Puppies are challenging

A Personal Reflection

Puppies are challenging

There is no denying that puppies are incredibly cute, but underneath that gorgeous, gangly ball of fluff is a confused soul, trying to navigate, learn and coexist with a completely alien species…..Us.

Whether this is your first puppy or your 10th, whether you are a dog trainer or a dog behaviourist, you will make mistakes and I have made loads. Puppy rearing, socialisation and training have changed considerably since I had my last puppy 18 years ago. Gone were the formal obedience classes I had attended weekly in the village hall with Dita, there were no puppy training or puppy socialisation classes due to Covid, and though in 2021 we had moved out of the strict restrictions of the early lockdowns, it was still difficult to meet other guardians and their dogs. Dakota was over a year old before she saw any other dog (apart from my senior dog) and this was from a distance.

No attachment to outcome

I have trained all my dogs with positive reinforcement, but, this time I worked on the maxim of no attachment to outcome, no real formal training and encouraging her to exercise choice and control. No attachment to outcome was a concept that came from energy work in the 1980's and is being used now with our companion animals.

Mistakes I made ('miss takes')

'Miss takes' is a great expression to use as psychologically it implies that we have a chance to do another take, however when you are deep in the thick of a challenging situation it is difficult to remember!!

Though I had no expectations of her and just wanted to let her enjoy being a puppy, I made my first miss take of having huge expectations of myself. Dakota was my first puppy since becoming a dog behaviourist, I had acquired more knowledge and I wanted to apply it. I never thought everything would be perfect, but I didn’t think it would be quite as challenging as it was.

It was when she was 2 years old, that I felt able to write about our experience. Looking back and speaking to other clients, I realise that Dakota was a ‘normal’ puppy, whereas my previous puppy was in fact probably as close to ‘perfect’ as possible.

I am probably looking at the past through rose tinted glasses and making yet another error, but we are human and that’s what we do and I made the miss take of comparing the two. When I worked as a midwife I always advised women never compare your babies as they are all individual and I needed to take my own advice and realise that Dakota was an individual too.

Dakota bit me 7 to 10 times a day every day until she was eight months old. The behaviourist in me did not attach blame, but instead looked for reasons. I didn’t think it was anything I was doing, more that she was in pain, but it didn’t make dealing with the biting any easier, some days she would have me in tears, but most days it was giggles.

What helped us?

ACE Free Work from 8 weeks old
Enrichment
A raw diet
Essential oils and herbs
Understanding friends and colleagues who just listened
Giving Dakota real choices on a daily basis

She is now nearly 4 and is a delightful dog, we have a wonderful bond and connection and we are still discovering daily how to live compatibly together.

Categories: : Behaviour