Last week we chatted about the importance of socialisation and how getting it wrong can be your pups death sentence.
But how do we know if our pups are scared?
This is something I ask my clients in every set of puppy classes.
Sadly our pups can't tell us if they are worried about a particular noise, sound or object by speaking.
It is your job as an owner to know when your puppy isn't comfortable.
But how do we do this I hear you ask??
Body language......it's allllllll about the body language!!
So what body language will we see when our pups are happy.....
Anyone who has had anything to do with a puppy knows when they are happy they are SUPER wiggly.
Have you ever seen a Cocker or Springer Spaniel when their favourite person appears. You get the whole body waggle! It is such a lovely sight to see!
We want to see lovely loose, wiggle bodies. Relaxed muscles all over including the face and soft eyes.
What if our pooches aren't so happy.....
Slow, slinking movement, making themselves smaller and closer to the ground, cowering away.
Stiff muscles including furrow brows and tight cheek muscles that draw the lips back as well as excessive panting when it isn't hot.
Whale eye where the pup exposes the whites of their eyes. Squinting eyes, lip licking, yawning, moving away, pacing and refusing food are all signs of stress.
If you see your pup doing any of these things look at the environment.
What is making them feel that way?
Support your puppy and make them feel better. Whether that is by talking to them softly, feeding them tasty chicken, walking them away from the situation and even picking them up.
Yes....picking them up!
Some people will be horrified by this. I'll go into it more next week.
If you want to learn more about this or if you have a puppy who seems to be worried about our world then contact me today.
We NEED to fix this or your puppy could have life long problems.
Our puppy classes are designed to produce confident, happy puppies who can take on our busy world and owners who can listen and help their puppies when needed.
Take a look - https://www.dedicatedtodogs.co.uk/puppy-life-skills
www.dedicatedtodogs.co.uk
info@dedicatedtodogs.co.uk
07557983529
