Puppy Training

Posted on October 16th, 2010 Written by +Brian Benson Email Author

Having puppies at home can be so much fun. But along with the arrival of puppies is facing the challenge of puppy training and teaching them good behaviors. Taking care of dogs and providing them with their basic needs — food, bed and chew toys — are not the only things that pet owners are expected to do. Of course, we don’t want pets that eliminate anywhere, chew on home furniture, bark unnecessarily, growl, whine, and behave inappropriately when outside. We all want a good and well-behaved canine citizen, and this is where the importance of puppy training comes.

Experts say that it’s always best to start training and teaching your pets proper and acceptable behaviors while they are still young. Puppy training should start as soon as puppies arrive home. Here are some of the most important factors and things that you might want to take note of as you start puppy training.

Contents 1 Puppy House Training Takes Time 2 Myths on Puppy Training Debunked 2.1 Old dogs can never be taught new tricks and commands. 2.2 Dogs become aggressive if they play tug-of-war with their owners. 2.3 Never use food to train a puppy. 2.4 Use choke chain when training puppies. 3 The Basic and Most Essential Puppy Training Methods 3.1 Puppies Potty Training 3.2 Dog Obedience Training 3.3 Leash Training 4 Common Mistakes When Training Puppies

Puppy House Training Takes Time

Your role as a pet owner doesn’t stop after you’ve given them food to eat, toys to play with, and a nice bed to sleep on. If you want to have a well-behaved and well-loved canine citizen that knows how to follow simple commands, you might want to spend time training them to become one. There is no need to hire professional puppy trainers as you can do it on your own. Puppy training can be easy and fun, but it definitely takes time. Some dogs may learn fast while some don’t. Some can be house trained over the weekend while some may take months or so before they can actually learn to follow commands.

Patience and consistency are two important attributes that you, as a dog owner or trainer, should have when training puppies; patience because you need to do training again and again until puppies have learned commands and consistency because you need to teach the same thing again and again to avoid confusing them. It is also important to ensure you go through the training process with persistency and affection for more effective puppy training.

Myths on Puppy Training Debunked

You’ve probably heard of certain myths and rules about training puppies. Such myths have been floating around for a long time now and many choose to believe and adhere to these. As a dog owner, you certainly want what’s best for your pet so the first thing that you might want to do is to debunk these myths and follow puppy training methods that have been proven effective. Here are some of the training rules and methods that are completely untrue.

Old dogs can never be taught new tricks and commands.

Old dogs may have gotten used to old tricks and commands and may find it hard to follow new ones but this doesn’t mean they can’t learn new things. While it is true that puppies learn better and faster than old dogs, any dog, regardless of breed and age, can still learn something new. Everything just depends on how patient and persistent owners are when it comes to training and teaching their old dogs new tricks and commands.

Dogs become aggressive if they play tug-of-war with their owners.

Playing tug-of-war with dogs has always been a big NO for fear that dogs may develop aggressiveness. This, of course, is untrue. In fact, tug of war is one of the best games that you could ever play with your dogs. For as long as you ensure you win the tug game, your dogs are sure to learn how to let go of things when their owners tell them to. Making them win the tug game is not recommended as this will only make dogs feel that they are superior. Always remember that it’s not the type of game or dog training activity that you do with your dog that matters most. What’s more important is taking control of the game and making your dogs feel and understand that you are superior in the dog-man relationship.

Never use food to train a puppy.

According to myths, food should never be given to dogs during training. Instead, dogs should learn to follow commands simply because their owners are the ‘alpha’ in the dog-man relationship. Reward-based method of training has always been the best and most effective way to train dogs to be obedient, as well as to train them out of their bad behaviors. Rewards can either be in the form of dog food, dog treat, chew toys, or simply a scratch at the back of their ears. With rewards-based puppy training method, your puppies are sure to work hard and follow your orders and commands just so they can get what they want.

Use choke chain when training puppies.

This is a sad myth that many choose to follow. Many dogs have been strangled by owners just so they follow commands and orders. Using a choke chain as a training tool can be very dangerous as it can damage the dog’s tracheas. Moreover, this tool makes dogs develop opposition reflex, making them aggressive and dangerous.

The Basic and Most Essential Puppy Training Methods

There are many different types of puppy training methods, and these depend largely on your objective. There are training methods that prevent the development of behavioral problems, such as barking, biting, chewing, howling, jumping on people, and defecating anywhere and there are also those that teach them basic commands, such as stay, down, and sit. Here are some of the basic and most essential puppy training methods that you can do so you can have a well-loved and well-mannered canine citizen.

Puppies Potty Training

This is a very important training method that you might want to do before anything else. Of course, you don’t want your puppy to soil your carpets and leave bad smell indoors. This puppy training method may be easy and simple with the help of the following potty training tips:

1. Put your puppies on leash and take them to the spot where you want them to defecate. Make this a routine, bringing them to the same exact spot once or twice a day.
2. Be patient every time you take them to their potty place. Puppies may take a number of tries before they can even get successful with defecation.
3. Anytime you see them attempt to eliminate in areas they’re not supposed to, try to catch their attention by either clapping your hands or by saying ‘no’. Then carefully bring them outside or in their potty area and let them finish the task.
4. Unlike those of older dogs, the endurance level of puppies is a bit lower. This means they generally find it hard to control their bladder and bowel. Patience is very important in this case as it may take some time before they can actually learn to potty in proper areas.
5. Never punish or yell at puppies if they don’t use their potty area. But make them understand that doing so is not an acceptable behavior.

Dog Obedience Training

Obedience training is a fundamental type of puppy training. Under this type of training, puppies are taught basic commands such as sit, stay, down, and come here. This is also considered a very important training as this train your puppies to behave in various situations in and out of the house and keep them from developing bad behaviors. Here are some obedience training tips for easy and effective obedience puppy training.

1. Puppy obedience training sessions should be short but should be done daily. This is the best way to ensure your puppies learn what you are trying to teach them. Note that puppies will never learn your commands in one instance. Instead, it should be repeated until they know it by heart.
2. Make sure your puppy have mastered the command before moving on to the next one. It is also recommended that you start from the simplest command before teaching them more complicated ones and even teaching them different dog tricks.
3. Never punish the puppies whenever they fail to follow your commands. This is highly-advised as punishing them will only make them aggressive.
4. Always reward your puppies every time they follow your commands or do something nice.
5. In cases when puppies have developed bad habits or behaviors, ignoring them is the best way to correct these awful and unwarranted behaviors.

Leash Training

Dog owners dragged along by their dogs and dogs ruthlessly tugging on the leash are common scenarios, and these are the reasons why leash training is important. Another must do puppy training, leash training puppies involves two basic steps: (a) putting a dog collar on them and making them adjust to it and (b) attaching the leash to the collar and making them adjust to it. Here’s how you can get successful in training your puppies to behave when on leash.

1. It’s natural for puppies to resist the collar when you put it on them. Once you get successful with it, let them adjust and get accustomed to it before attaching the leash.
2. When you put the collar on them, make sure it fits securely and is never too tight.
3. Observe and supervise your puppies as they run around with their leash dragging behind them, and once they’ve gotten comfortable with it, grab the end of the leash and start following them around.
4. Walking them around the house and in your backyard for a few minutes is a good start to help them get accustomed to walking on leash. Never allow the puppies to lead or drag you or pull the leash. If they do, you can do a quick and careful tug on the leash and say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ in a calm or authoritative tone. If they stop pulling or tugging on the leash, praise and reward them with a dog treat or a scratch behind their ears.

Common Mistakes When Training Puppies

Mistakes are bound to happen no matter how knowledgeable and skillful you’ve become in training dogs. But while this is the case, it pays to at least try to overcome and avoid committing mistakes while training your puppies. Below are some of the worst and most common mistakes that you might want to avoid as you do puppy training.

1. Failure to praise and reward your puppies after they’ve followed your commands or have behaved well. Puppies should be immediately praised and rewarded for every good thing they’ve done. Puppies will better understand that what they’re doing is right and acceptable if you associate every good behavior with praise and reward.
2. Training your puppies too much and too fast for long periods of time. Teaching them too many commands and tricks in one session will not only tire your puppies out but will also confuse them more. As mentioned, commands and tricks should be taught one at a time and training session should be short but daily. Never rush puppy training.
3. Inconsistent training. Inconsistency leads to confusion. This is why it is important that every family member applies the same routine and follow the same rules and training methods to avoid confusing the puppies. Discussing these with the whole family before the puppies arrive home is advised.
4. Never hand feeding your puppies. Many dog owners are afraid of hand feeding their dogs for fear that their dogs might bite at their fingers. This will never be the case especially if puppies have gotten used to feeding from their owners’ hands. The truth is that hand feeding lessens the risk of puppies developing aggressive behavior. This is also one of the best ways to bond with your pets. Make sure, however, not to overdo hand feeding to the point that your pets will never feed from their food bowls.
5. Failing to play with your puppies. While training may already be a fun activity for puppies, playing games with them, such as a fetch and retrieve game, after every training session can be very beneficial. Doing so is sure to boost your puppies’ interest to learn and make them look forward to the next training session.

No matter what type of puppy training activities you do, it is crucial that you exhibit consistency and patience during the whole process. Puppies and even older dogs will never learn commands if taught only once. It needs to be done again and again until your pets have learned to behave and follow your commands. You’ll know you’ve been successful with puppy training if they’ve started to follow your commands, show off tricks that you’ve taught them and exhibit good behaviors in and out of home. Such good behaviors will be evident and manifested until they grow old.