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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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Contemplative Prayer Leading to Spiritual and Moral Conversion - Part 1

EDITOR’S NOTE:

All internal references in this document are to the Credible Catholic Big Book (www.crediblecatholic.com). The majority of references are to Volume Twelve of that 20 volume series. The Credible Catholic Big Book is a free resource dedicated to explaining the rationale for the doctrines of the Catholic Church through evidence provided by contemporary science, social science, philosophy, exegesis, historiography, archaeology, and literature.

Introduction

I am using “contemplative prayer” here in the most general sense – that is, any form of prayer open to direct connection with the Lord for enough time to establish intimacy. In my view, this would have to be for more than fifteen minutes continuously per day. By “intimacy” here, I mean personal familiarity, closeness, and caring, but not necessarily the tender or even romantic affections intrinsic to some forms of Christian mysticism.

I cannot exaggerate the importance of personal contemplative prayer because it complements the public forms of prayer (i.e. the sacraments, liturgy, and penance services) by opening our hearts to the Lord in deep and close personal relationship. This relationship brings freedom, peace, and wisdom into our active lives which ultimately transforms us in virtue and holiness. There is a spiritual adage that expresses this explicitly: “A person can live for a while both praying and sinning, but eventually he will get rid of one of them.” This shows the power of personal prayer in our active lives, for it is radically opposed to sin (a turning away from God). If we assent to the power of close relationship with the Lord in prayer, then it will eventually lead us away from sin. However, if we assent to sin, it will eventually lead us away from close relationship with the Lord in prayer.

We will address contemplative prayer in three sections:

1. Getting Started on Personal Contemplative Prayer (Section I).

2. The Second Stage of Contemplative Prayer (Section II).

3. The Third Stage of Contemplative Prayer (Section III).

I. Getting Started on Personal Contemplative Prayer

I devote the majority of Volume 18 to this topic, and so I will be quite brief here. My purpose is to give a simple overview of how to get started in personal contemplative prayer, and will save the explanation and elaboration of this presentation for Volume 18. There are three major principles of the spiritual life that are essential to doing this. I will briefly discuss each in turn.

I.A The First Principle of Contemplative Prayer -- Consistency

First, consistency is the most important dimension of establishing a personal relationship with the Lord. In this respect it resembles all personal relationships. We need dedicated time and presence to others to get to know and appreciate them better. Normally, this brings us closer to them, and we begin to commit ourselves more fully to them. Eventually our commitment becomes strong enough to prioritize them in our lives, to care about their welfare, to care for them, and ultimately to sacrifice ourselves for them. The more time and presence we consistently bring to our relationships, the stronger our bond in friendship and love becomes. The same holds true for our relationship with God.

One might object that our human friends are visible and affectively responsive, but the Lord is invisible and frequently silent, so there must be some difference between the dynamics of divine and human friendship. True enough, but make no mistake about it – the Lord’s presence, though invisible, can be quite palpable. As we acknowledge His presence and love to us and proceed to our contemplative prayers, we might feel relief from emptiness, loneliness, and alienation, or feel a subtle sense of peace that calms us and leads to trust. We might also have a subtle awareness of God’s sacredness and/or love. These are some indications that we are not alone, and that another profoundly transcendent interpersonal consciousness has drawn close to us in His compassion and peace. If we remain close to Him for the set time of our prayer, day after day, we can be sure that He will make His presence more profoundly felt, and above all, He will transform us through our relationship with Him.

Now, take a few moments to consider what a good time might be for consistently committing yourself to a minimum of fifteen minutes of personal prayer every day. It is just as important to avoid making your prayer time too long as making it too short. Fifteen minutes is a great starting time for those who are beginning personal contemplative prayer, but avoid any time period that is too long to be sustained over the course of time. If you select an initial prayer time of say thirty minutes, and you suddenly find yourself bored, distracted, or sensing that it is unmanageable, then back away from this, and go to twenty minutes, and then test it. Consistency and manageability is far more important than the initial length of time given to prayer. Don’t worry – your prayer period will grow over the course of time (see below).

If you are anything like me, there is no substitute for the morning – immediately after getting out of bed. Be sure to wake up early enough so that you will not feel rushed by the impending requirements of the day, and if possible leave a little extra time for your prayer to go longer than you might have thought. Slip away to a place where you have some privacy, and then stick to it every day. There may be some days when this will be difficult, because of early morning commitments – such as plane travel at early hours. If you do have to sacrifice this time for such occasions, provide some way of making up for it during the day. If we are to be contemplatives in action – the ideal of Christian life – we must protect the time to be with the Lord in prayer so that our activities won’t eclipse the contemplation that will bring us closer to Him in love and transformation.

I.B The Second Principle of Contemplative Prayer: Freedom and Grace for Moral Conversion

The second principle requires considerable nuance – the majority of the positive effects of prayer will occur after your contemplative time. Sometimes, people who initiate personal contemplative prayer expect to feel intimacy with the Lord almost immediately during their time of prayer. Though this certainly can and does occur, it frequently does not. Instead of feeling the Lord’s presence, we become more familiar with Him, at ease with Him, and more comfortable with His healing hand amidst our sin and imperfection.

Sometimes when we begin the contemplative life we might have a sense of shame, guilt, or fear that makes us very uncomfortable – even ready to bolt – when we allow the Lord to draw close to us. Though shame, guilt, or fear might be appropriate from the vantage point of our actions or lifestyle, do not avoid being in personal relationship with the Lord. When He comes close, He means only to heal us and save us – to draw us away from our enemy, the evil one, who will use every suggestion of your unworthiness to incite shame so that you will want to avoid the One who can save you. Remember, it is not the Lord who is screaming, “You unworthy wretch – I’m disgusted with you.” This is the accuser – your enemy, the evil one.

If you allow the Lord to draw close to you in your sin and imperfection, you will feel a sense of shame that will no doubt be uncomfortable, but this is not because the Lord is angry or disgusted with you, but only because He wants to heal you and rescue you from your enemy. Instead of avoiding the Lord or finding some way of distracting yourself from your prayers, make an act of trust, such as, “Lord Jesus, I place my trust in you,” or “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am a sinful man/woman.” Repeat it again and again until the urge to flee or find a distraction lessens. When you can sense God’s benevolent, loving, and healing presence, consider what He is suggesting to you. Be sure of this – He will suggest something to you in a very non-judgmental way that is quite manageable. It may seem like a hurdle, but it will be a managemable one. This is the critical moment of free choice, if the suggestion truly is manageable, then ask the Lord for the grace to undertake it. Don’t worry – the Lord does not expect you to be perfect. He knows you will likely fall many times, but the important thing is to try to accommodate His suggestion. I assure you that if you stay faithful to your contemplative prayer, and try to accommodate the Lord’s suggestion, it will get easier and easier to the point where you will find yourself becoming freer and freer from the sinful proclivity that was undermining your relationship with Him.

The reader might be thinking, “I have a hundred questions about that last paragraph.” I cannot answer all the questions now, but I must address one question whose answer must be correct if we are to advance in contemplative prayer and moral life -- what do I mean by “the Lord making a suggestion?” Will the Lord be as it were, standing outside of me saying, “Bob here is what I am suggesting to you”? Obviously not. Instead, the Lord is likely to incite a thinking process that culminates in a desirable course of action – “I would really like to be more patient or compassionate or generous or chaste, etc. in certain specific situations.” Notice that this is quite different from, “I should be more compassionate,” or “I better be more compassionate” which implies judgment by the Lord.

The Lord is not interested in judging you, and then pushing you or forcing you to obey lest He bring down the hammer. Any such suggestion is from the evil one. Instead, the Lord wants you to see that some mode of conduct is leading you into darkness and endangering your soul – even to the point where you would actually choose the darkness over the light of love and even over the light of His heavenly Kingdom. He wants you to sense the danger posed by your enemy’s grip on your freedom, and after recognizing it, to call to Him (the Lord) for help to lead you out of the darkness. At this juncture you will desire to change your conduct precisely because it is so dangerous to your state of being and even your salvation. If you resolve to follow your desire to get out of the darkness, the Lord will give you the grace to keep that resolve going. Yes – you might fail many many times, but if you get up, ask for forgiveness, make an act of trust in the Lord, and continue to follow your resolve (all the while maintaining your daily practice of contemplative prayer), then I guarantee you will get better at what the Lord is suggesting to the point where you will be able to leave the darkness behind and enter more fully into His light.

I recall my novice master, Fr. Gordon Moreland, telling this sage story about how the Lord feels as we begin the process of personal contemplative prayer, spiritual conversion, and moral conversion. As we begin, the evil one sweeps in immediately and plants the image of a really angry parent who discovers that we have habituated ourselves to some form of darkness and sin, and screams at us that we better get our act together right now or he will abandon us or even condemn us. In contrast to this, the Lord – through the Holy Spirit – presents the image of a parent who walks into a room and sees a snake lying in the bassinet next to us – His beloved, precious, and fragile child. Instead of being angry, judgmental, and condemnatory, the parent is terrified by the impending danger lying next to us, and has only one thought in mind – to remove the danger. This is precisely how the Lord of unconditional love feels – just like the father of the Prodigal Son – yet in the case of our moral lives, He must operate within the contours of our freedom. He can’t simply pick up the snake and get rid of it, He has to show us how dangerous the snake is so that we will want to avoid it, even though the snake has convinced us that he is quite harmless, and wants only to make us happy and fulfilled.

Does the Lord always present such suggestions to us during our contemplative prayer? Sometimes, but by no means, always. Sometimes, the Lord will influence a dream in which an image or a narrative informs us of the mortal danger of a specific kind (or kinds) of conduct or attitude. When we awaken from that dream, we will likely remember it and be quite disturbed by it. Notice that we are disturbed not by the Lord’s anger or judgment, but by the impending danger and darkness into which we have entered into our conduct or attitude. When the Lord has made the point about the danger, it is incumbent upon us to recognize the gift we have been given (even though it is disturbing), and then to pray the prayer of St. Peter as he sank into the water while attempting to walk – “Lord, help me!” If we recognize the danger (instead of running from it) and ask the Lord for help to overcome a destructive form of conduct, He will help us by gradually leading us to little improvements in our attitude or conduct. If we really follow through on these small steps, away from the sin and danger, your desire for that sin becomes tempered – and eventually you will lose interest in what had formerly fascinated you, and even transfixed you. Again, it may take many attempts and subsequent failures, but eventually the desire for the sin will lessen to the point where it is no longer desirable.

When I began this discussion above, I mentioned that the majority of the positive effects of prayer occur outside of prayer. The above discussion shows how the Lord accomplishes this. So long as we remain faithful to our daily contemplative prayer and follow through on the suggestions from the Lord that come to us during prayer, in our dreams, when we are awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning, or by the voices of other people, we can be sure that our desire for the darkness (of sin) will gradually subside, while our desire for the light will intensify. When this occurs, our love for the Lord will also intensify, and we will want to draw near Him in contemplative prayer for additional time, which in turn will motivate us to separate ourselves from the darkness even more – and the cycle will continue. Contemplation leads to reform within our active lives while reform of our active lives leads to deeper contemplation and love of the Lord. We might conclude this discussion by reiterating three points. First, the above life of grace and sanctity begins with fidelity to contemplative prayer every day – even if it is for only fifteen minutes. Secondly, we should expect that the majority of the fruit of prayer will occur outside of prayer. Finally, as we begin the contemplative life, contending with feelings of shame, guilt, or fear, we must trust that the Lord’s sole intention is to love and heal us, and then to make acts of trust in Him so that we can remain faithful to our contemplative prayer (instead of fleeing or finding a distraction). We must then be alert to the suggestions the Lord will make through our contemplative prayer, our dreams, our feelings of cosmic emptiness, loneliness, and alienation, and through the voices of others. When we sense the impending danger and darkness of our conduct or attitudes, we will want to respond with the plea, “Lord, help me!” And the Lord will infuse His grace into our desire to flee the danger of our sin. We will ultimately succeed, because the Lord’s grace will not be insufficient to flee from the darkness.

I.C The Third Principle of Contemplative Prayer – Selecting Times and Prayers

The third principle of the spiritual life is more practical than the previous one. It concerns setting out the kinds of prayers you will want to say as you begin the spiritual life, and progress in it. As you begin your contemplative prayer life, you might find that praying an entire rosary or the Divine Office is difficult to engage in a time period of 15 – 20 minutes. Since the objective of contemplative prayer is to come into loving connection with the Lord and open ourselves to His suggestions, I would recommend shorter prayers that can do this in a relatively short time. Therefore I would recommend five kinds of “short prayers:”

1. Snippets of the rosary.

2. Spontaneous prayers (a list is given in Volume 18, Chapter Three).

3. Common Catholic prayers (a list is given in Volume 18, Appendix I).

4. Some profound, well-known Psalms of praise, thanksgiving, petition, and repentance (a list is given in Volume 18, Appendix II).

5. The prayer of gratitude for all blessings.

I would recommend using combinations of these prayers and Psalms sufficient to fill about 75% of your allotted time of contemplation. Leave 25% of your time for conversation with the Lord about some concerns of the day or week as well as responding to some of the suggestions you sense He is giving to you.

As you can see, beginning a contemplative life requires a bit of homework, because you will want to familiarize yourself with the spontaneous prayers, Psalms, and common prayers on the lists in Volume 18, and then make a selection of an appropriate number corresponding to the time you have allotted for contemplative prayer. Stay with the same prayers each week. If you want to change them every week, feel free to do so. But staying with the same prayers means that you can devote yourself to connecting with the Lord in prayer instead of spending time and psychic energy on deciding what and how to pray.

Before moving to your selection of prayers, you will want to begin with the first step of all contemplative prayer -- recognizing the presence of the Lord or the Blessed Virgin. I typically use the prayer, “Lord, I know you are here and that you love me” (or if praying to the Blessed Mother – “Mother Mary, I know you are here and I know you love me).” I repeat this prayer until my consciousness is open to His (or her) presence – and He is filling me with it. This “being filled” with the Lord’s presence need not have any emotional content, but oftentimes does – a feeling of peace or the sense of being near a profound friend. At the very least, I have a tacit awareness that I am not alone. When you are in this connected interpersonal state, proceed to your selection of psalms and prayers. Remember, the point is not to get through all of them, but rather to say them deliberately and lovingly while recalling His presence and love for you.

As noted above, most of the grace of prayer occurs after your prayer session is completed. Keep alert to clues about where the Lord might be leading – interior clues as well as exterior ones. If you sense new freedom to detach from the world or one of the 8 deadly sins, take note of it and bring it back to your contemplative prayer to ask for the grace to increase that freedom until the attachment has subsided.

Some people may find themselves in a state of “prayer block” (much like writer’s block). The reason for this might stem from sinful proclivities or habits that may have been a problem in the past and continue to be so in the present. This may require a turning moment to begin the process of opposing those sinful proclivities or habits. The best way of doing this is to avail oneself of the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) which has the particular grace of quickening our resolve to oppose a sinful proclivity – though such opposition may only be partially or even minimally successful at the outset. If you go to confession with the intention of beginning a process of opposition to a sinful proclivity, and find that you have only a little success in contending with it, do not grow discouraged, but instead resolve to go to confession on a monthly basis. The combination of the sacrament of confession and the contemplative prayer life you are initiating will help you to break the spell and the habit of that particular sin which will in turn decrease its influence in your life. Confession tends to lessen the “prayer block” which in turn enables you to initiate a habit of contemplative prayer, which in combination with the grace of confession, tends to lessen the influence of sinful proclivity. Repeated confessions, fidelity to contemplative prayer, and speaking to the Lord about your struggles with a sinful proclivity during contemplative prayer, weaken sinful proclivities and habits. The longer we engage in the process the more we gain freedom in resisting the proclivity.

There are some other complementary steps we can take from contemporary psychology – namely, visualizations and affirmations – which have proven to be quite successful in changing our subconscious identity (discussed in detail in Volume 16 – Chapters 2-3). When these are combined with the sacrament of reconciliation and a contemplative prayer life, success in breaking the spell of the proclivity is likely to occur – though it may be a long process. As the proclivity weakens, your relationship with the Lord through contemplation will strengthen – and as a result, you will bring that relationship into your active life – your apostolate, your family, your workplace, etc. At this point, you will be progressing toward the Ignatian ideal of being a contemplative in action.

If you are anything like me, the time of your contemplative prayer will begin to naturally expand. If you start off with, say, 15 minutes, you may notice that you desire to finish your prayers, after which you discover that it took 20 or 25 minutes – and you did not notice the extra time. When this begins to consistently happen, add an extra 5 or 10 minutes to your allotted prayer time to accommodate what you desire – to be lovingly in the presence of the Lord. Do not force yourself to move to 25 minutes. Wait until the 25 minutes happens naturally. If you force yourself, you will turn your “wanting to pray” into “having to pray,” which will undermine the relationship with the Lord you are trying to cultivate. Remember -- when you have completed your selection of Psalms, spontaneous prayers, and common prayers. Devote at least 5 minutes to loving conversation with the Lord. Asking Him what His desires are for you – your spiritual development, moral development, as well as life and relationship issues. When your conversation is complete, conclude with a “Glory Be.”

As noted above, when your life of contemplation becomes more habitual, you will naturally desire to spend more time in prayer. Sometimes affective desolation may cause dryness which may increase distractions. This is explained in Volume 15 (Chapter Two, Section III). Prescinding from affective desolation, the desire to be with the Lord in contemplative prayer tends to increase (along with detachment from sinful proclivities). As this occurs, you will probably experience little moments of affective consolation (see below) and will be drawn to additional spontaneous and common prayers.

Let us now return to the subject of selecting particular prayers. The saints of the Catholic Church throughout the centuries—such as St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ignatius Loyola, and many more -- have written literally hundreds of prayers and litanies that constitute the vast repertoire of Christian devotional prayers available today. There are many excellent prayer books that provide a large number of these prayers at a reasonable cost.1 I recommend that readers purchase one or two of these prayer books and mark the pages of prayers that have potential to connect you intimately with the Lord during your daily prayer session. I have provided several of these prayers in Volume 18 to get you started, but these barely scratch the surface of our huge Catholic repertoire.

The prayer of gratitude is particularly important and has been recognized by virtually every spiritual master as foundational to the contemplative life. Gratitude is an acknowledgement that we have been blessed by the Lord which makes us aware of His presence and love in our lives. When we say “thank you Lord,” it is generally infused with the recognition of His love as well as our love for Him. When we are grateful, we take nothing for granted which frees us from the entitlement mentality and from resentment toward others and God for what we do not have. There is much to be grateful for in all of our lives if we focus on what we have rather than what we do not have – our families, friends, opportunities at work and in community, and above all for our creation, redemption by Jesus, and the Church community. Though suffering can reach critical points in our lives, this too can become a blessing to help us toward our salvation – and even to help others toward their salvation.

It is best to begin the prayer of gratitude with recent blessings – perhaps the success of a child at home or an accomplishment at work or a new opportunity in the community or work, or a spiritual insight from Church or from a book. We can also be thankful for natural beauty or the weather or little acts of friendship and love.

You might also see the blessings in some of the challenges of life, particularly how those challenges led to detachment from a sinful proclivity or caused a change in life’s meaning or direction. Don’t force yourself to think of things for which to be grateful if nothing is coming to mind. Instead, focus on some more general dimensions of your life, such as your spouse, children, friends, gifts and talents, faith, residence, and even the blessings you have received in the past. I recommend making a little “Book of Gratitude” that details the many areas where we may find the Lord’s providential hand helping us. Volume 18 has a detailed explanation of both the prayer of gratitude and Book of Gratitude that will help reader’s engage in this practice on a regular basis.

When you become accustomed to some of these prayers (common prayers, spontaneous prayers, psalms, and the prayer of gratitude), you may notice little lucid moments of the Lord’s (or the Blessed Virgin’s) presence and love (called “affective consolation”). This presence may be quite subtle—like a tacit awareness or a memory of a past moment when His presence was evident. Sometimes His presence will be more than tacit, and you will be aware of a sense of peace or “being at home” that goes beyond purely natural manifestations of these feelings. Sometimes you may feel a sense of holiness, sacredness, and unity that is quite other worldly, and sometimes you may feel a combination of these feelings along with a sense of supernatural love and joy. You may also notice that when these feelings occur, they incite desire for more within you—and when they fade, you are left longing for the divine presence that so animated and fulfilled you. C.S. Lewis described this profound combination of feelings, filled with intense desire for the Divine Presence as “a stab of joy,” using the following words:

As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. It is difficult to find words strong enough for the sensation which came over me; Milton's 'enormous bliss' of Eden (giving the full, ancient meaning to enormous) comes somewhere near it. It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but of desire for what? Not, certainly, for a biscuit tin filled with moss, nor even (though that came into it) for my own past---and before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing which had just ceased. It had taken only a moment of time; and in a certain sense everything else that had ever happened to me was insignificant in comparison.”2

Most of the time, our contemplative prayer will not elicit this type of profound feeling, but it is not unusual for the Lord to provide a tacit awareness of His presence and Love when we recall His presence and pray in the words the saints have given us. Though this feeling can be quite subtle, it deepens our conscious and subconscious sense of the Divine Presence that carries over into the rest of our day, and provides the basis for detaching ourselves from the things of this world (moral freedom). It might be helpful to scrutinize one or more Catholic prayer books and study some of the prayers given there until you land upon one or more that resonates with you. Remember, before praying, call to mind the presence of the Lord or our Blessed Mother and affirm their love for you, using a prayer similar to this—“Lord, I know you are here and I know you love me.” Do not think about your feelings or how the Lord might be interacting with you during the prayer, simply pray it, trying to intend what its saintly author meant to express. Even if we do not notice the above feelings or effects on a daily basis, we may be sure that we will notice them over the long term, for contemplative prayer provides a very powerful foundation for transformation in the heart of Christ, catalyzing the transformative power of the Holy Eucharist.

If you remain faithful to this contemplative prayer life, whether it be 15 minutes or 45 minutes, you will begin to make spiritual progress – more aware of the Lord’s love for you and even your love for Him, a greater sense of freedom to detach oneself from the world and deadly sins, a greater sense of the Lord’s presence to you during the day, and a transformation in the quality of your actions -- most especially with the virtues of love mentioned by St. Paul in Corinthians 1:13 – greater patience, kindness, and compassion as well as greater control over anger, boasting, rejoicing in evil, etc. Regular contemplative prayer is a game changer, because simply being present to the Lord or the Blessed Virgin makes their presence “rub off” on us. Their presence and love transform our hearts precisely in the manner described by John Henry Cardinal Newman – “Cor ad cor Loquitur” – “heart speaking to heart.”

As your contemplative prayer life expands, you may want to move into one of the more lengthy forms of contemplative prayer listed below.

________

1 A simple web search for “Catholic Prayer Books Amazon” will gives at least 40 excellent reasonably-priced prayer books from which to choose. The descriptions given indicate fairly clearly whether these are more traditional or contemporary prayer books.

2 C.S. Lewis 1966 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of my Early Life (NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich) pp 22-23.

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Written by: Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.

#contemplative prayer and conversion

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dogtrainingscoop · 4 years

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How did your dog react when you took them home for the first time?

Author: Vernon Mclean

We finally took the first step: we got our own puppy! "My first dog (and best friend) was Rex, a sweet, playful pup. I knew it would be labor intensive and a big obligation, but that “holy crap” feeling I had when I first picked him up was just a subtle hum of the screaming siren of uneasiness I’ve come to know a few moments after.

When we prepared his crate for him, my son tied his leash to the leg of a chair, he did not like it to sit still and tried to get up and run towards a ball or something, and the next thing TERRIFIED to find that the chair was CHASING HIM:)

How did your dog react when you took them home for the first time?

Anyway I’m including some photos of his first day,,,, Tanya Gorelova took these photos:)

After a long day, My Best, most gentle and patient dog I've ever met…

The Famous Chair...

The Famous Ball…..

Getting into trouble

Doing the right thing:)

Anyway, I’ve learned some things and also managed to put together a few important points to take note of….

If you are thinking of bringing a puppy into your home, you may have encountered these questions: how old should a puppy be when you pick it up and what will you do with it before it receives all vaccines against infectious diseases?

If you are buying a dog, do not take it before it is 8 weeks old

For starters, as a partial answer to the first question, clearly and loudly: if you are buying a dog, don’t let the breeder (in this case it should be written in quotes) force you to take the puppy home before he is 8 weeks old. And don't be fooled, so in the desire to get cheaper, take the dog from someone who just "punches" the dog and does not care at all about the welfare of these animals.

The calculation is very clear here:

When they are 4-5 weeks old, puppies become much more physically and financially demanding, so a person who sells dogs just for the sake of making money then eventually wants to get rid of increasingly demanding puppies.

However, puppies that are prematurely separated from their mother and the rest of the litter, as adult dogs, show much more (serious) behavioral problems than puppies that remain with their mother and siblings for at least 8 weeks and in a crucial period of socialization seen lasts up to 4 months of age) were properly socialized . This is shown by many researches conducted at world scientific institutions.

What if you decide to adopt an abandoned or discarded puppy?

If you have decided to adopt a dog from a shelter or save a puppy found abandoned and thrown on the road, it is a very commendable gesture and you should not be discouraged by not knowing how this puppy spent the earliest months of life, but you should definitely leave as soon as possible to some organized form of dog training (for example to some quality individual or group course).

Don't wait for a "suitable" moment because the right moment is exactly when you brought the dog home. The longer you wait, even if there are no behavioral problems at first, the harder it will be to solve the problems once they arise.

And what about vaccines?

You’ve probably heard from someone before (probably your vet) that a puppy should be in isolation from other dogs and the outside world until it receives all the vaccines against infectious canine diseases (i.e., by about 4-5 months of age).

You definitely need to be careful where you take your puppy, but it is by no means good to keep him in isolation from all living beings, all experiences and stimuli. Infectious canine diseases are often deadly and unfortunately are very common in some areas. But keep this in mind: your puppy will not receive all the vaccines until he is about 4 months old. If you wait until then, the opportunity to socialize your dog properly will already be missed.

And not only that: according to the American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior (AVSAB), behavioral problems, not contagious canine diseases, are the leading cause of death in dogs under 3 years of age ! (This refers to the fact that in the U.S., more dogs are killed each year due to behavioral problems than are killed by infectious canine diseases). The same veterinary society recommends that dogs be introduced to new places, people and other dogs before receiving all vaccines against infectious canine diseases (ie, puppy owners are advised not to keep puppies in isolation from the outside world while receiving these vaccines).

What does all this actually mean for puppy owners?

It means you need to be careful where you take your puppy before he receives all the vaccines, but not that you need to keep him locked up in the house. For example, going to dog parks, pet stores, and other places where a lot of dogs come that we don’t know if they’re vaccinated and if they’re healthy is not a good idea. Instead, get your puppy used to driving with you in the car; introduce him to many children and adults; take him to hang out with friends who have healthy, vaccinated dogs and other pets accustomed to dogs; go with him to the mall (at a time when it is not crowded); walk with him around in your backyard; enter a course for puppies in a verified place that you know is safe for puppies, etc. But always make sure that all these experiences for your puppy are positive experiences. Proper socialization of a dog is a pleasant experience, not something that will traumatize him for the rest of his life.

Either way, don’t wait for the dog to cross the 16-week limit to start socializing, because you’re already very late by then. In the case of proper early socialization, time plays a key role. Also see more Interesting Articles: Here

Don’t make these 15 Mistakes with your New Puppy:

1. DON'T LET your puppy eat when he wants to

There is a very fine line between new puppies to make them feel comfortable at home with you and let them do whatever they want and get into bad habits and one of the main pitfalls to avoid this view concerns food.

Food and food are arguably the biggest motivators when it comes to dogs and can help you achieve everything from successful training to encouraging a shy dog out of its shell to help your puppy commit to you. . a coin to buy your puppy happiness is a big but also easy to make mistake!

Your puppy should have reliable feeding hours with his food divided into appropriate portions and the food should be measured for them just every day. You should also work on calculating how much fun your dog can have in a day - taking into account both the calories and the value of the reward.

Bribing your puppy with too many treatments or providing food wherever they ask will not only make your life more difficult, but it will also make your puppy worse.

2. Delay in training

You are probably already thinking about training your puppy and how it will work when you first bring it home - but training a dog is not like sending a child to school for the first time and is not something that has to start at a set time. and on a set date! The training should start from the first day your puppy comes home - not from picking them up in a class or field and performing them through exercises, but in terms of letting them know what they are and are not you are also allowed to correct your puppy to praise them appropriately as they begin to learn.

3. Do not spend enough time around other dogs

An astonishing number of new puppy owners may be reluctant to encourage their puppies to socialize with other dogs as much as they really should, believing the puppy is too small, too small, or the other dogs are too big and noisy and thus a potential danger to your puppy.

However, once your puppy pulls out the eighth after vaccinations, you should start taking precautionary measures to allow them to meet and communicate with other dogs at every possible opportunity and try to ensure that this is a good mix of different dogs that include many chances to meet strange dogs.

Puppies learn as much, if not more, from other dogs as they do from humans, and avoiding socializing is one of the biggest mistakes a new puppy owner can make.

4. Unintentionally allowing unreasonable fears

Because puppies are small, cute, and sensitive, they tend to trigger protective instincts in humans, which often translate into a desire to wrap them in cotton and protect them from the world! However, just as this approach is counterproductive when it comes to children - for example, if your child is playing on their knee, causing a lot of noise it can cause them to cry, minimizing and dealing with it, as there is no greater chance to encourage them to continue normally.

The same goes for puppies - if they are scared, shy or nervous, or something happens that makes them wary, do not push their shower with sympathy - this is the fastest way to amplify their fears and create a nervous adult. dog.

Instead, behave normally and this will reassure your puppy that there is nothing to fear and encourage them to continue normally.

5. Tell your puppy when they do not understand something

So go down in the morning to find that your puppy has made a mess on the floor… your instinctive reaction may be to tell them, but bite your tongue! First of all, if a young puppy is ruining things or fishing indoors, it may be due to a lack of understanding or because you have not met your needs in this regard - and also, your puppy has no idea what they were wrong if you told them after the incident.

Do not make a big fuss, but clear up immediately and see ways you can avoid the problem that will arise again in the future.

6. DO NOT leave the puppy home alone

Book a holiday for at least a week or two to ensure your puppy gets used to his new home. The puppy should initially be fed four times a day. A small dog also needs to potty train more often. Always take your puppy out after waking up, playing, eating and drinking.

7. DO NOT stretch the loneliness But must get used to it

Get your dog used to being alone during the first few weeks. For example, you can go to another room first. Exercise when the puppy is already tired and your pup would be calmer.

Leave your pup a treat, say "Wait!" and go away for a moment. Many times the treat will sooth him and your pup will go to sleep after eating. When you come back, go back to your normal chores. Most importantly, there is no big difference between the first arrival and the next day.

If the dog keeps making noise when alone, go play with him, go for a walk, do activity and repeat the exercise so many times that loneliness begins to disappear.

8. DO NOT think that learning to be tidy happens all at once

Few dogs learn to be tidy all at once. The dog cannot be managed in the event of an emergency when it happens, so it should not be penalized for peeing on the floor.

Do not pay too much attention to the mess, but rather clean it up and continue. The dog likes attention, whether it’s positive or negative. The dog also does not remember the booboo done an hour ago. It looks repentant because it reads its owner’s scornful behavior.

9. DO NOT put the dog on a leash immediately

The dog doesn’t immediately realize that while on the leash, it has to obediently paddle alongside its owner. Teach your dog to keep an eye on you and walk close to you first, only then turn your attention to the leash. Also teach the dog to walk past his companions and people without making a fuss. Other dogs are found in a safe place without a leash.

10. NOT allow the puppy to wean in your arms

Getting used to a person's bosom and to calm him down will make it easier in the future, for example, to visit a veterinarian. Teach your puppy that you can only get out of your arms when the rattle has stopped. When the puppy is calm in your arms, keep your grip gentle & comfortable. If the puppy is rattling, tighten the grip.

However, do not hurt your pup. Also don’t instantly let him down. Let your puppy down after he has been rattling for at least ten seconds. Often the puppy needs dozens of exercises to get it right.

11. DO NOT forget to investigate health issues on a timely manner

Once the dog is already at home, it is too late to start figuring out health / vaccine issues. Find out in advance what vaccines your dog needs to be given.

The dog is given the first vaccinations at three months of age and booster vaccinations one month after the first vaccinations. After a year, booster vaccinations will be given, followed by veterinary instructions.

12. DO NOT leave valuables in the open, visible & accessible to your new friend

Hide any items that your dog may break when raging. Also remove dangerous items, such as cords, that your dog should not chew on. Keep the environment safe for your dog.

13. DO NOT let your dog rage without limits

A dog needs to be set clear boundaries of what it’s allowed to do and what it’s not. Together agreed rules must be followed by all family members. If it is agreed that the dog is not allowed to jump on the couch, no one will let the dog jump on the couch.

The dog gets confused if one member of the family lets go and the other scolds. When speaking to a dog, one word must also be used. If one says "No!" and another “Stop!”, the dog will get confused.

14. DO NOT forget to teach good healing practices

If the dog bounces and rages when you arrive, you yourself have taught it how to greet you. If you don’t want your dog to jump against yourself, don’t give your dog attention.

Turn your back and look at the ceiling. When the dog behaves, notice the dog. It gradually learns that the bouncing & jumping is not worth it.

15. DO NOT write off expert help

Breeders often give good advice on how to train your dog. Experts from different dog breeds can be found, for example, on the websites of Kennel Club’s.

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