According to Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, "When a puppy enters the world, his first pack leader is his mother. Canine moms teach rules, boundaries, and limitations from day one!"
With this in mind, and since you are the pack leader for your puppy, training can begin immediately. Puppies should stay with their mother until they are eight weeks old. After that, and you bring home your new puppy, training can begin.
Housebreaking
Probably the most important part of puppy training is housebreaking. According to Rob Hirsch of East Coast Academy of Dog Training, Inc., “Right from the start, eight weeks and older, your puppy is able to learn obedience responses.”
You should reward your dog on the spot for housebreaking and with a special treat. Hirsch also recommends that you keep a chart of every time your dog has an accident and whether the accident was urine or feces. You can figure out what times your puppy need to go outside from the results of your chart.
Don’t be lazy! Go outside with your puppy. Reward him right where he eliminates with a special treat, such as liverwurst or tiny hot dog pieces. Either of those things can be chopped up and frozen so that they are ready when you need them.
If you stay inside and wait for the puppy to come back in before rewarding him, he may not understand that you are rewarding him for eliminating outside.
Obedience Training
According to Janet Walls, author of How to Love Your Dog, “Dogs should learn good manners and some obedience while they are puppies. Teaching them will always be easier while they're young.” She adds, “A young puppy is just like a baby.”
You need to expect mistakes from your young dog. Patience, just like with a human baby, helps both the owner and the puppy.
Puppies can learn to sit, wait and lie down, just like adult dogs and with the same methods. They do not have the ability to sit still for long periods of time and have a shorter attention span just like young humans.
Try short periods of non-aversive training -- positive reinforcement, without putting your hands on the animal -- with rewards. Eventually, you can phase out the reward and just give the dog praise. But in the beginning, rewards are essential to help get your point across to the puppy.
Chewing
Puppies get new teeth just like little people. Those baby teeth are as sharp as needles and puppies chew on things. That’s just a fact the puppy-owner has to understand.
Encourage your puppy to chew on appropriate items instead of your furniture, shoes or other items. If your puppy is chewing on a shoe, offer a good chew toy. When the puppy goes for the toy, simply take the shoe away.
Puppies do have intelligence and are eager to please their master. Teaching a puppy, or any dog, some simple obedience and house training will make their lives (and yours) a lot happier.
Puppy classes and/or trainers who come to your house are available all over the country. You don’t have to do this alone. Your veterinarian should be able to give you suggestions on a good non-aversive trainer or class for your puppy.
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