An Insider's Guide to Puppy Training
Life is better with a dog in it. You know this, and you’ve decided it’s time to share your home and heart with a puppy. You have made a smart decision. Congratulations! Puppies are adorable, cute, fluffy, exuberant, delightful, and fun. But the truth is, puppies are also a lot of work.
If you’re wondering when to start training a puppy, this is the guide for you. Whether you have raised a puppy previously or if it is your first time, here’s overview what you can do to get your puppy off on the right paw starting day one.
How To Train Your Puppy
Whether or not you realize it, your puppy is training from the moment they arrive home. Therefore, reward the behaviors you like, ignore the ones you don’t. The more you reward what you like, the more likely the behavior will be repeated.
House Training: Accidents will happen. Ditch those pee pads, establish and schedule and get your puppy potty trained in no time with our helpful guide.
Bite Training: Using their mouths to explore the world, puppies have sharp teeth between 8 weeks and 6 months. An important lesson to teach is human skin is not for nibbling, mouthing, or biting. When your puppy puts their mouth on your skin, remove yourself from the situation and give your puppy an appropriate chew toy. While it may seem like a playful game at first, allowing this to happen can make room for destructive or harmful behaviors in your puppy’s adulthood.
Crate Training: When used appropriately your puppy can learn to love their crate. Learn how to make crate training a success.
Polite Manners: If you like it when your puppy sits for their food bowl, reward it. If you like it when your puppy lies calmly at your feet, reward them. Set yourself up for success and stash treats around your home, so when your puppy does something you like it’s easy to reward them.
How to Socialize Your Puppy
Socialization is the introduction of a variety of places, people, animals, sounds, objects, and surfaces to your puppy in a positive manner.
Critical Socialization Period: Once your puppy reached 4 months of age, your puppy naturally becomes warier. Maximize your initial four weeks together by making socialization a top priority. The more opportunities your puppy has to explore, the more adaptive your puppy will be to new things as they mature.
Puppy Socialization Examples: Think about all the things your puppy will encounter in their lifetime. Examples of socialization include: a visit to a friend’s home, a trip to the hardware store during a non-peak hour; greeting someone new wearing sunglasses and a hat, listening to an idling delivery truck, running the vacuum, walking by garbage cans or over a manhole cover, the list goes on and on.
New Isn’t Scary but Fun: No matter how much you think your puppy may enjoy something or someone, resist the urge to force your puppy into a situation that they are uncomfortable with. Forced interactions often build fear and avoidance responses and can result in aggressive responses in the future. Use food as a motivator and allow your puppy to exercise choice in greetings and exploration.
Why Handling Your Puppy is SO Important
While our puppies are young, we want to practice gentle touching and restraint. Doing so will better prepare your puppy for routine veterinary visits and necessary husbandry practices like teeth brushing and nail trimming. Too many dogs fear these activities due to unfamiliarity with the handling of sensitive areas like the mouth, tail, ears, and paws.
Brushing will be necessary to keep Monet’s coat free of matts. We provided peanut butter throughout this session to ensure a positive cooperative care experience. Did you notice his adorable peanut butter mouth?
Play Vet and Groomer with Your Puppy: Exercises to practice at home include examining your puppy’s ears, touching and hold their paws, looking inside their mouths, gently pulling your puppy’s tail to the side, holding your puppy in different positions, introducing the brush to their coat. Take note of your puppy’s reaction to these interactions. Don’t forget to reward each brief and gentle touch with a tasty morsel.
A perfect time to practice handling your puppy’s sensitive areas is when they are calm, such as after a play session. A dog that learns to cooperate in their care is less stressed at the vet and groomer.
Essential Puppy Supplies and Tips
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Your puppy has a long list of must haves beginning day 1 including food, water, leash, bowl, toys, leash harness, and id tag.
Puppies get into everything; they are the equivalent of a toddler that has just learned to walk. Utilize an xpen or a baby gate to create a safe space in your home for your puppy. The safe space should contain chew toys, a bed for napping and some water. Utilize this space whenever you are unable to monitor your puppy’s whereabouts closely.
Give your puppy the chance to choose from a variety of chew toys. Some puppies prefer soft toys, whereas others require harder more durable toys. Utilize a rotation strategy with your puppy’s toys so they don’t get bored and find something more interesting, like your shoes and socks.
Training: What Your Puppy Needs
Outside of these essential supplies and equipment your puppy also needs to feel safe and loved. And because puppies haven’t a clue about what’s acceptable behavior, you’ll need to teach them.
Clarity: Day one of when to start training a puppy is the day when you bring them home. Enact a defined set of rules for puppy training. For example, is the puppy allowed on the couch or in the bed? Give considerable thought as to what behaviors you will want your puppy to have when they become full grown.
Consistency is Key: Will jumping on people to greet them be acceptable later once your dog is full grown? You need a set of well-defined rules so your puppy can learn what is acceptable and what is not. Save your puppy confusion and be consistent.
Practice and Patience: Your puppy really wants to please you they are just learning. If you want your puppy to master any cue, practice, practice and practice some more . Lest there be confusion, remember its best if everyone at home uses the same hand gestures and words when training.
Positive Reinforcement: Modern dog trainers take a humane approach to dog training because rewards-based training is the fastest way to get results. The effectiveness of positive reinforcement training is supported by veterinary professionals (AVSAB). It is also the standard by trainers and animal behavior consultants worldwide. Suggestions like alpha rolls, leash pops, prong collars, and shock collars are cruel and unnecessary. Punishment is out, positive reinforcement is in!
Get Puppy Training Started Now
Build good habits and break bad habits before they form. Mind Body Paws can help get you started with positive reinforcement puppy training to make sure your puppy has a great foundation. Your efforts today will result in a friendly, easy-going, confident dog tomorrow.
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