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Is Too Much Too Soon?

 Yeay, got a new dog, a puppy?! Let's hope for the best that it's going to work without fail and be obedient. :)

A few moments later... :(

Dogs are not robots and are not programmed to work as dogs do. Well, they do work as dogs do, and dogs live by patterns. They learn to recreate patterns and this is how they form their behavior.

With puppies as they grow into their mature size, we like to see them as being big already where they are still pups and still learning and growing.

We put too much expectation in what we want them to be able to do such as walking on leash close to us, playing tug and fetch, being able to socialize well. We forget that this is the time where a lot of patterns are being imprinted and too much pressure too soon can diminish the dogs drive.

We want to keep the dogs drive as this will help them learning and thriving, when we want to stop certain behaviors we need to look at it from the dogs perspective and see what is driving the behavior. By nurturing this in a positive manner we can positively build a strong association and still keep their natural drive intact.

Happy Dogging!

JK

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