There’s a reason to go to Bunnings and it isn’t a sausage sizzle

A leading Gold Coast dog trainer is encouraging puppy owners to take their fur babies shopping at the hardware giant, suggesting it will help them be better behaved when they get older

Power tools, plants, paint — and now puppy training — all reasons to make a weekend trip to Bunnings.

Maddie Ross, owner and head trainer at Beacon Dog Training, which runs a free Puppy Pre-school and puppy playgroup on the Gold Coast, says taking your pup shopping with you can help it learn important socialisation skills.

“Puppies have a short window in which to learn and socialise with the world,” she said.

”Between three months and approximately 16 weeks of age, they go through a phase of development called their sensitive socialisation window.

“If they aren’t exposed to a certain thing during this period, or have bad experiences, they can struggle to cope with that thing as an adult dog.

“And dogs who are well socialised as puppies are less likely to develop behavioural problems like aggression, meaning less dogs surrendered to our shelters, and less risk of things going badly when dogs are present in public spaces like beaches and parks.”

She said it was important puppies didn’t interact with other dogs who were not vaccinated, and there were also risks involved with letting them walk in high-traffic dog areas.

“Even when puppies are fully vaccinated, busy dog parks or beaches aren’t always the best place to socialise, as many puppies are overwhelmed by the bigger, boisterous adult dogs,” she says.

Spoodles Murphy (left) and Zoe shopping at Bunnings.

The advantage of a trip to Bunnings is that the puppies have to be in a trolley, she says, which means they can’t be approached by another dog.”

Bunnings policy says dogs in its stores must be on a lead and muzzled; carried or in a trolley.

Staff will often give owners a piece of cardboard for their dog to sit on in the trolley so they feel more secure.

Ms Ross said ways to socialise unvaccinated puppies was to drive them around in the car (as long as they were secure, for example in a crate) and letting them watch out the window; carrying your puppy to the park, putting it down on a picnic rug, and letting it watch people and dogs go by and to make a trip to the vet just to say hello.

And socialisation isn’t just about exposure. “The puppy has to have a positive experience for it to be a good thing for their behavioural development,” she said.

“Organising play dates with friends or family members’ dogs who are up to date with their vaccinations is a good way for people who don’t have access to a service like ours to socialise their puppies.”

For cute photos of pups in trolleys check out dogsatbunnings on instagram and the Dogs of Bunnings Facebook page.