Preventing bad habits before they happen

[CavePaws]

Something I will add in here. You need to seriously have a look at the parents of your puppy, really know their temperament. I am going to require an interaction with the parents and watch them interact with their owners when I decide to buy a puppy from someone. If you get a puppy with bad genetics I can tell you it will be a hell of a fight in an upstream battle getting that puppy accepting of whatever it is terrified of. You need to let your puppy meet at the very least 5-10 new people a week and 5-10 new healthy dogs. These need to be novel experiences. Your dog has a VERY critical socialization period in it's life between 3 and 16 weeks of age. Within those first ten weeks I strongly advise you getting AS MANY people and healthy dogs to interact with your new puppy as possible. It is seriously imperative for your dog to meet a ton of novel people in the early stages of its life. We tell clients all the time just what Natalie pointed out; it is WAY more of a risk to under socialize your puppy than to keep them away from illness because of a vaccination period.

[luvMyBRT]

Yes to ending on a positive note! That's a good one!

Some other things I have done is to start clipping their nails from day one. Mess with their feet and get them used to you touching them. When Duncan was a puppy I would give him a tiny treat after I clipped each toe nail. Now, that he's older he gets a small treat after each foot. He thinks getting his nails trimmed is the best thing ever and just lays on his back for me. Same with getting a bath....small treats through out the bath so the puppy thinks that baths are awesome! During thunder storms I also play ball with Duncan and give treats when there is loud thunder. Anything that could be perceived as scary or a threat I want to make a good and happy thing with tons of treats!

Another thing that's important when they are young and learning is to reward *every single* time they come when called. Duncan's recall is about 99% perfect because he knows he gets praise and a treat when he comes no matter what.