyone's sake, short hair is the way to go, but she would look cuter with full fur.

@lorisparkle that is such a good idea... Definitely will try that one.

@MargosKaftan sorry to hear it's been difficult with the groom. Pup is also a poodle cross so grooming is going to be a big thing... Will start brushing now :)

That clicker training is ruddy genius and SO much easier.

Mine loves it!

I'd have worked harder on pulling on the lead - he's fine now (he's four) but it was a hard road to get there and we didn't really put enough work into it when he was a puppy.

I would also have worked more on ignoring other dogs when out and about.

Yep, as mines a cross i foolishly thought she'd got the fur of the non-poodle side, until after a couple of months it was suddenly curly and rather than just needing a brush a week, needed nearly twice a day brushing to avoid matting. Now we keep it short. In thr summer this is great, but I do feel mean in the winter when she could do with some fluff on her !

Leave them alone
Leave them alone
Leave them alone!

I wish I'd listened to this!!!!!!

Sleeping beside me… he sleeps great, we don’t lol and the bed needs changed so much as he’s hairy…

pulling… he’s better now (2) but if I’d know how to start him better it would have even easier