Author: Sarah Mertes

Certified dog trainer

Categories
Training

How to use a long leash in training my dog?

A long leash is a great tool in dog training – provided it is used correctly! In this blog post, you will learn for whom the long leash training is suitable, which long leash is the right one for your dog, and how to use the long leash in practice.

The long leash training is suitable for:

  • Training puppy and young dogs
  • Dogs that do not know you yet
  • fear dogs
  • Anti-hunting training
  • hunting dog training
  • recall training
  • Training of different signals at distance
  • Dogs, with emotional and/or social support needs

Which long leash is the right one?

You can find long leashes in different lengths between 3 to well over 15 meters. If you want to practice certain aspects of behavior with your dog, such as recall or orientation to you, less is always more. The reason for this is that we are in a training situation. So the further your dog can move away from you, the more difficult it will be for you to lead him over the leash.

The type of leash is also crucial and depends on what you want to train with your dog. Especially popular are the currently leashes made of biothane, which is a water-repellent material, but depending on the provider also very slippery in the hand. So if you have a dog that tends to have impulsive reactions and also likes to jump into the leash, it is better to take a material that is non-slip in the hand. Many long leashes also have a hand loop. This loop may seem practical at first look, that you can put it around your wrist, but in most cases, it carries a high risk of injury. It is not uncommon that either your hand gets caught in the loop when your dog runs off or your dog runs off with the leash and gets caught somewhere with the loop.

Our recommendations for a suitable long leash:

  • 5 meters length
  • No hand loop
  • Part rubberized

How to use the long leash in dog training.

Getting your dog used to the long leash.

Before you even start training your dog must get to know the long leash. The long leash should always be attached to a harness to prevent injury to the neck vertebrae. When you put your dog on the long leash, give him a little more leash at first until your dog reaches the final length. It is best to tie a knot at the end of the leash to give yourself a fixed point. Praise your dog verbally as long as the end of the leash is not yet reached and, if you like, reward your dog’s eye contact with some food. When your dog reaches the end of the leash, say “Slow down” and gently tug on the leash until your dog responds with a step back or eye contact. As soon as your dog loosens the leash, you stop gently tugging and verbally praise your dog. If your dog makes eye contact, you can also reward him with some food, a social game, or something similar.

Gradually, your dog will learn the limits of the leash and, if the leash length remains the same, he will even be able to keep the distance independently without pulling. Stay fair and give your dog the signal “Slow down” ready just before he runs into the leash. Mark for it with a knot in the leash (approx. 20 cm before line end), the distance, where you give your dog the signal.

Use the long leash in recall training.

Especially in recall training, it pays to take your dog on a long leash. For a successful recall, your dog must understand that he must run to you on the recall signal “Here”, no matter what stimuli have previously taken his attention. For this, it is important at the beginning that the word signal “Here” is conditioned at a relatively short distance. Once your dog understands what to do with this signal, you can gradually increase the distance and incorporate distractions into your training. If your dog does not listen to your recall signal, you can remind him by gently tugging on the leash that the command is valid, even if the distraction seems exciting. So for recall, it’s not only your will but also your way of demanding the command consequently that is important to train a reliable command.

Do you need help with training with the long leash or recall training? Then download the Pupy app now. Train with our step-by-step video instructions or chat with our professional dog trainers and find a personalized way for your human-dog team.

We hope you have fun training with your dog!

Your Pupy Team

Categories
Tips & Tricks

Dog in the car – How to drive with your dog relaxed on tour.

The car is a popular way of transportation with a dog. Especially those who want to go on vacation with their dog appreciate the comfort of their own car. For a relaxed and safe transport of your dog in the car, there are a few basic rules to follow, which we present to you today.

Accustom your dog to the transport in the car.

Before you drive long distances with your dog, your dog should be used to the transport in the car. This includes getting used to the ride itself as well as getting used to the safety devices, e.g. the placement in a transport box or the fixation by a safety belt.

In our app, you will find exercises on how to get your dog used to both the car and the dog crate.

Avoid nausea during the car ride.

If your dog is prone to nausea and vomiting during the car ride, you can prevent it by giving your dog very little to eat before the ride or, depending on the severity of nausea, discuss the situation with your vet beforehand.

Breaks

Sufficient breaks during the journey are important not only for you as a driver, but also for your dog! Full rest areas on the highway, you should avoid with your dog, especially anxious dogs can be quickly stressed by the noise of the highway. Use the breaks to get off the highway and go for a walk, especially on long stretches. A picnic together with your dog is also a great idea.

Make sure to offer your dog enough liquid.

Drinking enough is super important for your dog especially in the summer, so keep offering him water during your trip. There are bowls that you can also put in your dog’s crate during the trip, for example, without spilling water.

Attention in the heat!

For the trip to the summer vacation, you pay attention best to the fact that you start in the early morning hours or late evening hours. Always keep in mind that your car can heat up in traffic jams or even during a long drive. Air conditioning should only be turned on in moderation to prevent eye irritation or a cold in your dog. Open windows can also irritate your dog’s eyes and cause inflammation.

We wish you a safe trip with your dog!

Your Pupy Team

Categories
Tips & Tricks

Can dogs sweat? Tips for your dog in the summer!

Summer is finally here! Temperatures are rising and we love spending time outdoors. But even though we can quickly cool off with cool ice cream or a dip in the pool, we shouldn’t forget our beloved little furry friend in the process. We at Pupy show you how to enjoy the long summer days with your dog.

Can dogs sweat?

Dogs have a few sweat glands on their paws, but they are not primarily used to regulate body temperature in the summer, but much more to leave scents. The thermoregulation in dogs is done by panting. Through breathing, air reaches the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth and cools the dog by evaporative cooling, so that the body temperature remains stable.

Drink Drink Drink!

Especially on hot days, make sure that your dog drinks enough water. About 50 ml per kg body weight is necessary under normal conditions, on hot days it can be more than double that amount! Many dogs drink sufficiently as far as water is available to them. If your dog does not drink enough, you can add a little taste to the water by mixing liverwurst paste, curd, or similar into the water or by moistening your dog’s food. Please also remember to ALWAYS take fresh water with you when you are on the road.

Never leave your dog alone in the car when the sun is shining!

Even at lower temperatures, the car can become an oven. Even at 20 degrees, the car can heat up to 27 degrees within 10 minutes, at 30 minutes the car already reaches a critical value of 36 degrees. After an hour, it is up to 46 degrees!!!

On a normal summer day, the temperatures rise to about 25-30 degrees, at these temperatures we already reach critical temperatures of about 40 degrees at 10 minutes. This is no place for your dog to be in the car! Leave him during the shopping best in the cool home!

Move the walks to the early morning and late evening hours.

Especially at lunchtime, the temperatures in the summer rise sharply and not only the ambient temperature but also the heated asphalt can harm your dog.

If you have to go outside with your dog at noon, please always stay on meadows or forest ground. You can also test the tolerance of the asphalt by holding your hand flat on the ground for about 2 minutes. Can you stand it or are you already burning your fingers?

Offer your dog plenty of cooldowns.

Whether it’s dog ice cream, a shady spot, or a dip in the dog pool. All of these things you can offer your dog to help him cool down. Special cooling mats can also be accepted by dogs. Just make sure that your dog does not lie on the mat for too long (10-20 minutes maximum) to prevent hypothermia. Also, the coat of your dog should be brushed out regularly or be shortened with certain races if necessary with the dog hairdresser according to the temperatures.

Trust your dog!

Download the Pupy app now to make small daily progress in training your dog!If your dog doesn’t want to walk, exercise, or play on a hot day, that’s perfectly fine. We are also sluggish on hot days. Let your dog decide for himself if he wants to be active or not. Offer him one of our cooldowns, but don’t force him to do one or the other.

We wish you great summer days with your dog and hope you enjoy the tips!

Your Pupy Team

Categories
Tips & Tricks Training

Dog Training – How to set gentle boundaries for your dog

Do these situations sound familiar to you? The doorbell rings and your dog immediately rushes to the front door? Does your dog immediately jump into the leash at a dog encounter? Or just won’t stay in his basket, even though you sent him there?
All these problems can be solved by setting gently boundaries. We at Pupy would like to explain to you today what a boundary is, why it is important to set boundaries, and how you can gently and successfully set boundaries for your dog.


What is a boundary? A boundary is the occupation of a space that your dog is temporarily or always (it’s up to you) not allowed to enter. The point is not to punish your dog but to establish a very clear rule.


Why are boundaries so important? Through set gentle boundaries, you give your dog orientation and security. He does not have to decide for himself how to behave in different situations, e.g. when visitors come. This ensures that your dog has less stress. In addition, boundaries can avoid conflict situations. A good example is given by dogs among themselves: If a dog lays claim to space opposite the other, e.g. his own basket, he usually makes himself big, fixes and growls at the other dog if necessary, if he approaches too close to his resting place. The other dog has now two possibilities, either he accepts the boundary and goes out of the way of the conflict or he crosses it and triggers a conflict. Most dogs will avoid the conflict and accept the other dog’s boundary. This is usually followed by an appeasing behavior e.g. licking the muzzle and turning away the dog, which is now looking for another place to rest.
How do I set gentle boundaries for my dog? Of course, we humans communicate somewhat differently than dogs, nevertheless, we can imitate certain behaviors successfully so that our dog also understands us.


Small exercise:

  1. Stand in front of your dog.
  2. Make yourself tall and walk towards him.

What happens?

  • Most dogs, now take a step back or even sit down.
  • Now turn away from your dog again and take the tension out of the situation.

What happens?

  • If your dog stays on the spot, he has understood the boundary.
  • If your dog approaches you again, you go towards him again, this time until he sits down. Then you turn away again.
  • If your dog has accepted the boundary, you can now dissolve it again by crouching down and calling your dog to you in a friendly manner and praising him verbally, and playing with him if necessary (food is not necessary here!).

Congratulations! You’ve just successfully set a boundary for your dog and also dissolved it.


How can I use this technique in everyday life? You can use this technique of setting boundaries in everyday life whenever you want to separate a certain space from your dog. This can be a real room, such as the kitchen, or a certain area, such as the area in front of the front door when visitors come, or the area in front of your feet when your dog should walk on the lax leash.


As you can see, boundaries can help you with a variety of concerns with your dog. The important thing to remember here is that there are dogs that like to test and question their boundaries. If your dog growls at you when you set boundaries, or shows any other behavior that seems unusual to you, you should definitely discuss this issue with a competent dog trainer. Feel free to contact us about this in our trainer chat in the Pupy app.

If you have any questions about this or any other topic regarding your dog, you can always contact us via our trainer chat. We look forward to getting to know you and your dog!
Have fun training with your dog!


Your Pupy Team

Categories
Training

3 reasons why your dog doesn’t want to stay in his basket.

” Go to the basket!” – and your dog jumps into the basket and stays there until you allow him to go out again.

“I wish!” you may be thinking.

Many dog owners only know the basket as a quick place to go when there’s a chew toy, or as a forcing measure when there’s a visitor, or as a punishment for unwanted behavior. And here is already the first problem why your dog does not stay long in his basket. The basket was never seen as a place of relaxation, but always in the context of an event (food, visit, punishment). However, the basket should be one thing in the first place, a place of rest and retreat. Your dog should perceive the basket positively, feel safe and be able to relax. Your dog should like to visit his basket, and voluntarily.

To help your dog learn to love his basket from the start, we have revealed the top 3 mistakes in basket training and how you can do it better.

1. the treat mistake

Most basket training exercises start with luring over food. Also in our app, we start the training this way. This is where the first mistake can happen. If you send your dog into the basket with a piece of food or chew bone and he gets up shortly afterward, you must block your dog or if he has already completely disappeared from the basket, take him by the harness or a house leash and lead him back. Back in the basket you can repeat the command “basket” and wait until your dog lies down. If your dog lies down in his basket for a while, you can throw a few pieces of dry food between his legs to reinforce the lying down.

2. rest and activity are not in balance

If we want to teach our dog to rest, at the same time it is also important to fulfill the need for exercise and mental activity. Starting the basket training without first satisfying your dog’s other needs is unfair. Who is relaxed when they are hungry, need to go to the bathroom, or haven’t moved all day? This doesn’t mean that your dog needs to be completely exhausted beforehand. You should just make sure that your dog is satisfied and has been a little physically occupied to need the rest in the basket as well.

3. giving up too quickly and not resolving the command

Really the most common mistake in basket training is that although the dog successfully goes into the basket on command and stays there for a while. But he never knows how long “basket” actually applies. Thus, your dog independently dissolves the command and will simply get up and leave the basket in case of a distraction or after a certain time. To avoid this mistake, you should teach your dog a release command, e.g. “Ok”. This command gives your dog permission to leave the basket. If you are just starting training, it is important to start with a few minutes and give the release after about 5-10 minutes. If this works well, you can extend the time to 20-30 minutes and then to 1 hour. We recommend that you always release the basket command after 1 hour at the latest.

We hope these tips will help you and that your dog’s basket will soon become his favorite place! If you want to start with the basket training right now, download the Pupy App here and watch the first training session right away!

We wish you lots of fun with your dog!

Your Pupy Team 🐶

Categories
Tips & Tricks Training

How do I spend the first days with my puppy?

Finally, the day has come. Finally, your new family member moves in with you! From now on, your life and the life of your puppy will change. You will become a family, a team and nothing will be the way it was before! Are you ready for this new life? – Then go for it!

To help you get started on the right way with your puppy, and to help you get through the first few days like a real dog pro, we at Pupy will give you all the tips you need to know for the first few days with your new furry little friend.

What do you need to prepare?

Preparation is in every situation in life, the basis for relaxation. We’ve made you a list here of everything that should be done before your puppy moves in:

Shopping List:

Also important:

  • Secure all objects, plants, chemicals, and electrical outlets from your puppy.
  • Find a good veterinarian in your area.
  • Write down the number of the veterinarian and the nearest veterinary clinic in your area.
  • Find out about the breed of your dog.
  • Find a small puppy group (max. 6 human-dog teams) and download the Pupy App to train with your dog daily and discuss your individual questions with our professional dog trainers.

The first day with your puppy:

Now the time has come and your puppy is sitting safely in his dog crate in the car next to you. Don’t worry if your little friend gets a little nauseous on the ride to his new home (it happens to even the bravest puppies!). You’re hopefully stocked up on kitchen roll by now, too. In time, your puppy will associate many great things with the car ride e.g. exciting walks, visiting his dog friends, outings, etc. If the drive to the new home takes longer than 1 hour, we recommend you take a short pee break on the way, so that no mishap happens during the drive.

When you get home, your first stop should be your dog’s new pee place. This is the place where your puppy will do his business in the future. Choose a piece of meadow that is easily accessible and where your dog can do his business undisturbed.

Now it is so far! Your puppy enters his new world. You have already checked your home the day before for its puppy safety one last time, so you can now let your puppy explore its new home with a clear conscience. It is best to take him to the room where you spend most of your time and where your dog’s basket is located. The best thing to do is to hide some welcome treats in the basket the day before. This will teach your puppy that it’s worth exploring the room and that his basket is a great place to be.

Take your time now to just watch your puppy, get to know each other, and enjoy this new beginning!

After about 2 hours, it’s time to head back to the pee place so that maybe you both can spend this day without any mishaps. If it has already happened, you know where to find your kitchen roll and the odor remover. But be careful: even if your puppy has already peed in the apartment, you should once again go with him to his peeing place.

For your puppy and also for you, this first day is especially exciting but also exhausting. Therefore, give yourself and your puppy enough space to calm down. Let your puppy sleep and rest when he retires and reflects during this time, your first impression of this exciting day. Are you proud of your puppy? What do you like most about it? Have you noticed any little peculiarities?

The first night:

At some point, even the most beautiful day comes to an end and the first night together is coming up for you and your puppy. It’s best to walk your puppy to his pee place before going to bed. Even if you don’t want your dog to sleep next to your bed, it’s important in the first few days that your puppy is allowed to sleep near you so that you can notice when your puppy needs to get loose again to release. It is best to place your dog box next to your bed (by the way, transport boxes with a roof opening https://tidd.ly/3bBo8Vd are well suited). Put your puppy in the box and give him a small treat before you go to sleep – this will become your ritual in the future and will signal to your puppy that it is now bedtime. If you notice that your puppy is getting restless at night, lift him out of the box and carry him (if possible) to the pee place of release, so that no mishap happens on the way. If something should happen – you know where the kitchen roll and the odor remover are!

By the way, it is quite normal if your puppy is a bit restless in his box at first. If he doesn’t settle down at all and you can’t even think about sleeping at some point, here’s what you can do:

  • Open the top opening of your box and hold your hand inside.
  • Keep stroking your puppy until he calms down.
  • Put yourself to sleep, leaving the top door of the box open if necessary.

Tip: If you really want to get your dog used to sleep in another room from the beginning, you will have no choice but to move your own sleeping space to where your dog sleeps for the first 1-2 weeks.

That’s it! Your first day as a human-dog team is behind you! Tomorrow is a new exciting day with lots of new impressions for your puppy. Want to know how to make this day great, download the Pupy app now and let our professional dog trainers create your personalized training plan for your pup.

We look forward to meeting you and your pup!

Your Pupy Team

Categories
Tips & Tricks

How do I become my dog’s best friend?

The dog is the best friend of humans. But how can you also be your dog’s best friend? Even if we look at dogs and humans purely objectively, we quickly notice that we are very different. But not only externally there are differences, especially in communication, dog and human speak different languages. How you can still become your dog’s best friend, we show you in this blog post.

Express yourself consistently and clearly.

Dogs understand nonverbal (body language) cues better than verbal (spoken language) ones. This is also why a dog doesn’t understand what we mean by “sit” or “down” from the start. Dogs, however, have a sense of our body language from the start. Studies have shown that dogs, compared to all other canids, have the greatest interest in humans and like to give them their attention. They want to learn to understand us! And this is exactly what we should use when living with our dog.

Pointing gestures are particularly well understood by our dogs. This is probably because dogs have learned that hands are a reliable source of positive things e.g. food, reaching for the leash announcing the walk, playing together, or the like. Puppies can respond to our pointing gestures from a very young age and even interpret them correctly most of the time. Therefore, you should be especially careful when using your hands with your puppy. Show your puppy exciting and great things that are worth following your hand for. This will be of great use to you later in training!

It is important that you consciously use pointing gestures when interacting with your dog and do not “waste” them by carelessly pointing at something that does not interest or even harm your dog. Any bad experience your dog has with your hands can contribute to your dog becoming hand shy.

Meet your dog with kindness.

We, humans, are usually taller than our dogs because of our upright gait. Dogs know full well that height and weight can determine who is the stronger and so they also assess threats. If we approach our dog by being upright and leaning forward at the same time, we present quite a threatening figure. Also, sticking out our hands from above is not a very friendly gesture to our dog. Your hand is the first human body part to fall below the individual distance (that is, the distance your dog perceives as comfortable). Some dogs resist such a gesture, threaten or even bite you. Therefore, it is important that this especially the first contact between you and your dog is on one level. Make yourself small by crouching down, slowly offer your hand to your dog and let him take the last step towards you. This is exactly what expresses respect and is considered very polite by our dogs.

Excursus Recall: We also tend to lean forward when recalling. However, it is better if we lean back slightly and even take a few steps back when we call our dog to us. This looks inviting to our dog and he feels less threatened by our height.

Stay Fair!

Dogs don’t understand exceptions! Today “yes” and tomorrow “no” your dog will not understand. Once your dog has learned what he is allowed to do and what he is not allowed to do, it is important to keep this way of education. Otherwise, you will become untrustworthy to your dog and jeopardize your relationship with each other. Some dogs even react physically to the constantly changing opinion of their human with the learned helplessness. So if your dog experiences constant failure, this failure leads to a build-up of stress hormones and can affect his ability to learn and concentrate. Therefore, consider early enough whether your dog should be allowed to cuddle with you on the sofa or whether he should lie in his basket. By the way, we are real sofa fans ☺️.

Become your dog’s best friend now!

We hope these tips help you out! For more tips and tricks, download the Pupy app now and learn exciting exercises with your dog today!

Categories
Training

How does my dog stay relaxed alone?

It is a piece of freedom to leave his dog alone at home for a few hours. Even if we would like to spend a lot of time together with our furry friend, it sometimes happens that our darling has to stay alone for a short time. Whether it is for the weekly shopping, a hobby that we pursue, where our dog can not come along or a doctor’s appointment. For such situations, your dog must learn that it is not bad to stay home alone and gain the confidence that we will always come back as his social partner.

How you manage to get your dog used to staying alone step by step you will learn in the following tips:

1. create an atmosphere for your dog in which he feels comfortable.

Set up a place for your dog where he feels comfortable and cared for. Before you even start to teach your dog step by step to stay alone, it is important that your dog feels at home. Set up a basket or a dog box, where he can also come to rest in everyday life. Make this place attractive to him by hiding great treats there or giving him a chew bone as soon as he visits this place. It is important that your dog’s resting place is in a place where he is undisturbed but still gets some of the edge of the action.

2. practice leaving your dog alone step by step.

Begin to teach your dog to stay alone as early as possible and as slowly as necessary. It is perfectly fine if you leave the room for 1-2 minutes while your dog is busy with a chewing stick in his basket. Short walks to the basement or to take out the garbage are also wonderful for the first training sessions. It is important that you do not sneak out. Your dog must be aware that you are leaving the room, because this is the only way he will trust you not to leave suddenly. You can announce your going out with a “I’ll be right back.” When your dog gets comfortable with you being gone for a short time without him, slowly start to increase the time.

Only come back when your dog is calm.

We recommend that you install a camera so that you can monitor whether your dog is calm or not. Alternatively, you can use a baby phone. It is quite normal if your dog runs around the apartment for a short time or protests with short barks and yelps. Your task is to wait for the moment when your dog is calm. Then go back to him, greet him with a “hello” and short calm petting. By getting on eye level with your dog, you prevent him from jumping on you. Sometimes it is also helpful to give him something to carry or chew on to avoid a boisterous and tumultuous greeting.

4. Don’t leave your dog alone until he has learned.

“Just a quick shopping trip, will be fine” – NO! Don’t leave your dog alone until your dog has really learned. If you leave your dog alone when he can not yet safely stay alone for a certain time, it can happen that your dog suddenly panics. By not being able to intervene in time, your dog will associate negative emotions with being left alone and, in the worst case, you will be completely back to the beginning of training. It is better if you organize a dog sitter or other caregiver who can watch your dog until your dog can safely and relaxed stay alone for more than 1 hour. Before that, you should not leave him alone, even if the supermarket is not far away, something can always come up and you stay away longer than planned after all.

5. Cover your dog’s basic needs before leaving him alone.

Make your dog physically and mentally happy before leaving him alone. Take him for another short walk, train or play with him for a few minutes. Also, make sure your dog has eaten and has access to plenty of fresh water while you’re away. For more ideas on how to keep your dog physically and mentally occupied, check out our app.

Get started now!

We wish you all the best in training your dog! In our app, you’ll find everything you need for successful training in the “Stay Alone” category. If you need additional help with Stay Alone training or have any other concerns with your dog, you can always ask your questions through our Trainer Chat. Our professional dog trainers will be happy to help you and together we will find a solution.

Categories
Tips & Tricks

3 Tips to make your dog happy.

To make your dog happy is probably the wish of every dog owner. But what determines a happy dog’s life? Is it the walks together? The right ” training”? Or the right food? Maybe also the common play with his dog friends? What does a dog need to be truly happy? With our 3 tips we give you an idea of what makes dogs really happy.

1. The secure base

Every dog needs a home where he feels comfortable. In addition to providing basic needs such as food, water, a place to retreat and health care, it is especially important to build a good relationship with your dog. This includes giving your dog protection in difficult situations, e.g. during a visit to the vet or by shielding other dogs when they harass your dog. In addition, you should distinguish yourself as a bonding partner by engaging in exciting activities. Shared experiences will bond you together and your dog will understand that it is never boring with you by his side. Another important point is that your dog can rely on you. This includes both that your dog can rely on you coming back when you leave him home alone, and that your dog gets clear rules that you enforce and keep yourself. Saying “yes” today and “no” tomorrow will confuse your dog and degrade your quality as a bonding partner. My what you say to your dog and be mindful of your commands!

2. Rest and sleep

Hard to believe but dogs need about 17-20 hours of sleep. Of course not in one piece. The dog goes through short periods of sleep during the day, which should not be interrupted if possible. These sleep periods are not only important for the recovery of your dog, but also support important memory processes, for example, in the fixation of learning processes. Information from movement sequences, events and facts, are transferred to regions of the cerebrum and processed further there. Especially emotional events are processed and stored in the deep sleep phase. In older dogs, the sleep rhythm usually changes. The sleep phases become longer and more frequent than in younger dogs. So for your dog to be happy and healthy, you should give him enough space to rest. Especially young dogs sometimes have to be forced to this happiness. Here we recommend a little forced break after a walk, training or playing together. Often it is enough to send your dog to his basket, after a short protest phase, the rest phase usually sets in very quickly and your dog begins to doze.

3. The parenting

Although parenting is already mentioned in tip #1, it has a special place. Parenting should not be confused with training. In training, behaviors are linked with commands. Parenting serves to explain the world to your dog and to integrate him into your everyday life. It is important that your dog gets the opportunity to get used to the sounds, smells and different everyday situations in your life. This starts with housetraining, continues with the sounds of the vacuum cleaner and other household appliances and ends with staying alone. Also, getting to know limits and the meaning of the word “no”, are important for a happy dog’s life.

Get started now!

For each of these 3 tips you will find suitable training content in our app. If you have any questions about this topic or have any other problems with your dog, we will be happy to help you in our trainer chat. There you can discuss your individual questions with one of our professional dog trainers.

We wish you a lot of fun while implementing the tips ☺️.

Categories
Tips & Tricks Training

What is the best way to get my puppy to stop biting?

Probably one of the most common questions that new dog owners ask us in our chat at the moment. The small pointed puppy teeth not only look cute but can also hurt quite a bit and abuse many a pair of favorite shoes rudely as a chewing bone. But don’t worry, we at Pupy will save your hands and shoes and explain step by step how your dog learns the so-called bite inhibition, and tell you the top 4 chewing alternatives to shoes and wooden tables!

Bite inhibition in play

Surely you have noticed that your dog uses his teeth in play instead of his hands. First of all, there is nothing against it. Your dog does not want to bite you viciously and usually does not have rabies when he goes over the top in the game. On the contrary, for him, the whole thing still means fun, even if the pointed milk tooth just scalps your thumb. However, since we humans really don’t have thick fur and definitely have more sensitive skin than dogs, we have to show our new family members the intensity with which they can play with us.

If you observe puppies and dogs with each other you can quickly see that they also stop each other in their eagerness by interrupting the game with a stop signal. Usually, this happens super quickly, you’ll hear a short howl, then maybe a threatening baring of teeth or brief bumping or snapping at the air. The dogs interrupt the game, sometimes briefly shaking off their stress or placating each other. Then it usually continues with the game, as if nothing had happened. As dog owners, you can imitate this behavior to some extent.

Of course, they should not now practice in front of the mirror to bare their teeth. No. What you should imitate is the short sound of pain, e.g. with an “ouch” and the interruption of the play sequence. So if your puppy has gone over the top, first make pain sound e.g. “ouch”, then interrupt the game and turn away from your puppy. Very important: Your puppy is not pushed to the ground or otherwise physically punished here. It is enough to turn away from your puppy, stand up and let him think for a moment why the game ended so abruptly. After 2-3 minutes you or your puppy can start the game again. Unlike us humans, dogs don’t hold grudges and we should learn that from them too!

Calf biting and dull 4 minutes

Another common problem in puppyhood is the “Dolle 5 minutes.” Your puppy will run around the apartment like crazy, biting curtains, the sofa, and sometimes your feet or calves. Unfortunately, getting very excited has the opposite effect. Because if you get excited, this mood can be transferred to your dog very quickly. It is better if you meet your dog in such a situation with calmness. Catch him at a moment when he comes towards you, leash him if necessary and take him to his basket or dog box. Have sent him to his place, a chewing bone or very slow petting can help to calm your dog. In general, a short house leash that you attach to your dog’s harness (1 meter and without a loop) is recommended for the first time. This way you avoid an unintentional game of tag while your dog is getting excited. Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that short racing sessions without anyone or anything getting to feel your puppy’s teeth are also perfectly fine and should not always be prevented.

Of shoe biters and furniture lovers

Beloved clothing and pieces of interior decor can also fall victim to your teething puppy. The key here is to create an alternative. Offer your dog plenty of opportunities to chew during teething, and it’s better to leave your favorite shoes by the front door or in the shoe closet during this time.

5 suitable chewing items during the change of teeth: