STARTING YOUR NEW MASTIFF PUPPY

 Another New Puppy!

Somehow, I have found myself with another puppy. I was not really ready for one, but….there he was and he came home with me.  I had forgotten about all of the work involved – crate training, potty training, leash training, trips outside in the middle of the night- the list just goes on and on. I had also forgotten what a great student a puppy is between the ages of 8 and 16 weeks. They are like sponges and it is a perfect time to instill behaviors that will benefit him later. Not only is it possible to instill basic behavior at this age, it is also the prime time to establish trust, respect and an enthusiastic attitude and a desire to work. This attitude can carry over into the breed ring, as well as the performance ring.

Decide right from the beginning what behaviors you will accept, and which are not acceptable. If you do not want your puppy jumping up, show him what the correct way to greet people is. If you will not want him on the furniture, do not allow it from the start.

Expose your new puppy to many different sights and sounds- always in a controlled environment. My new puppy has had the opportunity to see horses, sheep and goats. He has been for walks downtown, and met many new people, as well as experienced the sound and sight of traffic. 

I have also made sure he experiences agility tunnels and chutes, and a baby sized dog walk, table and A frame in case I ever want to try agility with him later. Because jumping will be an important part of his Obedience career, I have let him experience a “jump chute” with tiny puppy sized cavelletti and done fun recalls over little two inch high jumps.

Do you want to teach your puppy to swim or ride on a boat? It is a lot easier to start a mastiff on these things when they are 30 or 50 pounds, than it is when they are 200 pounds. Keep the experience positive and take all needed safety precautions including using an approved life vest for the puppy.

Will your puppy be expected to ride quietly in a crate in the van and maybe even wait there quietly while you work with another dog? Again, this is the time to expose him to this type of situation.

Always keep your puppy safe with every new experience. Your puppy must come to know that you can be trusted with any new experience that he is exposed to and that you will not let him get hurt.  While I do expose my new puppy to other dogs, I don’t typically let him play with other puppies because I ultimately want him to focus on me and not on other animals.

Remember, your puppy is still very much a baby at this age- but he can learn all of the body movements associated with sit, down, stand, spin, shake, twirl and back up. It is a particularly easy time to teach the puppy to use his rear end- and “in” and side steps can be easily taught at this age.

Puppies can also learn to pick up and retrieve a variety of objects- gloves, metal articles, even little dumbbells. Having him used to these types of objects can be beneficial later on. 

At four months, some puppies are even coordinated enough to catch- and this is a great tool to use to perfect fronts and heeling later on. If you are interested in tracking, puppies as young as 8 weeks can be started on tracking- just learning to follow the trail of food left on the ground.

You can also teach your puppy to use his nose by hiding tasty bits of food around the house and encouraging him to “find them”.   If everything is taught in a fun, positive upbeat manner, using toys and treats to show the correct behavior, your puppy will have a great attitude every time you work together and this will carry over into adulthood.

Nicky Camerra