The saying goes, give me the boy at seven years old, and I'll give you the man. Renowned animal behaviourist Mark Vette says give me the pup at 4 months and I'll give you the dog.
Behavioural problems are the number one cause of death for dogs under the age of three, so getting the training right when they're puppies is critical.
Mark Vette shares with Jesse Mulligan his insights about looking past puppy love and how becoming a good owner can help prevent aggressive dog attacks. His new book is called Puppy Zen.
Photo: Joe Caione via Unsplash
Although he acknowledges that getting an older dog from a shelter is a nice thing to do, it’s not something he encourages for first time owners or owners who can’t make a big commitment to training.
“I would encourage the average owner to get a pup at 8 weeks old which is the formative period, this is the time when 80 percent of the brain connects up and you wire in all their behaviours - the behaviours that you want - their socialisation, their ability to relate to people and other dogs and species are the most critical things they have to learn at that time.”
He says it’s also the time to nail in house training and their ability to be alone.
“All those things are developing and occurring between 8 and 16 weeks. It’s a very short window and it’s a critical window.”
Vette says that if people get their pups at 8 weeks and follow a strict programme of training, the dog will be well set up and they will have a bond for life.
One of the biggest questions facing potential dog owners is what breed they should go for.
“Breed selection is absolutely critical. I see so many owners mismatched - a 75-year-old lady the other day had a great big German Shepard - and I’m going ‘whew, we’re going to have a job here’. And it was a job, they were a complete mismatch.
“You’ve got to get the right pup for your circumstances, the size of your property, the type of activity level you have, all of those things, and then think about what breeds you like… there’s 400-odd different choices so you’ve got a huge selection out there.”
Photo: supplied
Vette says having such a wide range of choice is both good and bad. Good because the right dog is out there for you, and bad because there’s more chance you could get the wrong one.
Another factor is picking a good breeder. Vette says that if you get a decent one, the job of training the pup will be half done by the time you pick it up.
He says the short formative period for dogs is part of their make-up as former wolves. When wolves had their young they would hunker down for four months only before rejoining the hunt and the pups needed to be ready for it in that short space of time.
Vette says that while puppies might appear harmless, cute and playful, under no circumstances should people put off training. Putting it off means later unwiring inappropriate behaviours which is much harder to do than teaching them in the first place.
“Prevention is better than cure, do it at the right time.”
