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Step 1
The biggest mistake I see is people not properly socializing their puppies. Puppies need to be exposed to a lot of different people, dogs, places, sights, sounds and smells. The more that your puppy is exposed to, the more stable your dog will be.
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Step 2
The second biggest mistake I see is waiting to train. For years dog owners have been told to wait 6 months to train. This is a huge mistake. The biggest stage of development happens between 8 weeks and 14 months. By waiting until 6 months old you have missed out on a lot of the dog's learning. A lot of behaviors are developed and the owner spends the next 5 years trying to stop behaviors that could have been avoided if training had started earlier.
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Step 3
The third mistake is encouraging bad behaviors. When a puppy is small and only a few pounds it seems cute when the puppy gently chews on your hands. We also want to pet the puppy and encourage the puppy to jump. This is fine when the puppy is small, but that small puppy, depending on the breed, will one day jump and reach your chest. It is much more difficult to stop a behavior that has already been learned. It is better to never let the behaviors develop.
