First of all, congratulations on the new addition to your family! A puppy is truly that… a member of your family! You will make lots of memories together and you will be there for each other. And just like your puppy will enjoy snuggle and play time with you and your family, he/she will also benefit from a basic education – just like any human kid does.
And as cute as your puppy is and now matter how overjoyed you are by its incredibly cuteness and clumsiness, every puppy also benefits from a clear set of rules and simply from being treated like a dog and not a little snuggle buddy.
The undeniable cuteness of your puppy often lets us overlook the fact that he/she might grow up to be a large size dog that might not fit on your lab as comfortably anymore or that it might not be so cute anymore when he/she jumps up on you or other people. So in order to prevent problems down the road it is a good thing to think ahead and start with the training and teaching of good manners early on, because is now that you set the stage for the relationship with your dog for the rest of his/her life.
But where do you start?
Well, the two most important things you can do with and for your puppy are:
So the first thing on the list is management. Don’t worry.. training will follow shortly, but until your puppy has learned the basics it is safest for him/her and you and your furniture/shoes/so on to manage his/her environment. Just like you would not let a baby or toddler have free roam of your house, your puppy shouldn’t have it either. We highly recommend crate training and clear boundaries and I have filmed a couple of videos for you below to walk you through the basics on how to set up for your new puppy. 🙂
Once your management is in place, move on to the next post for your training basics. 🙂
