Christmas with a puppy doesn’t have to be stressful! If you have a puppy or a young dog in training, the holiday season presents a bunch of new challenges. With this plan, you can focus on celebrating instead of stressing!
A lot of new puppy owners struggle with this ONE thing: https://youtu.be/OJaT_3RB3LU
Videos Mentioned:
“People Coming Over To Your Home” Scenario – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhxEZt9ZhEM
Leaving Your Puppy Scenario –
https://youtu.be/wxJXJes0_pM
Bringing Your Puppy To New Home –
https://youtu.be/-vlo84vDSlY
Supervision With Tree/Decorations/Presents –
https://youtu.be/OJaT_3RB3LU
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Christmas With Your Puppy Doesn’t Need To Be STRESSFUL!
02:26 – Managing Your Puppy With Puppy Training Tools This Christmas
04:20 – Is Your Puppy Overwhelmed? It’s Your Job To Be Their Advocate!
04:46 – Using Your Crate When Leaving The House
05:37 – You Need To Have A Puppy Training Plan At Other People’s Homes!
07:25 – The Biggest Mistake New Puppy Owners Make At Christmas!
08:16 – You Need To Communicate Your Puppy Training Rules To EVERYONE!
Want to avoid the most common FRUSTRATIONS of puppy training? Train With Us To Make Your Puppy Training More Enjoyable And To Give Your Puppy The Best Start Possible: https://www.McCannDogs.Link/PuppyEssentials
Are you looking for a more personalized training plan for your dog? We now have a Life Skills program for dogs over 5 months old. The Life Skills program is fully supported by a McCann Dogs trainer for YOU. Check out: https://mccanndogs.link/LifeSkills
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If you’re looking for some music to help your dog settle, THIS is it: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-GkhTRsl3ZgMZtKqYYi3Q
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Thanks for watching,
Happy Training! ~Ken
#puppytraining #puppytrainingatchristmastime
If you have a young dog
in training or a puppy, You'll know that the holidays can add a, A new level of challenge
to your household. What we heard from you is that you were
worried about people coming into your Home. You were worried about taking
your dog into someone else's home. Maybe you're worried about leaving your
dog for a short time while you go and Celebrate. I know a lot of people are worried
about presents and trees and decorations Being out. Maybe there's more food
available for your dog to steal. And these are real challenges for
puppy owners and new dog owners. So today I'm gonna give you a plan for
these scenarios and if there are training And skills involved, I'm gonna point you to exactly the video
you need to get your dog ready for the Holiday season. Now, I know
Christmas is a busy time of year, So let's not waste any more time. One
thing that I want you to be intentional About this holiday season, And it's the one thing that's gonna
be underpinning all of these plans, Is that your puppy has had enough exercise
and done a little bit of training. You can probably think of a situation
where you really wanted to bring your A-game you wanted to bring your best
self, whether it's social or professional. And the best way to do
that for your puppy, For them to bring their a-game is
that they've had enough exercise. So you've tired out their body
and you've activated their brain. You've tired out their brain a
little bit. And training can do that. Some of the most simple ways to do
this where you can accomplish both are Activities like playing tug.
Maybe it's a restrained recall. A dog of any age can benefit from both
of those activities. The nice part about Them is that it really engages
your dog with you. You know, You are required for your dog to
really enjoy, uh, that experience. And more importantly, it
tires out your dog quickly. If you're worried about your
dog going absolutely crazy, When people come into your
home and you're thinking, oh, It might be a complete disaster,
then you might be right. And it's important that you understand
your dog's level of training and their,
Their ability in this situation. The challenge with this is that
when people come into your home, It's new and it's exciting and
people are often, you know, Have high pitched voices. Oh my
goodness, it's so nice to meet you. And for some dogs, This gets them even more excited and the
jumping up and they start nipping and Biting. And some dogs will actually submissively
pee when they meet new people. But the Reward of jumping up, It's gratifying for your dog to
be able to jump up on people. It's gratifying that they get
a response from these people. And in situation like this, if your dog's
at this level of training where they, You know, they'll find that more
rewarding than food, than toy, Than pet or praise. The next important thing you can
do is know how to manage your dog. This is a great opportunity
to use something like a crate. It's a perfect management tool. Maybe you have a puppy-proofed room
or area that you can use as well, But you need to remove your
dog from this situation. As you're welcoming people in,
you've put your puppy in their crate, You know you can do your socializing, You can welcome everyone in your home and
maybe everyone can sit down and have a Conversation, Have a chat. Once your dog starts to come
down into that more trainable state of Mind, you can go get them
again. Don't get me wrong, This is a really good training scenario. Go and get them and you're gonna put
them on a leash or use a house line. We talk about these items
a lot for management, But if you don't know what
the result is gonna be, If you don't know what
your dog is going to do, It's really important that
you manage them appropriately. Now you can bring them into this common
space and you can work on an exercise Like sit at your side. We talk a lot about
this with introducing, uh, people to, To your dog.
You have them sit in that control
position at your side on a loose leash and Maybe you've got some
food reward for them. Maybe it's pet and praise.
I wouldn't use a toy in this situation. Food does a nice job of like inervating
a different part of their brain and it Gets 'em to relax a little bit. But you can reward your
dog as you introduce people
to them. Now keep in mind, You know, your dog may
continue to struggle with
this, and if that's the case, As people approach, they get really
excited. You need to think like a trainer. You're gonna create a greater distance
between those distractions and your dog And try to get a little bit of success.
But as you're working through this, If you continue to struggle, it's
okay to put them back in their crate. It's actually your best choice. Now, Maybe you have a dog who's being a
little angel in this scenario and they're Able to experience new sights
and smells and sounds and people. But be sure that this whole time
that you're supervising them, Keeping a close eye on them and that they
have a house line on. So if they start Making bad choices,
you're able to intervene. Another important challenge you need to
think about in this situation is that Sometimes these settings can be
really overwhelming for your dog. Now I know we all want to introduce
our puppy, uh, to everyone, But this can be especially challenging
with kids cuz kids just don't know any Better. They can't wait
to hug the adorable puppy. So they'll get right over top of them. It's your responsibility to keep an
eye on your puppy in this scenario, If they look like they're
getting overwhelmed, You need to get them out of there. If you're in a position where you're
considering leaving your puppy for those Few hours while you're away, I want
you to consider two things. Number one, Have they proven to you that they can be
rested and not have any issues for the Duration of time that you're going away?
This is not the time of year that you Wanna be testing this kind of thing. And you wanna make sure that
they're appropriately exercised, That they're tired out, That they've had their pees and
their poops before you leave,
And that they're gonna be comfortable
for the whole time that you're gone. And if they're not able to
stay in their crate that long, Then maybe you've gotta have a friend or
someone, uh, come by and let them out. Or maybe you need to communicate with
your family that you have a responsibility At home. You've gotta leave the party a little
bit early and come and take care of them. And if you're looking for some way to
keep them a little more calm there Crate, We just launched our channel, The Can Dog's Music where you can
just create some nice ambient sound. Check it out.
I'll link it in the description below. But maybe you can bring your puppy
with you to family Christmas. And let me give you a couple of tips
on how you can make that work. Now, Dealing with your puppy
in your home is one thing, But bringing them to someone else's house
in a totally new environment presents Some new challenges. Now, a couple of
these steps are gonna remain the same, But there are a couple of
specific differences with
this situation that I really Want you to think about. Management
is still really important, And a couple of easy ways to do this
are bringing your crate along with you. We actually love something
like a collapsible crate. We have a couple of them and we'll bring
them to new locations and wherever we Need them. But if they're easy to
transport and to give your puppy a safe, Comfortable place to be, to relax, The other tool that's gonna be really
important is your house line. I know some People will say, well, I don't want my puppy running around
dragging a line if there's elderly people Or kids. Well, if that's the case, Then it's not the right situation
for your puppy to be free. So consider that before allowing
your dog to move around the space. But the house line's going to be
really important because this new house Presents new challenges, new
distractions, new people. They're likely to make some bad choices
and you might need to take a step back In your training. But having a tool on them that allows
you to intervene when needed is gonna be Really important.
Just because you're at a party doesn't
mean you don't have a plan. Now, There might come a time when
you're supervising them, But it's gonna be better for
them to be in their crate, Safer for them to be in their crate.
Maybe it's when everyone's unwrapping Gifts, or maybe it's when everyone's
sitting down to eat dinner, But pop them in their
crate for a short time. But don't forget that you're gonna be, You're gonna need to let
them out occasionally. This is a great opportunity when you
take them out for the pee and the poo to Work on some exercises. Sit in at your
side, you're in a brand new environment. What a great time to work
on that response to name. You've also got some family members
around that can help you with these Exercises. These are the real training
opportunities, the real, um, you know, Natural training opportunities that
I want you to take advantage of in a Situation like this. Another thing that you need to be aware
of is the fact that with all of these New decorations out, maybe it's
the presents under the tree, Maybe it's a little bit more
food, things that are, you know, At a level where your dog can get it.
A lot of these things can be hazards for Your dog. And I know a lot of
people are worried about, you know, What is my puppy going to do when the
tree's up and when the decorations are Out? Well, this all comes down to you. I would say the biggest mistake that
new puppy owners make is a lack of Supervision. And your puppy can't make these
mistakes if you're supervising them. We talk about the house line,
we talk about the crate, But if your puppy's free and
you're not keeping an eye on them, Then they have all the opportunity
in the world to get into a dangerous Situation or just make a huge mess. So really focus on your supervision
this time of year specifically. Because the hazard to your dog is so
much greater with all of these new things Out. There's one thing that
I haven't mentioned yet, And if you've invested any time into
training your puppy or your young dog, Then this is going to be important to you.
Now,
You have certain rules and
expectations for your dog, But other people might
not have those same rules. And maybe you've been working hard at
teaching them not to bite your hands or Bite clothing, you've been working
to teach them to not jump up. You've been teaching them to not beg at
the table or, you know, be fed from, uh, You know, the, the couch. Well, This is the opportunity for them to be
rewarded by some of these things from Your family and people who don't
know that those rules are in place. So communication with your friends and
family before the party or while the Puppies out is gonna be really important.
Again, this goes back to supervision. Supervise the situation and you can
even have some of these people help you. Maybe they can feed your puppy
if they're not jumping up. Maybe they can pet and praise your dog
when they come up to them and they're not Tugging on their clothes
or biting their hands. This really is about
family and everyone, uh, In the family needs to
be on the same page. So that you make the right decisions
and avoid the big mistakes. Watch this video right here on
that note, I'm Ken. Happy holidays, <laugh>. I think we keep it.