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August 13, 2023

We just picked up a 17 week old puppy today and he lunged at our toddler three times. Is there anything specific or tips we can start right away?

Full Question:

Hello! I wanted to say first thank you for answering a previous question I had sent to you. We just picked up a 17 week old puppy today. Our puppy ended up lunging at our toddler three times and one was at the face. We’ve never encountered this before and don’t know what to do. We have a crate for their space and keeping him on a leash (which I’ve seen done on leerburg videos). Is there anything specific or tips you’ve found helpful that we can start right away? Plan is for our pup to be on leash now in house and spending some time in crate to hopefully relax and have our son hand treats to him. Also so I can learn from you all, would Michael Ellis course on raising a puppy be a good course? Was thinking relationship prior to all this but now thinking I need a puppy one. Thanks in advance!

Cindy's Answer:

What kind of puppy do you have, what are your training goals long-term?

Do you have prior dog experience?

For now, keep the puppy on leash or in a crate/ex pen so he can't continue this behavior.
To expect a new 17 week old pup to interact appropriately with a toddler on the first day is pushing it a bit. Don't have your son hand treats to him or try to pet him right now, you first need to allow the puppy to settle in and learn about his new environment.

If you can give me more specific information I will be able to better guide you to the proper course/videos.

User Response:

Hello he’s a beagle rat terrier mix. Goals were to do general training first and work into healing and maybe agility after that.

Dog experience this will be our third pup. We currently have an adult shepherd lab mix and also had a blue heeler. Both are trained decently by my wife and I (I use leerburgs training methods for the heeler).

What is best way to have our pup learn about his environment and our son? Researching leerburg and seems that the pup watching from expen/crate is the way to go?

Additional info is we don’t have formal training other than what have found in research. Mine is mostly from Michael Ellis and other videos provided by leerburg.

Thank you!

Cindy's Answer:

I would use an expen as much as possible. I'd suggest Your Puppy 8 weeks to 12 months for guidelines. This shows how we raise puppies in our home.

The Ellis puppy course is very good as well and I suggest both to all of my puppy clients if it's in their budget. There's a bit of overlap in material but the Ellis puppy course has a lot of content , it's almost 7 hours of info.

User Response:

Perfect! I’ll start with yours then I believe. Is there a time period to expect for this happen over? And is there a good spot to start in the course for my current situation?

Cindy's Answer:

There is no timeline when it comes to dog training/puppy raising as they are all individuals and it also depends on the consistency of your management of the puppy and the environment.

I'd start at the beginning, always.

Even if you feel you know the material, you may notice something new or that you've forgotten.

User Response:

Perfect sounds great, I really appreciate your help!

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