Puppy Training Advice – Puppy Is a 15y Commitment Not an Iso Distraction

Do you think isolation is a good time to get a puppy – Think again!

Puppy Training Advice – A Puppy Is a 15 Year Commitment Not an Iso Distraction!

I’ve noticed something very concerning in social media during this Covid-19 pandemic: people encouraging each other to get puppies. Which is great, if getting a puppy was already your plan. Isolation and working from home definitely creates time to spend with your puppy.  Although, if you simply buy a puppy at a certain time, you’ll limit your options for good places to get them from. Responsible breeders don’t breed them for a certain time, they breed them according to their breeding plan that’s usually planned a year ahead. But if you didn’t exactly plan to get a puppy before isolation, it might not be the smartest idea. Here’s some puppy training advice from a professional dog trainer in Sydney.

A dog is a lifetime commitment – Your dog’s life that is!

As we know dogs can live 10-15 years, and even longer. So think about your life before and after isolation, do you really have time and energy for taking care of a dog? And money? Anything can happen with an animal and you might end up with huge vet bills. Is your lifestyle really suitable for a dog? We don’t need any more dogs ending up in kennels!

Are you prepared to put extra effort into training your isolation puppy?

Funny enough, I find this time to be the worst time to get a puppy. Early socialisation is crucial for a puppy to become a balanced and confident adult dog, however, during isolation we have been restricted in many ways. I usually make sure my puppy meets a lot of different people, dogs, animals and I take my puppy everywhere possible such as cafes, stores, friend’s places etc. All these activities have been limited during this pandemic. So you need to work extra hard and be creative to socialise your pup well early on.

Separation anxiety – Too much time together can be bad!

Another thing to consider is independence training. Spending every moment of your day with your new pup sure is lovely and the puppy will love it too, but it’s not good for them. A puppy must learn to cope alone too, that’s what their life is like when you go back to work, right? So you must focus on giving the puppy some alone time too.

Does it still sound like a good idea to get a puppy?

If so, great, go ahead! If any of this puppy training advice got you doubtful then think again, it might not be the best thing right now.