How to Raise the Perfect Dog (5 page)

Hand correction to Mr. President’s neck

THE PUPPIES COME HOME

By the time I began writing this book, I had my four puppies in place. Junior was a full-blown adolescent, a year and a half in age. Blizzard, the yellow Lab, had just turned four months old, and both the little miniature schnauzer, Angel, and the English bulldog, Mr. President, were just over two months old. Since I was in the process of moving my original Dog Psychology Center in downtown Los Angeles to a new 43-acre plot of land in the wild, hilly terrain of Santa Clarita Valley, I had already dispersed many of the dogs in my pack to permanent homes, to temporary foster homes, or to the facility in Templeton, California, of my friend and protégée, Cheri Lucas, where she keeps her own pack of fifty dogs for rescue and rehabilitation. This meant that the new puppies would be raised at Casa Millan—our midsize, suburban ranch-style home in Santa Clarita Valley—with daily excursions to the outdoor oasis of my new Dog Psychology Center property just a short drive away, as I worked to prepare it for its opening in the fall of 2009. All told, our core family pack (including my wife, Ilusion, and sons, Calvin and Andre) now comprised the four puppies, Junior, Blizzard, Angel, and Mr. President; my grandfatherly pit bull, Daddy (fifteen); our Chihuahuas, Coco (five) and Minnie (two); our Jack Russell terrier, Jack (four); Apollo, a Rottweiler (approximately two and a half); and a two-year-old Yorkie, Georgia Peaches, a puppy-mill survivor that I had recently rescued while in Atlanta for a speaking engagement. Because the Dog Psychology Center was in flux, I also regularly brought home dogs from the
Dog Whisperer
show that needed more intensive rehab, so the pups would be exposed to a revolving cast of different breeds, ages, and levels of stability.

My puppy experiment was ready to begin. The goal was to raise four balanced dogs of different breeds, to maintain the stability they were already born with, and to prevent any future issues from forming. Throughout the rest of this book, these puppies will appear in costarring roles with me as they go through their different developmental stages, so you can see exactly how I applied the concepts of dog psychology to their rearing.

I felt inspired and invigorated as I set up a line of baby gates and rearranged the row of comfortable kennels where our dogs sleep in my large garage, which has an open door that leads to the side yard. Eager to help, Calvin and Andre pitched in to prepare our home for this exciting new experience. For the next seven months, my whole family and I would be immersed in the pure delight of watching these dogs as they lived through the magical season of life that is puppyhood, and on into their adolescence.

2
PERFECT MATCH

Choosing the Perfect Puppy

Georgia Peaches

G
rowing up on my grandfather’s farm in rural Sinaloa, Mexico, I lived among scruffy farm dogs, our loyal friends and coworkers in the fields and around the house. You wouldn’t call these dogs “pets” by American standards, in that their lives were spent near us but not as a part of us. They were our dogs, yet they lived in a world separate from our human lives, content and balanced in their own dog culture. I watched a lot of litters born among these dogs, and though the puppies were sweet and appealing, I never really experienced the extraordinary “cuteness” of puppies until I came to America and was exposed to the hundreds of breeds in this country: French bulldog puppies, with their flattened snouts and oversized brown eyes, or Lhasa apso or Westie or poodle puppies, all heartbreakingly adorable balls of fluff. When I saw some of these more attractive breeds as pups, I began to better understand why Americans tended to “baby” their dogs—something that is not a part of the culture in Mexico.

All baby animals are appealing, but in my personal opinion, puppies simply corner the market in cuteness. Even the most hard-hearted human can’t help but stop and sigh when passing a puppy on the street. I have many clients who are ruthless businesspeople in their professional lives but who absolutely melt into butter at the sight of a juvenile dog. According to Canadian psychologist and animal behavior expert Dr. Stanley Coren, “Very young mammals have pheromones that give them a characteristic ‘baby smell.’ One of the purposes of these pheromones is to excite protective instincts, or at least non-hostile instincts, in its own species. However, because of the similarity amongst all the mammals, we tend to find that other animals will respond to it.”
¹
Coren’s words offer a partial explanation for the deep “friendships” we have seen develop between an older, more protective animal and another of a different species. Whether it be Koko the gorilla and her pet kitten, or a lioness and a wolf cub, the innate drive to care for an infant runs deep within all mammals.

But a puppy’s cuteness can be its—and our—downfall. The “cute response” we feel when we get the irresistible impulse to bring home a puppy is an emotional response, not a rational one. John Grogan perfectly captures the universal experience of “puppy love” in his wonderful memoir of a lovable but unpredictable Labrador,
Marley and Me
. “The deal I had struck with Jenny when we agreed to come here was that we would check the pups out, ask some questions, and keep an open mind as to whether or not we were ready to bring home a dog. … I said, ‘Let’s not make any snap judgments.’ But thirty seconds into it, I could see I had already lost the battle. There was no question that before the night was out, one of these puppies would be ours.”
²

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard variations on that same theme when I’m called in to help rehabilitate a dog with issues. Unfortunately, those stories don’t always end with a best-selling book and hit movie. Sometimes they end with the disillusioned, frustrated owners tearing their hair out, and eventually dropping off their puppy or dog at a rescue or shelter. Sometimes those abandonments result in an innocent dog losing its life.

When you bring home a puppy, you are actually bringing home what in a few short months will be a full-grown dog—not a stuffed animal that will stay small and cuddly forever. Animal lovers, especially those of us who work with dogs day in and day out, take very seriously the staggering number of dogs languishing in kennels and pounds. In recent years, responsible breeders, rescue organizations, and even shelters have become much more aware of the consequences of homing one of their puppies with an owner who isn’t realistic about his or her ability to care for a puppy. Often they will require the potential owner to fill out a contract and will even perform a “home visit” to make sure the owner’s environment is appropriate for raising a dog. Angel’s breeder, Brooke Walker, makes all new owners of her pedigree miniature schnauzers sign a contract stating that if the circumstances change and they’re no longer able to have a dog, they will return the dog to her for rehoming. She also microchips her dogs so that if they are ever lost, they can be traced back to her.

Two certified trainers and award-winning breeders I have worked with, Diana Foster and her husband, Doug, have been running their business, Thinschmidt German Shepherds in Corona, California, for thirty-four years now. They not only breed pedigree German shepherd puppies with excellent temperaments for pets, they also train them. Diana describes the detailed grilling she gives potential owners before agreeing to adopt out one of her purebred shepherd pups: “We have a lengthy discussion with them. The first thing I ask is if they ever had a shepherd before. Some people don’t understand how much of a dog it is, ‘cause they’re so cute when they’re little. But they have to understand what these dogs are bred for and the size and the strength and how important the early training is. I ask them why they want a shepherd. What’s the reason? Is it going to be a guard dog that stays outside all the time? If so, we won’t sell them one of our dogs—that’s not what we breed them for. Our dogs are family. Right away I ask them if there are children in the family. Do you have any dogs? Are they males or females? Are you active? Is the dog going to be with the family? Where is he going to sleep? We provide a diagram with our suggestions of how to set up your home to get it ready for the dog. We don’t want to send one of our dogs off until we have a very good idea of what its life is going to be like.”

Like the Fosters, Brooke Walker carefully considers whom she allows to take home one of her prize miniature schnauzer puppies.

If it’s a two-career couple with toddlers, they’re not going to have the kind of time it takes to raise one of these puppies right. My dogs are great with kids—that’s not the problem—and the dog is going to survive as long as it’s cared for, of course, but if the dog is not getting enough individual attention, that’s not the kind of life I want for one of
my
puppies. I ask, where will the dog fit in, in the dynamic of the family? If they have a yard, it has to be fenced, that’s absolutely imperative. For people who live in a small place, they have to give me the commitment that they’re going to walk their dog—and I’m not talking around the block. Psychologically they have to have that long walk. Miniature schnauzers’ noses are always going; they need the stimulation of changing sights and sounds and places.

Brooke also has a checklist in place that prospective adoptive owners have to complete before she’ll allow them to take possession of the dog.

First of all, I ask that anybody who takes a puppy has a reputable veterinarian already in place. I ask them to show me at least a business card, proving that they’ve spoken to a vet and have him or her on board. People who’ve had dogs before usually have their vet already, but new dog owners have to find one they trust before I’ll let them take the puppy home. I want them to come to visit the puppies at two weeks of age, but if this is their first schnauzer, I also insist that they go to a dog show and spend some time around the grown dogs. They have to be as much in love with the adult dog as they are with the puppy, because I want my dogs to have a home for life.

If you are unsure about your ability to care for a puppy, ask yourself if
you
could pass Brooke’s stringent requirements for ownership of one of her prize puppies:

• Do you have a vet? Is he or she a specialist or at least very experienced in treating small-breed dogs or terriers?

• Is your vet aware of the fact that you are getting a new puppy?

• Have you set an appointment for a health evaluation of that puppy within three days of bringing your puppy home?

• Have you had a puppy before? What breed? Where did you purchase it? How long did it live? What can you tell me about your experience with your previous dogs?

• Do you kennel/crate-train your dogs?

• Do you have children? What ages? What responsibilities will they have regarding the puppy? Do your children act appropriately with dogs now?

• Do you have a fenced-in yard? How large and how secure is it? Do you have a pool? Is it completely secure so that there are no ways of getting into it accidentally without a parent present?

• Do you work? How many hours would be the longest that the dog would be alone? (Brooke says she favors retired folks—their dogs are always with them. She’s an advocate for dogs being taken everywhere with their humans … except to the movies.)

• Are you able to afford to care for a dog? Will you take the dog for regular vet checks? Will you feed high-quality food and avoid overfeeding? (No table scraps and no begging!)

Brooke insists on the following steps:

• Prospective buyers must come to her home at least once and visit a dog show to see the adult schnauzers before they get on her list of potential parents.

• When they come for puppy pickup day, they need to spend at least one hour for a brief socialization with their new puppy. At that time they are required to bring a crate, a water dish and bottled water, a leash, and a harness that will fit the puppy.

• Brooke requests periodic progress reports. She thinks of her buyers as family, and they are always invited for play days that she holds once a month for siblings and other schnauzers. Socialization is important to a dog’s mental health.

• Buyers must sign a sales contract prior to getting the puppy.

• Brooke’s contract stipulates that if owners have a change in life circumstances that requires that they give up the dog, the dog must be returned to her. If they have a family member willing to take over the dog, Brooke wants to meet them and have them answer some basic questions.

• Brooke would like to be informed of any illnesses, regardless of how seemingly insignificant. If the dog should die, she wants to be informed and will pay for a necropsy so that she can record any information that will be helpful for the future of her breeding program.

Diana Foster and her husband are just as serious as Brooke when it comes to selecting the right owners for their prize German shepherd pups. “The hardest part of being a breeder is trying to overcome ignorance,” says Diana. “A German shepherd is a lot of dog, but people only see how cute the puppies are and assume it’s going to be easy. We breed dogs with wonderful temperaments, but they don’t raise themselves. When people obviously aren’t getting the picture, they can’t believe it when I turn them away.”

The Monks of New Skete, also renowned German shepherd breeders, describe another example of this phenomenon in their excellent book,
The Art of Raising a Puppy
. When they showed one prospective owner the application form she would have to fill out before being able to purchase a puppy, she exclaimed, “My heavens, you’d think I was adopting a child!”
³
To be honest, this woman wasn’t too far off in her assessment. As a father, I can attest to the fact that while raising a healthy, balanced dog is nowhere near as
complicated
a task as raising a healthy, balanced human, it is absolutely no less of a
commitment
.

WILL YOU MAKE THE TIME?

Unlike adult dogs, puppies in their first six to eight months of life require consistent supervision, and they’ll continue to need a significant time commitment from you well into their adolescence. In a natural pack, puppies are constantly being watched and corrected by the adults in their lives and are never alone for long periods of time. This doesn’t mean you have to be with your puppy 24/7 for eight months—the reality of our human lives means we have to teach a puppy to master something that is completely unnatural for him, and that is to be left alone. Proper crate training at an early age can successfully accomplish this and prevent the separation anxiety issues that I see in my work almost every day. I’ll address both crate training and separation anxiety in Chapter 4. But bringing home a puppy does mean that you should be open to rearranging your family’s schedule for a while. Puppies also need regular stimulation through play, and if you don’t have another dog to undertake that task for you, you run the risk of an idle mind getting into trouble when you’re not paying attention.

FIRST-TIME OWNERS: LIFESTYLE CHANGES