FEATURE/PuppySmarts Helps You Understand Your New Best Friend.

Feature Editors/Business Editors

FEATURE...

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2004

Cold wet noses, wagging little tails and soft warm eyes beg you to take them home. But puppy love can turn into frustration for many new puppy parents. The first thing that gets your attention is potty training. You enthusiastically take the puppy out for a little walk and the puppy comes back inside only to go to the bathroom in your house. Frustrated, you break down and buy the puppy a crate, thinking we will have more control. Then the puppy starts going to the bathroom inside the crate, and you have an even bigger mess to clean.

What happens next? The puppy starts biting us. This is not what you had in mind from your new best friend!

So what's a new puppy owner to do? First understand what happened. The walk confused the puppy. Puppies love their walks so much that they may forget to go to the bathroom ... until they come inside. Walks are great as a reward after doing their business, not before. Instead, put your puppy on a leash and take her to the place where you would like her to eliminate. Stand there and wait. Once she relieves herself, mark the behavior with a cue like "YES" and reinforce the correct behavior with a treat as soon as the puppy is finished. Now you can take your puppy for a walk as a reward.

With a biting puppy, grabbing his or her muzzle, giving a shake and saying "NO" is an act of aggression in puppy language. You're trying to correct what you interpret as aggression with aggression, again confusing your puppy. Instead, try ignoring the puppy or isolating him. This sends a clear message to the puppy that biting ends whatever game he thought he was playing. He'll soon connect that if he plays the "biting game," he'll be left alone.

Scott Line, DVM, Ph.D. and board certified veterinarian behaviorist, said, "When a person grabs a puppy's muzzle, it could definitely be interpreted as an aggressive act or threat by the puppy. That could lead to negative reactions by the puppy, such as defensive aggression, offensive aggression, or even just a fearful reaction."

Socialization is also extremely important to create a well-mannered puppy. Training classes held by a knowledgeable trainer can help with most of your problems. If a class is not available or convenient for you, there are other options, but socializing your puppy is a must.

There are a number of good books that discuss the how and why of behavior training and that promote reward-based training without harsh corrections. There are also video training lessons that can demonstrate the proper methods in a way that make it easy and even fun to train your puppy. One good example of these is PuppySmarts.

They offer lessons that are under 10 minutes in length that will help you clearly communicate your expectations to your puppy and make training fun. Lessons demonstrate the techniques with untrained puppies, untrained puppy parents and even children in a simple step-by-step approach. Available on CD-ROM for your computer, VHS or DVD, the lessons cover potty & crate training, biting, jumping, chewing and the good manners of sit, down, stay and come.

Training is as much about training the owners as it is about training the puppy. PuppySmarts video lessons give you something you cannot get from a book; you can actually see the techniques demonstrated using untrained puppies and puppy parents. You will even see children training their puppies using the methods in these videos.

Recommended by veterinarians, praised by the Humane Society of the United States and animal behaviorists, these new training videos will help you communicate with your puppy in ways you will both understand. The tips mentioned above are for two very common behaviors. These are just a couple of ways PuppySmarts can help you build a better relationship, while giving your puppy clear directions on what your expectations are.

So many relationships are lost due to lack of communication, whether with your two-legged friends or new four-legged friends. Raising and training a puppy can be a wonderful and rich experience, a special time to grow and learn from one another. Make the most of this important time with your new best friend by getting the help you need. Check out the behavior resources available to you or visit www.puppysmarts.com for more information on their video training lessons.

-- Approximately 5 million puppies are adopted or sold every year

in this country and within 18 months, more than 25 percent of

them will be surrendered to shelters, half of which will be

euthanized.

NOTE TO EDITOR: Linda White has been training dogs for 27 years. She is a certified Tellington Touch practitioner and helps people with canine behavior through classes and personal training.

PuppySmarts is an outgrowth of her experience with thousands of puppies in her puppy kindergarten classes where she taught owners how to train puppies as young as 8 weeks old. She only uses reward-based positive reinforcement methods and does not believe in harsh corrections. She believes the training experience should be fun for parents and puppies alike and encourages understanding and communication between canines and humans.