It's interesting having a puppy in public training as a service dog. People are so eager to excuse Teddy's jumping or general silliness beause "he's just a puppy."
As if THAT'S a good excuse to allow a puppy to greet people inappropriately or pull on the leash!
Puppyhood is the perfect time to teach appropriate greeting behavior. If Teddy learns to sit in order to be petted, I'll never have the headache of trying to fix a jumping dog.
Teddy's young, but he's not dumb. And he's very capable of the self control needed to greet people in a polite fashion. He's also smart enough to learn that when he pulls on the leash, all forward motion stops.
If I don't teach Teddy these things now, how fair is of me to expect a full-grown, adult dog to understand that jumping and pulling is NOT what I want. Especially since those very things have been working so well for him in the past?
A little extra time, training, and patience while Teddy's still young is exactly how Teddy will learn good manners and self control. If I were to subscribe to the "but he's just a puppy" philosopy, my job would be much harder, and Teddy wouldn't understand why the rules had changed. It's better for both Teddy and I if the expectations were clear and consistent and were in place as soon as he became a service pup in training.
So have patience with us if it takes Teddy an extra second or two to gather his wits about him and sit nicely for you to give him a scratch. Your patience helps Teddy learn!
