Originally published here: Training Your Puppy
Training your puppy is not about breaking his spirit or making sure he’s robotic in his obedience. When you’ve successfully trained your puppy, he’ll be happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. Training is about teaching your puppy boundaries and acceptable behaviors, and making sure he feels loved and secure. You can successfully train your puppy to accomplish all of these goals.
Training your puppy early is so important to success. Training adult dogs is possible, but it takes longer because you have to “unteach” the negative behaviors and then teach the appropriate ones. Training early helps to prevent bad behavior in the future: nipping things like chewing, excessive barking or whining, and jumping on people in the bud lets your puppy know what is acceptable and what the consequences are.
Let’s take a look at some common desired outcomes of puppy training and how to address them.
* Training your puppy to sit. Whenever your dog sits on his own, say “Sit.” This will help him associate the word with the action. At first, use treats when practicing the command – it’s amazing how fast he’ll learn! Within a day or two, he should have the sit command down. Keep practicing so he’ll sit in any situation, whether it is meeting new people or being in new places.
* Training your puppy to stay. This is important because it can potentially be a safety issue, if for instance, your dog is about to run into traffic or there are people around and you don’t want him to jump. Have two treats. Tell him to sit and give him a treat when he does. Using your empty hand for emphasis, tell him to stay. (It is easier for him to stay if he is sitting.) If he starts coming to you, say “No.” Keep trying, and start with only very short distances at first. Reinforce with treats and praise. Practice, practice, practice!
* Training your puppy to relieve himself outside. The best method is crate training. Dogs don’t want to soil their own sleeping area, so they’ll learn to control their bladders and bowels. Take them out after meals and give them enough exercise. Once again, praise is important and punishment is often counterproductive.
* Training your puppy to walk on a leash. At first, just put the collar and leash on for a few minutes so your puppy can get used to it. Gradually, restrict his wandering and urge him in the direction you want to go. If pulling is a problem you have, try abruptly changing direction. Give a quick tug and then slacken the leash. Keep doing this so the leash is never pulled taut. If your puppy gets in the habit of pulling, it is very difficult to break.
These are some very common commands you’ll want to teach your dog, but there are many more. Puppy training should help conquer excessive barking, inappropriate chewing, aggressive behavior, jumping, and more. The key is to try to prevent these behaviors from occurring at all, and if they already have, to curtail them so they don’t become lifelong problems. Training your puppy takes time and patience, but you can do it. It is important for both you and your puppy.
If you need help, there are training classes and excellent learn-at-home programs, like the SitStayFetch downloadable dog and puppy training course. SitStayFetch will help you solve all of your dog and puppy behavior problems..
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