How to Raise the Perfect Dog (13 page)

Eliza at home

THE PUPPY-READY HOME

“When someone is buying a puppy, I always give them lots of information about how to prepare their houses,” says Diana Foster.

When people aren’t prepared, it’s a recipe for disaster. And it’s totally unnecessary. It’s as if a woman were pregnant for nine months; she goes to the hospital to have the baby; she comes home, but there’s nothing ready. There’s no crib. There’s no playpen. There’s no booster seat or diapers. So she just leaves the infant on the floor. That may sound extreme, but there really are people who buy a puppy on a whim and that’s the kind of thing they do. Then they wonder why their house is a wreck and they have all these behavior problems. They blame the dog for being out of control. I make sure I never let one of my German shepherd puppies go to someone who’s not prepared.

Puppy-proofing a home doesn’t have to be a monumental project, especially if you keep your puppy in a confined space for the first few weeks, gradually expanding her territory more and more as she becomes housebroken and starts to feel more at home in your family pack. Finding a secure, limited space in which to keep your puppy—at least during her early months—makes it easier for her to internalize your rules, boundaries, and limitations, gives her a sense of order and structure, and protects your home from accidental destruction. Chris and Johanna Komives prepared an area in their back hallway (with a dog door to the backyard) where they put Eliza’s crate. In our home, all new dogs—including Junior, Blizzard, Angel, and Mr. President—began their residency in their kennels, in our large, well-ventilated garage, with an open door to our side yard and a wall of baby gates as an additional boundary. Of course, our puppies will be staying in that garage with the balanced adult dogs already living there. I don’t ever recommend leaving a young puppy crated alone in a garage or a distant, closed-off room, simply because being so completely isolated from the sounds and smells of a living pack will be very upsetting for her.

Diana Foster recommends that families ignore her German shepherd puppies for the majority of their first days home but put their crates in a far corner of a family room or kitchen, where they can feel a part of the pack even while not engaging in the family’s activities. This teaches them that excitement in the family doesn’t mean
they
have to respond with excitement, a vital skill for powerful-breed puppies that will grow up to be large, brawny dogs. A mudroom or laundry room just off a kitchen makes an ideal place for this kind of setup. Some people bring their puppy’s kennel into their bedroom to minimize her loneliness for the first few nights, then decide to leave it there indefinitely. The place you choose should be an area of which you are not obsessively house-proud, so if an accident does occur, you won’t lose your temper and blame your puppy for a mistake that is not her “fault.”

Diana Foster’s crate setup for her Thinschmidt German shepherds

I am the world’s biggest fan of baby gates, be they metal, wire, wood, or plastic. I keep lots of them folded up in my garage and use them for a variety of purposes—as barriers, as “map” boundaries to show where I want the dogs to go, and even as behavioral enrichment tools in obstacle courses for the regular challenges I use to fulfill my dogs’ need to work. It’s important to remember, however, that a clever puppy can easily push or leap over a lightweight baby gate. It’s up to you to set an invisible boundary as well as a physical one wherever you choose to keep your dog.

Spot Check

Although you should always be supervising your puppy in the more open areas of your home, as her confidence grows she will be driven to explore most everything in her immediate environment. Accidents can happen, no matter how diligent you are. That’s why it’s important to do a puppy-proofing of each room before your bring your littlest pack member home. Pass through each room, checking for loose wires or electrical cords that might appear all too chewable, and move them out of sight or tape them down. Make sure that the food in your kitchen is put away on high shelves or in sealed containers; make sure your garbage can has a firm lid and is out of reach. Put a latch on any low cabinets containing cleaning products, in both the kitchen and bathroom. Examine your bathroom floors and low shelves and clear them of any human grooming products—soaps, shampoos, shaving lotions, loofahs or sponges—that might prove to be temptations. Keep the toilet bowl down at all times. In our garage I have high shelves, locked cabinets, and sealed plastic containers that house any loose odds and ends I don’t want the dogs to get near.

Houseplants are a huge enticement—dogs are attracted to anything natural, so the scent of the soil and leaves will be very inviting to them. Terriers like Angel may instinctually want to dig up your prize two-hundred-dollar fern when you’re not looking, so be sure to remove plants from the floors of any rooms in which you eventually plan to allow your puppy. There are also a few very common house-plants that can be toxic to dogs, including

Don’t forget your backyard in this process. Like houseplants, several common yard plants and trees are poisonous to your puppy, including

The ASPCA’s excellent website offers a more comprehensive list of toxic and nontoxic plants, as well as tips on how to spot symptoms of poisoning.
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Supplies

In addition to your crate or kennel, you should be prepared with the following items and tools to help both of you adjust to your new life together:

• Healthy puppy or dog food approved by your vet
  

• Food and water bowls
  

• Collar and leash
  

• ID tags (also consult with your vet about microchipping)
  

• Grooming supplies: nail clippers, brushes, flea comb, dog shampoo, ear-cleaning pads, toothbrush, and dog toothpaste
  

• Wee-wee pads
  

• Baby gates
  

• Natural-material chew bone (I am a big fan of the bully stick, because rawhide can be rough on a puppy’s digestion)
  

• Vet-approved training treats for rewarding
  

• Plastic bags or scooper for poop
  

• Dog bed or dog cushion
  

• A variety of stimulating play toys
  

A PRESIDENTIAL PUPPY-PROOFING

When Mr. President was three and a half months old, my wife and I took a trip to Australia for business, then went on to Fiji for a short vacation and spiritual retreat. For the two weeks we would be away, Dog Psychology Center director Adriana Barnes took care of the dogs in my home pack, but our hardworking researcher for this book, Crystal Reel, campaigned fiercely for the opportunity to foster our winsome English bulldog puppy. I believe everyone in my human pack should have the joy of spending time with dogs, even if they don’t own them permanently, and I encourage everybody who works with me to get hands-on experience practicing the principles of calm-assertive leadership that I teach. But since Mr. President is an accomplished chewer, I instructed Crystal to thoroughly puppy-proof her townhouse before the presidential visit.

Crystal reported later:

My puppy-proofing started with the kitchen, because that is where Mr. President would hang out if I couldn’t take him somewhere with me, such as the grocery store or a restaurant—I learned quickly that most people didn’t buy the story that he was my Seeing Eye dog! In the kitchen I had to make sure he couldn’t get into any of the household cleaning chemicals that I keep under the sink. Baby locks and duct tape work great to keep these securely closed.

Next came the pantry cabinets. Bulldogs might not have the best sense of smell in the world, but Mr. President quickly figured out that his food was in there. I learned the hard way that he could open my pantry cabinet. I set up a webcam in my kitchen so I could watch Mr. President from my computer at work on the rare days I wasn’t able to bring him into our very dog-friendly offices. There I was, working away, when I saw Mr. President actually open the pantry cabinet and start pulling out the bags of doggie cookies I had placed on the bottom shelf! I was terrified he would eat the plastic bag the cookies came in, so I immediately jumped up from my desk, hopped into my car, and raced back to the west side, a good forty-five-minute drive. Luckily, Mr. President has good taste—he ate all the treats and left the plastic bag—but still I’m glad I had set up the webcam so I knew what he was doing at all times.

I also puppy-proofed the living room and my bedroom by making sure to hide or pick up off the ground any cables or cords he might be able to chew on, as well as shoes and other things I had on the ground that I didn’t want eaten. I then vacuumed everywhere because we have leaves and twigs and such that get tracked in around the front door from outside and I didn’t want him to eat any of those either.

The direction Cesar gave me on puppy-proofing was to keep an eye on his chewing and redirect his energy. He told me bully sticks were best because rawhide can be hard on a puppy’s digestive system. So I made sure to have a lot of bully sticks on hand, and they really did come in handy!

PUPPY-PROOFING CHECKLIST

• Keep floors free of loose or small items that could become choking hazards: loose change, pens or pencils, paper clips, jewelry, etc.
  

• Move electrical cords out of the way, tape them down, or cover them with heavy rugs. Purchase plastic outlet covers for open outlets.
  

• Make sure breakable items—curios, lamps, etc.—are safely removed from puppy’s play area.
  

• Set up baby gates to block off access to forbidden areas.
  

• Install childproof locks on low cabinet doors, and remove all cleaning supplies or toxic chemicals to high shelves.
  

• Fence in or cover swimming pools, hot tubs, and other open bodies of water.
  

• Remove potentially poisonous houseplants and outdoor landscaping.
  

• Keep toilet seats down.
  

• Make sure trash can lids are locked and sealed.