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Loose in the Home: Transitioning Out of the Puppy YES Space

With our adult guide dogs, breeders, and K9 Buddies, their families do not use a Puppy YES Space at home. As our puppies grow and become more trustworthy, we want to keep expanding their ability to settle loose in the home. To prepare our pups for more freedom in the home and help them build a strong foundation of good house manners, we will transition away from using the YES Space and practice calm, settled relaxation while loose in the home.

Generalize Settling Loose in the Home

In Welcome, Puppy! Teaching Good House Manners we worked up to teaching the puppy to settle loose in one puppy-proofed room. Once the pup is able to do this (remember, Three’s a Charm!), repeat the process in other rooms in the house and gradually build up to allowing access to multiple rooms. The goal is that the pup can eventually be trusted to settle loose in the main areas of your home without extra gates or barriers. Take it slowly! Continue to use a drag line if the puppy might need to be physically redirected away from unsafe temptations.

Puppy Pause: Take a Crate Break!
Puppies can sometimes become overly energetic (e.g. mouthing, grabbing, zooming around, vocalizing) if they are frustrated, overstimulated, or even overly tired. If you see signs of the puppy getting amped up, it’s time for a crate break! Interrupt their behavior by calling them to you, or with a quick “hey!” or clap of your hands. If needed, use the drag line to gently reel them in. Calmly bring the puppy to their crate or place them on tie-down with a chew or food stuffed toy for a controlled outlet. Soothing music is a nice touch, too! There is no need to act angry or upset with a pup testing boundaries and needing a crate break. This is a very effective grounding tool for puppies who are still learning to regulate big feelings – and it keeps your home in one piece!

If you find that the puppy is regularly getting overstimulated when you start building up more freedom in the home, the puppy may need additional alternative outlets for their energy. Reach out for support and help troubleshooting!

Teaching Puppies to Ignore Temptations - Your House Behavior Toolbox

Until this point, we have managed the environment to set puppies up for success and used a verbal interrupter to redirect their attention away from anything off-limits. We can use the following techniques to teach the puppy to redirect their impulses around everyday temptations (like snacks on the coffee table, or a stray sock on the floor). These techniques make up your House Behavior Toolbox:

  1. Recalling (and rewarding!) away from temptations 
  2. Blocking the temptation
  3. Noticing and checking in
  4. Praising and rewarding puppies for remaining neutral around temptations

Recalling (and rewarding) away from Temptations

Start here for the most difficult temptations when a puppy is unable to make an appropriate choice on their own.

Call the puppy to redirect their attention if you spot them approaching a temptation. Use a happy voice to encourage them to come over to you and be sure to reward (food and a happy voice!) when they leave the item and come to you! 

Block the Temptation

Preventing puppies from approaching a temptation by blocking it with your body and rewarding the puppy for backing off. This works best if you are between the temptation and the puppy, and the puppy can respond to your body pressure.

Notice and Check-in

Once a puppy can control their own impulses and look away from the temptation without your help, reward them for checking in with you instead!

Encourage Neutral Settling

Reward puppies for remaining neutral and settling, even with temptations around. Use a slow calm voice, petting, and possibly food (as long as the puppy doesn't get too excited). You can set the puppy up for success by having some appropriate toys and/or a comfy dog bed nearby to encourage good choices.

What if…

  • The puppy always gets zoomies after [insert activity here]? If you can predict situations the pup is likely to be overstimulated, you can prevent it! For example, if you know the puppy tends to have some pent-up energy after getting home from work or school, proactively take them outside for a romp or offer a stuffed Kong or other chew toy to work out those feelings!
  • The puppy tries to investigate anything off-limits? Interrupt them with a quick “hey!” or a clap of your hands. Redirect them to an appropriate toy or encourage them to settle nearby instead.

Reach out for support if the puppy persistently seeks out temptations or you need help identifying triggers that make it difficult for the pup to control their impulses.

The ultimate goal is a puppy who is neutral and relaxed even with some everyday temptations present (within reason!). This will take time and maturity, but you can help the process along by using calm soothing encouragement, occasional food rewards, and having consistent boundaries! Continue to confine the pup if you expect more activity in the household than the puppy can be expected to handle or when you are too busy to follow through and maintain consistent boundaries. It’s a great time to practice those crate and tie-down skills!

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