Pacifiers and How to Use Them

Below you can find many examples of the various pacifiers we commonly use, decide for yourself which is safe and appropriate for your puppies. We use pacifiers to build voluntary duration inside the crate, so they are either secured inside an open crate (not suitable for puppies who might fight over or guard items) or when they are closed inside the crates. Some examples are for meals, others use meal food but are offered at designated times.

Choosing Pacifiers and Teaching Puppies How To Use Them.A few years ago, I decided I would “help” my puppy families by including a "Puppy Kong" in their puppy pack. I figured since my dogs love Kongs, they would be helpful for new families as a management tool. However, I quickly became discouraged when these new owners kept telling me their puppies “wouldn’t do” the stuffed Kongs and were easily discouraged by them.This got me wondering - why did my dogs love Kongs so much? Why did they find so much pleasure in removing every last morsel of food from the Kong, no matter how much time or effort they needed to invest?I began observing my puppies, and what I discovered was twofold.1.We actually “taught” the puppies how to unstuff food puzzles by starting with easy ones, and then gradually moving to more difficult items. This was habit for us and we didn’t even realize we were doing it. But I hadn’t passed these steps along to my new families, thus setting them up for discouragement.2.My Nannies and Nannoes actually spent a considerable amount of time both modeling an enjoyment of pacifiers, and directly teaching the younger dogs different techniques for getting the food out. Again, this learning was often lacking in the new home because there either wasn’t a resident dog to mentor the puppy, or the resident dog was not skilled and passionate about pacifiers. Note: My nannies are happy to share food from pacifiers with puppies, obviously, if guarding is likely I won’t use that nanny for pacifier teaching. As always we learn the most from those around us, and from the dogs themselves. I learned that many puppies needed more teaching to help them learn to love working out food challenges. It’s helpful to remember that easy to extract is the key. Stuffed pacifiers need large openings and shallow depth (which is why we use so many cow hooves) and kibble dispensers should roll easily and drop food frequently (which is why I like the IQ balls and Kong Bamboo Treat Dispenser) so that puppies have easy success while they are learning mouth skills. A core concept of our crate conditioning protocol is using classical conditioning to create positive associations to both the crate AND being confined. To reach these goals we will be using a variety of pacifiers and chews. When we first introduce the crate, it’s a completely neutral item. The puppies have no expectations or feelings associated with the crate at all, as they have never seen one before!Whatever activity your puppy participates in when inside the crate will come with the potential to create either a happy or unhappy association. We want to cultivate happy associations, so our puppy has only happy feelings associated with the crate.This is where learning how to choose pacifiers is important. If we challenge the puppy with chews that are too difficult, the puppy won’t develop this happy association to the crate (where it gets the pacifier) and in some cases we may actually frustrate the puppy with inaccessible food it can’t get too. This may also be associated with the crate, and foster frustration when being confined. Yikes, do not want!Without an abundance of pacifiers to choose from, our ability to create duration without fear or frustration is limited. Invest in both a variety of options, and in greater abundance than you think you will need. Collect way more pacifiers than you think you will use. Any extra can always be either saved for a future litter, or sent home with the puppies.We will start using pacifiers in Chapter 3, when we introduce closed doors and start closing puppies inside the crate. In Chapter 1, we will be collecting a variety of durable pacifiers (those we can use more than once) and edible pacifiers (those we can expect the puppy to consume in 1 or 2 uses). These delightful items will ONLY be given when the puppies are locked inside the crate (or, if the pacifier is secured inside the crate).Here are some examples of the different types.Durable PacifiersThese can be stuffed with soft food and used more than once. This includes things that you fill a cavity with food, such as cow hooves (or Nylabone Hoof Alternative), hollow shank bones, or any toy with a cavity. Certain slow feeder bowls and lick mats can be used similarly by smearing moist food on them. Similarly, Snuffle mats can be sprinkled with dry food. With durable pacifiers we can generate interest by varying the filling we use, and we can expect to get several uses from each pacifier.We have started using a variety of kibble/treat dispensers with our litters and many of these work super well in crates. Putting a kibble dispenser in a crate with a snuffle mat/rug can provide a food driven puppy with a very long and tiring crate activity. Edible Pacifiers

These are “stand alone” chews that are themselves edible and palatable. Raw bones (type will depend on puppy size) come readily to mind. Bully Sticks, Rawhides, Tripe sticks, Smart Bones/Sticks, and similarly edible chews also work well. Edible pacifiers we can expect to be used a limited number of times and some may be fully consumed in one sitting.Fusion Pacifiers:Some items are a fusion of both, being both consumable and stuffable. A trachea is a great example of a fusion pacifier; it’s edible by itself, but its shape makes it perfect for filling! Another great example is the Whimzee shaped like a hedgehog; the entire Whimzee is edible, but its shape allows it to be stuffed with soft foods. *Some dental chews are not appropriate for all puppies, as chewing off large chunks may occur. When choosing pacifiers for puppies there are several factors for you to consider.Stuffing: Whenever possible we’ll be stuffing durable chews and fusion chews to increase enjoyment while building duration in the crate. In most cases I stuff durable chews with a base of my regular diet, plus something yummy (canned dog food for example) to increase the value of the item.I’m considering several things.1.What types of food items do my puppies like? Puppies interest in food changes as they mature, so what they are interested in at 6 weeks will likely be different than at 9 weeks.2.What types of foods can the puppies tolerate. It’s true that some foods may be very palatable to your puppies, but cause loose stool. These food items may be okay to use in small amounts, or mixed into other more tolerable foods. However, frequent loose stools are not conducive to to building duration in the crate. During Chapters 1 and 2, experiment with small amounts of a variety of food items and and observe stool quality. If something causes gastric distress, discontinue it’s use for a couple weeks. If something is well tolerated but loosens the stool a little bit, try using it mixed in with something very well tolerated. Items that are easily digested and well tolerated can be used alone or mixed with the base diet.3.Texture. Ideally our stuffing will be pasty, imagine thick sticky oatmeal. We want to be able to fill the cavity of our durable chews and fusion chews with something thick and sticky so the puppy has success getting it out, but needs to work just a bit to get it.4.Healthy. We want to avoid stuffing that is either offensive to the GI track, or grossly unhealthy. Use your regular diet and add healthy additions, avoiding anything with sugar or artificial colors. If you are uncomfortable or inexperienced to feeding raw meat and bone products to your puppies, you can substitute other items when the protocol calls for raw products. * Remember, raw animal products may contain pathogens that can make your puppies, dogs, or people in your household sick. There is no way around this risk except cooking, which renders bones unsafe for dogs. So feel free to avoid raw products if you want to. 5.Availability. I want my stuffing to be something easy for me to get on a daily basis. I will usually use my puppy food as the base, and add something yummy to that. I also keep canned puppy food on hand, as well as quick oats and bread. Both are easy to stuff into items, and for the oatmeal, to prepare and stuff into items.Edible Pacifiers: Digestibility 1.Digestibility. Different edible chews have different digestibility. Some puppies will be able to tolerate most edible pacifiers very well, but experiment with different ones and different forms to find the best options for your puppies. Since puppies often eat edible chews be sure to purchase something you think your puppy can eat and digest without problems. 2.Density. With almost any chew, there is a risk of dental fracture. Any chew that is denser than a puppy’s tooth has the potential to fracture a tooth. Antlers are one of the densest chews, followed by frozen raw weight-bearing bones, and then fresh raw weight-bearing bones. Your choice to use these items will depend on your own risk tolerance. We have used all except antlers with few issues, but that doesn’t guarantee we might not see a fractured tooth in the next litter. Observe your puppy with the shank bones. I generally find my puppies don’t really chew these bones at all, but instead tear off any meat, and then work on removing the filling. So for us, these are fairly low risk, but not every breed may react this way. Each person will have different past experiences and risk tolerance in regards to chews and risk tolerance - there's no one right answer.You will be **purchasing and collecting a wide sampling ** of different types of pacifiers. Hold off buying a bunch of each type if you are concerned your puppies won’t find them palatable, buy one or two instead. If your puppies are like mine, and LOVE everything I offer them, you can stock up earlier. During Chapter 1, you are going to be doing a LOT of online shopping looking for best prices and widest variety, as well as suitable size. It can be challenging to find pacifiers for the smallest and largest breed puppies, but for those of us who fall roughly in the middle of that, there are an abundance of options.You will also be thinking about foods for stuffing. We will be using lots of chews that can be stuffed with food, then served either fresh (easier) or frozen (more difficult). Your base diet will be the bulk of this, but if your puppies are not enthusiastic eaters, now is the time to figure out why. Is food available all the time (making it have no value) thus the puppies are never really hungry? Is there a medical reason for this (such as blood sugar problems in very tiny puppies), or is it a habit? Is the base diet palatable? Now is the time to make changes to the environment to teach puppies to be enthusiastic eaters.During Chapter 2 you will be doing a bit of actual preference testing. Preference testing is simply offering a puppy two different options, and seeing if the puppy chooses one of the two options more often. Preference testing is important for puppies who seem picky about what they eat and chew. It’s much less important for breeds who enthusiastically eat and chew anything! If your puppies are generally enthusiastic eaters who eat everything you offer them, you will be able to skip preference testing altogether. Keep in mind that preferences change as puppies mature, so something rejected at 4 weeks may be accepted at 6 weeks, as mouth skills and strength increase over time and with practice.

Pacifier Considerations (Core)