4 Puppy Training Battles That Aren’t Worth It
Often, the fastest fix for puppy problems comes by changing what I’m doing.
If you’ve ever raised kids or puppies, you know that sometimes you’ve got to pick your battles. Sometimes a minor irritation has to be overlooked in view of something greater.
Shoot. That’s true in just about every relationship: your co-workers, your neighbors, your spouse, etc.
The same is true with puppies, to a degree.
Although I always counsel my clients to assume their puppy will NOT “grow out of it,” there are actually some behaviors that are phases, and trying to solve them with training just isn’t worth it.
While I do not recommending doing nothing about those behaviors, you do have to pick your battles and be smart about what you do to address the behaviors.
As a professional dog trainer who has cared for a lot of puppies, here are four battles I don’t fight so I have time and energy for other things.
#1: Bare Feet
Yup. When I’m around puppies, I keep my feet covered.
Puppies put their teeth on a lot of stuff, and your feet may be one of those things. This is extremely painful and almost impossible to ignore, so it becomes a vicious cycle: puppy bites my feet, I jerk them away in pain, puppy has fun, puppy bites my feet again, I jerk them away, etc.
Wearing shoes protects my feet and eliminates a lot of the reward for feet biting. Read more about puppy feet biting here.
#2: Frilly, Dangly Dresses/Skirts/Robes/Etc.
You know the ones I’m talking about. These things cry out for puppies to grab them.
Could I train him to not do that? Yeah, probably. But that would take so much energy and consistency.
It’s easier to temporarily change my wardrobe until he matures a bit and that phase is over.
#3: Rugs
I’m over pee on carpet. It takes so much time to clean, and I’m not sure blotting, spraying and blotting really does as much as we’d like to think it does.
If your puppy has access to a rug that is not easily washable, roll that sucker up until potty training is complete.
Yes, it might feel like a drastic step, but it’ll save you so much time and frustration in the long run.
Note: solid floors are really slippery and not great for playtime. If you can replace the rug with something non-slip and washable, that’s ideal.
#4: Decorative Items
As a general rule, if the item isn’t puppy-friendly and it can be removed, do it.
Again, this may feel drastic, but completely removing the illegal choice will save you time today and in the months ahead.
It is so much faster to put the item away once, than it is to repeatedly call your puppy away from it every day. Plus, if the item isn’t there when your puppy is most likely to investigate it with his mouth, he can never learn it makes a fun chew toy — a habit which will take you time and energy to fix.
You only have so much time and energy available to raise your puppy; make sure you’re spending it on things that will do the most for you and your puppy both now and in the long run. Sometimes, it’s much, much easier for me to temporarily change than the ask the puppy to change.
Meet the Puppy Trainer and Blog Author
Leighann Hurley founded Koinonia Dogs in 2014 and has been a Certified Professional Dog Trainer in the Austin,TX area since 2019.
She's a problem-solver by nature and loves creating cooperation through conflict-free communication so both ends of the leash enjoy an easier life together.
