Puppy Training Plans
The last 7 - 8 weeks with a litter, your puppy has spent valuable time learning social cues with his littermates and his mother. This is an crucial time for your puppy to spend with his litter. I designate a Pick up period of several days at 8 weeks of age because that is the optimal time for puppies to leave their litter mates and begin bonding with a family. But by 8 - 9 weeks of age, your puppy is entering a new stage of development where human interaction needs to take priority. The longer a puppy stays beyond the 8 or 9 week period with a litter of puppies the more difficult the training will be. They bond more closely to their litter mates and learning the social cues of the human world is a little more difficult. Left too long the puppy will begin to develop fear issues with new situations. Buying an older puppy from a breeder who does not individually work with older puppies will mean you have a harder time bonding, socializing and training your puppy.
If your puppy is staying a few extra days with another puppy, that will not affect his progress. We can extend his litter experience a few extra days without setting the puppy back in his training.. The cost of extra litter care is $35. per day when there are at least one other litter mate together for those few days.
1 Week Puppy Training Package
If your puppy remains with us for an extended period beyond the 8 pick up time we will begin the training routine that is appropriate for an 8 week puppy. His litter mates have all gone home and he will experience separation anxiety unless we begin his individual training program.
The first week without his litter is probably the hardest on a puppy since he no longer has the usual playmates and warm bodies to sleep with. His pen is no longer an exciting place to be. Usually the last puppy in a litter will begin whining and crying as soon as soon as his last sibling is gone. We will take the puppy for a little walk outside, some playtime, and make sure he expends a little energy before we put him back in his pen for his first nap all alone. A hand warmer placed in a stuffed animal is a good way to make nap time easier. The puppy will have a schedule from this time forward, meaning he has specific times to potty, eat meals, playtime, nap time in a pen, and settle down time in a crate.
Important lessons this week summarized:
Pen training: Puppy learns that spending time in his pen without the comfort of his litter is still a good place for playing or napping or eating.
Crate training: Puppy learns to settle in a crate in the room with his caregiver, while they do other tasks like making dinner or working at the computer.
Potty Schedule: Puppy is placed on an eating, drinking, playing and potty schedule. Puppy begins to learn the command, "Go Potty"
Puppies will stretch their potty time for 4-6 hours at nighttime. Puppies will stretch their potty 2 -4 hours during the daytime.
Bite Inhibition: We do not try to stop play biting since puppies have to learn to develop a soft mouth. But we do give the puppy valuable feedback during playtime so he understand that people are sensitive to his sharp teeth. Bite inhibition is learned over a period of several months and biting will diminish significantly by 4 months of age when you respond appropriately to puppy biting..
Human Socialization: We have different family members or friends play with the puppy during the day to expose the puppy to many positive people experiences.
Animal Socialization: The puppy will have short supervised play time with individual dogs in our home and supervised exposure to our puppy friendly cat.
Travel Lessons: Short car rides in a travel crate (5 minutes or more) to accustom the puppy that it is fun to travel in the car..
We treat your puppy as an individual and as such want him to learn the schedule for his new home. We will want to talk with you before I begin this schedule so that I can find out what routine will fit best for your puppy when he is in your home..
This extra week with my family is a great benefit for first time puppy owners, people who have to go on vacation, or who have to work. One week is not enough time to master any of the above. But your puppy will progress a LOT during this week and your time of adjustment and potty training when you bring your puppy home will go so much smoother. Your puppy will be so much easier when you continue with the Puppy Schedule that we have established for your puppy
I have raised dozens of puppies for weekly periods beyond the 8 week take home time. I raise them the same way I raise the puppies that will grow to be part of my family and breeding program. I believe that consistent training from the youngest age will give you an easy, calm and focused puppies ready to go on to be the stars of their Puppy Kindergarten class.
1 week Tuition: $450.00 (or $65 per day)
Training beyond the 1 week period is possible if my schedule allows it and I do not have other puppies that I am training.