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It's a
Catch-22. The best time to expose a young
puppy to behavior-shaping exercises, as well
as provide controlled socialization, is when
they are young. But, at the same time, you
don't want to risk exposing them to
potentially deadly disease, which is why many
veterinarians advise you not to expose
puppies to much of the world until they've received all their
vaccinations, which is typically at 4 months of age.
The problem with preventing
young puppies from seeing the world is
that by 4 months
of age puppies are well on their way to dog-hood,
and most importantly, you've wasted the most
formative period of their lives! Oh, what to do,
oh, what to do?
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Fortunately, the times they are a-changing, and
thankfully some old-school philosophies are
being kicked to the curb. Do yourself and
your new puppy a favor and click on the image on
the left to view the white paper recently
released by the American Veterinary Society
of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) on raising
puppies.
Note that the AVSAB advises
the exact opposite of the old-school
thinking, and that you should expose
puppies to the world and begin training them
even before they are fully vaccinated.
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We agree wholeheartedly with
the AVSAB, however, we also want to look out for puppies'
health as much as possible. This is exactly why
our Kinder-Pup
classes are held inside a pet hospital
as opposed to a boarding kennel or typical training
facility, or worse, at a public park where who knows
what diseases lurk in the grass! Our training center
is reserved only for healthy dogs, and before and after each class,
the area is cleaned with a sanitizing solution.
Our Kinder-Pup program is not
simply play time for young puppies, either. These
days many "trainers" unwittingly ingrain bad
habits into your pup. For example, "loose-leash walking" may sound like a cool
term, and in THEORY sounds appealing, but in
real life results in a bad habit that is impractical and
seldom helpful. Think about it. How
practical is it to have your dog at the end
of a 6 ft. leash when you encounter
passersby on walks? You're also bound to
trip over your dog or leash when you're
carrying a bag of groceries and your dog is
meandering at the end of the leash 6 feet in
front of you! You're only setting your puppy
up to get in everyone's way, and the
subsequent corrections and scoldings that
inevitably follow will only serve to negatively
impact your bond with your pup! How smart is
that? Instead, as suggested by the AVSAB,
our Kinder-Pup program includes positive, behavior-shaping techniques
that groom your pup to walk properly on a
leash early, setting the stage for walking next
to you in the Heel position. Isn't that
smarter, given that one day in
the not-so-distant future (can you say, "a
few months"?) your pup will suddenly
be a full-grown DOG?
 Our
puppy program is based on positive, reward-based
behavior-shaping with a seamless transition to
formal training. Rather than try to put it in words,
see for yourself actual results achieved
using this
philosophy by viewing the videos on our
Videos page.
This is one
time in your life you really can't afford to
procrastinate. After all, a puppy without
proper guidance and structure will often end up
costing you a great deal of money via shredded
carpet, chewed up furniture, baseboards and walls,
destruction of sprinkler systems and landscape, not
to mention annihilation of your brand-new $400
Italian shoes! And, medical bills run high if your
pup requires surgery to remove a blockage from
consuming your favorite underwear or socks!
Don't wait until it's too
late. Enroll in
a course
today, or
contact us
directly with any questions.
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