Okay guys, real talk. We have a confession to make here at Prefurred… WE LOVE PUPPIES!!!
I mean, what’s not to love??? Those small, squishy, fluffy, lovable babies bring so much life and humor and joy to our lives!
But if you’re like me and maybe didn’t do as much research as you should have before you brought home your first puppy, that joy can be tampered by frustration when you start to have trouble… puppies are quite mischievous and will often make trouble for you whenever they have the chance!
My first puppy was a real roller coaster for me, guys. I thought I was pretty savvy at the time and wasn’t worried about the mischief, which I sort of assumed he would grow out of, right? And also he was so tiny and it was sort of funny and cute!
Only he didn’t grow out of any of those naughty habits. He became an 80 lb full grown mess of a dog, who I loved so much, but now had some deeply ingrained serious issues which became a lifetime of management and lots of vet bills, because I missed socialization windows and never fully worked through his dog reactivity.
I say all of this to let you all know that I made mistakes! Mistakes that probably cost my dog (and me) a lot of happiness in the long run. Not that he wasn’t a happy dog, but there were lots of things that we couldn’t enjoy together as a result of the issues he had.
Mistakes that you don’t have to make!
So now, one of my favorite things is helping families when they bring home new puppies to set everyone up for a full lifetime of happiness and joy together!
This is our first post in our Puppy Series, where we’re going to talk in detail about some of the common issues families have with new puppies (potty training, socialization, bite inhibition, and desensitization) to help you, a new puppy owner, learn easy ways to set your puppy up for a lifetime of success. We know you want to maximize every minute of your time together, and we’re here to help!