ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR A PUPPY

THE PET TEACHER
In-YOUR-Home Dog Training
248-232-3655

ALL BREEDS - PUPPY THROUGH ADULT
I offer training techniques and teaching sessions that get your started toward your
goals of good manners and obedience. I can help you through the frustrating nipping and
biting moments ... house training traumas ... crate acclimating ... jumping ... barking ...
chewing and digging.

I can also design programs for more complex behavioral issues such as separation
anxiety and aggression. Plus specialized topics such as getting your dog ready for your
new baby, deaf dog training and assistance dog training.

Read more about these services on our Fees and Session Description Page.

Purely positive training techniques - fun for you and your dog!

Puppies are cute, fun, bundles of silliness and love. Puppies have individual personalities
with complex thoughts, problems solving skills, emotions, able to feel pain and joy.
Puppies are not a predictable cookie-cutter species that we can guarantee will learn at
the same rate. Puppies are not stuffed toys that come alive when we’re ready to be
entertained and who retreat to the corner when we want to be left alone. Puppies are
living, breathing, thinking, feeling, independent creatures who deserve our respect.

Puppies don’t understand that you’re tired when you come home from work. They’re not
tired because they’ve been sleeping while you’ve been gone! They still need your
attention – they need you to play with them, teach them, potty train them, exercise
them, feed them, give them mental stimulation, train them, touch and hold them.
Seven days a week!

Puppies need YOU to be consistent and reliable when teaching them where to potty.
Even if it’s 3am or snowing or raining! Even if the kids need dinner, and your favorite
TV show is on, or you’re in the middle of your book, on the phone or paying bills. No
exceptions! You need to have the patience and commitment to teach them either an
indoor area or an outdoor area, but they can’t learn both at the same time. You can’t
expect a puppy to learn to use the potty pad when you’re not home and the backyard
when you are home and the garage when it’s 3am. One area at a time, please, which
means that YOU have to teach one area at a time.

If your children are under 6 years old, wait to get a puppy or any dog. Children under 6
years old do not possess the emotional maturity to grasp safe dog interaction. And
your puppy is going to mature into a dog much faster than your child will mature.
Children under 12 should never be unsupervised with any dog, even your own dog. Again,
children are not as mature as the dogs, and children will act inappropriately or harshly
when communicating with a dog. Children should not be allowed to handle adult tasks,
such as taking away a bone, toy or food. If your time doesn’t allow for this supervision,
wait to get a puppy/dog until you do have the time.

Dogs are great companions, but they are not responsible to replace a spouse, job or
friend. Make yourself whole on your own and then invite a dog to share your whole life.
Don't give your senior citizen parent a puppy as a gift unless you are absolutely certain
that their health, lifestyle and living environment is suitable for a puppy. It might be
better to get an older dog or a cat.

If you’re busy with many lunch and dinner dates, travel, tennis, pottery, motorcycles,
shopping, social groups, an internet addiction – why do you want a dog? Do you really
have the time to fit a puppy’s care into that schedule? Be truthful with this answer
because it affects the life of the dog. That placid dog you envision won’t be that
mellow until 24 months or older. Are you ready for the long-term?

Dogs are not disposable. Every time you re-home a dog YOU contribute to the
emotional instability and trust of that dog, no matter how young. Be absolutely certain
you will hang in there, or wait until you’re really ready.

This also means that if you bring home a big dog and you really wanted a small dog –
don’t bring home the big dog and then upset his life by returning him. Or you got a
brown dog when you wanted a black and white dog … or a Cocker Spaniel when you
wanted a Lab. Again, dogs are not throwaways simply because they might be the wrong
breed, color or fur length.

Is your home appropriate for the dog? Do you have a yard that will keep the dog safe
and contained? If not, are you going to take steps to have something installed? If you
live in an apartment and the dog develops noise phobias or crate anxiety, are you willing
to work diligently to resolve the problem? If your dog needed day care to help resolve
the problem, are you willing to spend that money? Do you have to walk your dog? Are
you physically capable of walking your dog, no matter the weather conditions or time of
day/night?

Don’t judge your puppy’s behavior by your last dog’s behavior. The dog who was 15 years
old, quiet, cuddly, and just the best dog ever! Things have changed and you have a puppy
now – with more energy and needs they rely on you to provide. You’re older now than
you were when you got your last dog, so 3am potty visits are more noticeable. We all
have selective memories, and we don’t remember that the old dog chewed the table leg
at 11 weeks old or pooped on the floor twice a day for a month. Puppies are hard work.
Let me repeat that. Puppies are hard work. It’s just like having a child, except you
don’t have to dress the dog every day. But it’s the same level of commitment and
energy on your part.

Puppies will cry and whine when you bring them into your home. You’ve just removed
them, without their permission, from all things familiar! They don’t have the
accustomed smells or recognizable people around them. Most of all they miss their
puppy friends around them. Your puppy needs time to acclimate to these many changes
and during that time you’re likely to lose sleep. Expect it. When you bring home your
puppy, it would be best to take two weeks of vacation so you aren’t worrying about the
loss of sleep affecting your work. And this will give you plenty of time so you can
concentrate on the potty training. Before you bring home your puppy either read, read,
read positive reinforcement training books or hire a trainer to help you get ready. And
listen to that trainer. Do what they recommend for at least one month – and stop
talking to every friend, co-worker, pet store employee and TV show about different
approaches to try. You need to give learning a chance to happen and if you’re changing
techniques every day or so, or you’re mixing methodologies, you are only going to
confuse yourself and your puppy.

If you decide to return your puppy due to your personal issues -- lack of time, lack of
commitment, lack of desire, lack of training -- don’t expect a refund. A good breeder
will take the puppy back but will not return your money. This is to help you understand
that your decision to uproot a puppy by first bringing them into your home and then by
removing them from your home has to have consequence for you. And that consequence
is no refund.

98 out of 100 puppies are returned or re-homed due to owner personal issues – lack of
time, lack of commitment, lack of desire, lack of training. Get a puppy only when you’re
ready for the commitment. You will be blessed with a wonderful and loving experience
that will last 15, 18 years or longer!

ARE YOU REALLY READY
FOR A PUPPY?