How to tell the temperment of your puppy

These are not surefire safegaurds, but they will give you an idea about your puppies temperment.

Turn the puppy on his back and hold him in your arms. If he relaxes and allows you to pet his tummy, you have your first sign of a good temperament.

Watch the puppy with other puppies. If she plays with her tail in the air, she is likely to have a good temperament.

Feed him food and treats. See if you can take the food away from him. If he growls at you while you do this, he is not going to be as easy-going as you might wish.

See if she will kiss your face. If she does, this is an indicator of a sweet demeanor.

Have your children hold the puppy. If he is relaxed and calm with them, he will have a good temperament with them as well.

Tug the puppy's ears and tail gently. Don't hurt the puppy, but simulate the kind of uncoordinated play that may occur with small children. If the puppy nips or growls, it probably has a mean temperament

Pet the puppy in firm strokes from its head down to its tail. Puppies that jerk away, nip or growl are more likely to be mean.

Researching the puppy's breed can help you to determine how it will act as an adult. Many breeds exhibit very predictable tendencies toward aggression.

The final call as to how gentle or mean a puppy will be is somewhat subjective. It depends alot on how the puppy is socialized and how the pup is raised in the family.

Observe the puppy with littermates if possible to determine dominance. In a group of dogs, the most dominant ones will eat first, initiate play and explore new items before the others. Submissive dogs will hesitate more, allowing the other puppies to lead the charge when feeding, playing and exploring.

I hope this helps you in your selection process.

Crate Training

I believe that crate training is the easiest way to house break a puppy. You will be using the normal instincts of a puppy in your favor. A dog/puppy will not relieve itself in its own bed.

(Make sure to take the puppy out first thing in the morning to relieve itself, then feed and water the puppy. Wait 1/2 hour then take the puppy back out to relieve itself. Feed at least 3 times a day if able, repeating this process. Before playing with the puppy, always take the puppy outside to relieve itself first. Make sure their is lots of praise when the puppy relieves itself outside!!!!!! Puppies respond great to praise!!!!!)

How to prepare your crate.

First get a crate that you will be able to use when your puppy is full grown, this will prevent you from having to buy several of them.

Next, put something in the back of the crate that will end up allowing the puppy only lying down room. Make sure that the puppy cannot get on top of what you are using to block the back of your crate.

You will keep your puppy in the crate, except when: feeding, watering, taking out to relieve him/herself, or when playing with the puppy.

After a week take something out of the back of the crate to allow more room, if the puppy does not go to the bathroom in the crate then wait a few days and give more room. If the puppy does go, them start back over again.

Give the puppy more room every few days as your puppy learns.

Finally let the puppy out of the crate, the puppy should be pretty well trained to relieve itself outside.

I hope this is helpful, thanks  for checking out my site!