The moment your new puppy first enters your home is one of those moments that will stay with you for years to come. This little bundle of joy will likely be an integral part of your household for the next 10-15 years, creating an endless stream of happy memories for you and your family.
However, your “little bundle of joy” can quickly transform into a whirlwind of frustration without guardrails for their behavior. While it may seem cute at first, your patience will wear thin if your puppy starts to chew up your prized possessions, goes to the bathroom anywhere and everywhere in your home, and refuses to behave appropriately around other dogs and people.
The best way to mitigate any of these potential issues is, of course, through training your puppy to educate them on how they should behave. A puppy training program will introduce your puppy to the world around them. The program should build solid obedience fundamentals, help to socialize your pup in a variety of environments, and teach them basic skills like potty training.
Dog training confers so many benefits, from keeping your puppy safe from threats and dangers, to building their confidence and providing enrichment. New puppy owners frequently ask when they begin their puppy’s training. In this article, we’ll look at when you can begin your puppy’s training; what you should teach them; and offer tips for getting the most out of your training endeavors.
When can you begin training your puppy?
Puppy training actually begins from the moment your pup is born – whether they know it or not. A puppy learns from interacting with their mother and siblings, and starts to understand some basic social cues (even if these are not being intentionally taught by a human). There are also numerous physical and emotional benefits for a pup to remain close to its mother. For these reasons, it is recommended that puppies stay with their mom until they are eight weeks old. Puppies who leave their family too early may be prone to behavioral or health issues.
If you are obtaining your puppy from a reputable breeder, it is likely that they will incorporate some form of initial exposure to noises, sights and textures to the puppy’s routine. If you are acquiring a puppy for a specific purpose (ex: service dog work, or Police K9 deployment), temperament testing may also help determine which puppy is best for you. This initial training process can help to set the puppy up for success as they develop.
If you bring your puppy home at eight weeks, you have a crucial couple of months ahead of you. This period between eight and sixteen weeks of age is a critical developmental period where your puppy will soak up knowledge like a sponge. Their ability to retain new information and establish new habits tends to peak at this age. Dog training should be a lifelong commitment, but there is no more crucial period than between two and four months of age.
What should you teach your puppy?
Knowing that this period between eight and sixteen weeks old is very important for your puppy, you may be wondering what skills you should teach them. The first step will be simply getting your puppy to understand their name, and that they should listen to you when it is called.
In general, you will want to build up their obedience commands to offer you greater control (both in your home, and out in public); this will also reduce your stress and give you peace of mind. Some skills (ex: potty training) are non-negotiable if you want to maintain a harmonious household. Finally, there may be specific reasons why you acquired this puppy, and developing those skills with specialized training in the early stages of your puppy’s life can be beneficial for your overarching training goals. Below are a few ideas of what you can teach your pup.
Basic obedience commands
At this age, your dog doesn’t need to be performing competition obedience-style commands with regularity. You still want your pup to explore the world with curiosity and freedom, but it is also sensible to create an element of control with some basic obedience commands. These commands could include:
- Sit
- Down
- Stay
- Place
These commands provide you with a way to control your dog’s behavior. You may even want to try building up to recalls over short distances – this can help prevent your puppy from sprinting out into a busy street or running away if they get out of their collar and leash.
Potty training
There is little that brings as much frustration as a puppy who doesn’t know where to eliminate. It is a rite of passage when it comes to owning a new puppy – keep plenty of paper towels and enzymatic cleaner on standby. Teaching your puppy where to go to the bathroom will immediately make your life much easier as a dog owner, and it also reduces the likelihood that your favorite rug or carpet will be ruined. Familiarizing a puppy with a crate from a young age is also beneficial.
How to walk on a leash
Puppies don’t enter the world with the knowledge of how to walk with a leash attached to them – they have to learn. Initially, a puppy may be hesitant to walk on the leash, or may even bite or nip at it – you can help desensitize them with treats. From there, you’ll want to keep the leash very loose so that your dog has the ability to walk and explore, while keeping enough of a grip that they can’t escape. It won’t take long for your puppy to feel comfortable walking on a leash.
Specialized training
If you acquired your dog with a specific purpose in mind, the two to four month old window can be a great time to establish those foundational behaviors. For example, with a search and rescue dog, you can start to teach them the game of ‘find the person’ with smaller, ‘hot’ trails. A detection dog can begin exposure to their target odors. Be careful of anything too physically demanding with your puppy at this age, however – remember that their joints and bones are still fragile, and you risk injury if you push them too far, too fast.
Tips for training a puppy
While training a puppy isn’t a world away from training an adult dog, there are a few aspects that are subtly different. We’ve included some troubleshooting tips below to make training your puppy easier.
Build a routine
Creating a routine is very beneficial for all parties involved. It sets expectations for you and your dog, and allows you to plan in time for training sessions. If you take your dog out for a 10-15 minute training session every morning while they are a puppy, that can become an expectation for the rest of their life.
Keep it positive
Your demeanor is just as important as what you intend to teach your dog. Bring energy to your training sessions and make it fun! Your puppy will respond enthusiastically to praise and positive reinforcement.
Keep it short
While puppies do soak up knowledge at this young age, their attention spans are also limited. Limit your training sessions to 15-20 minutes at a time – any longer than that, and the session quality will decrease due to your puppy’s lack of focus.
Be consistent
It is easy for any dog to be confused when their owners are inconsistent – and this is particularly true when puppies are in the early stages of learning. Be consistent with every aspect of training your puppy – from session frequency, to the way you teach commands, to the cues you use to instruct them to perform a behavior.
Generalization matters
If you only train at home, then you’ll find your puppy may act like a completely different animal when you take them to the park to practice the same behaviors. Quality socialization is key, and training in different environments helps to generalize learning. This also allows you to train around new distractions, which is an additional way to enhance your puppy’s training.
In conclusion
Working with your new puppy isn’t just a great way to teach them new skills that they’ll use for the entirety of their lives – it also builds a strong bond between the two of you. The critical developmental period between eight and sixteen weeks of age is the perfect time for you to invest in your puppy’s future.
At Greenside Canine, our puppy training programs are designed to set you and your pup up for success! We offer our puppy programs via our two week Confident Puppy Board and Train program at our training facility, or through our Private Lessons in your home. Reach out to us today for more information by calling (317) 558-9145 or emailing train@greensidecanine.com.