Lets get away from the potty threads....

What are everyone's ideas about bringing up pups? Any biggies?

Anything you concentrate on the first year?

My goal for the first year of any puppy I have is to get the puppy out in as many different areas/situations as possible to allow them to have a positive experiences in different settings.

Go to a playground and have the puppy slide down the slide, go to Costco and get fed an obscene amount of treats for watching me, go to parades where there are lots of loud sounds, go to the farmer's market where the puppy has to walk through crowded streets. Nothing that would potentially overwhelm a puppy. Instead, it is done in a fashion that creates the building of confidence in the puppy.

In theses settings, I work on attention and focus on me. Lots and lots of food for watching me. I do puppy tug stuff but I am an obedience person at the heart of the matter so I focus more on obedience type things. I find that doing this leads for a less "environmentally" sensitive dog as it ages.

As I have mentioned in the past, I will allow the puppy to interact with certain people and dogs. It is always a controlled environment where the only outcome is a positive one for the puppy.

Just my off the cuff random thoughts :-)

Ditto on all that Ingred said.

I also make sure that I include: take them on elevators, all kinds of steps (open, metal, fire escape,concrete,) slippery floors,& all kinds of surfaces, walk thu Home Depot & other stores, construction areas,climing up & down on & off anything & everything,boat docks in calm & raining weather with them pitching around, all kinds of ramps, around fire trucks, busses, trains, kids on scateboards, riding bikes, motorcycles, barns, horses, chickens, sheep, goats, etc,etc,etc, I go to school fields & play with my pups there. They get to see & hear kids running & screaming & playing ball games. They lern to 'work' in any kind of enviroment.

All I want in all this is a happy puppy enjoying the new experiences. I have people toss them treats. Have the pup give me some focus when I ask for it in all these places, just by saying their name they look at me & get treats.

To me there is really no place off limits as long as the pup is comfortable & happy. My goal is a well adjusted pup that can go anywhere with me.

My primary objective the 1 st year is bonding with my pup & playing with them. I do some early OB ie: leash walking,a 'watch me' command, a 'leave it' command, start recall work & the usual sit & down, early heeling work. All just done in a fun NO CORRECTIONS positive manner with food & toys. Oh & no chasing Sami the cat!

I'm really close to you guys too, my goal the first year is to have a happy confident pup that thinks it owns the world.

We do a lot of long line walking on my property with the line down and the pup use to sticking close to me.

Lots of happy recall foundation.

I'll play two ball and start the out. I'll start teaching them some ob for the ball/tug ala Flinks.

House manners are a must.

I will start them on some basic tracking. I think the tracking does wonders for problem solving and I think it tires them out mentally and physically. Even short tracks.

Good thread! At what point do you start expecting more with obedience, like say longer duration heeling, and longer sit/down stays?

I was at a French Ring seminar, and if I remember correctly, the trainer from France assumed that the 5-6 month old pups could hold down stays around distractions. He was very good, I learned a lot from him, and the dogs there that were trained by his methods were amazing.....I was just a bit surprised to expect so much from young pups.

Be ready to out think your puppy...stay one step ahead of them and provide them with the proper exercise and stimulation to keep them happy and content. Match your expectations with their maturity levels...it's so individual to each dog. What one of mine could do at 6 months, the other was over a year.

During the first year, I focus on socializing like crazy, basic obedience, house manners, and relationship building.

My pup will be one tomorrow...time flies so fast. I am actually thrilled to reach this point and be very happy with where he is at. Looking forward to the next year together and all it will bring!

I love all the socialization ideas above.

In addition to these things, high on my list of things to concentrate on are getting puppies comfortable with people handling any part of their body. I start young puppies on a weekly "grooming" routine that includes fooling with their ears, toes, bellies, butts, teeth, etc.

I give baths whether they need it or not--just to get used to the idea that they can be fun. And very quickly, I start tooth-brushing, cleaning ears, trimming toenails, etc. We also have lots of practice with "settle" (lay on the floor quietly on your side while I touch you all over). And calmly lay in my lap belly up for belly scratching.

There's also lots of practice taking things out of puppy mouths. (Right now, my new pup Cinco seems obsessed with small twigs. I think he's now gaming me because he knows I'll "trade him" a twig for a treat!)

I've found puppies will pretty much submit to anything if you start early enough, and make it fun for them. And I'm always proud of my dogs when they go to the vet and don't put up a fuss over any procedure. Many a vet tech has thanked me.

Yep,all that Tracy added too.

I take pups to the vets office to use the scale to ck weight. I feed raw & want to keep a weight check other then to just look at them to see where they are. I will call ahead 1x or 2x a month depending on the pup & have a vet tech spend a couple of minutes in one of the rooms playing & touching the pup & my giving some treats while we do this.

In spite of all this...my male is a very overall hypersensitive dog that is not thrilled with having his feet touched nevermind held onto. He has been that way since day one. I suspect that he was quicked as a young pup before I got him at 8 weeks. Although the breeder of course would not admit to it. I have no problem with him...but it took alot of work & time to get him to be ok with it. He would definately be a groomers nightmare!