When a puppy comes into your home you most likely want to do all sorts of fun activities with it. You might even have already gathered some Hersenwerk materials. We know this feeling very well! Nothing is more fun than playing around with your puppy!
Our advice though: let your puppy be a puppy!
Puppies want to discover the world. Everything is brand new, strange, enticing and sometimes even a little scary. Every puppy will react in their own way to each new encounter. Some will be very gregarious and investigative while others will prefer to stay back and learn more from a safe distance. It’s very important that your dog is given the space to do things in their own way. By exploring at their own pace and in their own way, with you and your support as their safe haven, you can lay the foundations for a pleasant life for your dog. As their owner, you guide your puppy through this process and ensure that they get everything they need in their youthful life.
Puppies want to discover the world. Everything is brand new, strange, enticing and sometimes even a little scary. Every puppy will react in their own way to each new encounter. Some will be very gregarious and investigative while others will prefer to stay back and learn more from a safe distance. It’s very important that your dog is given the space to do things in their own way. By exploring at their own pace and in their own way, with you and your support as their safe haven, you can lay the foundations for a pleasant life for your dog. As their owner, you guide your puppy through this process and ensure that they get everything they need in their youthful life.
Hersenwerk for Dogs has a specific view on Hersenwerk and puppies:
- Up to 5 months, we offer materials to rummage through without hiding snacks.
- Up to 5 months, everything revolves around discovery, experience, smell and touch.
Why do we recommend this?
We want puppies to develop their senses and put them to use without being enticed by tasty snacks. When a puppy investigates at their own pace, every experience will be meaningful. Puppies should decide for themselves whether or not to investigate something from up close, whether or not to sit on something or rummage through it. By doing and deciding these things all on its own, the puppy develops its own consciousness surrounding materials, smells and surfaces. This lays the right foundations for life-long fun with Hersenwerk.
What can you offer your puppy?
Every house has lots of objects for your puppy to investigate. A doormat or bathmat provide huge differences in surface and smell. Really anything around the house can be explored by your puppy: boxes, paper, containers, bags and clothing.
Outside of your home, there is also a whole world of smells and impressions for your puppy. Let them walk around at their own pace and stop whenever they stop. Allow them all the time they want to sniff about, stand still, listen and feel. They need this time to get to know the world outside and become accustomed to it.
When your puppy indicates they want to take another step, take them at their own pace to get used to grass, pavements, asphalt, a brick wall, a trash can, people, cats, children and other dogs.
Give your puppy all the time they need. Allowing them to explore at their own pace and initiative will lay the foundations for all sorts of activities throughout the rest of its life!
And what you do when your puppy needs some time? Take a look at your puppy and enjoy watching its playful inquisitiveness!
As soon as your puppy is older than 5 months you can start with Hersenwerk and snacks. Try to use materials they are already 
familiar with and expand the games with small steps. Keep it short! A few minutes a day is plenty. Puppies have short attention spans and quickly become exhausted. Most of all, give your puppy plenty of time to sleep and process all their discoveries of the day.
- A puppy’s life is full of discoveries
- Let your puppy investigate the world
- Let your puppy develop at their own pace
- Provide a variety of (safe) materials for your puppy to sniff and feel
- Ensure plenty of time for your puppy to sleep and fall into a deep slumber
- Preferably, show your puppy only one new material each day
- Guide your puppy’s discoveries, but without excessive communication or celebration
- Be your puppy’s safe haven: they should always be able to come to you for rest or to investigate something from a safe distance