#177 Raising Independent Puppies

That adorable new puppy has everyone in the family enchanted—especially the kids. But amid the excitement of tossing toys, floor-level play sessions, and non-stop attention, you might be accidentally creating a future problem: a dog who can't function without constant entertainment.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Problem With Over-Entertaining Puppies
• 0:57 Reality: Puppies Need Independence
• 1:25 Practical Tips For Puppy Settlement
• 2:07 Building Confidence Through Quiet Practice

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Let's talk about something that is super easy to get wrong with a new puppy and especially in a house with kids. You bring home this adorable little fluff ball and suddenly everyone is entertaining the puppy non-stop. You're tossing toys that kids are crawling on the floor, someone's always talking to him or petting him, and sure it's fun and he's new. But it also sets up a pattern where the puppy starts to think I should be entertained all the time, and that's not the kind of adult dog we want to raise. If your puppy only feels calm or happy when they're getting constant attention, then they'll struggle when it's quiet or when you leave the room or when the kids go back to school and the house gets quiet again. So here's the reality. You cannot be your puppy's entertainment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and neither can your kids. Instead, your puppy needs to learn to relax, explore independently and be okay without constant human interaction. Now, in a house with kids, this is extra challenging. There's motion, noise, little humans on the floor. It can be really hard for a puppy to learn how to settle, and that's why it's really important to talk to the kids about puppy settle time. They need to know that if the puppy is resting or chewing or lying down, they should let him be. Don't interrupt just because you're ready to play. And if the puppy gets up after the kids start interacting with him, well, that's not the puppy's fault, it's ours for engaging first.

Speaker 1: 1:59

We want to reward calm and independent behavior, not restart the chaos. So here are a few tips that might help. First, give your puppy a safe space, like a crate or pen or quiet room, and make it a normal part of their day, not a punishment, and use those times to give him a chew or an enrichment toy and let him engage without hovering over him. Let him learn how to entertain himself. And if your puppy follows you from room to room, don't punish it, but don't narrate it either.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Don't talk to them, don't look at them and, as hard as it is, don't reward the behavior with eye contact or attention. If you do, you'll raise a dog that expects your attention and interaction every time you get up and move around the house, because every oh, you're so cute moment is reinforcing that being glued to your side is the goal. Instead, we want to teach them that following you is sort of boring. And when your puppy lays down quietly in another room. Perfect, let them, because confidence and independence aren't built through constant entertainment. They're built through quiet, consistent practice. Remember you are not your puppy's entertainment director. You are simply trying to raise a dog who can handle life even when nothing exciting is happening.