Category: Training

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Apartment Dogs New Puppy Products

Thrifty Puppy: Inexpensive Items For Your New Puppy

Puppies can be expensive. While far less expensive than other hobbies, dogs – especially puppies – come with expenses that can add up quickly. Walking the aisles of a pet supply store, it is easy to get the feeling that expensive puppy toys are a necessary expense. However, there are many options for inexpensive puppy toys that work great for young dogs. Some may actually be laying around your apartment right now.

Cheap Toys

Most dog owners know the feeling of bringing home an expensive new toy for your dog, only to find that the dog is more interested in chewing on the packaging than the toy itself. While we do recommend many commercial dog toys, many inexpensive puppy toys will do just fine.

Puppies often find the things you least want chewed to make their toys. Chew training a different, and more complex topic covered in depth in this post.

Rope

A two-foot length of rope with a knot tied on each end may seem drab to us humans. To a puppy it ticks all the boxes of an amazing toy! In fact, we at Apartment Dog rarely spend money on toys for new puppies. Instead we keep a few lengths of rope lying around. They work for fetch or tug and are safe for puppies to chew on. Our dogs were basically raised on these toys and they work great. 

Tip:
Avoid nylon or fibrous ropes. The fibers in these ropes can get into your dog’s throat and irritate them. The best ropes are used rock climbing ropes with a braided sheath on the outside. 

Chew Toy Alternatives

One of the all-time best hacks to occupy a high energy puppy is a chew toy with a small amount of something tasty like peanut butter hidden inside. This simple combination will occupy a dog for hours. It is also a great way to wear out your dog before a big nap. 

We have been using the Kong toy for years, and definitely think this is worth the purchase. But, if you are on a budget, a racquet ball with a hole cut in it will do the trick. Simply punch out a hole in the ball about the size of a quarter, then punch a smaller hole on the other side to make it easy to rinse out. Swab a small amount of peanut butter inside the ball and watch your pup go after it for hours! 

Warning for larger dogs:
Racquet balls are great toys for dogs, but it is possible for larger dogs to swallow them. This can be a very dangerous situation. If you own a large breed of dog, you might opt for a toy that is larger than a racquet ball. 

Treats

There are a number of really expensive treats on the market that will likely leave your fingers smelly and your wallet empty. While we do use some of the commercially available treats, there are some common food options that work just as well. Here are a couple of our go-tos:

Kibble

Simple kibble, like the kind that you feed your pup during meals works great as a treat. These can be kept in your pocket, or a specific pouch, and doled out during training or play sessions. 

Pro tip: Get the most out of your puppies meals. We often use “working meals” to combine training with feeding. These are a great way to use feed time to burn up a puppy’s energy and get a little training in. If your pup usually eats ½ cup of kibble at meals, simply put that ½ cup in your pocket and get your pup to work for it. Just remember, you can over-train a young puppy, so don’t make them work longer than about 5 minutes for their kibble. This short amount of time is enough for training. After that, simply feed them the rest. For older dogs, there’s no reason why they couldn’t work for their whole meal. 

Hot Dogs

It is always a good idea to have a really extra special treat on hand. These are useful in training dogs in high-distraction situations, or when reinforcing a really important behavior like a recall. Hot dogs diced into ¼” cubes work great for this. You can go uber cheap here, but do your dog a favor and find pre-cooked hot dogs without nitrates in them. 

Puppy Beds

Depending on where you shop, dog beds can feel like a luxury purchase. It is not uncommon to see fancy dog beds going for $100-200. Like most of our product recommendations, we have nothing against spending money on your dogs, especially if it makes your apartment look better. But, if you are constrained by a budget, there are some inexpensive options that will work great for a dog bed. 

Most of our Border Collie puppies slept in the house on folded blankets. Old fleece blankets are great options for dogs. If you have one or two of them lying around, that will work perfectly well as a soft spot for your pup to snooze. Just fold blankets in a shape large enough for your pup to spread out on. 

Shampoo

Dog shampoos vary widely from general cleaners to medicated or specific-use products. When using shampoo for general baths, a bottle of Johnson’s baby shampoo works perfectly well. This soap is gentle, non-irritating to the eyes and is fragrance-free. It is also a fraction of the cost of most dog shampoos. 

A Word About Dog Scent
One of the most perplexing things to humans is a dog’s eagerness to roll in smelly, disgusting things. The smellier and more rotten, the better as far as a dog is concerned. There is an evolutionary explanation behind why a dog would want to do this. From a hunting perspective, if a wolf were coated in Gazelle poop, they smell horrible, but what they don’t smell like…is wolf. Big advantage when sneaking up on prey.

Where Not To Skimp

These are some of our favorite puppy budget hacks. But, there are some products that you simply do not want to skimp on. 

Here is a list of dog items not to skimp on:
  1. Crate
  2. Collar
  3. Health Products
  4. Food

Crate

A crate is probably one of the most important things you can buy for a new puppy. Crate training gives your pup a sense of security, their own space and helps with potty training and separation anxiety. You definitely want to buy a high quality crate.

Health tip
When buying a crate for a new puppy who has not finished their vaccination series, you may want to avoid buying used unless you are absolutely sure that it came from owners whose dogs were vaccinated. Your big concern with puppies is parvovirus, which most young puppies are not protected against until about 16-18 weeks of age. Parvovirus infections cause severe illness in dogs, and the bill for the vet hospital stay might level any budget savings from the above hacks. There is no way to reliably clean used products, so you may as well buy new. 

Collar 

A good quality collar with a strong clasp can be a lifesaver. Most collars are not that expensive, so don’t go cheap on them. We recommend leather collars. They are long lasting, and they do not take on smell. Nylon collars can start to smell a bit “doggy” after a while.

Health Products

When it comes to health and grooming products like nail clippers, brushes, teeth cleaning products there is no reason to skimp here. Taking care of your dog’s health properly requires the right equipment. 

Food

It is true, there are some supremely inexpensive dog foods on the market. I won’t name brands, but this is not an area to be cheap. Unless you are using a specific diet like raw feeding, your dog will subsist almost entirely on kibble. As their main source of nutrition, you want a product that is well formulated and made from ingredients that are healthy and well-tolerated by dogs. These tend to be a bit pricer than the bargain basement options. Good food is worth every penny.

These tips are meant to provide you with alternatives and suggestions for inexpensive puppy toys. Visit our website for more in depth descriptions of toys, products and training.

This article contains affiliate links. We receive commission on sales through these links. We only recommend products that we know and trust.

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New Puppy Training

How To Train Dogs Not To Beg or Steal

Thanksgiving is around the corner and that means food! Having dogs that beg or steal food from the table can ruin any holiday meal. Follow these steps to train a dog that doesn’t beg or steal food.

Begging. Dog owners love it and they hate it. On one hand, your dog’s persistence and adorable attempts to woo you into giving up a treat are endearing. On the other hand, having a dog that you can’t trust around your food is no fun at all. Dogs, like any animal, are highly motivated by food. However, the degree to which they will go to get it depends entirely on the training you provide them. 

Watching dogs interact with other dogs, you can easily spot how young dogs learn about boundaries. Dogs don’t mince words – for lack of a better expression – when it comes to establishing boundaries around food. Many dogs will growl, bare teeth or even nip at any dog trying to sneak in for a taste of their meal.

Puppies will often try a slough of tactics to try to get to an older dog’s food. Ultimately, the response of the older dog establishes the boundaries that a puppy needs to understand what is theirs and what isn’t. 

Your role as the dog owner is to establish those boundaries with your dog. This article will include some simple steps to avoid begging and food snatching for new puppies. It will also include tips for old dogs with bad habits. 

They Don’t Want What They Have Never Had

One of the basic foundations to training dogs around food comes down to a simple decision. Do your dogs get people food, or not? Some people find a lot of joy in periodically sharing their food with dogs. We admit that even though we have fairly strict rules with our dogs and people food, we too relish occasionally sharing a hunk of steak or chicken with our pups. The only caveat is that we only allow our dogs people food when they are mature and have been trained not to beg for food. 

The best way to start off your food training is to simply never give your young dogs people food. It’s as simple as that. Turning that into reality requires discipline on your part. With our younger dogs, we simply never feed them from plates, tables or in the kitchen. This eliminates any association that the pup might make between the times that we eat and the times that they eat. 

Our puppies eat at regular feeding times in the morning and evening so that meals are predictable. The only other feeding comes in the form of treats during training sessions. When we make food and sit to eat, the pups learn that this is not a time when they get food. 

Establishing this early on will eliminate the drive and interest that a puppy might have in your food. Once they learn that plates, kitchens and tables never result in food for them, they won’t place any stock in trying to beg or snoop around them. 

Get Out!

One of the very early tricks you can teach a dog is knowing the boundaries of different rooms in your house and teaching them how to “get out” when you ask. This may sound harsh, but having the ability to get your dog to exit a room can be a very valuable tool. 

We teach our dogs early on to learn the command “get out.” You can start training this by starting with a simple back up. Using a clicker and treats, slowly move a treat close to your dogs nose. If they lunge or try to snatch the food, simply recoil your hand a bit. No need to use your voice, they will get the message. Move the treat closer again and the moment that they take a step back, click that and reward with the treat. Once the pup can do this reliably, we start to place a vocal command on it. Using the words “get out” is a great way to start. 

Link to the clickers we like

It may seem logical to use the words “back up” for this command. This is perfectly fine to do! But we have found value in having the command “get out” that tells our dogs to back up and get away from us. For more mature dogs it will teach them to not be pushy! 

Next, once you have a solid “get out” command on your pup, you can start to establish boundaries to different rooms. Doorways make an obvious dividing line between a room and a hallway. As for kitchens, it helps to have a line between tile and carpet or something similar that a dog can learn to recognize as the boundary of that room. 

To train a dog to get out of a kitchen, simply use your “get out” command with your dog in the kitchen, but still close to that dividing line. Ask your pup to “get out” and wait for them to cross the line. Don’t repeat the command and don’t click until they have crossed the line. Many dogs will try repeating the task if they don’t get the treat. In this case, they will likely take additional steps back to try to appease you. Once they cross the line, click and give them their reward. 

Once you have that well established, it’s your job to lengthen the distance they need to go to get out of the kitchen and gradually add distractions so you can make that command reliable. 

Being able to reliably ask your dog to “get out” of the dining room is a great way to make them pleasant around the dinner table.

All Done!

If you have a well trained dog that doesn’t beg or snoop for food, that is when you can – if you choose – start to treat them with people food. We rarely recommend people food for dogs since it simply isn’t necessary and tends to create more problems than not. But, as mentioned before, even we break this rule from time to time. One way we teach our dogs not to continually beg is through the “All done!” command. 

We train “All done!” during toy play sessions. Even a 10 minute tug game in the living room gets marked at the end with us saying “All done!” At that point, the toy gets put away and we stop playing. The dogs learn that “All done!” means that whatever fun they are having is over for now. 

We apply the same principle to treating our dogs. If we choose to gift our pups with a nice piece of cooked chicken, we will follow that with the usual “All done!” and our pups learn to go about their business knowing that the fun is over. If they don’t, we simply ask them to “Get out.”

The “All done!” command is a big part of what we call our dog’s “Off switch.” We own Border Collies, and if you have ever worked with them you know the absolute necessity of an “off switch.” A Border Collie, and any high drive dog for that matter, will be unrelenting in their pursuit if you don’t teach them to chill out. 

Breaking Bad Habits in Dogs

Many of you reading this might be thinking, “This all sounds nice, but our dogs already beg!” It’s ok if your dog has a bad habit or two around food. There is still a lot you can do to break the bad behavior. 

If your dog begs at the table or snoops in the kitchen, the first thing you need to do is go cold turkey (pun definitely intended) on giving them any people food treats. You need to stop that behavior for good to be able to make progress with your dog. 

Next, you need to reestablish boundaries with your dog. This is going to be far more difficult with your dog who knows it can get treats at the table or in the kitchen. You might try asking your dog to “Get out!” and they will think “Yeah, I don’t think so. I know I can get treats eventually!”

Establishing New Boundaries

Establishing boundaries can be as simple as requiring your dog to lay in the living room while you cook or eat dinner. If your dog doesn’t have a good lay/stay, then you might need to crate them while you cook and eat. This requires good crate training – another complex but important topic – so that they don’t feel punished by the crate. 

If you have a dog that steals food, the first step in breaking that habit involves one rule: no dogs in the kitchen. Period. This rule means that the kitchen or the dining room is simply not a place in the house that dogs are allowed to go. If nothing else, this removes the possibility of your dog stealing from a countertop. This sets your dog up for success rather than failure. 

Leave it!

Training a dog on the command “Leave it” is a great way to develop new habits around food. “Leave it” is also an amazing part of any obedience training. A reliable “Leave it!” can actually keep your dog safe when out on walks in the city. 

“Leave it” is a great way to start to break bad behaviors because it ties the intended behavior (avoiding food) with a positive reward (food!). You can start with simple kibble treats to train this. Place the food on the ground near your pup. If they go for the food, simply grab the treat away. Again, no need to use your voice since the message is clear. Depending on how driven they are, you may need to be ready to snatch the treat up quickly if they go for it. Eventually you will see your dog pause before going for the food. That is the behavior your want to mark with the clicker. 

Once your dog reliably pauses, you can start to add the vocal command “Leave it.” What this looks like is: your dog pauses, you click the clicker and say “Leave it” and immediately give them a treat. Eventually your dog will learn to look to you before going after something they want.

Reminder: Make sure you don’t let them get the first treat after you reward them since that would negate the training!

Next, you can replace the treat with people food. Try placing a small amount of cooked chicken on a plate and repeat the training exercise. In this case, you may want to reward the pup with something equally enticing to get the message across. 

Eventually, your dog will learn that pausing and avoiding people food means they get a tasty treat. 

As with any training, getting your dog to be well-behaved around food requires time, patience and consistency. Don’t expect results overnight, these things take time and effort. If your dog slips up during the course of training, don’t sweat it. Just go back a step and reestablish the basics. Eventually, with enough time your dog will be a champ around people food. A well-behaved dog is always a welcome addition to the holiday dining room. 

This post includes affiliate links. We receive commission on sales purchased through these links. We only promote products that we use and trust ourselves!

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Apartment Dogs Training Uncategorized

How To Exercise Your Dog on a Rainy Day

Rainy days make walking and exercising your dog a messy chore. Incorporate these activities into a play session that keeps your apartment clean and your dog happy. 

Rainy days can really put a damper on the fun of walking your dog. For you city dwellers and apartment residents, regular daily walks are usually your dog’s main form of exercise. What is usually a fun frolic through the park on a sunny day may turn into a tromp through the mud, and a dirty dog to bring back to the apartment. If you aren’t up for that, or if the weather is just too bad to go outside, you need not despair. Here are a few suggestions for safe, apartment-friendly indoor workouts to stimulate and tire out your dog. 

Reminder: Dogs love to play, but don’t get sucked into the idea that they need to play every day. Even Olympic athletes take days off to sit on the couch. If the day is dreary and cold and you are simply too busy or tired to follow these tips, it is ok. Your dog can handle a day off!

Hide and Sniff

Dogs come with incredible smelling machines attached right on the front of their face. Using their noses to sniff out treats and toys ties back to their evolutionary makeup. For that reason, scent activities are highly stimulating for dogs. Rooting out a tasty treat or favorite toy can be an all-consuming task. 

A little training around toys and patience is all you need to get these games going in the house. To begin, simply take your dog’s favorite toy and hide it under a couch cushion, behind a bookshelf or under a carpet. You can do this right in front of them because dog’s don’t have quite the sense for object permanence that people have. In fact, you can actually hide a toy right in front of most dogs. Once the toy is hidden, give your dog the “Go find it!” command and let her sniff around. If she finds it, reward her a little party with a light game of tug or short toss. 

Eventually, she may figure out your game, so you’ll need to vary your hiding locations a bit. For a little extra challenge, have your pup wait patiently in another room while you hide a toy and then release her to find it. This of course requires a well-trained “stay” command. 

Most dogs are scent wizards. However, some dogs are actually bred for scent work. Dog’s like hounds and beagles will astound you at their ability to find items based on even the faintest scent. Other dogs may get bored rather quickly. If your dog is one of the scent gifted, you might consider getting them involved in scent-based sports like barn hunt. If your dog is more like the latter – like our border collies – then you’ll need to just do short scent sessions mixed in with some of the other activities listed in this article. 

Chew Puzzles

Chew puzzles are probably the most passive option for rainy day activities. But, that doesn’t mean they aren’t a blast for your dog. Chew puzzles can range from basic chew bones like Kong or Nylar on up to fairly elaborate toys that hide treats behind a maze of moving parts. 

Chewing is southing and satisfying for a dog. But like all activities, some dogs take to it more than others. That’s perfectly fine! A ten minute chew session can be really rewarding, and quite tiring for a dog, especially toward the end of the day. 

One of the easiest chew puzzles involves putting a small amount of peanut butter or Kong Stuff’n Easy Paste into a Kong Classic Chew Toy and letting your pup spend the next hour trying to lick all of it out. This is about the easiest stimulation you can give your dog. Just make sure you don’t overdo how much peanut butter you put in there. You don’t want to turn a rainy day activity into an upset stomach. 

Tip: these chew sessions should be just one component of your rainy day activity. This is often a great way to cap off an indoor workout and let your dog chew her way into a nice long nap.

Tricks

There really is no better option for indoor workout than tricks. Trick training works your pup’s mind and body, builds your bond and helps train them into well-behaved dogs. Trick training can start as early as 8-10 weeks and go throughout the dog’s life. Whether you are teaching your pup to sit for the first time, or working on an elaborate obedience sequence, there’s no denying the benefit of trick training. 

The number of tricks you can teach a dog are virtually endless. If you have a new pup, try working on the mainstays like “sit” or “lay down.” Older dogs can work on more physical tricks like heeling or walking through your legs. If your pup loves tricks, you have no reason to stop until you’ve choreographed your audition routine for America’s Got Talent.

Reminder: The younger the dog, the shorter the trick training session. 8-12 week old dogs only need about 5 minutes at the time. Dogs can sour to work if you overdo it, so make the sessions quick and concise and move on to the next exciting activity.

Tug

Tug is one of the best games you can play with your pup. However, this game goes so far beyond simple play. Tug is a way to build obedience, use up physical energy, help avoid possession guarding and strengthen your bond with your dog. But, there is a right way and a wrong way to play tug. 

The old-fashioned “tug-of-war” is outdated and inadequately describes the essence of this activity. The goal of tug isn’t to win possession of the toy as the word “war” implies. The purpose of the game is to engage in play together. However, your pup might see the game differently at first. Dogs, especially puppies love a game of keep away, and winning possession of a toy through tug is just the first step in that game. Don’t fear, this is easy to correct.

When you play tug with our dogs, the game should look more like a game of catch than a game of keep-away. Try swishing the toy along the ground to entice the pup to go after it. Once they have a good hold of it (more on this later!) the game has begun! The pup pulls and gains ground, then we pull back. Tug tug tug, give give give. Mix a little light shaking and suddenly the game becomes wildly exciting for a dog. 

Drop-Take-Drop

A game of tug is a great way to build obedience. Try using the command “drop” periodically throughout the game. If your pup is reluctant to give up the toy, don’t repeat the command, just sit perfectly still until she drops it. As soon as she does, exclaim “Yes!” and immediately offer back the toy with the command “Take!” and resume the game. What did you just teach her? Two things. One, when she gives you the toy, it doesn’t mean she loses it forever. Second, giving up the toy actually means the game resumes! 

Approaching tug in this way teaches a dog to listen to you and to associate you with fun. More importantly, your dog learns that they can give up their toys and not lose them forever. In fact, if they give up the toy, the game gets even more fun! 

Now, there are a few things to avoid when playing tug. First, a dog’s teeth look strong, but there are limits. Avoid tugging hard, or using sharp jerking tugs as you could possibly break a tooth. Puppy teeth are especially vulnerable to this. 

Tip: Make sure your dog has a solid hold on the toy before tugging. If she only has a little bit of it in her front teeth, there is a lot of force being put on those teeth. Give her time to get a good hold on the toy before tugging to avoid damaging her teeth. 

Second, avoid pulling upward such that your dog’s neck cranes backward. This puts unnecessary stress on their neck. Get down on your knees to avoid pulling upward. Pull the toy horizontally or toward the ground. Notice that your dog’s head is in line with the rest of its body? That’s a good thing. 

Lastly, when the game is done, always end on a positive note. We prefer not to leave the pup with the toy after the game, but rather to take the toy and end with a “Ok, all done!” At that point, the toy goes away and the pup gets lots of pets and praise. Soon dogs learn that the game is over and it’s time to grab a drink of water and rest. 

Reminder: the saying “play makes potty” is real. Once you are done with your play session, take your pup out for a potty break because they probably have to go. 

All of these exercises can be done in the confines of your living room. They offer a great option for exercising your pup on a rainy day. Even better, they are an opportunity to build your training and strengthen the bond between you two. 

This post includes affiliate links. We receive commission on sales purchased through these links. We only promote products that we use and trust ourselves!

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Apartment Dogs New Puppy

How To Puppy Proof Your Apartment

Puppy proofing your apartment is one of the best ways to keep your puppy safe. These steps will help you make a safe apartment space for your pup.

You’ve made the decision, selected your pup and at last are bringing them home! The first day at home with a new puppy is as joyful as it is anxiety provoking. Puppies have a remarkable ability to do the polar opposite of what you want them to. Puppies getting into trouble sometimes means putting themselves at risk.

Apartments come with their own set of hazards to a young pup. Many of the risks to puppies in your apartment may not be immediately obvious. This post will highlight the key changes you need to make to create a safe apartment space for your puppy.

Puppy proofing a home is an absolute requirement to any new dog owner. Puppy proofing should be done in the weeks leading up to the pup arriving home, not after. Here are some tips for the new puppy owners that will help you puppy proof your apartment.

The Things that Zap

To humans, electricity is well-contained within cords and sockets and poses no real hazard. To a puppy, with razor sharp teeth and very little real world experience, electricity in the house can pose a hazard. A young puppy can easily chew their way into an electrical cord and receive a nasty zap. 

One of the first steps in puppy proofing is to lift all electrical cords off the ground. Since most electrical sockets are within a foot of the ground, you’ll need to do something about those that are within reach of your pup. Puppies are attracted to dangly things that move. Jewelry, clothing, furniture tassels and unfortunately electrical cords all make an attractive chew toy. Electrical cords secured to a wall become stationary and therefore uninteresting to a puppy.

Hardware stores sell electrical cord brackets, straps and conduit that will securely fashion cords out of reach of your pup.

Some cords and cables simply cannot be removed from the interest of your pup. In this case, it is up to you to be vigilant of the puppy and make sure she isn’t chewing into something she’s not supposed to. 

The Things That Tip

The flat screen TV on your entertainment center may seem secure. A puppy can find 101 ways to tip that thing over. Similarly, the glass vase on top of the end table might be well out of a puppy’s reach. Turn your attention elsewhere and your pup will have that thing shattered on the ground in no time. Obviously, falling objects are a huge hazard to a little pup. It is up to you to think a few steps ahead to protect your pup. 

Apartments, with their limited space, usually force people to own taller and narrower furniture. How you decorate your apartment may be hazardous to a young pup. Even shelves and dressers can be unstable enough to tip if a puppy finds a way to tug on them.

Walk through your house and imagine any appliance, piece of furniture or trinket as something that can fall. If you can even remotely imagine an item being tipped, you best start securing, moving or replacing it now. 

The Things They Chew

Puppies chew, there’s no getting around it. It is up to you to decide what they chew. All household items are vulnerable to a young puppy’s teeth. Very young puppies are inhibition-free little drones. They have the attention span of a fly. Puppies will bounce between table legs, shoes, utensils or anything else that they can get their mouths on.

Teething pups find chewing not only enjoyable, but necessary. A big part of avoiding damage to your apartment is chew training. For very young pups, this simply involves not giving them the opportunity to chew household items. 

Take some time prior to your puppy’s arrival and crawl throughout your apartment. Drop your head low to the ground and see what you can find from a puppy’s perspective. You might discover a lotion bottle that had fallen under a couch. Had you not known it was there, it may have ended up all over your pup, and all over your apartment in no time. 

Don’t spare the bathroom, closets or kitchen. Move any items that you don’t want chewed well out of reach of a pup. 

The best way to avoid a puppy failing is to not create a situation where they can fail. 

The Things They Eat

What a puppy chews, it often eats. What a puppy eats can at best nourish them and at worse poison them. Pay close attention to things like household cleaners, chemicals or even food products that may be within reach. There is a lengthy list of foods and chemicals that smell or even taste appealing to dogs. Many of these can be harmful if not lethal to your pup. 

Common Household Items That are Hazardous to Puppies:

  1. Pens and markers
  2. Makeup
  3. Household cleaners
  4. Alcohol

When it comes to food, don’t assume a box or thick bag will deter a pup. Those sharp little puppy teeth can find their way into cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and bags. Secure your food in thick plastic tubs, or better yet stashed away in a cupboard. Make sure your cleaners and chemicals are out of sight and out of reach. 

Things They Fall Off Of

This is an important topic, especially for puppies in apartments.  Many apartments come equipped with stairs, lofts and balconies that all pose a fall hazard for the pup. Young dogs don’t really have an understanding of heights or the repercussions of a fall. It is up to you to protect them.

It is a good idea to have a gate up to stop puppies from heading up or down the stairs. Those adorable uncoordinated little legs can easily trip, sending little pup into a nasty tumble. 

The best way to avoid a puppy failing is to not create a situation where they can fail

Balconies are another hazard, even with built in guard rails. Many rails that line balconies and lofts are sufficient to stop a full-sized dog. However, a skinny little puppy might easily slip between the bars or through holes in them. We have already established that puppies have neither inhibition nor much sense. A distraction could send them through a guard rail and careening of the edge of a balcony. 

The next time you have your puppy nearby, wrap your hands around their body, their shoulders and their hips. You

You’ll find that your furry little friend has a body that is far skinnier than it looks. Dogs can squeeze through some pretty tight spots when they want to.  

Bulk mesh wiring, chicken wire or plastic barricades are a great way to reinforce balcony or patio guardrails. Most hardware or home goods stores sell these items cheap. They can be easily cut to custom sizes that fit your particular guard rail. Make sure you secure these areas at least two feet off the ground.

Puppy proofing is and will always be a work in progress. There are a lot of things to do before bringing home a puppy. Puppy proofing your home is one of the most important. These few steps, taken in advance of your puppy’s arrival to your apartment will lessen your stress and create a safe environment for your young dog to grow up and thrive. 

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New Puppy Training

Chew Training Your New Puppy

Chewing is an inevitable part of owning a puppy. With patience and consistency, these 5 rules will improve your chew training.

Chewing is an inevitable part of dog ownership. Chewing provides dogs stimulation, allows them to learn about their environments and in the case of a puppy facilitates the teething process. Chew training a puppy is a process that requires patience and faith that your efforts will be rewarded. 

When I began chew training my 10 week old Border Collie Brix, I remember feeling that her relentless chewing would never end. She had focused on pant legs, and despite my efforts to redirect her attention, she would immediately return to sink those needle-like puppy teeth into my jeans.

Now, as a 6 year old Brix never chews a single thing besides her frisbee and it has been that way for a long time. Chew training works if you are patient and consistent with your dog. Let’s start with some rules of chew training:

5 Rules Of Chew Training Your Puppy

  1. Puppies will chew, accept it
  2. Redirect your puppy’s chewing
  3. Correct, never punish
  4. There is no punishment after the fact
  5. Chew mistakes are your mistakes, not your dog’s

The puppy will chew, deal with it

The main lesson of this article is this: Your puppy will chew and there is not a darn thing you can do about it. Your job as her handler is to direct that behavior to an appropriate place and time. 

Humans take dexterity – our ability to do fine motor work with our hands – for granted. Most humans find it difficult to imagine not being able to explore our worlds without the use of our hands. 

Dogs have virtually zero dexterity in their paws. Just watch any dog try to wrangle a tennis ball with their paw. You will find that they are little better than a club at the end of their leg.

For that reason, dogs utilize their mouths to get what they want. Not only that, but their sensitive noses are positioned right next to the mouth, making chewing a highly stimulating activity. 

There is no way to stop a puppy from chewing outright, so don’t even try. The process of puppy chew training begins with accepting that fact. The rest comes down to patience and consistency on your part. 

Redirect

As a new puppy owner, you will need to become a master of redirecting your puppy’s drive to chew. Throughout your apartment, you should have chew toys positioned at the ready. When your pup goes after your jacket sleeve, a rug or the end of your couch, it is your job to quickly and calmly redirect the dog to chew something appropriate. 

To do this, just calmly use your hand to push the puppy’s mouth away from the couch or rug, and immediately plop a chew toy in her mouth. I mean immediately. The goal is to make it seem like the chew toy was there in the first place. You engaging in play with the chew toy will make it seem far more fun than the couch. We’ve found that rope toys are the most attractive to divert a puppy attention.

Advanced tip:

The goal in this exercise is to make the couch or whatever the puppy is not supposed to be chewing seem like the most boring thing. You do this by not tying any reaction – positive or negative – to the action of chewing. If everytime you respond, “Hey! No!” or jump up quickly when puppy chews the couch, then what you’ve taught the pup is that everytime she chews the couch, she gets her owner’s attention. Your action around the chew should be quiet and calm, almost boring. 

Correct, never punish

Punishment in dog training is one of the counterproductive things that a trainer can do. Yelling, leash tugging or hitting will really only make you seem untrustworthy and unpredictable to your dog. Too much punishment and your dog will literally sour them, and you will find any future training very difficult to achieve. This usually causes inexperienced handlers to grow even more frustrated and often escalates punishment. 

Correct, not punish

Correction, on the other hand, differs from punishment because it opens your dog up to a learning experience. There is nothing wrong with correcting a dog. In the example above, the calm and quiet use of your hands to redirect the puppy away from chewing the couch is the correction.

Plopping a chew toy in her mouth is the lesson. Do this enough times and not only will your dog come to trust you, but they will learn that they are only allowed to chew certain things because they learned that chewing the wrong items is just not worth their time. 

A note on being human:

Our urge to communicate vocally with other humans is so ingrained in us that most dog owners find it almost impossible not to do the same with their dog. You should know that your dog is reading every single inflection in your voice, and the emotions that you express – even unconsciously – in your voice are perceived by your dog. If you choose to use your voice to correct your dog, be very careful! After having to correct your puppy dozens of times, you may lose your temper and yell a very angry or frightening “No!” when you really intended to be calm. It’s very hard to train humans to use their voices calmly and consistently. 

Physical corrections are a great way to communicate to your dog in a calm way. By physical, I do not mean hitting, pinching, ear grabbing, flicking, leash tugging or anything else that may be perceived as unpleasant or painful to your dog. If you are unsure whether your physical corrections are too harsh, just try it out on yourself and see how you like it. 

Physical corrections are emotionless gestures that communicate to a dog that what they are doing is not right. Redirecting a puppy’s mouth from chewing is a calm and clear way to communicate to her that she needs to stop. Training yourself to be able to use physical corrections appropriately will take a lot of time and observation of yourself. 

There is not punishing a sin committed

Let’s say you left the living room for a moment, maybe to change clothes or use the bathroom and you return to find your pup has chewed a small hold in your favorite couch pillow. What are you feeling? Angry? Yeah, that’s understandable. Disappointed? Sure, maybe you’re disappointed in your pup, or more appropriately in yourself for having left your puppy in a situation where she was able to chew the couch.

Whatever you are feeling when you return to the scene of the crime, you need to remember that that error, in the mind of the dog, is long gone. That means that any correction, or worse any punishment, that comes after the fact will appear to come out of nowhere to your dog. 

The Dog’s Mind

Dogs, and especially puppies, live moment to moment. They do not have the ability to tie past actions to current repercussions. If your puppy chewed a couch pillow 10 minutes before, they will have no way of understanding that you are punishing them for that. Instead, what the puppy perceives of you is that you are fairly unpredictable and are prone to snap for no reason at all. Give it enough time and your dog will learn not to trust you.

If you observe the way that dogs interact with one another, they are quite adept at quickly correcting inappropriate behaviors of other dogs. If one dog eats another’s meal, they don’t go back 10 minutes later and bite them to communicate “Hey! You ate my food!” It just doesn’t happen. But if a dog attempts to eat another dog’s food right in front of them, then they will quickly send a signal that that will not fly. 

The best thing you can do if you’ve found that your puppy chewed something in the house, is literally nothing at all. You have to train yourself to think “Ok, I messed up on that one. I need to be more vigilant next time.” This leads to the last rule of chew training: Chew mistakes are your mistakes, not your dogs

Chew mistakes are your mistakes, not your dog’s

We have already established that chewing is an inevitable part of a puppy’s development. We can also fairly say that a young puppy has the mental maturity and reasoning skills of…well of a puppy. You cannot expect a young puppy to immediately learn your bizarre rules after one or two times of telling. Your dog, in their own puppy way will be wondering “Ok, so I can’t chew the square pillow on the couch, but I can chew the squirrel shaped pillow you bought from the pet store?” It just doesn’t make sense, so it will take a lot of time to shape that behavior.

Until then, you cannot blame chew mistakes on the puppy. It is unfair to them, and it is frankly incorrect. If your 10 week old puppy chews your couch pillow while you were in the bathroom, you’d best just go back in the bathroom, look in the mirror and say “Bad owner!”

Patience, consistency and having a good replacement chew toy at the ready are the best way to train your apartment pup not to chew. It will be frustrating at times, but it won’t last forever, we promise. Remember the rules.

5 Rules Of Chew Training Your Puppy

  1. Puppies will chew, just accept it
  2. Redirect your puppy’s attention
  3. Correct, never punish
  4. There is no punishment after the fact
  5. Chew mistakes are your mistakes, not your dog’s 
If you need more help, this book is a fantastic resource for raising puppies:

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