January is "Train Your Dog" Month

January is train your dog month, so I'm going to try to write up tips and ideas for how you can build a better relationship with your dog. As I've always said, you may also need to change some things about the way YOU act with your dogs- relationships are a two-way street.
The most important thing when you get a new puppy is SOCIALIZATION. I know this is stressed so much and so often- but please don't underestimate the importance of this! I have a very fearful dog who was not socialized as a puppy. As a result of this, he can't go out in public without melting down. A trip to the petstore is out of the question, trips to the vet are a major ordeal, and forget about a trip to the dog park. On the other hand, he is of all the dogs in my home the most willing to work with me at any time. He knows so many behaviors and tricks and can learn new behaviors with very little effort from me. Unfortunately, the socialization period for dogs is between 6 weeks and 14 weeks and then it gets MUCH more difficult to get dogs to understand that new things and situations are o.k. We can work with Bugsy to get him over his fears- but its a long and difficult process and I've had him for almost 2 years now and he has only accepted one person touching him besides myself and Russell. In contrast to that- it took me 3 clicks to capture his "play dead" (he was rolling on his back submissively) behavior to get him to offer it and only a few days to get it on cue. This illustrates to me that learning new behaviors is a life long ability- but socialization is something that can't be made up for.
If you have a puppy- get it out of the house and exposed to new things in a non-threatening way. I took Oscar with me everywhere I possibly could. Because of the increased risk that puppies who haven't had their full series of shots could get sick, don't take them to dog parks or pet stores where a lot of dogs are hanging out. Places like Home Depot and Lowes will often let you bring your puppy in if you keep them in the cart or in a carrier. I would bring Oscar up to the grocery store and sit on the bench outside and play and give him treats= and LOTS of people stop to say "hi" :) WalMart is also a place where you can sit outside and see lots of people.
If you think you want to do therapy work with your puppy, try to get him around wheelchairs, canes, walkers, people walking funny, etc. during their socialization period. The more things you can expose them to, the better- Different sounds, sights, smells, surfaces.
Getting your puppy into a puppy good manners class is also a very important and beneficial thing. Finding a good puppy class is sometimes difficult, but a good place to start looking is the APDT website to find a trainer who uses dog friendly methods: http://www.apdt.com. In a puppy class, you will learn how to teach your pup behaviors like sit, down, wait- but also get an understanding of how to communicate with him in a way that will strengthen your relationship. Dogs learn best with positive reinforcement based methods- and communicate with body language. A good trainer will help you to understand body language and how it applies to training your puppy.
So, if you have a new pup in your home- get him out of the house and out to see the world! Get him into a good puppy class and have fun with your dog!