The Puppy Listener
An indispensible guide to raising your new puppy from the author of The Dog Listener. From teething to training, this book follows the development of your puppy from new pet to best friend.In The Puppy Listener Jan Fennell presents a simple-to-follow yet detailed handbook for puppy owners. Whether this is your first pup or you are a seasoned dog-owner, the hints and tips in this concise guide are valuable and well informed.This handy guide follows the life of your puppy from weaning to walking. Jan Fennell covers every aspect of caring for your new best friend – from introducing a puppy into its new home and handling it in public, to dealing with behavioural problems. With detailed sections on everything from exercise to diet, there are problem-solving guides dealing with worries such as biting or anxiety.Once again Jan illustrates her points with entertaining and inspiring real-life cases from her own work with damaged and delinquent dogs. Her love of animals is contagious and she inspires owners to persevere with their pups and show them who is boss.
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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.
