Our 10 week old has been with us for two weeks now and overall things are going well. My question is, is it okay to allow him to wander around the garden and essentially do his own thing? We tend to try to stay inside most of the time, to help toilet training, but it’s been so hot in the UK that it’s pretty unbearable inside in the afternoons, so we’ve been decamping to the garden for a few hours. When he’s not sleeping he wanders around, as we have reasonably sized garden with lots of “interesting” things to investigate. Obviously, I keep and eye on him to ensure he’s coming to know harm... but I worry that he’s “self rewarding” so creating a training issue down the line. Certainly, he’s not particularly responsive when he’s pottering around chewing plants, digging etc. Or do I just need to chill out a bit and let him be a puppy? I do find modern puppy raising a little stressful because there are so many dos and do nots. When I was a kid, it seemed to me that dogs kind of raised themselves! (I know that’s not true, BTW, but perhaps you know what I mean). All thoughts and reassurance most welcome! Tony
Hello, I always tend to get my dogs in Spring so I can spend lot of time outside with them. We have a good space and they are able to explore their world safely. I would always supervise and use it as a training opportunity to do lots of recalls if she started doing something I didn’t want her to. So, I would definitely relax a bit and enjoy the outside together. My current dog is the best behaved, sweet, delightful dog you could wish for, so it certainly did her no harm.
congratulations on your new puppy Tony! I really wouldn’t worry too much, if anything I’d have thought exploring your garden would be good mental stimulation and also he’s learning not to be completely reliant on you for attention! he’s only little and will have a short attention span so let him get his energy out playing then do some 10 min training sessions in between . It’s been absolutely roasting here in the UK this week so just do what you can when you can without over heating ( yourself as well as puppy!) We have a 14 week old and have spent far more time outside in the garden than inside and when we’re inside the patio door is left open.. he comes in and out on his own and we just watch out to praise every time he wees and poos outside and we’ve not had one accident indoors yet right from when we picked him up at 8 weeks. Watch out in case there’s any plants that could harm him if eaten and he is looking for trouble try and distract him.. even if it’s not for structured training he’ll soon learn he gets more attention for not digging up the garden than he gets out of it. As for the weather, we’re finding frozen carrots to be an absolute winner in our household, it keeps him entertained for a while, helps keeps his mouth busy and keeps him cool and out of trouble at the same time. (Although next week it looks like we’ll be looking for plenty of indoor activities given all the rain and thunder Storms) I agree with EDP, relax a little, keep and eye out and train a little when you have a good opportunity to. Enjoy your little pup
Thanks for the replies so far, and for the reassurance. Well done on no accidents indoors! We were running at a rate of a puddle indoors a day but we've now had 2.5 days with no issues! Funny you should mention plants as just last night I realised that rhododendrons are highly toxic, plus we have a fair amount of ivy around the garden, so I've been out and cut the rhododendrons back so that he can't reach leaves and ripped up a lot of ivy (more still to do, though). Is this your first puppy? Are you finding he's turned your world upside down?! I think to an extent I'm still in the "oh my god, what have we done" phase but I'm sure it will soon pass!
It is our first puppy together but I’ve grown up with Labrador’s and remember know hard they are at all stages of growing up! I remember countless times thinking ‘when will this bit be over?’ Be it the biting stage, the not listening stage, the over excitement over everything stage, the counter surfing stage and on and on. I throughly expected it to be hard work and know the first year or so are pretty tough and you need to be on game but it’s so rewarding every time they learn something new! my partner has had rescue dogs before but not a puppy so it’s more of a culture shock to him! You should read the post about puppy blues.. you’ll soon learn you’re not alone with any worries! Well done on the last few days, it sounds like he’s getting there!! These little victories are worth everything! All the training advice can be a bit over whelming but I would say train the dog that’s in front of you, try a few things and do what works best for you and pup.... but don’t beat yourself up about him finding soil more exciting than you, ours would ditch us in a heartbeat for the chance of some cat poo and a leaf!
Hi Tony, I am a big fan of structure for puppies, but I recognise that it's important to be able to relax and enjoy your puppy. It's also true that some puppies, if left too much to their own devices, may take a little longer to form a relationship with their main caregiver. It depends really on what you want for your dog in the future. If you'd like to train your dog to quite a high standard, you'll find that easier if you can set aside chunks of time each day to engage your dog in some simple puppy games. And to develop these into short, fun, training sessions. Puppies do need to learn basic skills like recall in a structured way. So it's important not to expect (or ask) your puppy to respond to you when they are distracted and to make sure all your early training efforts take place in a place that is free from any distractions. Bear in mind that some puppies can get into a habit of swallowing the stuff that they find and chew on in the garden, sticks and stones etc. That's a pretty normal feeling for a new puppy parent - it's a massive life change. Feel free to shout if you have any questions.
Thanks again, Pippa. I've been doing recall training on a daily basis plus heel and lead work. I probably need to step the pure games, though. Are sticks a big problem? Our garden is absolutely littered with them - should I be making more effort for him to avoid them? (Heaven knows how, though - seriously our garden has billions of them as we have a fair few trees.
