Common Puppy Behavior Questions

I am not a behaviorist or an expert on training and behaviors. But I do have more experience than the average person on common behavior issues. My advice comes from my own personal experiences as a pet owner and veterinarian, as well as what I have learned from behaviorists and trainers I work with.

Potty Training

This is the first milestone most pet owners wish to achieve, and one you can start working on from the very first day. I have some clients who choose to use potty pads in the house for the first several weeks before trying to train their puppy to go outside. This is not the path I would recommend.

Once you have already taught a puppy that it is ok to go potty in the house, it will be hard to re-train them to go outside. If your goal is to have a dog who only goes to the bathroom outside I recommend starting this training from the first day you take them home. This is especially true for small breed dogs like Maltese and Yorkies, who in my experience are some of the hardest to potty train.

The first recommendation is to take them out frequently. You should take your puppy outside as soon as they wake up, immediately after they eat, and after 10-15 minutes of playing. Also if it’s been 2-3 hours since the last time they went go ahead and take them outside again.

Each time they successfully go to the bathroom outside praise them heavily. You can even give a treat initially to reinforce that this is behavior to be rewarded. Pretty quickly your puppy will learn that going to the bathroom outside is what they are supposed to do.

I also recommend taking your puppy to the same spot outside each time when they are first learning. The scents and surroundings will help remind them that this is the location where they are to go to the bathroom.

One complaint I hear frequently from clients, is that they take their puppy outside but they don’t do anything after 10 minutes of waiting. Then as soon as they get back in the house the puppy pees on the floor. This is common. They are easily distracted, and once they are back in the quiet of the house they will often immediately have an accident.

If it has been a while since they last went to the bathroom, but they aren’t doing anything outside, I recommend putting them in their crate for about 5-10 minutes. This isn’t meant to be a punishment, but more of a reset. Most puppies will not urinate in the crate which will encourage them to hold their bladder. And often after that short period of holding it they will immediately go to the bathroom if you take them straight back outside.

I also do recommend crate training. Many crates, such as this one available from Amazon, are designed with barriers which you use as your puppy grows. The goal is to only offer enough room for your puppy to lay down comfortably and turn around. An overly large crate without a barrier will give the puppy enough room to pee or poop at one end and still sleep at the other so they never learn to hold their bladder.

Just be sure the crate is never used as a place for punishment. It should be your pets safe space where they can go when they’re tired or just need a break. I still have crates available for my senior dogs. They are left open and many times they choose to go in the crate on their own for a nap. And this is despite them also being allowed on the couch. So it is possible for dogs to like their crates.

There are also additional benefits to using a crate aside from just potty training. Puppies, and many adult dogs, are known to eat and chew up things they shouldn’t. And in addition to the cost of replacing whatever they have destroyed, they can also get in to things that are harmful. To avoid an emergency vet visit because your puppy or dog ate something they shouldn’t, I recommend crating them when you are out of the house.

Mouthing Behavior

Many of my clients also report concerns or frustration with mouthing behavior. This seems to especially be an issue with families with young children. As a mom I understand I likely hear more from these families as they are concerned about injuries to the children. But these behaviors can also be harder to manage in families with young children.

Ideally when a puppy is jumping or biting at you, you should ignore the behavior and separate yourself until the puppy comes down. This is harder for children to do. Very young children are small enough to be knocked down by a rambunctious puppy or be nipped near their faces. They are not able to just simply turn away from the puppy like an adult can. They also tend to squeal or yell when puppies begin to jump and bite at them. Their higher pitched voices tend to increase the excitement of puppies.

If you notice your puppy is beginning to nip and get overly excited, first try to redirect them with a toy or bone. When they go to bite at your shoe or hand, push a toy directly in to their mouth. But if they continue to go back to biting at you or your children, immediately separate them until they have calmed down. Either place them in a crate or behind a puppy gate such as this one which I have used. Once they are calm again they can rejoin the family.

You do not need to hit or punish your dog as this will encourage aggressive behavior. Separating them so they do not get to play when they start biting or jumping will teach them that they do not get attention when they are being too rough.

Mouthing behavior is very common and rarely an indication of underlying aggression. But it should not be tolerated or ignored because it can develop into a permanent behavior that puts your family or guests are risk for an injury.

Teething and Chewing

Dogs, especially puppies, are curious. And they often explore their world by picking up objects with their mouth and chewing on them. This can mean chewed up air buds and shoes, or just chewing on sticks and rocks outside.

It’s important to provide safe objects for them to chew on that will satisfy their curiosity and desire to chew. Their adult teeth will also start to erupt between 4-6 months of age which means they will chew to sooth the discomfort in their mouths.

Some safe toys and bones you can pick up for your dogs are the classic Kong toy or one of their bones, bully sticks, and Nyla Bone Chill and chew bones. You can even freeze a large carrot and give it to your teething puppy to chew on as a safe natural option.

There are some popular choices that I either don’t recommend, or recommend they be used with caution. These are objects that are either too hard and can break the teeth, or can be ingested and cause GI distress.

Bones like beef bones and deer antlers are often too hard, and will cause slab fractures (fractures to the outer crown) of the teeth. Also if your dog swallows part of a beef bone it could cause an obstruction in the GI tract which will require emergency surgery.

This is also why I hesitate to recommend rope toys. They can be great for teething, but there are many cases of dogs ingesting the strings from the rope toys and developing a linear foreign body (a very serious type of GI obstruction). So if you have a rope toy monitor your dog while they are chewing on it. If you notice it is starting to fray and they are chewing off pieces of fabric please throw it away.

Nyla bones should also be monitored. Most will start to chip as your dog chews on them and should be tossed so your dog is not ingesting small pieces of plastic.

Training through Positive Reinforcement

Once you start teaching some commands like sit and down this will also provide a way to redirect your puppies attention. It takes time and consistency, but dogs respond very well to positive reinforcement. Ignore and turn away from your dog if they are jumping on you, and praise them for sitting down.

I personally am a huge fan of clicker training. This is a method of training which uses a small click to reinforce good behaviors. You click right at the moment your dog performs a good behavior (sitting, coming to you, dropping an object) and follow the click with a treat.

It’s important to understand when to click so that you don’t reinforce the wrong behaviors so I recommend learning the basics before starting. You can visit www.clickertraining.com or read the Karen Pryor book which can be purchased from Amazon.

Many training classes also use this method so you can observe and practice the method with guidance.

I do not recommend negative reinforcement training. This includes hitting and yelling which just teaches dogs to feel fear and can increase risk of aggression.

For example if your dog has a problem with barking excessively, try not to yell at them to be quiet. To them this is just you joining in on the barking. You can give a special treat for being quiet when the delivery driver comes to the door or a neighbor walks by. If they bark, then they get no treat.

You can also work on training commands like sit, down and drop it which allows you to redirect them when they are heading toward a negative behavior. If your dog loves to chew up tissues, paper towels and paper the last thing you want to do is get involved in a game of chase.

Spend some time teaching your dog the drop it command. This can be done by giving your dog a toy, then offering a higher quality treat or toy instead. When they drop the first toy from their mouth you say “drop it” at the same time, and then give the treat. Do this over and over until you can say “drop it” on command without using a bribe. Then if your dog grabs something they shouldn’t you can command them to drop it, instead of chasing them all over the house.

For any training it’s also important to realize they don’t automatically know the word you want to teach. If you want to teach your puppy to sit, you have to wait until they are starting to sit anyway before you say the command. Then immediately click or give a treat. After they have received a treat for sitting a few times you’ll find them doing it more often in order to get another treat. Say “sit” each time as they are sitting to teach them the command. Only then, after they have heard sit as they are sitting down over and over again, will you be able to say sit on command.

This same method works for things like down, come, leave it, etc. You first have to praise and treat the physical action before you can teach the command. And things like leave it or wait need to be built up. This means you let them have the treat after just a couple of seconds to start. But as they learn you can increase the length of time you make them wait.

Another important factor in training is location. Your puppy may be very receptive to sitting or coming to you when you are practicing at home, but not listen at all once outside. You have to practice in other environments as well. Take them outside to a quiet park and work on those same commands with all the distractions that come from outside. You may need to use a higher quality treat in order to maintain their attention. Your goal is to teach your dog to keep their focus on you the owner, even in a highly stimulating environment.

These are just some of the more common questions and concerns I hear from new owners, with a very superficial explanation on how to manage these issues. I recommend every owner attend training classes both for the one on one attention you receive as well as the socialization these classes provide to the puppies. And if you are dealing with a more complicated behavioral issue there are veterinary behaviorist who are board certified veterinarians in the field of animal behavior.