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Shih Tzu - Properly Train Your New Shih Tzu Puppy
By Connie Limon, Fri Dec 9th
Shih tzu puppy training is very important, whether you aretraining your first shih tzu puppy or your 20th. Properlytraining and socializing a shih tzu puppy is vital to making ita valued member of your family and your community. In some ways training a shih tzu puppy is easier than trainingan adult or adolescent dog. One reason is that the shih tzupuppy is essentially a "blank slate", untroubled by pasttraining techniques and other issues. In other ways, however,the shih tzu puppy can be more difficult to train than an oldershih tzu dog. One challenge to training a new shih tzu puppy is that shih tzupuppies are more easily distractible than adolescent and adultshih tzu dogs. Everything is new to a shih tzu puppy, and everynew experience provides a new chance for distraction. For thisreason, it is best to keep training sessions short when workingwith a shih tzu puppy, and to end each training sessions on apositive note.
It is also important to allow the shih tzu puppy plenty of timeto play, and to interact with other shih tzu and shihtzu dogs. Socialization training is vital to making your newshih tzu puppy a good canine citizen, as dog aggression is agrowing problem in many areas. A properly socialized shih tzudog learns how to play properly with other dogs, and overlyaggressive play is punished by the other dogs in the play group. This type of play learning is something that happens amongsiblings in litters of shih tzu puppies. As the shih tzu puppiesplay with each other, they learn what is appropriate and what isnot. Inappropriate behavior, such as hard biting or scratching,is punished by the other shih tzu puppies, by the mother shihtzu dog, or both. Unfortunately, many shih tzu are removed from theirmothers and sold or adopted before this socialization has fullyoccurred. Therefore, shih tzu puppy play sessions are a veryimportant part of any shih tzu puppy training session. Most goodshih tzu puppy preschool training programs provide
time in eachsession for this type of dog interaction. Introducing your shih tzu puppy to new experiences and newlocations is also an important part of shih tzu puppy training.Teaching your shih tzu dog to be obedient and responsive, evenin the face of many distractions, is very important whentraining shih tzu dogs and shih tzu puppies. One great way to socialize your shih tzu puppy both to newpeople and new dogs is to take it on a trip to your local petstore. Many major pet store chains, and some independent ones aswell, allow pet parents to bring their furry children, and thesestores can be great places for shih tzu to get used tonew sights, sounds and smells. Of course you will want to makesure the store allows pets before heading over. It is important for shih tzu puppy owners to structure theirpet's environment so that the shih tzu puppy is rewarded forgood behaviors and not rewarded for others. One good example ofthis is jumping on people. Many people inadvertently reward thisbehavior because it can be cute. While it is true that jumpingcan be cute for a 2 pound shih tzu puppy, it will not be so cutewhen that puppy has grown into a 10 pound shih tzu dog. Instead of rewarding the shih tzu puppy for jumping, tryrewarding it for sitting instead. This type of positivereinforcement will result in a well behaved adult shih tzu dogthat is a valued member of both the family and the community atlarge. This type of reinforcement can also be used in potty trainingthe new shih tzu puppy. For instance, teaching a shih tzu puppyto use a unique surface such as gravel or asphalt is a goodtechnique. The theory is that the shih tzu puppy will associatethis surface with going potty, and therefore be reluctant to useother surfaces (like your kitchen carpet for instance) as apotty. About the author:Connie Limon is a professional shih tzu breeder in Indiana. Shepublishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletterwith a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets.Discounts on shih tzu are offered to subscribers. Signup at: http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com
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