Some of the things you have been told about puppies are folklore, one of them has a veterinary body's published position against it, and for one of them we could not find a source in either direction. This page separates those three categories, because "myth" is used far too loosely in this niche and a confident correction with nothing behind it is the same problem in a different coat.
Myth: you have to show the puppy who is boss
This one is not a matter of opinion and there is an instrument to point at.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior publishes a position statement titled Dominance, listed among its position statements on its own site. It also publishes Humane Dog Training, and AVSAB's own description of that statement says it reviews the current literature on the effects of training style on animal welfare, training effectiveness and the dog-human relationship, and that the organization recommends only reward-based training methods are used for all dog training, including the treatment of behavior problems. (Read at avsab.org, 28 August 2026.)
An honest limit: we did not open the Dominance statement itself. Two attempts to fetch AVSAB PDFs on 28 August 2026 returned unreadable binary, so this page tells you the statement exists and does not tell you what it says. Read it at avsab.org before quoting it, and do not accept anyone's paraphrase, including ours.
What we will not do is characterize the original wolf research or what its author said about it later, because we did not retrieve either. That trace is worth doing properly and it has not been done here.
What is safe to say without any of that: the recommendation of reward-based methods for all dog training, including behavior problems, is published and attributable. Alpha rolls, scruffing, pinning and eating first are practices that recommendation does not support, and you do not need to win an argument about wolves to decline them.
Myth: puppies grow out of everything
Some things pass and some things get practiced.
Teething chewing passes. Mouthing softens. A puppy that is rehearsing a behavior every day is not growing out of it, it is getting better at it, which is why the early months matter more than the phrase suggests.
The honest version: age fixes some of it, and the things that need teaching need teaching. Which is which is what most of this site is about.
Myth: keep the puppy home until it is fully vaccinated
This one is genuinely contested between named authorities and this site has already set out both sides.
The vaccination guidance and the socialization guidance point in different directions, and the widely repeated "two weeks after the last shot" turns out to be clinic practice advice rather than a published guideline date. AVSAB's own description of its Puppy Socialization statement says it exists to raise awareness of the need for socialization in puppies and to raise the issue of how vaccination protocols affect the socialization process in puppy classes.
The full treatment, with the sources side by side, is on when puppies can go outside, and the verdict there is to grade the place rather than to wait for a date.
Your vet decides what is right for your puppy. We are a dog behavior site, not a veterinary clinic.
Myth: a growl is bad behavior
A growl is information, and punishing it removes the information rather than the feeling.
A dog that has learned growling gets it into trouble is a dog that stops growling, and the fear stays. What you have then is a dog that goes from calm to teeth with nothing in between, which is a considerably more dangerous animal than the one that growled.
That reasoning runs through what to do when a dog growls at strangers, and it applies to puppies exactly as it applies to adults.
Myth: rubbing the nose in it teaches house-training
It teaches the puppy to be frightened of you and to avoid toileting where you can see, which makes house-training harder rather than easier.
The method that works is a routine plus rewarding the right place, and it is on the puppy potty training schedule.
Myth: a tired puppy is a good puppy
Half true and the half that is wrong causes real trouble.
A well-exercised puppy does settle better. An over-tired puppy does not settle at all, and becomes frantic, mouthy and impossible, which is then read as needing more exercise. If your puppy is worst in the evening, look at whether it has slept, and the night side of that is on puppy sleep training.
And mental work tires a dog more efficiently than physical work. A short training session does more than another lap of the block.
Myth: the puppy is being stubborn or spiteful
Neither is a useful description of what is happening.
A puppy that will not do something either does not understand the cue, cannot do it in that environment, or is finding something else more rewarding at that moment. All three of those have fixes and "stubborn" does not.
And nothing a puppy does when you are out is revenge. Destruction while alone is usually boredom or distress, and distress in particular is a welfare problem rather than a discipline one. See separation anxiety in dogs.
The one we could not settle
Whether small breeds are harder to house-train. It is repeated constantly, we did not find a source for it either way, and so we are not going to state it as a myth or as a fact. That absence is worth reporting, because a page that confidently debunks something it has not checked is doing the thing this page is about.
When a myth is hiding a medical problem
Go to your vet if house-training goes backwards after being established, if a settled puppy becomes suddenly reactive or withdrawn, if there is any change in drinking, appetite, toileting or sleep, or if the puppy has become touchy about being handled. Behavior change is one of the things a veterinary appointment is for, and "it is just a phase" is the most expensive myth on this page.
Get a certified applied animal behaviorist or a veterinary behaviorist for anything involving fear, guarding, growling or snapping. "Dog trainer" is not a regulated title, which is why the credential matters.
Frequently asked questions
My settled puppy has suddenly become reactive and withdrawn. Is that just a phase?
Book a vet appointment rather than waiting it out. A settled puppy becoming suddenly reactive or withdrawn is on the list above, alongside house-training going backwards after being established, any change in drinking, appetite, toileting or sleep, and a puppy that has become touchy about being handled. Behavior change is one of the things a veterinary appointment is for, and "it is just a phase" is the most expensive myth on this page.
Do I need to establish myself as the alpha?
The published, attributable position is that the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends only reward-based training methods for all dog training, including the treatment of behavior problems, per its own description of its Humane Dog Training statement. Alpha rolls, scruffing, pinning and eating first are practices that recommendation does not support, and you do not need to win an argument about wolves to decline them. AVSAB also lists a separate position statement titled Dominance, which we did not open, so read it at avsab.org rather than accepting anyone's paraphrase of it, ours included.
Should I stop my puppy growling?
A growl is information, and punishing it removes the information rather than the feeling. A dog that has learned growling gets it into trouble is a dog that stops growling while the fear stays, and what you have then is a dog that goes from calm to teeth with nothing in between, which is considerably more dangerous than the one that growled. Growling, snapping, fear or guarding is work for a certified applied animal behaviorist or a veterinary behaviorist, because "dog trainer" is not a regulated title.
Will my puppy grow out of it?
Some things pass and some things get practiced. Teething chewing passes and mouthing softens, but a puppy that is rehearsing a behavior every day is not growing out of it, it is getting better at it, which is why the early months matter more than the phrase suggests. Age fixes some of it, and the things that need teaching need teaching.
Are small breeds harder to house-train?
We do not know, and we are not going to state it as a myth or as a fact. It is repeated constantly and we did not find a source for it in either direction. Reporting that absence is the point: a page that confidently debunks something it has not checked is doing the thing this page is about.
What this page does not publish
No quotation from or characterization of the AVSAB Dominance statement, because we could not open it. Read it at avsab.org.
No account of the original wolf research or of its author's later position, because we did not retrieve it.
No claim about small breeds and house-training, in either direction.
No aversive method, in any framing, including as something to be avoided in detail.