Dog Behavior

Understanding your cat's behavior and knowing where to learn more is essential in having a good bond with your furry family member.

Puppy Socialization

Puppies are only in rescues and shelters for a very small portion of their lives. It is the adopter's responsibility to continue socializing and training their puppy to become a well-rounded pet. The first few months of a puppy's life are important to determine how they will behave in the future, respond to changes and new things, and how your bond will develop with them over time.

With anything you want to socialize your puppy with, remember to always include positive reinforcement. This is something that is rewarding to your puppy and makes them have a positive association with whatever you are socializing them to. Positive reinforcement may include treats, praise or attention, or play.

OSU Indoor Pet Initiative: https://indoorpet.osu.edu/dogs/puppy

Handling

Your puppy should get used to handling early on to allow for their regular care, grooming, and vet visits to be a positive experience.

Touching paws, ears, and tail
Opening mouth, touching lips
Picking up
Carrying
Trimming toe nails
Cleaning ears
Bathing
Wiping paws and body with towel

Travel

Expose your puppy to their carrier (if applicable), a leash, collar or harness, and the car early on and frequently. Do not just use these items when you need to go to the vet or go outside. Take your puppy with you when you can. Always be mindful of their exposure to other dogs and their vaccination status. You can learn more about what is safe for your puppy to interact with from your veterinarian.

Noises

Expose your puppy to a variety of noises. You can even find audio clips online to help provide new noises they haven't heard before.

People and animals

Always encourage people to interact positively with your puppy. Remember to advocate for your puppy and be specific with what is positive reinforcement (i.e. please play with my puppy with this toy, please feed my puppy a treat) and discourage any behaviors you do not want to reinforce (i.e. play biting hands, jumping on people).

Puppies should interact with other healthy, socially-appropriate animals in controlled environments.

Training classes

Group training classes are excellent ways to exposure your puppy to a variety of people, noises, and other puppies. It also helps your bond with your puppy and teaches them how to learn and listen in a distracted environment. Positive reinforcement is the only recommended way to train your puppy.

Undesirable Behaviors

Behavioral issues can arise at any point during a pet's life and for a number of reasons. Many behavioral issues are caused by a medical problem or for a specific reason. Remember that animals are limited in how they can communicate with us, so it is up to pet owners to identify when their pet is trying to tell them when something is wrong.

Medical problems and behavioral issues

The first step to trouble shooting a behavioral issue should always be scheduling an appointment with your veterinarian. Many health problems can present as behavioral issues. Please follow the links to explore common behavioral issues that have a medical cause.

If your puppy is showing behavioral issues, consider looking for these warning signs that professional intervention may be warranted: https://indoorpet.osu.edu/dogs/puppy/warning-signs

Understanding your dog

Behaviors are often not random and are trying to communicate something with a pet owner. Please follow the links to explore more about dog behavior.

OSU Indoor Pet Initiative: https://indoorpet.osu.edu/dogs/problem_behaviors_dogs