What could be more irresistible than a cute, cuddly puppy? But
puppy grows up fast so the training side of having a puppy is one aspect
that you need to get a handle on quickly and start implementing as
soon as she comes home.
For both you and puppy, the training sessions should be fun, so much so that puppy won’t even realise that she is having a lesson. Above all, the commands that you use to teach puppy need to be consistent.
The trap that you can fall into when you first bring puppy home is that the very behavior that can be so problematic in an adult dog is often so cute and engaging in a little puppy. So she pooped off the edge of the paper; she had such a cute look on her face while she was doing it! So she chewed up grandma’s slipper; when she finally fell asleep with her head buried in the slipper we all burst out laughing. But this kind of behaviour, left unchecked, simply becomes much harder to deal with later on as puppy becomes a “teenager”.
So what are the key areas of puppy training that you need to address?
Puppy Potty Training
Probably on the top of your list will be, or should be, house training your puppy. If you are busy at work during the day, then it is even more important to start this training early so that puppy is not relegated to a newspaper-lined laundry for the rest of her puppy life. Some tips that will help with this part of your puppy training include:
You will have a dog that is a delight to be around if she has been socialized from an early age and subsequently views other dogs as possible playmates rather than threats or aggressors. This will also mean that it will be easier for friends and family to look after her when you are on vacation. The best ways to socialize puppy include:
You can teach puppy from an early age that you are the leader of the pack and won’t tolerate rough, aggressive biting.
At first puppy will object to something around her neck. So make her first little collar quite loose and introduce the leash-walking lessons in short bursts.
You need to make sure that your puppy training begins while she is still a puppy, or before long you will have a pup with selective hearing and not long after that, a young dog that is too boisterous to calm down and too hard to handle.
For both you and puppy, the training sessions should be fun, so much so that puppy won’t even realise that she is having a lesson. Above all, the commands that you use to teach puppy need to be consistent.
The trap that you can fall into when you first bring puppy home is that the very behavior that can be so problematic in an adult dog is often so cute and engaging in a little puppy. So she pooped off the edge of the paper; she had such a cute look on her face while she was doing it! So she chewed up grandma’s slipper; when she finally fell asleep with her head buried in the slipper we all burst out laughing. But this kind of behaviour, left unchecked, simply becomes much harder to deal with later on as puppy becomes a “teenager”.
So what are the key areas of puppy training that you need to address?
Puppy Potty Training
Probably on the top of your list will be, or should be, house training your puppy. If you are busy at work during the day, then it is even more important to start this training early so that puppy is not relegated to a newspaper-lined laundry for the rest of her puppy life. Some tips that will help with this part of your puppy training include:
- Be consistent with where you want puppy to “go”. Take puppy to that spot on a regular basis and reward her when she obliges.
- Make it a habit to go outside with puppy after she has eaten and wait with her in the special “poo corner” so that you can praise her immediately after the deed has been done.
- Use consistent verbal responses so that puppy comes to recognize this special phrase as reward when she has in fact done it in the right spot.
You will have a dog that is a delight to be around if she has been socialized from an early age and subsequently views other dogs as possible playmates rather than threats or aggressors. This will also mean that it will be easier for friends and family to look after her when you are on vacation. The best ways to socialize puppy include:
- Puppy School. This is a wonderful idea and usually takes up only 1 night a week for 5 to 7 weeks. This will be so much fun for puppy that she won’t even notice the lessons.
- Try to introduce puppy to your neighbor’s dog after she has had her shots but only if the neighbor has a friendly dog of course.
- Look to other dog-owning members of your extended family to find opportunities to provide an afternoon of puppy interaction.
You can teach puppy from an early age that you are the leader of the pack and won’t tolerate rough, aggressive biting.
- You can use verbal commands followed by a substitute toy when she releases her biting grip.
- You can stop being the playmate and exit the room when she crosses the line with her needle-like teeth.
- You can also use a growling-like voice to show that you don’t approve. Follow this with a pleasant-sounding voice that heaps praise on her when she does as you ask.
- You can use a tin with items inside it that rattle to make a loud noise when puppy persists in biting.
At first puppy will object to something around her neck. So make her first little collar quite loose and introduce the leash-walking lessons in short bursts.
You need to make sure that your puppy training begins while she is still a puppy, or before long you will have a pup with selective hearing and not long after that, a young dog that is too boisterous to calm down and too hard to handle.
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