Puppies:  The Importance of Teaching Self-Soothing

I have an 8 week old pup visiting me for a couple of weeks.  He is as cute as can be, but what is very apparent, is that he has learned to demand bark for attention.  I am teaching him about exercise pens and crate training which I think is imperative for little puppies, but, he has been used to getting attention whenever he wants it, probably from his mother!  Not all mother dogs are like that.  My mother dog will ignore the demanding behavior from her puppies once they reach about 5 weeks old.  It’s just different mothering styles of different dogs.  Some mothering styles such as very permissive mothers can highly influence a puppy’s beginning, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the not so good.

Yes, there is a certain amount of a young puppy moving away from it’s litter and trying to deal with the separation. But, in this particular case this puppy is demand barking, saying to me, “I WANT THIS NOW!”  How do I know that?  It’s all about the context and the sound.  He demands a treat when he sits.  It’s the same bark when he is inside the exercise pen and he is watching me from across the room. He barks as if to say, “Pay attention, NOW!”

The key here is to teach him to be able to soothe himself and be able to play with himself without someone doing it for him – dog or person.  It is excellent for pups to spend alone time and be happy doing so.  This helps to prevent separation anxiety further down the road. If I respond to his barking, even by looking at him, I reinforce what he wants, which is attention.  This particular puppy is not fearful or afraid of being alone; he is demanding he not be alone.

To teach him to do this, I must first insure his food motivation.  This particular puppy was free fed by the breeder so he doesn’t have much interest in working for food from food dispensing toys. I think food dispensing toys are so important for him because it teaches him to problem solve and it uses enormous mental and physical energy so he will sleep better and accept confinement better. Certain kinds of confinement and regular meals are imperative for house training.  In order to increase his interest in food, I have started feeling him regular meals in the food dispensing toys. If he is not interested, in the toy, he soon will be.  I pick it up and give it to him a little later.

To encourage self soothing, I also need to be sure he has plenty of long terms chewing treats.  What I mean by that are things like curly bulky sticks, or other hard chewing toys that take a long time for him to accomplish.  Again, food motivation is the key to making this successful.

I also must ignore all barking and crying. It is not our human nature to do this, so I know how hard it is.  But, during those first few weeks I am imprinting behaviors I want. If I don’t want him to be a demand or reactive barker the rest of his life, I have to stop it now.  I must let him know that barking gets him nothing.  Quiet gets him the things he wants.

Exercise is the next critical component to self soothing.  In most cases, we tend to over exercise puppies here in this area.  I use short bursts of walks in my backyard over small obstacles like larger old branches he must go over or under. This nurtures is self confidence and problem solving too!  We go around other large obstacles, too.

The key to a well adjusted puppy is to start out teaching him he can be by himself and be happy.  In the long run, this helps puppies to develop confidence, and appreciate the time with you even more. It also establishes a strong leadership between you and your pup that will bring you years of fewer behavior problems!