Here at Habibi Bears, we get so many emails from new trained puppy parents who frequently ask the same question- “Does my dog like me? They don’t seem to be excited to see me!” Another frequent remark is “My puppy isn’t jumping up to greet me when I come home.” Dear and gentle readers, if you only knew how many hours we spend making sure your puppy is NOT exhibiting the very behavior and approval that you are seeking Let’s explain what we do and why we do it and what benefit it is to you in the long run with your relationship with puppy.
The Value of our Training Program
When your puppy arrives to our Pup Academy, at approximately 8 weeks of age, one of the very first things we focus on is fostering your puppy’s ability to calm down and be quiet before receiving any attention. We make it a game! The first puppy to be still, gets the praise and a cuddle. It is remarkable how quickly the other puppies will begin to notice and follow suit. The pups are so smart! We are consistent with this training, and we continue with the additional requirement of no food until everyone has stopped yipping, barking, and whining. When everyone has settled, the food is distributed. Of course, we always have a few headstrong pups who will try to assert themselves and not comply, but it only takes a day or two of being consistent with our demands and requirements for the puppies to see that we mean what we say, and they too, fall into line. It only takes a few times to model the behavior that we want for the puppies to see, and the rest is just follow through. In addition to being still, calm and quiet, no jumping or hopping like a bunny rabbit for attention will elicit a response from us. The pups are shown time and time again that they get rewarded for being calm and still, either with food, praise or affection. With a standard of behavior (calm and still) now established, we can build the rest of our training on the steady base that we’ve built. That’s the power of consistency in training!
From this basic level of behavior, we can now begin to teach and model other behaviors, such as learning to sit on command, and ringing a bell to go to their potty area.
So as you see, before puppy arrives to your doorstep, we have put in many hours of repetitive, consistent training to make sure that puppy has mastered being calm and quiet before receiving attention. We have established ourselves as the pack leaders, something which puppies inherently know–dogs instinctively know hierarchy and pecking order. We use that instinct to our advantage to deliver to you a pup who has learned to sit and be calm. This is why, when you come into the room or come home from work, your pup remains quiet. Not because they don’t like you, but because they respect your role as a pack leader.
This is not to say that your pup will be a perfect angel 100% of the time. Our New Puppy Expectations page has this covered to a “tee”. It is completely normal for a new puppy coming to their new home to cry or have an accident or two. Those first days home are always challenging and It is so important to remember, these puppies are babies! There is a reason we count those first few months in weeks, just think! If you receive your puppy at four months, it means that it didn’t even exist in ANY form six months prior!! When we take a step back and contemplate how much we are asking of these little ones, it is pretty amazing that they are doing as well as they are, and how much more they will be able to accomplish with your loving care and patience.
Until Next time! Habibi Pup Academy