How To Punish Bad Puppy Behavior (Dogs Under 6 mos)

00:00 — Kati Peppe introduces Off Leash and Unfiltered and asks listeners to subscribe before discussing…

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered. Trigger warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the truth in dog training.

Hey everybody, this is your host, Kati Peppe. Before we jump in, I just wanted to take a quick second and remind you to hit the subscribe button because that helps us so, so, so much. We appreciate every subscribe and follow, and we have so much valuable information we wanna share with you. So we don't want you to miss an episode. Without further ado, let's jump in. Hey guys, thanks for being here today. Uh, thanks for joining me on this Friday. Hope everybody's doing well. Uh, today I wanna talk about inhibiting your puppy's behavior. So we don't do a ton of puppy episodes, obviously, because far fewer people have.

I struggled last time and I'm struggling again. <laugh> Sorry guys. Not a ton of people have puppies obviously compared to adult dogs because dogs don't stay puppies for very long. But nonetheless, this is super valuable information, and if you do have a puppy or you're thinking about getting a puppy, these are things you should know.

Um, things that can really help you a lot along the way. Some puppies are really easy, you know, but most of the time, uh, they're not super easy and sometimes they can be really difficult. So, uh, it can be more difficult than having a newborn because not only do they often not sleep through the night, but you actually have to take them outside in the night. And they're mobile, right? Babies aren't mobile <laugh>. So puppies can be really, really hard. Uh, so let's talk a little bit about specifically. Now, I've done a lot of Peppe Puppy episodes in the past.

Uh, really recommend you go back and listen to those if you are getting a puppy or have one. Uh, but this episode is gonna be very, very specific. We're gonna deal with how to inhibit your puppy's behavior. So in other words, if your puppy has behaviors that you don't like or that you want to go away, we're gonna talk about how to deal with that.

So I have a lot to say on the topic of puppy. So I'm gonna try to try to limit myself to the topic at hand. However, there is a lot of overlap with other parts of puppy ownership. So I do want to just pull those in briefly. And if you have been following me, if you've listened to my other puppy stuff, you know that we recommend a super high level of structure for puppies. Um, and so part of your recipe has to be that structure, guys. 'Cause here's the thing, if you want to just address all of your puppy's behaviors directly right away, you're gonna end up doing nothing but running around correcting your puppy.

And I don't think that's a good idea. Now, I'm not saying you can't correct your puppy. You absolutely can, and we're gonna talk about that and you should. But puppies are hell on wheels, right?

They know nothing yet. And so they're literally just like usually running around, constantly getting into trouble and doing things they shouldn't, right? They're peeing on the floor, they're chewing the furniture, they're nipping your hands, they're barking, they're whining in their kennel, they're doing all these things. So it's like, if you're not using structure, then you have only two options, which is nurture the behavior or constantly be punishing your puppy. And I don't like either one of those options. So here's what we do. You use your structure, right? Which means your puppy should be spending a ton of time in their kennel, um, probably way more than you're doing. Excuse me.

04:00 — Kati argues gates leave puppies too mobile and environmentally engaged to provide the benefits…

Um, most people when we meet them, they do not have their puppy in the kennel enough. The puppy is out, running around, and they're, they always say, oh, we have gates we use.

It's like, I get it. Not the same. Why? Because your puppy still has too much range of motion, and that's gonna stimulate them to need to potty, and it's going to keep them mentally busy and preoccupied with the environment all the time. And so you're not getting the benefit of the kennel just by putting a gate up. So people think the kennel is just for managing the dog and keeping them from doing bad things, and that is part of it, right? We need to manage our puppy's behavior a little bit in the beginning, but there's more to it than that.

It's good for their state of mind and developing coping skills, not being able to follow you around, just not being able to engage with the environment sometimes, right? Right. Handling being inconvenienced. Those are the coping skills that I'm always talking about. Those things are valuable.

Use your kennel. Also, the more your puppy moves around, the more they're gonna have to potty. So there's that too. But anyway, if your puppy has some bad behaviors, let's talk about how we handle that. So first of all, I like to set kind of a list of the things that are very important to me that I'm gonna go after right away with my puppy. Because like I said, if you're just go after everything, then you're doing nothing but correcting your puppy all the time, especially if you're giving them too much freedom. So here's the list I recommend.

You can tweak this a little bit. It doesn't have to be the same as mine, but in my opinion, to me, the things that are the most important with the young puppy are how they interact with humans and settling in their kennel, because we're going to use their kennel. Oh. So those are the things I go after. Now, what do I mean when I say how they interact with humans? What I mean is we don't like puppies jumping all over us.

We don't like puppies biting, nipping, mouthing at us, um, also biting at the leash, if that's excessive. Um, I will address that, right? So that's how they interact with humans. Um, and then lastly, like I said, if they don't settle in their kennel, we will deliver some kind of a correction to try to get them to settle in their kennel. And with some puppies, that's very, very difficult. Almost impossible, but, you know, nine outta 10 puppies, you can get them to settle. For the ones that can't, um, you're definitely gonna wanna get into an e-collar program at your earliest convenience, <laugh>.

So usually we want puppies to be at least six months to do that. But if they are really struggling with the kennel, especially if their behavior is severe, they might be okay to do it sooner, right? So six months is somewhat arbitrary. Um, but we don't wanna just go slapping e-collars on like eight-, 12-week-old puppies.

07:00 — Kati discusses consulting an e-collar professional before six months when a puppy cannot settle…

Um, and then that's another whole story we're not gonna get into. However, six months is somewhat arbitrary, and I would say, in my opinion, if they absolutely cannot settle in their kennel, like we've tried everything, but I mean, we've tried everything. I mean, you've talked to someone, you've tried the, the different corrections. Um, we can't get them to settle in their kennel and they're going crazy. It's in their best interest to try an e-collar. Um, and that might mean doing that before six months. So that's something you can talk to a professional about, whether it's me or, or someone else who has experience with e-collar training.

Alright, so your puppy chews furniture, chews shoes, pees on the floor. Um, what else? You come up with a million different things, right? Digs the dirt out of the plants, gets into the cat box, all these awful things.

It's like, okay, I'm not telling you not to address those things. I'm just saying if it was my puppy, we wouldn't be addressing those things right now. Instead, my puppy's going to be living a lifestyle with a very high level of structure. They're going to be in their crate, guys, most of the time. If they're not in their crate, it's because we're going out to potty, exercise, play, go for a walk. We're doing some training, right? And if we're not doing any of those things, guess what? Puppy's in the kennel, they're not running around the house making their own decisions.

So there's this very, very common idea out there. It's this very widespread idea that, you know, you put up a gate and you just watch your puppy. And I just described some of the problems with that scenario. Um, it, it's still, it's still training your puppy to be engrossed in the environment all the time, and you kind of fall into the background.

They're moving around a ton. So they're gonna need to potty more, they're gonna have more accidents. And lastly, there's no way you're actually watching your puppy. Like we tell ourselves we are, and maybe we are for a couple minutes, and then we get distracted, right? Just like our dogs, because we're doing other things. Like we're cooking dinner, we're doing work on the computer, we've got kids running around, whatever the case may be. And just because you are in the same room doesn't mean you're watching. And so what if you're watching? So that's lastly the point, right?

Like, so what if you're watching? If your puppy decides to chew on the chair or decides to get into the cat box and get a snack or pees on the floor, like, what are you gonna do? It's, it's really kind of already too late, right? Because they've done the thing.

10:00 — Kati argues that interrupting furniture chewing without an effective consequence leaves puppies likely to…

And so now you're, again, you're in a position where you either have to correct them, in which case you'll probably be doing that nonstop, or you let it go and it just become, it starts to become a habit for them. Like this is a thing that they do. So people think just because they're watching, they can go over and kind of interrupt the behavior, right? Like, let's say you, you look up, you hear a noise, you look up, your puppy's chewing on the kitchen chair. It's like, okay, you can go over and just take him off the chair.

And a lot of people will look at the puppy and say something like, "No chew," right? But guess what? It doesn't do anything. You are accomplishing absolutely nothing by doing that. And so really all that's just happened is your puppy got experience chewing on the kitchen chair, probably learned that he liked it and he is gonna do it again.

Um, so there's no value in that. You're shooting yourself in the foot. And I find that's the biggest mistake people make, is giving their puppy just a little bit too much freedom, right? They don't feel like they are because they have a gate up because they're quote unquote watching, but they are, they're giving their puppy too much freedom because their puppy had the opportunity to go over and do that thing, and now he's gonna do it again. Um, because that's just how things work, right? Um, so we recommend high level of structure, and then you're actually with your puppy engaging with them when they're outta their kennel.

And guess what that does? You start to become like the most important thing in their universe, and they're learning when they're outta the kennel. It's fun to be with you, right? It's fun to be with you.

You're doing things, um, and they become much more engaged. And then now you're actually with the puppy. So you are watching them and you can address things. Um, but things are gonna be under control, right? Your puppy's probably gonna be on a leash, or you're gonna be actively playing with them. So they're not gonna be wandering off getting into the trash or chewing on chairs or stealing shoes. They're gonna be doing that stuff because they're doing something with you. Um, and so then while you're doing stuff with your puppy, you have the opportunity to correct them if they jump on you, if they bite you.

And those are the things we really wanna go after. And so how do we do that? How do we correct a puppy if they're jumping on us? Um, if they're biting the leash, if they're nipping our hands, what do we do?

Well, you have to deliver a correction. So, like I said a minute ago, just interrupting your puppy for something, right? If your puppy jumps up on you and you just say no, and push them down, that's probably not gonna do much. In fact, for some puppies, that might just become a fun game to play <laugh>. So because you, you're touching them with your hands, you're engaging with them, and to a lot of puppies that can be interpreted as affection, it can be pleasant, it can be interpreted as play. Um, really just depends on their personality. But one thing's for sure, for 99% of puppies that's not corrective, and it's not going to have any impact on them in the future.

13:00 — Kati explains using a verbal marker before correction to establish a clear connection between…

They're not gonna inhibit that behavior in the future. So if your puppy does these things, you need to, number one, know how to mark that behavior and then follow your marker with a real correction.

And so what that would look like is, say the puppy decides to start teething on my hand, the second the puppy does that, I'm gonna say no, right? And I'm not mad, I'm not angry, I'm not frustrated. I'm not saying you can't be. Um, but especially if you have a real soft, sensitive puppy, I probably wouldn't wanna do that, right? So you don't have to be. You, you can be neutral, and you just need to say that word in the moment as that behavior is occurring, because what we wanna do is we wanna teach your puppy that when they hear that word, that means a correction is going to come.

So that's gonna be very powerful for you down the road, and it's gonna make your training much cleaner, right? So when your puppy down the road becomes an adolescent and adult dog, and they pull out a behavior you don't like, you're already gonna have this really clean, clear language established with them so they can understand what happened when, and what led to what, and how their behavior led to a consequence.

So it's, it's a language you really want to get established now while they're young, and we want your puppy to get used to taking a correction while they're young, because some dogs don't. And then when they get older, depending on their personality, some dogs will just absolutely crumble. And it's like the end of the world when you give them a little correction, right? And then it, that means everything in the world is a little bit scarier to your puppy because you've never really toughened them up, right? You've never helped them develop any resilience. So I always compare this to if you've ever grown vegetables or, you know, any kind of plant from, um, a—as that seed, uh, germinates and starts to grow, it's often recommended that you put a little fan on them just with a gentle breeze.

So because we want that resistance, we want that aversion, we want that, um, to strengthen them, right?

So without that, they don't become strong. And it's the same idea for people and dogs. It's like if you never have to face any adversity, um, then you don't get strong. So adversity can really be, um, a value in that sense, right? If we don't face any, then we just kind of stay still and we stay weaker. You develop skills and strength and resilience and confidence by overcoming a little adversity, right? And not a ton, right? I'm not talking about crushing your puppy with adversity, but I'm saying a little bit is helpful to gain confidence and resilience.

Um, and so that's kind of what we, what we wanna do. You don't want your puppy not ever having felt a correction and then you start doing it when they get older. Not that you can't do that, we do it all the time, but I mean, it's not ideal, right?

Because like I said, if your puppy is really soft and sensitive and anxious and nervy, then it's gonna be a process to teach them this is a correction and, you know, help them just like get over that and move on. Uh, not that it's usually a big deal, but with some dogs, it, it can be, right? It, it stresses that basically you're saving your dog future stress, right? Because dogs will get stressed because it's not something they've ever experienced before. I mean, we have dogs in here that get incredibly stressed just because we follow through and make them do things when they don't feel like it.

And I mean, simple things like sitting on place or laying down when asked to lay down, and they get incredibly stressed out because they can't just walk away. We make them do it, right? And it's like, oh my God, it's like the end of the world.

So corrections can be the same thing. So your puppy learning that corrections are not a big deal, um, that they're tied to their behavior and that the sky isn't falling, right? It's uncomfortable for a second, whether it's mentally or physically. And then you just change your behavior and you move on with life, right? So teaching them that from a young age is very valuable. And then you get the dogs too. Um, if they have more of a, a pushy, confident personality, that if they've never had a correction for anything before, then when you finally give them one later, they just eat that correction, right?

They talk back, they growl, they snap, some of them will just straight up come right at you. Um, and so that's not good either, right? So your dog never learned that you are calling the shots and you are providing the consequences and you are making the decisions.

If you have a dog with that kind of pushy, sort of snotty personality, uh, no offense, but some of them are, um, it doesn't mean there isn't a good dog in there, right? But they just have this little bit of a chip on their shoulder because they've always been able to, and everyone's kind of kissed their toes, and it's like they've never had a correction. And then they grow up and you give 'em a correction and they try to bite you, right? Or they threaten to. That's no good either. So teach your puppy from a young age how to take a correction, but don't spend all day letting them have freedom.

So you have to go around and correct them for everything. Or the alternative, which is just let them strengthen these behaviors you don't like, right? Neither one of those are good. So puppy bites me, right? Starts mouthing on my hand. What do I do? I say no. And then after that no, the key is after, guys. Not at the same time. You say no first. Most people rush this process. And so it's not as effective. It's really important that you say no. And then go ahead and count to two or three in your head before you even move a muscle to correct your puppy.

19:00 — Kati identifies avoiding physical harm as her first criterion for puppy corrections.

Okay? Same thing with adult dogs.

So I'll say no, and then I'll deliver a correction afterwards. Now, what kind of correction we use depends on a lot of things. So you can use anything you want for a correction. Here's the important criteria. Number one, it can't be something that causes any harm to the puppy. Sounds like obvious, goes without saying. Love the show? Well, I have great news. We are offering an inexpensive subscription to our new premium content. This is content that isn't available to the general public. We make it just for our subscribers. We're gonna cover a variety of new topics in these episodes, and I think it's gonna be a ton of fun.

So you can jump right down into the show notes to get that website address and then skip over there and sign up for this premium content. Just wanted to take a second to let you guys know about that. Thank you so much for your support, and now on with the show. But that is my top criteria, right? We can't do anything that's gonna cause any harm to the dog. Um, nothing that's going to injure the dog. Um, obviously, now this whole thing about mental trauma, I don't worry about that.

I don't worry about that. Um, I don't really think there's anything that any normal person is gonna do as a correction that's gonna cause any, like, long-lasting mental trauma. Are they gonna be a little traumatized, so to speak, in the moment? That word just gets thrown around. Maybe some, some puppies might. Oh, oh, well, this is the process of teaching them. Guess what? It's fine. Just don't do that again, <laugh>, right? And so they might be scared for a minute. That's okay. Your puppy's not made of glass. They're not gonna break, they're not gonna fall apart, they're not gonna be damaged for life.

What's gonna happen is they're gonna learn when I do this, something scary happens, and when I don't do this, it doesn't happen. And that's okay. That's good and normal and healthy. And that is the idea behind contingent punishment, right? It's not random. It's contingent on the puppy's behavior. And they will figure that out as long as you're consistent, I promise you.

So it can't harm the puppy. The second piece of criteria is it has to be meaningful. So it has to something that your puppy does not like, right? Which means they're going to be a little uncomfortable physically, most likely physically and/or mentally, right? So some people use spray bottles, some people use noisemakers. Those are okay, they're not my favorite because they don't usually really work long term. Usually what happens is, talking about resilience, your puppy develops resilience with them and will very quickly not find them upsetting anymore, right? Especially water. Water's just fun for a lot of dogs.

Um, but even the noisemakers, like after a few times your puppy starts to go, uh, it's just noise and it's, it's cool. Like it doesn't do anything. Um, and so those are not my favorite, although they are good for building up your puppy's resilience, right?

So I like exposing puppies to noise, um, here and there just randomly because it does teach them that, like, they don't need to be worried about noises, right? But the idea behind a correction is to correct the behavior. And so I find that those don't usually work long term, um, because we are trying to change the behavior long term. Um, alright, so those are the two criteria. So the corrections we typically use with a puppy, depending on the age of the puppy, it could be a bonker, which is very, very common. That's a rolled-up cotton towel.

23:00 — Kati introduces the bonker, a rolled cotton towel, and credits Gary Wilkes with inventing…

Guys, we put a rubber band on each end and to hold it together. Um, Gary Wilkes invented the bonker. He has a, a wonderful Facebook page, recommend you follow it if you don't already. Lots of valuable information there. Um, but the bonker, uh, is a widely used tool, at least among people that know what they're doing.

Um, because it's cheap, it's inexpensive, everybody has them, they're easy to make and they're extremely effective if you know how to use it. So it's a cotton towel, and what we do is we just pop the puppy right on top of the head with it. Um, it doesn't hurt the puppy. We are obviously very conscious of our intensity, depending on the size of the puppy. So if you have a very small toy breed, obviously you don't wanna harm the puppy, right? So I'm careful about using the word hurt, um, because that can be interpreted as making the puppy uncomfortable.

But obviously we don't wanna cause any harm. You do have to be conscious of that. I know I'm saying things that are obvious and go without saying. Um, but I do like to include those, um, just so that I can be very, very clear, uh, about what our protocols are.

Um, however, some puppies are much more durable, much more rough and tumble, much pushier, much more confident and resilient. And we find with those puppies, people are usually way too soft and way too gentle. And so guess what happens? The puppy just thinks it's a game, right? Or the person does it very gently and the puppy thinks it's a game. So then the person does it a little more firm and the puppy thinks it's a game. So they do it a little firmer. And what happens is they build up the puppy's resilience, right? And so now you have a puppy that you can bonk them on the head, extremely firm, and they just think it's the greatest thing ever, which sounds ridiculous, but I've seen it <laugh>, I've seen it.

Um, I had a person with a little hound puppy of some kind. I can't remember if it was a Plott Hound or what it was, but, um, this puppy was very drivey, definitely had that hunting drive.

You could tell that working drive and, uh, was definitely using its teeth on its owner, was all scratched up and bruises everywhere. And so I taught her how to mark that behavior with a no, bonk the puppy very firmly on the head. Uh, and it did need to be very firm. This puppy was a very forward, confident puppy. And she went and it worked very well, right? In our lesson, it worked very well. And it sounds like she did okay at home at first, but was obviously being too soft. And so the puppy kept doing the behavior and she had to keep bonking.

And so the puppy just got used to it, right? And so then she started doing it firmer and started doing it firmer. But if, you know, because she didn't do that in the first place, it opened up the opportunity for the puppy to just get more and more and more resilient and used to it.

So by the time she came back again, <laugh> back again, by the time she came back again, puppy would bite her and she would bonk it very firmly and he'd just grab the towel and start playing with it. Um, it did absolutely nothing. So for the folks out there that are like, oh my God, it's a puppy abuse. This puppy was having a great fucking time. <laugh>, okay? Nobody hurt the puppy. It was the human who was getting hurt. And nobody has any compassion for the human ever, right? The human's bleeding, covered in bruises, and we feel bad for the puppy who's having just the time of its life chewing on its owner, playing with the towel, party time, right?

27:00 — Kati argues that repeated corrections with gradually increasing intensity can teach puppies to tolerate…

So, no, the thing is, if she had gone home and done it very firmly the first time, then the puppy stops doing it, right? So then we're not opening up the door for repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, right?

Because the more you repeat it, the more your puppy just gets used to it. And especially if you are slowly increasing the intensity, gradually increasing the intensity, excuse me, then you are literally training your puppy, uh, to just tolerate it, right? Much like we would desensitization, desensitization to something we want our dog to be okay with, right? Like, I'll put dogs on place and I'll play thunderstorm noises and things of that nature, right? Because we want the dog to just experience it and see that it's not a big deal. That's what happens when you try to punish a behavior, but your intensity isn't enough or you just gradually increase it over time.

You're getting the dog accustomed to it so it becomes not a big deal. And if something's not a big deal, guys, then it won't work, right? So it has to be a big deal the first time.

And I think that's a classic mistake with punishment across the board, is people are always looking for like the lowest intensity that's going to be just enough. And if you do that, you are opening the door for desensitization. You're much, much better off to come in above where you think you need to be, right? Because the idea is to get rid of the behavior. And if you don't do that right away, now you're getting yourself into that messy place where you're opening up the opportunity for your puppy to just get used to it, right? And nobody wants a relationship like that either, where you have to walk around constantly trying to correct things, right?

It's annoying for you, it's frustrating for you. It has a deleterious effect on your relationship with your dog. Um, it's no fun. And your dog thinks you're no fun, right?

Unless you're like that thought hound puppy, that's just having a great time. Um, so don't do that. Don't make that mistake. Do yourself a favor. And if you decide this is a behavior we're gonna go after and correct, then do it right. Just keep those two rules in mind: no harm to the puppy, and the correction must be meaningful to the puppy. And don't forget, too, that is dependent on the puppy, right? You don't get to decide what's meaningful. You don't get to decide this correction or that correction or this intensity. The puppy decides that.

So you just try something that you think should be more than enough and the puppy will let you know it was or it wasn't. Okay? Because after two or three corrections, your puppy should start to get the message, right? I'm not saying it's gonna be one and done, but you shouldn't have to do it constantly.

30:00 — Kati discusses leash pops and prong collars, distinguishing older puppies from younger puppies and…

So bonker, great tool, use it a ton, especially with puppies, uh, leash and prong, okay? So I would say, you know, most puppies, if they're over like 12 weeks of age, we're doing this. If you have a very tiny toy breed or a dog that's younger than that, they're probably not on a leash and prong, at least not yet. So you could still do a leash pop with a slip lead or a leash attached to a flat collar. And with some puppies that will work and that will be effective. With some, it won't. Okay? But it's a lot better than nothing.

Um, so a leash pop is a fine correction if your puppy's on a leash, which, you know, hopefully most of the time they are, if they're not in their kennel. Um, and a third one that I use a lot for, specifically for the biting and the mouthing and the nipping, um, with a young puppy, which is gonna be a puppy that's like under four months of age, most of the time I will wrap my hand around their snout, right? So my fingers go into their mouth and I just kind of wrap their lips around their upper teeth, and I give it a little squeeze. How hard? Hard enough to make them squeak.

So if a puppy is gonna use their teeth on me, this is essentially the same exact thing, okay? So it's not extreme.

I am just squeezing hard enough that they get that sensation themselves of their teeth and their flesh. It's like, no, don't bite me, <laugh>. Okay, I'll bite you back. So just mark it with a no. Wrap your hands around the top part of their snout and squeeze those lips into their teeth until you get a little squeak. Again, you might have to do this a few times, and then your puppy's gonna start to get the message, right? Be consistent. Every time your puppy puts their teeth on you, don't let something slide, okay? Don't go, oh, well, she was being gentle that time, so I'm not gonna do it.

Because now, and it's not that you can't do that, but now you're making it harder for the puppy to discern when the correction comes, right? Because now they need to figure out what intensity, where's the threshold?

Instead of just making it very clear, don't use your teeth on me. Right? So I like to keep things really simple, especially for people because they're not dog trainers, right? And so the more discriminations your dog has to make, the more they have to parse out, the more information they have to parse out, um, the harder it is, right? And the longer it's gonna take. And especially if you're not real experienced with all of this, and you're not perfect, right? And your marker's not always at the right time, or your punishment's not always at the right intensity.

It's like if you are trying to establish with your dog, like this is the threshold, this is, you know, and they have a million different things they need to figure out, and then you're not super precise on your end all the time, that's probably gonna result in not very good results.

So I like to keep it really simple for people and really break it down. This is what you wanna do. You want to mark it with a no, follow that no with something very meaningful and keep your, um, rule as simple and clear as possible. So either biting's okay, or it's not, instead of, well, this biting is okay, but that biting isn't. And in this situation it is. And with that person it is, but not with this person, right? So the more you do that, the more you have these little caveats that your dog has to figure out, the longer it's gonna take.

Um, and you have to be good at what you're doing and experienced and understand the nuances of it, and be very precise if you wanna be effective with that. I'm not saying you can't do it, right, but for most people, it's not a great place to start.

Um, if you don't have practice with this. Um, so deliver that correction, guys, to your puppy. It's okay to correct your puppy, right? But, so this does a few things. Your puppy's gonna learn to take a correction. And we already talked about why that's so important. Um, it's going to establish that people deserve respect, right? Because we're going after how they interact with people. But it's going to avoid putting you in a position where you just follow your puppy around and correct them all the time, right? If your puppy's stealing socks, chewing your furniture, peeing on the floor, that's your fault.

You should be using more structure. Your puppy is telling you they aren't ready for that level of freedom yet. Now, as your puppy gets a little bit older, right? You've laid a great foundation, you've been using tons of structure, um, your puppy has learned not to jump on you, not to chew on you. They're calm in their kennel. Like, that's an amazing foundation. You've done that. You start giving your dog a little bit of freedom here and there, meaning maybe now you have a gate up and you're just watching, right? And your puppy is, gets to be five months old.

35:00 — Kati discusses gradually adding freedom as puppies mature while prioritizing relationship-building, food work, leash…

Um, and you're starting to incorporate little bits of freedom. Now, you know, as your puppy gets older, 5, 6, 7 months old and they're still stealing socks, getting into the cat box, now you're gonna start to have more of those conversations if you have to.

Okay? So now, yeah, at some point you have to have that talk with the dog, right? But you shouldn't have to do it right now while they're 8, 10, 12 weeks old. It's like, no, this is the time where you build a relationship with your dog. Teach them you deserve respect, right? Humans deserve respect. And aside from that, it's all structure and food and leash work and just patterning, teaching them their commands and, you know, food at the door, door manners and all that stuff. So much stuff to teach your puppy. You shouldn't be spending that time running around telling them, don't steal socks, don't chew on the chair, don't pee on the floor, don't bother the cat.

Don't get into the— they shouldn't have to do that. That is not how you should be raising your puppy, in my opinion. Like I said, that's just a mess. And it's gonna result in constant corrections and constant frustration and constant patterning of things you don't like.

And it's not the best idea, but very well-intentioned, very intentional, directed corrections for specific behaviors that we know we wanna eliminate right away. Yes, do that <laugh>, right? So you're doing tons of food work with your puppy all day, teaching them their commands, teaching them their door manners. Everything's on a leash. Everything's very structured. They don't even get the chance to potty on your floor most of the time because they're in their kennel or they're doing something with you or they're outside. Um, and then there are these corrections for jumping on me, biting me, not being calm in the kennel, right?

And that's really it. That, to me, is getting off on the right foot with your puppy.

And then they, they're learning how to be calm. They're learning coping skills, they're learning good potty habits. They're learning respect for people, they're learning their commands. They're learning to have fun with you, 'cause presumably you're playing with your puppy, right? All you, so you're covering all of your bases this way. Your puppy is learning how to take a correction. Um, all these things are so, so valuable to the relationship. Um, as your puppy moves into adolescence, it's gonna help you so, so, so much. Um, but again, those corrections are bonker, which is a rolled-up towel right on top of the head, just a little pop.

38:00 — Kati revisits correction intensity and introduces a brief poke as another physical correction.

Uh, but it has to be firm because if you're not, you're probably gonna desensitize your puppy to it, right? But just be mindful, obviously, of the size and strength of your puppy and your own strength. Um, 'cause again, we don't wanna cause any harm. Leash pop, preferably on a prong collar if your puppy's an older puppy.

Um, but if they're a tiny toy breed or they're very young, you can do it on a slip lead or a flat collar. Um, and then another thing you can do that we didn't talk about, um, is you can just give your puppy a poke, right? So I like to just take my two fingers and kind of poke it right into the puppy's ribs. Um, again, always mindful of our intensity, but it's just a poke, really not gonna hurt a puppy that way. Um, and that can be a good way to send a physical message to your puppy that something isn't okay, right?

And it can, it's really a quick tap like that, right? You don't stay poking into the puppies. It's a quick, hard poke. Um, and that can be very startling, um, which can be very effective as a correction, um, again, without causing any harm.

So that's a great, uh, way also to correct your puppy, especially if you don't have any of those other tools handy at the time. Sometimes just a little poke, like if your puppy's being a little too nutty, um, and starting to get jumpy, jumping up on people, just "No," poke, right? And that can be like, "Whoa, sorry," right? And it can take your puppy's arousal down a notch. And so now they, they aren't so, um, jumpy and crazy, um, and getting all over people because you don't want, you don't wanna pattern that. Um, all right, so those are our main means of correction.

Again, you can use anything that works for you as long as it doesn't cause harm and it's meaningful to your puppy. They have to care about it, right? And again, the puppy decides that, not you. So those are the things you need to remember when you're correcting your puppy's behavior.

And finally, don't forget, we like to choose a specific few things that are important to us when the puppy is young to go after, to teach them what "no" means, to teach them how to take a correction, to teach them respect, but we don't correct everything. Generally speaking, as a puppy, we'll wait until they're a little bit older to have those conversations. We're relying a lot on management when our puppy is young. Um, but when we do have the puppy out and we are interacting with them, um, we do have a select few things that we've decided in our heads.

These are the things we're going after. And we will deliver a correction to reduce and eliminate those behaviors specifically. And everything else can kind of wait until the puppy gets a little bit older and we're trying to give them more freedom. Hey guys, thanks for joining us today. I really hope you enjoyed the show. If there's a specific topic you'd like to hear discussed, you can send that to me directly via email or fan mail. Just jump down into the show notes. That information will be there for you. I really look forward to hearing from you.

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