Our Puppy Priorities

Here are some things we’ve been focusing on with our puppy between 8 and 16 weeks! 

➡️ Play! To build a relationship, develop the game for future sports and satisfy breed traits. 

➡️ Meeting dogs in controlled situations. 

➡️ Finding a balance between meeting new people and focusing on us around people.

➡️ Exposure to different environments.

➡️ Handling.

When deciding what you want to priorities with your new puppy, keep the following in mind:

⭐️ Your dog’s breed

⭐️ Their individual traits

⭐️ The lifestyle you want to have

Obedience can be taught at any point during a dog’s life, but socialisation can be hard to catch up on. We break it down into 3 parts: 

🌟 Dogs

🌟 People

🌟 Environment

The third one is the one we find that new puppy owners most frequently overlook. Exposing your dog to different places, surfaces, scent and sounds is just as important as the other two. When your puppy is too young to walk, carry them in these places instead. Some of the places we have brought our puppy to are:

💫 Indoor environments: BnQ, Decathlon, Edinburgh Airport, Pets at Home and the garden centre

💫 Town environments: He has done multiple outings in Edinburgh, Penicuik, Peebles, West Linton and Biggar

💫 Country side: Due to where we live and where we walk, this is where he has spent the most time. We have also made sure that he has met horses, seen cows and sheep, heard gun shots, seen forestry machines and tractors. 

When we tackle a new environment, we always structure the outing to contain the following elements (in a random order):

✨ Freedom to explore

✨ Food play

✨ Toy play

✨ Settling

We want the puppy to get a chance to be at liberty and figure things out for himself. As part of food and toy play, we usually build in some personal play as well as small pictures for obedience. We are also consistent with our start and stop cues for each activity (ready > starts play, all done > end of activity + calm down, break > freedom to do what you like). We might stop at a cafe to settle on a mat, or just sit down together and watch the world go by. 

We are really happy with how he is developing so far and really curious to see how he matures!