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Old August 3rd, 2012, 11:49 AM
Kilter Kilter is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Alberta
Posts: 9
Put your wife in charge of the dog. For a while you need to ignore him. So no food, treats, or attention from you. Insted your wife becomes the source of all things good in life - that'll help the pup bond and look to her. Get some light line and put a clip on it, and put that on the pup when he's loose, so if she needs to get him, she can just pick up the line, or stand on it, and offer him treats to get him to come to her. Take him EVERYWHERE for socalizing - check with local places about doggy daycare as soon as he's old enough, or just go to local coffee places, get a coffee and sit outside and let him be around new people and things. People can offer him treats, but don't get them to push the petting on him, if he approaches that's one thing but having people maul him may not help much (a lot of people think they're trainers, I remember one lady who thought yelling louder was how you got dogs to learn - she'd go up to a strange dog and say sit. Sit. SIIIIITTTT! and be screaming at the dog who looked at her like she was nuts - it was a puppy that didn't know what 'sit' meant!).

The breeder you got him from sounds like a byb - most responsible breeders do not have 'breeding pairs' and do a lot more to socialize the pups and prepare the owners, and even the most basic responsible breeder would make sure you knew what socialization meant.

For the kids in the house, they can take part in some of the rewarding things with the pup, and join in on walks with the puppy, but teach them to respect the pup's space and treat the pup gently for now. My kids have learned not to bug the dogs when they have a bone etc. but at 4 and 7 are able to walk the dogs (golden and border collie, not the puppy yet but the adult dogs), feed all the dogs (I prep the food, they put the bowls in the crates) and so on.

Good luck, and also sign up for some classes asap with the pup - send your wife with the puppy and stay at home with the kids and fold laundry for her.
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