Puppy Timeline

Pup comes home!

Things are going to be a little hectic. There is a ton to do!

• Recommended Medical - Start dog on Heartworm preventative and flea and tick preventative. Remember that Heartworm and flea and tick preventative is important for a dog year round.
• Starting socializing ASAP! Don’t miss the critical socialization window. We recommend that all puppies meet 100 people by 14 weeks of age.
• Teach your puppy to calmly accept you handling his entire body (especially mouth, ears, paws and rear end).

• This exercise needs kept up while your dog grows so it is important to create a schedule for handling your dog’s mouth, ears, paws.

• Teach your puppy to calmly accept you handling his food, bones and other resources.

• This exercise needs kept up while your dog grows so it is important to create a schedule for handling your dog’s food, bones and other resources.

• Determine House Rules

• Sit down as a family and determine what you expect from your puppy. Being consistent from the start makes the dog’s entire life so much easier. Common things to discuss:
  • Will the dog be allowed on furniture?
  • Do you want your dog to jump on members of the family?
  • When is it okay for your dog to bark?
  • What is the dog allowed to play with and what items are off limits (kids’ toys, etc.)?
  • Are there any rooms the dog will not be allowed in?
  • Explain to the whole family that a dog should never place its teeth on human skin. This is one of the few rules there should be no exceptions to.

• Potty Training

• 8 Weeks
  • Make sure you have a properly-sized crate that can be used any time you are not able to watch the pup. The crate should be tall enough that your dog can stand fully erect with his head held high and wide enough that he can comfortably turn around. You may need to use a divider to shorten the length of the crate for potty training.
  • You can have the dog wear a leash around the house and keep it in your hand when needed. This helps you concentrate on the dog and eliminate accidents.
  • Plan on waking up in the middle of the night to let the dog out. If you go to bed at 9 and wake up at 6, midnight would be ideal. Alternative could be that one family member stays up late and other gets up early.
  • The puppy should be taken out first thing in the morning.
  • Take the puppy out immediately after each meal. This is a typical time for a bowel movement in a puppy.
  • When the puppy is out around the house take him out once per hour. If there are still accidents decrease the time interval.
• 9 Weeks
  • Try to eliminate getting up in the middle of the night. Keep in mind that larger dogs generally are able to hold their bladder longer.
  • Try and cut back on how much you keep the dog on leash in the house.
  • If accidents are limited, begin increasing the 1 hour interval by 10 minutes per day.
• 10 Weeks
  • Begin to increase the dog’s freedom around the house and use the leash less and less.

Helpful Resources:

• Socializing Your Puppy
• Housebreaking Article
• Choosing a Training Methodology
• Adopted Dog Syndrome

• Start focusing on item discernment.
  • Teach your puppy what he is and is not allowed to play with. Take things away that he shouldn’t have and replace with something he is allowed to chew on.
  • Keep socializing! Hopefully your puppy has met about 75 people by now. Keep in mind it is important to find people with different characteristics. Examples: Wearing a hat or sunglasses, different skin colors, kids, and adults.
  • Introduce your puppy to the concept of heel in and around your home.
  • Teach sit and stay in the home if your puppy is ready.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises 3 times per week.
• Common Vaccinations - DAP shot which protects against Distemper, Adenovirus and Parvo.

• Item Discernment
• Proofing Dog Obedience, it’s not just for baking!

• Socialization in Public.
  • Now that your puppy has all of his shots you can continue the socialization process in new locations that were off-limits before (pet stores, neighborhood parks etc.).
  • Set up some puppy playdates with your friends' dogs
  • Heel should be a huge focus in your training. We want your puppy to happily walk on a loose leash.
  • Advance the sit and stay command outside and begin the down and come commands.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises 3 times per week.
• Common Vaccinations - Rabies and DAP.

• Daily Walks
• Hide and Seek

• Most puppies will shed their puppy coat (depending on breed).
• Master sit and stay around heavy distractions.
• Master down and stay around heavy distractions.
• Begin off-leash come command.
  • Remember that this command takes a lot of time and a lot of “proofing” to really master. You cannot trust your dog off leash (without a fence or training lead) until you have properly proofed the command through every distraction.
• Continue socializing.
  • At this stage, socializing should still be a huge focus.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises 3 times per week.

• The Advantages of In Home Dog Training

• This is the start of adolescence and you need to be watchful! Your cute puppy is growing up and could develop new undesirable behavior.
• Closely watch how your dog accepts new people into the home. This is the point in life where some dogs will welcome being petted from strangers outside but act more standoffish in “their territory”.
• Closely watch how your dog engages with same-sex dogs. Adolescence is when young dogs are most likely to develop aggression towards other dogs and it will generally be towards dogs of the same sex.
• Remember that all of your previous socialization was critical, but you can’t stop yet!
• Continue your formal obedience.
  • You should have fully proofed all the commands by this point, but now you should run through your proofing checklist to see how your dog is performing his commands as an adolescent. Run through the checklist once per week.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises twice per week.

• Run through your entire proofing checklist once per week.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises on a weekly schedule.

Helpful Resources:

• Run through your entire proofing checklist every other week.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises on a weekly schedule.

• Run through your entire proofing checklist once per month indefinitely. Not only does this prevent training issues from creeping up on your, but it a great time to bond with your dog while giving him physical and mental exercise.
• Continue your body and resource handling exercises on a bi-weekly schedule.