BRINING HOME A NEW PUPPY
Puppy Quick Tip #1
When you bring home a new puppy, the list of things to do and buy can seem overwhelming. But there is one thing that should take priority over everything else. Procrastination is not an option; the clock is ticking and the window of opportunity will close before you know it.
By the age of 3 months, your puppy should have happily met 100 people of many ages, colors, sizes and shapes. Spread this out in small doses rather than overwhelming your puppy at a big party. Your breeder should have started this process for you well in advance of adoption. Your pup should also meet a variety of friendly vaccinated dogs of different breeds and sizes. Avoid public parks where diseases can lurk. Choose greeters carefully; one scary experience can scar a dog for life.
Don’t stop socializing after puppy class is over; continue happy meetings with unfamiliar people and gentle dogs at least once a week for the next 3 years until your dog reaches social maturity. This is the best gift you can give your puppy and will last a lifetime.
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We recently brought home a new GSP puppy named Charlie. He is almost 12 weeks old and we absolutely love him. He seems eager to learn and has been doing really well with house training, but our issue is with chewing and more importantly nipping and biting. He especially seems to go for my 4 year old son. I know puppies chew and nip but I want to make sure it doesn’t become a problem. Do you have any tips for how I can correct this behaviour, at least when it comes to chewing and nipping at my son?
Since this is such a common issue with puppies, please see this article https://greatdog-gsp.com/play-biting/ that was just posted in the Training section. It is very important that you not allow any nips to go unnoticed. Protect your son from being nipped while your pup is in training. Your son’s reactions might be inadvertently encouraging the nipping.