Puppies are People Too!

Okay, well they are dogs, but the point I'm trying to make once again is that a pup is not a blank slate. They come fully loaded with genetic predispositions that can't be ignored. In the world of nature vs. nurture, nature is always going to kick nurture's butt. But let's talk nurture. Dogs have a short window of opportunity as puppies to be well socialized to new people and other dogs and to have as many new experiences as possible. If that socialization isn't done carefully and thoughtfully, or doesn't get started until the end of that window, there will be anxieties that will need to be worked with. Our pups are nearing the end of that socialization window and are just getting their first outside of the home socialization. They are starting out with some deficits that are going to take time and dedication to work through.

Don't get me wrong, we want these puppies to be adopted - none of us are fans of life with a houseful of puppies since it's so much work.  But we want these pups to be adopted by people who understand that signing on to parent a pup is a huge responsibility. A dog is going to come with genetic baggage and their family's job will be to meet the pup where they are at and educate themselves on how to help that puppy (through positive training) to become all the pup they can be. That may mean rearranging the human's schedules, paying money for a person to come and give the pup play time mid day; and it definitely means spending the money for puppy training classes from a knowledgeable and certified positive trainer.

The reality though is that most people have cute puppy blindness and are positive that all will be right with the world if they can just get their hands on an adorable little furball of terrier cuteness.

For people who really want to know what they are getting themselves into when bringing a terrier into their lives, I highly recommend the book Terrier-Centric Training: From Tenacious to Terrific by Dawn Antoniak-Mitchell. And if you want to hear more about how puppies are not a blank slate be sure to check out this wonderful blog post over at Paws Abilities.

Stay tuned to learn about the unique personalities of Mesquite and Juniper - some of the areas where they will need some help from their humans, and what we've learned about them so far. Not just cute faces. Unique individuals who are certainly adorable but who have their very own personalities, likes and dislikes.