Pet Advice

Blythman and Partners - Veterinary Practices in Tyne And Wear

Preparing your home Bringing your new kitten/ cat home for the first time is incredibly exciting. We must however take into consideration how stressful this transition…

Calmness should be encouraged whilst at home in everyday life. It allows puppies to switch off and can prevent over arousal. To encourage this behaviour, you can create a safe space using a blanket or small bed placed onto the floor. Then sprinkle treats onto the bed without giving eye contact so they do not associate you with the treats but the bed instead. Once they associate the bed with good things wait until they show calm behaviours before rewarding like laying down/ resting head. This concept of using a bed and encouraging calmness would benefit you at home and once old enough it can be taken outside to cafes/ pubs/ picnics if you wish. When your puppy shows desired behaviours, such as settling without being asked or taking themselves to bed they should be rewarded, using the ‘reward nothing’ technique.

Puppy Advice: Calmness

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Mental enrichment should be a huge part of your puppies’ everyday life as it helps build a happy and more confident puppy. It can also help with unwanted behaviours by giving them an outlet to express natural behaviours. Digging and shredding are natural behaviours for some breeds therefore they must be given an outlet to express these behaviours in a safe way. There are 6 categories to providing enrichment: Toy – Engage in toy play to help strengthen your bond using a flirt pole/ tug toy. Having a toy rotation system is a great way to prevent puppies getting bored. Food – Mealtimes should never be wasted in a bowl whilst their brain is developing. Encourage them to use their nose to search for their food, try scatter feeding on grass or hiding in a rolled-up blanket. Sensory – This is to stimulate their senses, sight/ touch/ sound/ taste, and smell. Creating a scent garden of dog safe herbs are a great way of stimulating several senses at home. Doggy TV and bubbles are also easy to provide whilst they are in between vaccinations and not yet ready to venture into the wide world. Physical – Making your puppies living space fun and exciting giving them outlets to perform certain behaviours such as a giving them a dig pit/ tunnels and playing scent games. Cognitive – Problem solving/ brain games. Using interactive toys or puzzle feeders are a great way to keep them thinking, allowing them to gain confidence. Social – Spending time with people/ play mates and new environments. Dogs are social animals and by allowing social time it can improve their communication skills and reduces the chances of reactivity and fear.

Puppy Advice: Enrichment

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

The most common outdated training advice is to put your hands into a dog’s food bowl when they are eating. This can be incredibly harmful to your dog’s training and cause resource guarding in later life. The best advice is to approach your puppy when they are eating and only ‘add’ food to their bowl. They will then associate human approaching whilst eating = more food/ rewards, creating positive associations. With toys it is important to build a solid ‘leave it’ command. Start by holding food in your hand and make a fist, hold it near and allow your puppy time to sniff. When they move away immediately reward by allowing them to have the treat in your hand, repeat until they no longer approach your closed hand. The next step is to introduce your command ‘leave it’ in a very happy tone and present your fist, if they back away reward, if they sniff or paw withdraw your fist and try again. Start to increase the duration between ‘leave it’ and the reward. Once they are repeatedly following command you can add in toys. It’s important not to chase your puppy if they have something they shouldn’t. This will only turn into a game and become a learnt behaviour. Instead, you should ignore and swap the item for something better.

Puppy Advice: Taking Items

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Puppy Advice: Clicker Training

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Puppy Advice: Jumping Up & Barking

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Puppy Advice: Walking On Lead

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

In most situations, a puppies first experience of travelling by car is being taken away from their mother and placed in an unfamiliar environment. This can be quite overwhelming and therefore important to introduce travelling slowly whilst creating positive associations. This can be done initially by feeding tasty treats whilst in a static car or allowing them to enjoy a stuffed kong. It is important your puppy is safe whilst travelling - using a crate or dog barrier is advised. If this is not possible and your puppy will be travelling on the seat of the car, a secured seat belt harness must be worn. A harness can take time getting used to so allow your puppy the appropriate time to desensitise before a real journey. Short/ frequent journeys are a great way of allowing your puppy time to desensitise to the movement and sounds of the car. Lots of praise and rewards should be given when travelling quietly and calmly. Some puppies may develop travel sickness. If all the above does not work, please speak to your vet.

Puppy Advice: Travelling

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Ground rules must be in place when young children are involved. Supervision of young children with puppies is crucial as both may show inappropriate behaviour. They can often be very unpredictable and scare your puppy. Establish basic rules: Supervision when holding the puppy Affection should not be forced (Puppies rarely enjoy being hugged/kissed and instead feel intimidated) No hyper activities when the puppy is around. (This can cause over arousal and lead to nipping/ mouthing) Never disturb a sleeping puppy No sudden movements or loud noises No sharing food Encourage: Hide and seek games (Bond building) Basic training (Sit and stay) Scatter feeding (Encourages calmness) It is important to note that puppies not only need physical exercise but also mental enrichment. Mental enrichment is just as important in tiring your puppy.

Puppy Advice: Children

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Puppy Advice: Sleep

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Puppy Advice: Play Biting/Chewing

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

It is important to begin desensitising your puppy to human touch the moment you bring them home. Initially start by touching areas your puppy is comfortable with, slowly building up to common problem areas such as ears, paws and mouth. Use plenty of treats to reinforce positive associations. Progress at the pace of your puppy. If they move away whilst being touched, you should go back a step and take a slower approach. This theory can also be used to desensitise your puppy to teeth brushing or grooming. Introduce items and allow them to investigate whilst rewarding any engagement. Then start to touch your puppy with said item whilst continuing to reward them. Short but frequent bursts of training is recommended and remember not to rush the process.

Puppy Advice: Handling

Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time for all involved. The first few months of life for a puppy are key to shaping their…

Pet Advice

Blythman & Partners Ltd – Gosforth, Gateshead, Wallsend, Westerhope,Hebburn, South Shields, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Whitburn

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