Dog Behavior and Training

Training from a young age is crucial. When you first bring a puppy home, it can be a major adjustment for everyone. We recommend to start brushing their teeth right away (with dog toothpaste and any brush you prefer!) Their baby teeth won’t stick around, but the training is what lasts. Since a lot of adult dogs do not like having their feet touched for nail trims, or having their ears touched for cleaning, touching their paws and ears when they are young can make this a lot easier in the future. Puppy classes are also helpful in not only learning how to train your puppy, but it also helps to socialize them from a younger age as well.

If your pup was either older when you got them, or when the change in behavior started, we recommend a visit with one of our doctors first. We can walk you through the process to begin (or continue) training, as well as make recommendations for highly skilled trainers. The sooner an undesired behavior is identified, the easier it can be to work on correction. There are also several nutraceutical and medicinal products available that may be recommended to complement a training routine.

For any age dog (though it is geared towards puppies) we recommend a book by an amazing veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Sophia Yin, “Perfect Puppy in 7 Days.” This is a great resource for training at home.

As far as recommendations for trainers, it depends a lot on what training needs to be done. Dr. Vokral has had good personal (for her own trouble maker) and professional experience with Instinct Dog Training (https://www.instinctdogtraining.com/location/jersey-shore/ ) They work with 2 boarded Veterinary Behaviorists at the Animal Behavior Clinic of New Jersey, located in Englewood, NJ, but the trainers are able to do in home services. Call us if you would like more information!