Puppy Behavior & Personality

So you've chosen your puppy, you've brought him home, and are now having oodles of fun with him day after day. He's growing up so quickly… and he's always finding your best pair of shoes to chew on, aahh…

Every puppy parent comes to this stage of the relationship sooner or later – their puppy's behavior becomes less than perfect.

The difference between the people that deal with it well, and the ones whose life becomes a daily struggle against their puppy's behavior problems, is that the former took the time to find out what to expect, and most importantly, how to deal with puppy behavior – or miss-behavior – effectively and quickly.

Rest assured you do not have to be a slave to your pooch – I am here to help you get a handle on it. Before I give you the magic Rule of Three for puppy obedience training though, please keep in mind that you and your puppy see the world in a different way – you are a big human, he is a small puppy.

You understand the meaning of words and what it is to lose a shoe – he doesn't…

Three Magic Ways of Dealing With Undesirable Puppy Behavior

Use the Rule of Three every time you want to correct your puppy's undesirable behavior.

  1. Interrupt the negative behavior. Do it fast and as the behavior happens (not after the fact). Make sure the interruption appears to come from something other than yourself – a clicker, other sharp noises (like a couple of pennies in a tin), or a spray of water. By distancing yourself from being seen as the interrupter, your relationship remains 'clean'.

  2. Immediately stop giving your puppy attention. I mean any attention – positive or negative – simply stop playing with him, or move away from him. This teaches him that if he miss-behaves he doesn't get your attention.

  3. Direct your puppy's attention towards another activity – this fills the gap and acts as a substitute for the bad behavior. For e.g. if your puppy is busy chewing on your favorite door stopper, go through steps one and two, then give him HIS chew toy to play with.

Why is Yelling and Physical Reprimanding The Wrong Way to Correct Puppy Behavior

Now remember that your puppy is a lot smaller than you and shouting and physically reprimanding him will do nothing for education and reinforcement of the correct puppy behavior.

What it will do is – it will instill fear in your puppy, it will teach him that he is not loved, and eventually he will also learn that even though it's negative attention he is getting for his 'bad behavior' he's still getting your attention – so he may still resolve to doing the wrong things anyway…

So don't fall into the emotional trap of the above predicament. Remember too, that the different dog breeds have different personality traits so you need to be a little more flexible and understanding.

Follow the "Rule of Three" and soon you will not only reap the desired effects, but you will capture the love and respect of your little puppy.