Eurasier Puppies
Bringing your new puppy home
-Overview-
The bottom line: You want to connect with your Eurasier.
Make an effort to connect with your puppy mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Eurasiers are very good at connecting with their owners because they have a strong pack instinct and are very intuitive. This is the strength of this breed
When you bring your puppy home for the first time, it is very exciting and the puppy is the center of attention. Everyone showers the pup with love and affection and lets the pup do what ever he wants. There is nothing wrong with this of course, but you must remember that the pup has already started to learn what life will be like in his new environment. By allowing the pup to do things now that are undesirable when a full grown Eurasier is setting yourself up for problems.
If you give in to your puppy's every whim, your pup will never learn self control and self discipline. Your puppy will never learn to respect you. If your puppy does not respect, it will have no reason to do anything for you. Your relationship will be like two 5 year olds bossing each other around. Just as a child needs a caring parent; an athletic team needs a coach, your puppy needs a leader and a clear social hierarchy.
"If you do not take up the role of leader, your dog may and you will end up with an unruly, disobedient, out of control, often aggressive monster of a dog. Most of these dogs end up living a life of isolation in the back yard because no one can deal with it. They can end up at the shelter because either the owner can't live with the dog anymore, or a member of the public has filed a complaint against the dog and government officials have taken the dog away from the owner. Don't this happen to you." NOTE* Although this can happen, Eurasiers are fairly easy to train with a bit of consistency and effort on your part. Now is the time to lay the foundation of a fabulous dog/companion relationship by realizing the importance of boundaries and training from day one.
The flip side to this problem can have equally disastrous results. Instead of showering the dog with love and affection, they think that to earn the dog's respect they must bully, dominate and terrorize the dog into being submissive. A Eurasier does not respond well at all to excessively harsh treatment. This is not respect. Respect is not something that is forced. It is won. A dog will not respect someone it does not trust. The old fashioned method of dominance via the alpha roll over does not win respect.
You can win your puppy's trust and respect by asking for simply compliance to basic training commands and through handling and gentling exercises. Of utmost importance, these routines must be predictable as anticipated by your puppy. For instance;
* ask your puppy to sit before getting a dog treat or sit before leaving the house to go for a walk, make the pup sit when you open the front door, sit and wait is what your eventual goal will be. Follow up by placing your puppy in a sit using your hands if your puppy doesn't comply (no doggy treat of course, if you have to do all the work! But you must still praise your puppy - Eurasiers respond very well to praise). Pretty soon your puppy will learn the routine and be more than happy to comply and all the while you are building a relationship of consistency, love, trust and respect.
*Using your hands, place your puppy in a down and then "examine" your puppy by touching ears, teeth, tail. paws. nails etc. Let your puppy know this is a fun thing by praising your puppy while you are handing him. An occasional doggy treat while you are handling your pup should accelerate your puppy's acceptance of being touched. Your pup will have been handled well and touched all over by the breeder, this should be kept up by the new owners. Of course, any biting while handling should receive a resounding correctional noise "aaaaa" or "no" or "OUCH!" in a loud voice. When the biting or mouthing stops, tell your puppy what a good boy his is.... profusely!
Puppy training basics during the first week the puppy is home is critical. It is obvious that you need certain physical items such as food and water bowls, collar, leash, toys, blanket etc. Equally as important, all family members must decide and agree on routine, responsibility and rules.
The first few days are extremely important. Enthusiasm and emotions are up. Everyone wants to feed the puppy, play with the puppy and hold the puppy. Pre-established rules are easily broken. Everyone agreed that the puppy not be allowed to jump up on them, but in the excitement, o one even notices that the puppy is jumping up.
your new puppy has just been taken away from her mom and litter mates. He is vulnerable and impressionable. What he needs now is security and routine. It may help to set up a small room to be his very own special haven for the next couple of months. Have it on a floor that can handle a couple of accidents while you are away. Put food and water down, his blanket, toys and other familiar things.
When you play with your puppy, play quietly and gently. Don't flood him with attention and activity. Puppies need a lot of sleep. If he looks like he wants to sleep, leave him alone. If he wakes up from a nap and whines, resist the urge to run in and comfort him.
Decide who is responsible for feeding and cleaning up after him. Don't deviate from the schedule. Routine is a tool to use that will help your puppy adjust to his new home. Do not spend all your time with your puppy. If he is going to be alone during the day or night, he needs to start getting used to it right away. Eurasiers bond very closely with their owners, separation anxiety is not uncommon. Work now to prevent that from happening. Take short trips out of the house with out the puppy, do not make a big deal of leaving, or returning. Do this daily, for a Eurasier this is an important lesson to learn, being alone. If everyone in your household works, or goes to school, take your puppy to a doggy day care. Check out the facilities in your area and ask for references. Although I used to frown on doggy day cares, I have discovered that the Eurasiers that have taken part in doggy day cares are very well socialized, more so than if the pup only experiences the owners. Socialization is vital to your puppy.
Since puppies are so impressionable, it is important to begin explaining the rules right away. Don't give him special license to get away with anything just because he is a puppy. If you allow him to have his way about certain things now, he will only be confused later when you decide to change the rules. Puppies learn very quickly with proper instruction.
Never hit your puppy or give harsh reprimands. They don't mean to misbehave- they are just doing whatever comes naturally. Instead, show your puppy what kind of behavior you want. Teach him to play with his toys. Make them fun and exciting. Let him know how happy you are and how good he is when he chews them and plays with them. Then when you see him chewing on your furniture, firmly tell him "leave it" or "off" or "wrong" and immediately show him one of his own toys. Encourage him to play with and chew on it. Praise him profusely when he does so. If you don't catch him in the act, anything you do will confuse him. The only way you can instruct your puppy is to be there. if you can't be there, don't allow him to have access to places where he can get into trouble.
Schedule and appointment with your veterinarian. Discuss your puppy's vaccination schedule and when he will be allowed outside to dog parks and places where there are many dogs. Puppies are susceptible to many canine diseases until they are fully vaccinated. Ask your veterinary what viruses are around in your area and how to protect your puppy from them.
Your puppy's emotional and mental health is just as important as his physical health. When you schedule your puppy's veterinary visits, also schedule him into a puppy socialization class. Don't stop at just a puppy class, go on to an obedience class, it will be an excellent bonding time between you. Make sure the whole family knows the commands and takes part in the obedience class homework. There are also many opportunities to take part in other organized dog focused activities like agility or rally, you may be surprised how much you enjoy these.
If your puppy is to be a well-adjusted adult dog, he needs to learn how to act properly around other dogs and people. Dogs that are not socialized frequently grow up to be shy or aggressive or fearful. Putting in a little time now, will pay off a hundredfold.