What newbies don't know that could save their dogs...

Wow.  When did you learn this, spiritdogs..and where did you read/hear it?  I have read a fair share of training books and I don't recall this being mentioned.  I even read the first few chapters of Dr. Ian Dunbar's 'Before And After...' book.  I don't recall this fact.  That is very interesting. 

Gosh, I've seen this many times over the years....the dreaded second chewing stage.

My biggie would be the FEAR stages.  Much of who Sheba is today is because of her exposure to a jackal at a campground during a fear stage that I didn't know about.  I could have avoided an awful lot of hassle if I'd only known......for both of us.

supervising a puppy means 100% attention on puppy- they can eat your entire stereo system in thirty seconds, and trash your kitchen in under a minute, so you have to pay attention.

and a lot of people seem really surprised to find out that all puppies bite. Hard. A lot. With needle-sharp teeth. I don't know why, isn't this common knowledge?

The attention span thing...the timing of corrections...when they come home to find a mess the puppy is not "acting guilty" nor did it "know what it did while I was gone 3 hours was wrong" even tho it may look it...because it's mind doesn't work that way. It is cowering because you are angry or frustrated AT THAT MOMENT and it is trying to appease you without knowing the cause.

With German Shepherds I have to say the chewing stages....how destructive they can be......and not using crates in the beginning....only because, I thought it was cruel to crate a dog.....boy, have I learned my lesson after owning a dog with severe SA.

Huskies......boy, that would be how hard they try to find a way to escape.....like jumping on doghouses and jumping a fence......

 The "independance stage".  You know, that point at about 11 to 12 months when you thought your dog would never leave your side?  And then you give them free reign OFF-LEASH!  I won't make that mistake twice. 

I'm enjoying these!

I can't really recall a "what did you not know your first time", as I was born into a house of dogs, so I didn't have really a "first time" for dogs like others did. Even though I learned a lot over time, and changed a lot of my thinking, of it was my own developmental maturity as I grew up, and by the time I reached the "age of majority" I knew most of the basics, even though I'm still always learning.

For me, though, if to give advice, it would have to be, if nothing else, teach your puppy bite inhibition (gentle mouth), not bite prohibition (no mouth on people at all). And don't depend on the litter or other dogs alone to teach this. Litters, dams, and other dogs do teach puppies very good bite inhibition, yes - in regards to playing with other dogs! But it doesn't teach them how to use their mouths around people - who have no fur, much more sensitive skin, and are really big sissies when it comes to teeth. If you want total prohibition - most dogs grow out of it. For those that don't, prohibition isn't hard to teach - but please teach inhibition first.

You may never have a dog that bites. If not, be proud. But you may someday have a dog that was provoked to bite - whether it is pain due to injury, fear, defence, whatever. Any dog can bite under the right (or wrong) circumstances. You can really go a far way to teaching your dog how to use its mouth on people as a form of communication. I have seen the difference between dogs taught human-style bite inhibition and dogs not taught this as puppies. And that difference can be the difference between saliva and perhaps bruising, and ripping and tearing and maiming (even for something so simply as delivering treats from the hand! People have required stitches when being bitten for giving a hard-mouthed dog a treat).

Of course there are no guarantees, and a dog could potentially bite to injure at any time. But, just teaching your dog how to communicate with mouth and how sensitive humans are, and teaching the dog to have even greater control over its mouth, there is only benefit in doing so.

I wouldn't recommend the average JQP to try to teach bite inhibition to an older dog. Firstly, it's easy to work with puppies who are malleable and have little past experience, have small teeth, and relatively weak jaws. Secondly, most dogs grow out of the mouthing stage so encouraging them to mouth in order to try to teach it, is not always preferred and can result in backfire (if you have a dog that mouths in play, or when taking treats/items, then you can work on it, although it would take longer than with a puppy). Thirdly, these dogs already have a strong reinforcement history, regardless of a soft or hard mouth. But for puppies, most definitely.

I do not have a specific but I always tell new puppy owners that the best thing they can do to make sure they and the puppy survive puppyhood is to lower their expectations. Expect stains on your carpet but do your very best to follow the training guidelines 100% and who knows, you might be one of the lucky ones. Expect things to get eaten. No matter how diligent you are on occaision someone in the household will forget something which will result in the puppy damaging it. If you expect these occurances although you are doing everything you can to prevent them you will be less inclines to give up on your puppy.

 To many people give up on young dogs due to chewing problems, housetraining problems and other issues because they expected it to be easy and also because they failed to provide proper training.

 If you expect difficuties in most cases it is never as bad as you expected.

ShelterDogs

When did you learn this, spiritdogs..

I may be speaking out of turn but Spiritdogs has been owning, handling, and training dogs for approx. 40 years, give or take a few months. Plus a college degree. Plus a training cert and mentorship. Not that any of that means anything.

I just found out about the second chewing phase recently with my boys, now 12 and 13 months. Around 11 months I started giving them more freedom because they were doing so good, then I lost a few items...my mouse, my digital camera cord, a vacuum cleaner cord that ruined the whole vacuum.....they also had a potty backslide, well one of them did, but I got that back under control quickly.

 So I'd say, don't let your guard down when you hit a year thinking the hard part is over, they'll prove you wrong.

ShelterDogs

Wow.  When did you learn this, spiritdogs..and where did you read/hear it?  I have read a fair share of training books and I don't recall this being mentioned.  I even read the first few chapters of Dr. Ian Dunbar's 'Before And After...' book.  I don't recall this fact.  That is very interesting. 

I may be speaking out of turn but Spiritdogs has been owning, handling, and training dogs for approx. 40 years, give or take a few months. Plus a college degree. Plus a training cert and mentorship. Not that any of that means anything.

Wow Ron, you have really come to being quite a fan of Spiritdogs!  Being in the shadows and substanciating and defending her every post.  Pretty admirable, but probably not necessary.  Granted, if your going to have an idol - Spiritdogs is a good choice.

 Drops on recall.

Yup, more of an adult thing, but a drop on recall can save your dog's life. 

My advice.  I think people need to research the breeds they are acquiring instead of getting a dog because they are pretty or big or small or because they need a rescue.  Understand what you are signing up for and be committed.  First time dog owners should learn about training BEFORE you get a dog.  Understand what is involved, find a philosophy you agree with and start from the beginning. 

These chewing phases are very important to all dogs. What to do about it? Why give the dog some raw knuckle bones as well as have plenty of things to chew on scattered around the yard such as sticks, ropes, toys, and synthetic chew bones are great for indoors.

With respect to the FEAR issue that was mentioned. It is best to just move through the fear and it's really important that the owner not acknowledge the fear by making a big deal about whatever it is that spooks your dog. Just move the dog through it as if nothing abnormal is going on and before you know it, that fear vanishes.

*poof*