Deciding on Your New Puppy
The thought of raising a new young puppy by yourself can be stressful. You really want a pup that can match  beautifully with your way of life. Your life in Farmington, Connecticut can be stressful, you’ve got a full-time schedule, a new family, you may like to travel or you’ve just retired. Peace of Mind Puppy provide s a stress and anxiety free experience to add that  remarkable dog to your life.

The Program Begins With a Assessment
We think it’s crucial that you know who you will be working with. Developing a rapport is very important to our team in Farmington, Connecticut. Our chat begins with basic questions and leads into an thorough conversation, which will provide us a much better idea of who you are and what your perfect dog might be. We want to have a wonderful working relationship with you. It starts the journey to choose, teach and raise your puppy.

Choosing The Best Breed For Your Home
Once you have decided you want to include that amazing dog to your life in Farmington, Connecticut. You have your heart set on a certain breed or maybe you want one of our dogs that are currently in our puppy raising program. There are things to consider for example, the type of house you live in, your schedule, maybe you are raising a young family, you you may love to go on vacation or maybe you have recently retired. This information will not restrict your options, but instead help clarify your daily life in Farmington, CT. We will help guide you in the decision making process. As we get to know you better, we can certainly help you choose what you want and which puppy will best suit your life-style.

Choosing The Best Breeder in Farmington, Connecticut
We team up with responsible breeders who are genuinely interested in improving their breed with good health and fantastic temperament of their puppies. The first eight weeks of a new puppy’s life are as important as to what comes after. A great breeder recognizes this and helps get the puppy off to a great start.

We have built a rapport with many fine breeders. We particularly find breeders who comprehend the early part they play in a puppies life. They know when one of their puppies goes through our program, it ensures the puppy will end up having a good life.  It is incredibly important to work closely with the breeder. We count on the breeder’s feedback together with our years of knowledge to choose the puppy with the best temperament for the prospective new family.

The Puppy‘s Training in Farmington, Connecticut
Training your new puppy is a combo of teaching new skill-sets including manners, setting boundaries, fostering healthy relationships, together with exposing your dog successfully to people, other dogs and desensitizing him or her to all types of environments.For example, we have the puppy sleep overnight with different people in various environments; which produces a dog for you who is relaxed and easy to live with because he or she adapts|adjusts} to your lifestyle. As a result of this and exposures to other variables your dog easily bonds with you and your family.

Imprinting Good Behavior ~Birth to 16 Weeks
Picking up your puppy from the breeder

Training starts the moment a new puppy is in our hands in Farmington, Connecticut. Once we pick the pup from the litter, the first thing we wish to accomplish is building confidence and a bond with this new puppy. We begin our relationship having fun even though we’re always teaching. Under our close guidance, we start exposing the pup to its new world. For instance, getting him or her to follow us, climb stairs, walk over branches, and also get relatively near to loud noises. By doing this, we are environmentally socializing your dog to the world while strengthening our bond. We are huge dog lovers, yet remarkably aware in those moments it is imperative to focus more on being a leader and guide as the new puppy discovers this new world without the presence of its litter mates or mom.

Most important time for learning
During the first few weeks we are teaching your new puppy boundaries, trust and focus. There is no restriction as to what we will incorporate into our strategies. Often we utilize particular places or objects to create an experience for the pup. In some cases a spur of the moment opportunity may present itself in Farmington, Connecticut. Our choices and imagination are unlimited. Every exposure and experience builds upon the prior one. Through all of this, we thoroughly monitor the puppy. We never restrict ourselves to inflexible rules. We try to become more creative, think outside the box, and benefit from events that manifest before us. Those opportunities are priceless when it comes to teaching the dog.

Every interaction with the new puppy is a teaching moment. We like to consider it as an early investment in the life of this dog. This is the first time away from his or her littermates and living with us in Farmington, Connecticut. Puppies have a small window of time during brain development when they are most impressionable. This is called the imprinting also known as the critical learning period. Puppies learn more during this period than any other period of time in their lives. The quality and quantity of what they experience will have a massive influence on their future personalities and determine a number of their “good” or “bad” behavior tendencies. During the imprinting phase, every experience is vital. It is important to build their self-confidence. The phrase ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ does not apply to their early interactions. Because puppies are absorbing every experience like a sponge, we need to stay very aware of all interactions and yet still have fun with our new dog.

A Well-Mannered Puppy
4 to 6 months 

A well-trained dog is far more than just obedient. Knowing how to sit, stay or walk nicely on a loose leash are very important things to learn. Good manners, great social skills and a healthy relationship with his or her family are paramount. In addition, desensitization, exposure to many different distractions and situations, as well as being comfortable to fit into a lifestyle in Farmington, CT  is equally important.

Our focus is to raise a puppy with remarkable manners and social skills. We start by teaching obedience the day we bring them home from the breeder; which carries on as we fine-tune the dog’s behavior. The goal is to have a solid foundation by about 4 to 6 months. We practice obedience, making it a normal request in our daily routine in addition to within each new situation we expose your puppy to. We move from shaping to defining commands and proofing them with distractions, duration and distance. Communication is at the core of our philosophy. Being very clear and consistent is key. We limit our words when providing commands. We want your dog to understand what we want when we give them the command. When we say ‘come’ or ‘here’ we expect 100% response immediately.

Proofing Behavior in a Social World in Farmington, CT
6 months to young adult

Enter the teenage years– adolescence. This is the typical age when many dogs are re-homed or surrendered to animal shelters. The adolescent stage can find your sweet pup turning into a monster. That nice puppy can be more mouthy and disobedient than you could ever picture. Many owners hope their dog will grow out of unfavorable behaviors. Their dog is testing what is permitted and what is not. Allowing a dog to continue rehearsing naughty acts makes changing unwanted behavior more challenging.

Working in the Real World in Farmington, Connecticut
We work to prevent any unwanted behavior by instilling boundaries and practicing obedience in high distraction locations. For example, we practice recalls when your dog is highly distracted maybe chasing something as common as a squirrel. We test and proof obedience in high traffic locations, around barking dogs, near playgrounds and within public places.

As the dog moves through the adolescent stage we continue to challenge the dog by putting him or her in various scenarios. We consider each situation as a picture. How does that look like to the dog? How does that picture shift from day to day or location to location. We are aiming to teach a dog how to adapt in every new and different setting or situation. We are raising a puppy that isn’t dependent on continuous commands that control what he or she should and shouldn’t do. In fact, we desire a dog that can make great decisions. Our main priority is to have a well-balanced dog, who will be comfortable your home.

We continue to reinforce and refine good manners making good behavior a habit for the dog. During this time, the dog has been living with the dog trainer in their own home. Throughout this time, your puppy will also spend a few days and nights hanging out with another loved one or friend. Giving this opportunity, encourages your dog to continue to be confident and comfortable in brand-new areas. This makes sure those habits and good manners will remain when he/she moves on to your home in Farmington, CT.