My parents got a new puppy and we finally welcomed him home on Friday. I’m happy to formally introduce you to our new furry friend!
He’s only been home for a weekend but we’re already totally in love with him. What these pictures don’t show is how feisty he is. He loves to wrestle with the kitchen rug and bark at it and when you step foot in the kitchen, you better watch your toes! It’s hard to teach him not to chew on you because you’re too busy laughing at him while he scurries towards you. Well, that’s my problem anyway.
Got any words of wisdom on dog training? We’re just getting started but we’d love your advice! I got some good tips on Instagram yesterday, and I’m interested to hear what you guys have to say! I’d especially love to hear about any free videos online that you’ve found useful.
how adorable! I may have to go out and get one of my own!
Oh my goodness! He’s absolutely adorable!
Tips for training: Be firm. He’s a little guy, but you still need to train him like you would a bigger dog – as in, not letting him be the boss! That means not letting him jump on people/furniture without permission, pulling on the leash, etc. It’s easy to let that stuff go with little dogs because they’re smaller, but then they don’t learn when they’re young… which can create big problems later.
Love those tips! Thanks Lauren!
Oh my goodness, Griffin looks like a teddy bear! And what a sweet name. My best advice is consistency. With our puppy there were times when I thought his behavior would never improve (especially when he was on a leash). But over time, he adjusted to the routine. Good luck with your new furry family member!
Thanks for the great advice, Lauren! We’re struggling with consistency right now because we have a total of 5 adults in the house who are all helping “raise” Griffin, haha… but we’re trying to make sure that we’re all on the same page!
We just got a puppy about a month ago! I totally hear what you’re saying about how sweet they look in photos despite being feisty in real life. We started training our pup, Kona, the day she came home because Corgis really need to learn who’s the boss early on. She learned “sit” the first day, then “lie down” a few days later. Now she has a little collection of commands! Our biggest ally: YouTube. We learned so many good methods from dog trainers with channels on there!
Gah, Kona is SO cute… I wish we lived closer, we could have puppy play dates! I’m definitely going to have to scour YouTube for some ideas, thanks Joy! :)
Oh my goodness, what a cutie!!! Congrats on your new little boy :-)
Awww, look at that face! He’s adorable!
I’m following your responses carefully on this post Kate as our puppy Coco is delicious but prone to toe & shoe chewing! He’s adorable, enjoy!
He is sooo adorable!! Just remember to be very consistent with commands–and definitely give lots of little treats! This will help him remember that when he does the right thing, he gets rewarded for it. If treats aren’t close, then give lots of praise and attention.
Thanks for the tips, Kate!
For the chewing: our cat wanted to chew on us all the time when we first got him. We got a stuffed toy bunny, and every time he started to chew on us we’d get the bunny and hold it in front of his mouth and tell him to bite the bunny. After a short time he decided he preferred to bite the bunny instead of our arms :)
Cool! Griffin has a little squirrel to chew on. He’s already getting better about not biting us, so that’s good! :)
Oh stop it! Look at that face!! My best bit of dog advice would be to bring treats outside with you so you can give him one immediately after he goes potty where he’s supposed to ;) If you wait until you’re inside, you’re basically teaching him to hurry up and get inside – which isn’t always good for them taking their time to go outside! Enjoy him :) xo
Good call- we weren’t doing that at first, but we started a few days ago! :)
Congratulations! He is just one big ball of white fluffy cuteness. Haha.
Sorry for 2 comments, but I agree to give lots of little treats and reward every effort that is pretty close to what you want him to do at first. And don’t repeat commands too often because they lose their punch. My dog knows when I say no that I mean it.
That’s definitely something I need to work on, my “no” doesn’t exactly pack a punch right now, haha! Oh well, hopefully we’ll get there :)
AH so beautiful. I want another puppy so badly :)
With dog training, make sure you train them a little bit everyday and when they do something right make it seem like you just won the lottery and get them all happy and excited but when they do something wrong dont be harsh on them, just dont react and soon they will understand that good things mean treats and cuddles and bad things mean avoidance.
Sam // samanthaheather.blogspot.com.au
Thanks for the tips, Samantha! It’s been fun getting all excited over little things, and it’s even more fun watching the boys in my family do it! :)
Oh, my heart is absolutely melting!! Little Griffin is just the cutest and sounds like such a delight to you and the family. I love bichon frises too; they have such a sweet and mischievous temperament.
Absolutely adorable! I want him :D Nice to be back here again, Kate!
PRECIOUS! My dogs have never been the most well-trained haha, so unfortunately I have no tips for you. Just give him a lot of love! :)
oh my goodness! griffin is absolutely adorable! enjoy these puppy years! they grow so fast! :)