June 28, 2008 by Bob.

When someone first takes on the responsibilities of pet ownership, and specifically with a Rottweiler pup, a whole lot of questions come bubbling up to the surface. If you’ve ever taken your first pup, you know what I’m talking about here. You know, he hates having his nails trimmed, he’s chewing my hand, he fights the leash, etc, etc.

I think the key to understanding a lot of the stuff that appears mystical to a new pup owner can be summed up in one word: socialization. I am not over simplifying things here. Socialization covers a very wide spectrum of circumstances and handlings, some of which will be gone over in this post.

First of all, socialization is training. My definition of socialization is as follows: Socialization is a training regimen which consists of familiarizing a pup with sounds, objects, events, people, other animals, movement, places, circumstances, grooming and any other part of life, for the purpose of neutralizing its effect on the pup. The result is a calm, aware, reliable and trainable adult dog.

It’s not just taking the pup to the dog park to meet the other dogs once a week. Remember, anything you do with your dog is a form of training, whether it’s crate training or obedience or neutralizing the pup to various sounds around the house. This is all training and in my opinion, it is the most important training you can do with your pup in the first six months of his or her life.

Look at it this way: you are the one setting the example for the pup. If you take him for a drive in the car and do it enough times, he will enjoy the ride. If you do it once a year, he will hate doing it. That is socialization, plain and simple.

Start the pup off the minute you take ownership. Even crate training is a form of socialization. You place the crate in places where you frequent, or move the crate around while you move around the house. That way, the pup is getting socialized, learning the sounds and goings on of your place while learning how not to mess the crate.

Take your dog everywhere you go. You can even walk your pup into places that don’t usually take dogs. My daughter-in-law does this all the time - she brings a pup into Barnes and Noble or Bed, Bath and Beyond. If they kick you out, so what? The more places you can take your pup, the more experiences that you give your pup, the better he will be at dealing with everyday life.

The pup will be more at ease, more willing to do things with you, and far less liable to have nerve issues. Take him to the vet, just to sit in the waiting room and have a treat, then go home. No vaccinations, just socializing. Take him to a high school ball game and mingle around people. Go to the flea market, etc. You’ve probably got the point by now.

Remember, socialization is the most important training (along with crate training) that you can do on your pup. It’s free and it’s easy to do. Don’t skimp on it.

Best,
Bob

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June 23, 2008 by Bob.

This post is about a very real, common situation in the puppy-buying world: You Get What You Pay For. Let me clarify by example.

A young woman purchased a dog from someone who claimed to be a breeder. She paid 300 dollars for the dog. At eight months he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to be put to sleep. She purchased another $300 dog who had to be euthanized for extreme temperament issues at a year old. Shall I go on? Okay, another person I know purchased a ‘cheap’ pup who developed hip dysplasia at six months. Um, another one had to put down their dog at three years old due to hip dysplasia and cancer.

Wow. What a deal they got on that puppy. Let’s work out the math, shall we?

Initial cost of pup = $300 - 500

Vet Bills for handling of congenital and other issues due to ‘breeder’s’ complete lack of understanding of the breed standard, genetics, pedigrees or anything else having to do with creating any semblance of a breeding program = $1500 - $4000

So, the next time you see an actual, ethical breeder advertising a pup for more than a few hundred bucks and you think to yourself, ‘Hell, I paid a hundred and fifty for my pup back in 1975, this guy is asking way too much money for a pup’ and you don’t stop yourself and realize that you are being ridiculous, and you go ahead and purchase a pup (covered in it’s own feces, with worms, no health cert from a person who should not be procreating within his own species, much less adding to the dog population), just remember one thing: I TOLD YOU SO.

Best,

Bob

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