A well written article by Bridget Sun highlighting the problems of bringing a new puppy home.
The greatest frustration for me as a dog trainer is the hundreds of times I have heard people ask what to do about the puppy they just brought home that is crying constantly when they leave it alone for a few minutes or even just seconds, sometimes confining it to a crate.
In many cases these puppies were removed from their mom and litter mates around 8 weeks of age, sometimes even earlier.
They may have still been nursing the day before, sleeping tightly snuggled in with mom and their litter mates in a familiar room with familiar smells, sights and sounds. They heard the other puppies breathing, heard their heart beats, smelled their familiar smell and felt their comforting touch and their mom’s gentle grooming.
When the new owner picks them up EVERYTHING familiar is gone in an instant.
While most people hold and talk to their new puppies on the way home, when they get there they are suddenly not available 24/7.
After all we have a life to live, need to work, make dinner, have our undisturbed sleep.
Meanwhile the puppy feels abandoned by the world and does what any abandoned baby does best, cry. Many people get the message and comfort the puppy, knowing instinctively what is needed. But then come the wanna-be dog trainers that say not to spoil the puppy, to let her sleep in a crate and ignore the crying for a few nights until it stops. And it will stop eventually, but not for the reasons people think, because he has been successfully crate-trained. Rather the puppy has given up, having learned that there is nobody who cares or wants him, absolutely nothing he can do to help his situation. The trauma for a young puppy should not be underestimated. The emotional pain is severe and the growing brain is forever affected by this trauma.
Dogs may be cognitively quite different from people but are emotionally very similar.
So when you take a young puppy away from all she knows at least give her everything that was lost, not just a bed, food and water.
Provide almost constant access to you at first to fill the need for warmth, closeness, touch, comfort, the sound of a heartbeat and the regular breathing of other sleeping beings.
Once the puppy is older and turning into an adolescent, around 5-7 months old, they will get more independent on their own.
You knew when you decided to get a dog that there would be dog hair: on your carpet, your couch, your clothes, even on your counter tops and table sometimes, and also on your bed.
This puppy will bond so much better if his needs are met as a baby.
UK SCENT SPORT 