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Every Monday, I will be sharing with you posts from my favorite canine care author Nicole N S Mackie. She is the author of a great book entitled âLiving in Harmony with Your Puppyâ. She runs a website about canine care at www.shalvaholistics.com . Check it out! I really enjoyed reading her book, filled with wisdom and just the right information for every canine owner.
Continued from a previous post here.
Stress Reduction Techniques:
ï¬Â Provide basic needs of warmth, shelter, food, water, closeness, toilet opportunity
ï¬Â Good relationship with your puppy, allowing him to be in the house with you as part of the family, not left alone outdoors
ï¬Â Involve puppy in calm family activity, not highly active
ï¬Â Allow your puppy to make his own choices
ï¬Â Speaking calmly, use body language rather than saying NO, ie splitting up, going between or using other calming signals
ï¬Â Moving slowly and not fast
ï¬Â Curve around your puppy when approaching and not directly into his space
ï¬Â Allow puppy to approach you, rather than you approaching him
ï¬Â Nose-work and brain-work games
ï¬Â Hide your puppies treats or meal around your yard or in your house for puppy to find.
ï¬Â Massage
ï¬Â Calm music if your puppy likes it
ï¬Â Give your puppy blankets, toys or anything else he might likes to use for comfort or to play with.
ï¬Â Plenty of rest and sleep during the day and at night
ï¬Â Never waken your puppy from sleep, especially rem (dreaming) sleep, when you see jerky movements or even barking during sleep.
ï¬Â Space, your puppy will need his own space
ï¬Â Using calming signals to communicate with your puppy
ï¬Â Using stuffed Kongs daily or other type of chews, you can also provide your puppies meal in the Kong provided the meal is moist.
ï¬Â Walking on a long loose lead
ï¬Â Correct amount of exercise for puppies age and breed
ï¬Â Daily short, calm slow walk, allowing puppy to sniff and explore away from other dogs or humans
ï¬Â If you want your puppy to walk with other dogs, allow your puppy to walk only with calm mature dogs he is familiar with
ï¬Â Avoid giving your puppy a high fat, high sugar diet which places strain on the adrenal glands
ï¬Â Correct diet for you individual puppy, see veterinarian or canine nutritional therapist. They can also provide you with the correct supplementation for your puppy if need be.
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