THE PUPPY LISTENER
Understanding and caring for your new puppy
JAN FENNELL
I dedicate this book to the dogs I have had the joy of sharing my life with, and thank them for their patience which made it possible for me to really understand them
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 - What is a Dog?
Chapter 2 - Your Puppy’s First Weeks of Life
Chapter 3 - Choosing your Dog
Chapter 4 - Making your New Puppy Feel at Home
Chapter 5 - A Healthy Diet: The Essentials
Chapter 6 - The Foundation Stones of Training
Chapter 7 - Grooming: The Key to Good Health
Chapter 8 - Behavioural Problems and Solutions
Chapter 9 - Health Checks in the Early Weeks
Chapter 10 - The Home VET: Checking your Dog’s Health
Chapter 11 - Pushing the Boundaries
Chapter 12 - Understanding your Dog’s Body Language
Chapter 13 - Monitoring the Physical Changes in your Puppy
Conclusion
Further Information
Index
Also by Jan Fennell
Copyright
Introduction
For sheer joy and excitement, there is nothing quite like a new puppy. The pleasure these bouncing, bright-eyed balls of energy can bring into your life is immense, beyond words at times. I know this from personal experience.
As someone who has been surrounded by dogs since an early age, I’ve been lucky enough to have shared my life with dozens of puppies. They have come in all shapes and sizes, all sorts of breeds, and they have all been memorable canine characters. Many of them have provided me with some of my happiest memories as a dog owner.
As anyone who has ever owned a puppy knows, however, introducing a young dog into your home is never, ever easy. In fact it can be the precise opposite of that – it can be hard work. A puppy’s energy and exuberance can produce mayhem if let loose in the wrong direction, as any dog owner who has witnessed a hyper-active pup run amok in their living room will testify.
So it’s been no surprise to me that, ever since I began helping owners to understand and communicate with their canine companions more than a decade ago, puppies have always been high on the agenda. Indeed, while running my courses, offering consultations or giving talks around the world, questions about living with puppies arise more often than any other dog-related issues. Owners want to know about every aspect of puppy ownership: from choosing a new dog to introducing it to the home, from vaccinating to worming, grooming to training.
The answers to their diverse questions vary, of course, but there is always a common thread. Almost always I discover that the roots of any problems lie in the fact that owners have made mistakes at the beginning of their lives with their puppies. They have got off to the wrong start.
In their defence, I have to say that it is very easy to go wrong. The first six months are, without doubt, the most important in a young dog’s life, and they are also the most challenging for an owner. For all their innocence and pure charm, puppies are not as straightforward as they seem.
SHOW ME THE DOG OF SIX MONTHS …
Comparing the age of a dog to that of a human is not straightforward. The old rule of thumb that one dog year is equivalent to seven human years isn’t really accurate. But it is safe to say that the first six months of a puppy’s life is roughly the equivalent of between four and seven human years. In other words, it’s a significant part of their life.
Think how important these years are in forming a young child’s personality. ‘Show me the boy of seven and I will show you the man,’ the old saying goes, and it is the same with a puppy. Show me a puppy of six months old, and I will show you the dog it is going to become. This is why this period is so crucial for you, the dog owner.
Good dog ownership is always about getting off to the right start, no matter how old your new dog, but this is especially true with puppies. Your puppy needs to learn to eat, sleep and go to the toilet properly. It needs to learn how and when to play, how to interact with its human companions and – crucially – how to listen to those companions when required. Most importantly of all, it must understand its place in the human world in which it lives. And it must know how to accept you, its owner, as the leader of its domestic pack.
The lessons a puppy learns during these six months will remain with it for the rest of its life. They will dictate what kind of dog it will become in adulthood. So if you, as an owner get things right now, you will be able to look forward to a happy, contented and hopefully long relationship with your new dog. If you get them wrong, on the other hand, your problems are only just beginning.
This book is a guide to the first six months of your puppy’s life. It will tell you what is going on physically and mentally in the dog’s body and mind and it will take you step-by-step through the important stages you, as an owner, will have to deal with – in particular, from eight weeks of age when the vast majority of you will be taking charge of your new puppy.
Of course, there is nothing more exhilarating and life-affirming than spending time with the buoyant force of fun-loving nature that is a puppy. Puppyhood should be a time for both dog and owner to enjoy their lives together. Not to do so would be a crime! So there is also plenty of information about how to play and have fun with your puppy too. I hope this book helps you make sure that life is as long and happy as it possibly can be.
Jan Fennell, Lincolnshire, October 2010
Chapter 1 - What is a Dog?
To communicate with your puppy properly you need to understand what makes it tick. And to understand that, you must first understand the answer to what might seem like a simple question: what is a dog? The answer is more complicated than you might imagine. But it will explain everything you need to know about the animal that is about to become your new best friend.
Of all the animals on earth, the dog is by far man’s oldest and closest domestic partner. Our remarkable friendship dates back some 14,000 years. It was around then, so scientists believe, that wolves were first taken in by humans living in early communities. It was a good deal for both sides, as they both got something out of the new alliance. Wolves provided humans with their superior senses, which gave them an early warning system as well as powerful hunting and tracking abilities. Man provided their new partners with easy access to that precious commodity, food.
As the wolf learned to live in close proximity to humans, it evolved into a different kind of animal. It no longer had to rely on hunting and killing other animals for food. It amended its behaviour to gain acceptance in human society. As its diet changed from raw meat to human leftovers, its skull and teeth became smaller relative to the rest of its body. Its brain shrank too. Slowly the wolf became the first species to be domesticated by mankind. The wild animal became a tame one; Canis lupus became Canis familiaris.
In the thousands of years that have passed since then, selective breeding on the part of