Things You Should Do Daily

1. Try to take your puppy on a daily “field trip” to local parks, to neighbors’ houses, shopping centers, to visit your neighbors’ kids, etc. Controlled new experiences are essential for good mental development. Look on my website for the puppy scavenger hunt.
2. You should have a buckle collar for your puppy to wear when “traveling” on his field trips. You can walk your puppy on a flexi-lead being very careful to NOT give him a correction. It is most important to NEVER allow any bad experiences to take place.
3. Establish proper pack order early on in the relationship with your puppy.
4. If you are going to visit other folks, suggest that they stoop down to the pup's level, not hover over him. Puppies can find big people intimidating and it's your job to help him gain confidence.
Take a look at Mike Ellis's comments about puppies here
5. Remember your puppy is still a baby with no experience or fears. Be careful to imprint positive experiences only! If a bad experience occurs or your puppy becomes frightened, try to redirect your puppy to something different and possibly exciting. DO NOT pick your puppy up. You will be reinforcing his fears. Redirect his attention in order to get his mind off the bad situation. Never make a big deal out of a mistake. Brush it off and go on to the next thing.
6. If possible, and you have a friend that is dog saavy, allow your puppy to spend overnight or up to a few days with them. This experience must be a positive one and it will allow your puppy to realize that life can also be good away from home. If you fail to do this, your puppy may develop separation anxiety and feel that “without you, I’m nothing!” An ideal situation would be to trade puppies with someone 3-4 times within the first six months of your puppies’ life. This experience will insure a well-founded, socialized puppy.
7. If your puppy is not confident at first, be patient. He has left a secure environment with his mom, brothers and sisters and me and our quiet rural lifestyle and needs time to adjust.