When you get a new puppy you want to get everything right to give them the best start in life so let me help you learn from my mistakes.
This blog is going to be a quick look through the 3 things I wish I had started sooner with my dog when he was a puppy. These can also be applied to older dogs or rescue dogs and remember it is never too late to start!
Let’s jump straight into the 3 things I wish I had started sooner with my dog Jack.
Swimming
Scent work
Distance handling
Your next logical question has to be ‘Why?’, was I right? Either way I’m gonna tell you why anyway!
Swimming:
Great way to build confidence, burn all that puppy energy but without the impact on your dog's joints that comes with running or walking. Just make sure you find a registered centre that can introduce your dog to water in the best way possible. Not all dogs can swim and some need a little extra help to get started. Plus a good hydrotherapist can help to push your dogs to their best fitness once they are a little older and have mastered the basics.
Scent work:
Scent work is another brilliant way to help keep your dogs body and mind stimulated without lots of walking for them. Scent work comes in many different forms to suit most dogs. My personal favourite is tracking but you might like scent detection or mantrailing? A great way to get started is just to start by making meal times more enriching for our pups, you can scatter kibble, use lickmats or create a trail out of their meal with lickmats/kongs etc. on the way for them to find.
Distance Handling:
Distance handling is just a fancy way of saying- getting your dogs to respond to commands whilst being further away from you. Not only is it super helpful if you want to branch out into sports but also it is a brilliant skill for your pups to have in their day to day lives. Start easy with a sit or down and then build up to more complex actions.
As promised a quick whistle stop tour just remember to ask for help if you need it and don’t let having not started yet stop you from starting now!
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