Pet Q&A With Dr. Patrick Mahaney

Anyone who’s ever had a puppy or currently does can certainly sympathize with Perezcious reader, Jose, who asked:

“My maltese-poodle mix rescue puppy (3 months) seems to get too excited sometimes when people come home and during any time actually jumping, pouncing, nipping, is this normal puppy behavior or will it go away soon?”

The always helpful Dr. Mahaney responded:

Hello Jose,
Thank you for your question, as I am sure that other TeddyHilton.com readers have experienced the good, the bad, and the puppy when it comes to keeping one’s sanity while training a youthful and energetic canine companion.

All the behavior you describe can be seen in puppies and adult dogs. At the same time, no matter how cute your dog is, the behavior may not be so cute or well accepted if it is still happening during adulthood or if the person on the receiving end of the behavior is adverse to it.

I hope that you are actively training your dog to exhibit desirable behaviors based on the guidance of an experienced trainer. I always suggest having a series of training sessions as compared to trying to do so yourself based on books, videos, etc. YOU, the primary dog caretaker (and your family, friends, etc), need to be trained how to guide your maturing puppy to behave at home and in public. Without proper and consistent training, your puppy may not grow out of this behavior.

If your puppy is overly excited, get him/her (not sure from your question) to focus attention on something positive, like a small/healthy food treat and give the command to sit (perhaps gently pressing down on the hind end). Say “good sit”, then give the food treat, then offer more praise.
This calms the puppy down with positive reinforcement.

This suggestion is not “the law” when it comes to puppy training, as there are many techniques you can use to train a puppy or adult dog, but we definitely want to focus on the positive and minimize the negative.

Good luck

We guess “puppies” will be “puppies.”

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