What to expect (and what NOT to expect) from your puppy

If you are a first-time puppy owner, we’ve got you! While puppies will take a lot of time and effort no matter what, your first year together will be so much smoother and much more fun if you know how to avoid these common communication pitfalls.

It's a whole new world to them!

The first thing puppies do is learn how to be a dog.

There’s a reason they are popular pets! Puppies are adorable and cuddly. We love to watch them discover new things and absorb the world around them. It’s important to remember, though, that while they are taking in their new environment, they are also trying to understand why behaviour they’d previously been taught is now getting a negative reaction.

Before they join our families, most puppies will have spent the first part of their lives learning how to be a dog from their parents and siblings. Dogs are excellent teachers of other dogs! It doesn’t take too long for puppies to figure out boundaries and expectations.

Then, when they join our human families and try to interact with us in the way they did with other dogs, they don’t understand why those behaviours are no longer appreciated. It’s often their first time living in a human household! They won’t know that there are NEW boundaries and expectations until we teach them.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp
Humans, for our part, need to remember that natural puppy behaviours are not deliberate misbehaviour.

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Want to learn more, or begin training? We can help, let us find the trainer nearest you so that you can reach out to them directly.