Maggie is a 14 week old Labrador Pointer mix.

Maggie

Maggie is a very young, cute and energetic puppy.
On her first day in our facility she was doing great!
Maggie learnt how to sit-stay and down-stay. I *practiced with her walking on a leash and the “come command”. She also met a lot of new friends.

Maggie training

Let puppy play first. Otherwise, it is difficult to hold his attention. Keep training sessions short – 5 to 10 minutes, several times per day.

Be patient. Keep showing your puppy what to do until he responds and then praise him (use high tone of voiceto mean approval)

Never lose your temper with your puppy. He won’t understand why you are angry and he may fear you.

Be firm and consistent. Be sure to use the same tone of voce (low and authoritative) and the same words when giving command.

End each training session on a positive note (a command showing your puppy he is doing very well).

Exercising puppy

Exercise is an important part of a puppy’s overall health, but it should be appropriate for his age and energy level, until the puppy develops good motor skill and balance.

Kids and Dogs’ slide show

One of the worst reasons to get a dog is:

I want to get it for my kids, so they can learn about responsibility.

Dog with Kids

If Mom and Dad would like to have a dog, by all means they should have one.

Before the age of 10, children are generally unable to care adequately for a pet because they are not developmentally ready without the help of an adult.

No matter how many lectures you give about how they need to feed / water /walk the dog, the final responsibility will always be yours. A canine is not a teaching tool. The best way to teach responsibility for parents is to provide a good example by taking good care of a dog.

The relationship between a dog and child can be magical, but it’s not automatic.

Kids playing with a dog

Guidelines and advice about owning a dog are available from many sources but this ought to be read by adults rather than children and certainly not by the dog!

Family with Dog