What does a puppy’s unusual behaviour mean?

When you buy your puppy you will soon be aware of his character and the strange behaviour that emerges as he gets used to you.

Listed below are some things which to us humans do not make sense, however we have to try and understand their behaviour from a puppy’s point of view.

One of the endearing things puppies do when you and your partner snuggle up on the settee or hug each other is to jump up and try to get in between both of you. He is of course showing jealousy that you are giving your affection to someone else.

This can be amusing at first but checking his behaviour is important or it could ruin your love-life. If you don’t correct his actions when he is a puppy then it can become a problem when he is an adult.

It can be embarrassing for you when you have visitors and your puppy decides to place his nose in their crotch. As far as a puppy is concerned that area is a calling card for him to check out who your visitors are.

Correct this action every time with the same verbal sentence and move his nose away at the same time as the correction order.

Adult dogs always greet each other by smelling each others rear end and your puppy will have a natural instinct to do the same.

There are scented glands situated each side of a puppy’s anus, these are an individual calling card. The anal glands send out a substance in small amounts every time there is a bowel movement which other dogs sniff to get to know the each other.

Vivien Richardson