Scott Linden Outdoors

The best puppy-sitter … auntie Penny, our Corgi.

The smart dog trainers say a pup’s best shot at learning is early in their life … and I’m a believer. Ronnie Smith, Ed Bailey, the Monks of New Skete, Larry Meuller all stress getting down to it the day pup comes home, when his brain is malleable, he is absorbing everything, and you can accomplish a lot of teaching that will pay off for a lifetime.

But it requires discipline. Our training is just as critical … from going out the moment Flick tells me he has to pee, to nipping hand-biting (so to speak) in the bud. But it’s not just the “NO” stuff, now is when we can lay a firm foundation for everything. Someone recently asked me what I could possibly do with my 9-week-old puppy that could help turn him into a hunting dog. In hopes it might help you, here is a partial list:

Don’t bite me – bite this instead; be still and quiet when I leave (for a couple minutes – I’ll be back, honest!); come when called; go this way when told; this is a bird – enjoy it (a dead one as of today); yield to the stakeout chain (the collar does the dirty work for me); water is fun (shallow, so far); your crate is your castle; learn doggie manners and play well with others (pups and our auntie Corgi, Penny); people are nice (meet a lot of them); mechanical things are not going to kill you (see lots of stuff); the veterinarian is your friend, so are my hands.

I’m sure I’ve left something out but in virtually every one of these areas, Flick has progressed by quantum leaps. In part, due to his DNA (incredible breeding) and in part because he is growing mentally and emotionally at warp-speed.

Now is the time to help him.