Your new puppy has an insatiable appetite for exploring, learning, and testing their boundaries. The world can be a dangerous place for such an enthusiastic young pup, and to keep them safe it is crucial to teach them some basic behaviors; we call them “puppy manners”. Teaching your puppy a few good manners will help facilitate a lasting bond between you while nipping any potential unwelcome behaviors in the bud.
What Are Puppy Manners?
While it would be a stretch to ask your puppy to use a napkin to wipe their chin after a meal, puppy manners are just what you might think they would be: waiting patiently while their food is being prepared, not jumping up and accosting visitors, refraining from scarifying the door when they want to go outside, and generally maintaining a level of decorum around everyday family activities that may excite them.
While it’s true that some dogs have a disposition more suited for doggy politeness, every pup has the potential to be well behaved and pleasantly mannered. Now that we’ve established what puppy manners are, let’s dig into why they might be important.
Why Are Puppy Manners Important?
Teaching your puppy manners has long term benefits since that cute pup will become a well-behaved adult soon enough. Also, good manners can also save your dog’s life. Here’s an example:
You have a guest at your door, and your dog is incredibly excited about it. As soon as you open the door, they go bounding out and, in their elation, they continue down the steps and into the street. If you live on a busy road, this could be disastrous. Luckily for you, your dog, and the passing drivers, your pup has been trained to sit at the threshold and wait patiently. A little bit of manners has gone a long way here. Not only did the dog stay safe, but your guest also did not get bombarded by an aggressively happy wet nose.
Let’s look at another example, only this one is much more mundane, and therefore more an everyday situation.
It’s just about dinnertime for the family, and you have a hungry dog who’s constantly underfoot. You’ve had a few close calls and have so far managed to avoid tripping over her, but the kitchen chaos is distracting. Sure enough, once that casserole comes out of the oven, the furry obstacle at knee level proves to be too much, and now the family has a new story to tell at Thanksgiving dinner.
Let’s back that up a bit and give that puppy some manners. Instead of wandering from pair of legs to pair of legs looking for a handout, she is calmly and patiently sitting by her dinner bowl. You get the casserole out and onto the table safely, the kids can start their usual complaining before they have even sat down, and you can take a few minutes to take care of the pup before the dinner table massacre begins. What a difference!
The Calm K9 Teaches Puppy Manners
Curtis and Meredith of The Calm K9 have been teaching puppies young and old proper manners for over 20 years. Give us a call at 321-442-1609 today and see how our family of dogs can help your best friend be an even better fit into your life and your family.