Through good management, positive relationship, and education, we can successfully help the new puppy owner establish a positive happy life with his new companion. The inclusion of children is especially encouraged in all phases of the class.

The following topics are included in the curriculum plus any topic that an owner is concerned about. As many issues of interest are addressed as possible. No question is too silly or unimportant.

TOPICS COVERED ARE:

HANDLEABILITY -touching of all body parts not only by owner but by each member of the family as well as non family members. When puppies are used to being handled gently, we then desensitize them to being grabbed, groomed and examined without the puppies turning to grab us with their mouths.

HOUSETRAINING

CRATE TRAINING

FEEDING SCHEDULES

MANNERS

SAFETY - home, yard and automobile containment strategies.

BITE INHIBITION- Teaching the puppy to have a soft mouth or bite. The purpose of this exercise is to teach the puppy to have an inhibited bite in the event that the dog does bite at anytime during his life. We stress the importance of this and the following exercises because ANY dog can and will bite under certain circumstances. We try to get the owners to think beyond the cuteness of their young puppies( needless to say, a challenge).

1) "Leave It" and "Take It" - Teaching the puppy that touching anything including human skin is off limits without permission. This also includes leaving an item on the ground that might be attractive yet harmful to the dog.

2) "Drop It" - teaching the dog to drop anything that might already be in his mouth.

3) Object exchanges - important to prevent object and resource guarding.

4) Food bowl exercises - these include, waiting for food, adding food to bowl while puppy is eating, taking away bowl and adding food while puppy is eating teaching the dog that human hands are very good for the dog.

5) Touching the dog while eating - including "accidentally" bumping into the dog while eating. Great to teach the kids.

6) Grooming - this is also under the topic of "handleability" but it also includes introducing the nail clippers, touching ears, toes etc. etc.

SIT DOWN STAND STAY WAIT COME - These are taught with the practicality of the exercises in mind. For example; teaching the puppy to wait when you open the door or tie your shoe lace or when you are writing a check to pay the vet bill, doing a down when you load the dishwasher etc., etc.

People are truly amazed at this. They don’t realize how these simple actions make their dogs well behaved.

JUMPING UP - or not jumping up - learning to sit to greet or be greeted.

WALKING ON A LOOSE LEASH ("red light, green light")

Bette brings her obstacles and different surfaces for the puppies to walk on and crawl through. These are real confidence builders for the dog and the owners LOVE this.

SOCIALIZATION - We stress the importance of exposing the puppies to as many different dogs (when fully vaccinated), people and experiences as possible to avoid the SUBURBAN DOG SYNDROME (just letting your dog out into the yard). We explain that this is unfair to the dog and a very wasted life for the dog.

We encourage the use of the Gentle Leader, as opposed to a prong or choke collar. We address its many uses. If they don’t need it, we do talk about it in case they might have a need for it in the future

All of the training is done using positive reward methods only. We use the clicker or Operant Conditioning and the dogs learn very quickly. Games are used as well to make the training fun and motivational for the owners and the dogs. We never say "NO"or correct negatively. Loose leashes are a rule. By teaching and educating the owners how to use these methods, we show them their way to a good relationship with their dogs when the course is finished. We encourage the people to go on to the next level and tell them that training is never finished throughout the dogs life. A mentally stimulated, physically exercised and well educated dog is a happy dog and a pleasure to have. It is a lifestyle, almost like raising children.

NEW TOPICS FOR NEXT SESSION

1) Teaching the puppy to go to his PLACE ( very important for time outs etc. )

2) Teaching the puppies how to be alone - avoiding separation anxiety problems in the future.

All topics are researched by both of us and we are very up to date. We read periodicals, professional journals,books (always new being published), go to workshops, and network on the Internet with fellow trainers.

Any and all comments and suggestions are more than welcome. We hope you enjoyed our synopsis of the puppy curriculum.

BETTE NUSSBAUM
SUSAN HENSON

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