Is This Normal Dog Behavior?

by Heidi Atwood

We get this ALL THE TIME! As a lifelong “dog person”, I don’t remember a time without at least one canine companion. I feel that my instincts and experience learning how dogs think and communicate have been very helpful in understanding how to help puppy handlers, especially those who have never had a puppy before or sometimes have no experience with owning a pet of any kind. 

As trainers at BAXTER and Bella, I think we agree that we have “heard it all,” but sometimes we are surprised and maybe even thrown off by a more challenging issue that hasn’t come up before. However, most problems you see with your new puppy are completely NORMAL! And sometimes, we just need to hear that. 

We bring a puppy home, and quite often, we suffer from lack of sleep and the stress of making those trips to the potty spot before the potty spot becomes the nearest rug or carpet. We bond with our pups and sometimes have bite marks to show it. This is because puppies come equipped with limited “tools” for learning about their people, environment, and other animals. They like to explore the world around them and seek attention by using their mouths, which can happen quite suddenly, and those teeth are incredibly sharp! 

Rest assured, most puppy behavior is normal, but that doesn’t mean we want some of these behaviors to continue. This is where new puppy handlers often need guidance the most in trying to create the path for success and help a puppy get settled in their new homes or even get through issues that may have popped up later in your dog’s life. Please, above all, know that this journey will not be perfect…and that is also ok.

Normal behaviors include biting, nipping, jumping, barking, growling, running off, having accidents on the floor, grabbing items they shouldn’t, and tackling and chasing other pets. Through the eyes of a puppy, it’s simply “what we do!" We look for attention; we try to play with anything different, moving, or interesting. We try to eat the nastiest items from the ground or roll in them to make ourselves smell “good.” We LOVE our new people and decide that we never want to be without them, even for a minute, and we bark and cry to get a response from the people we love the most. We may or may not love food at first, but if we do, we usually love food a lot. If we don’t, our handlers find other rewarding ways to get and keep our attention. Attention span? We might be able to pay attention for about five minutes or less at first. Think of us as a toddler who wants to get out every toy, play with it for 2 seconds, and then go find something else to do, and on the way by, we may pounce on and bite your feet to see if we can get a reaction from you. 

Here is a little anecdote about expectations and how they often don’t go quite the way we want or expect: 

The last litter of labs my husband and I raised a few years ago was a huge litter of 13 puppies. It was a bit overwhelming! On their last day together, we thought taking them out of their pen would be a great idea and exploring a large field with us behind our house. We thought they would simply follow us to the middle of the field to play and hang out. This may sound so sweet, a beautiful play session in the field, but in reality, it was a disaster. One puppy - the one that seemed the most adventurous - wandered too far away so my husband went to get it, and was immediately followed by three more, leaving me with just nine excited eight-week-old puppies to try to keep near me. Can you imagine? One tried to grab a rock; two wandered in opposite directions; another ripped a hole in my jeans while the others chased each other off in other directions. We ended up running to get the puppies’ mother to lure them back to their safe and secure pen. It was not a fun adventure or a picture-perfect opportunity to spend time with these pups, but we learned from it! 

What is normal? Usual, typical, and expected are words that come up when looking at the definition of this word. Is this how puppies are? No, especially not at first. Here are a few thoughts on normal puppy behaviors: 

• Puppy biting is not aggression; it is usually associated with teething, seeking attention, or a part of puppy play.

• Exploring the home and looking for interesting things to chew on is fun for a puppy. They will try to satisfy their teething needs or get our attention in unwanted ways until they learn the correct behaviors.

• Puppies don’t need much freedom when learning the rules, especially for safety reasons. Prevent unwanted behaviors by alternating between a crate, pen, gated areas, and near you on their leash to keep them well supervised. 

• Puppies may or may not respond well to food rewards, especially when transitioning to their new homes. We need to find what works best as a reward, such as a favorite toy, a belly rub or positive praise. Using their kibble for training when possible is easy, healthy, and prevents overfeeding and adding extra ingredients.

• Puppies may not know how to indicate their potty needs for a few weeks. Until then, we need to rely on their potty schedule, first taking them to potty frequently and rewarding their successes.

• If puppies dislike the crate or pen, it’s usually because they are learning how to be alone in these spaces. Of course, they would rather be with their people, but we are doing them a favor by helping them get acclimated to time away from us. 

Don’t worry, our training team has your back! We encourage you to contact us anytime you have questions about behaviors and training. Something that is also normal is that all puppies are individuals. Even though they might have the same tendencies, every puppy and every situation can be unique as well, but we can help you figure out how to handle each situation best as it occurs.