Puppy Training
Train Your Dog Right ... From the Start.
Training your puppy should begin the moment you bring him home. Some people tend to be lax during the first few days to allow the puppy to adjust to his new environment. Doing this, however, would allow the puppy to acquire habits that we may or may not like.
Establishing good habits from the start is very important. Whatever the puppy learns during his first few weeks will shape his behavior and actions later in his life.
BASIC RULES
- Establish rules. It is easy to give in to your puppy especially when he is being so cute and adorable. At times, people bend the rules to please the puppy. Giving in to what your puppy wants will not instill self-discipline and self-control which the puppy needs to learn.
- Be consistent with your use of words. It is important for all members of the household to agree on what words to use when communicating with the puppy. Words like “come,” “here,” and “come on” all mean the same thing for us but the puppy does not understand that. A puppy will get confused if people use different words even when they mean the same thing.
- Earn the respect of your puppy. It is important to establish your authority early on. A puppy needs you to lead him just like a child needs a parent. You cannot force the puppy to respect you. You have to earn it. Shouting, hitting or inflicting pain on the puppy will not make him respect you. A puppy who does not respect you will not feel the need to obey you.
- Reward immediately. If a puppy does what you ask him to do, you should reward him at once. This will help the puppy associate his behavior to the reward and will also encourage him to repeat the behavior. Beware though, do not always reward with food treats, there are other physical forms of rewards that are just as good like a complete rub down or playing ball.
- Do not punish a behavior done in your absence. When you come home and see that your puppy has done something wrong, do not punish him. Let it go. Puppies are not built to remember what they did. If you punish the puppy when you get home, he will not be able to associate it with the wrong behavior he did earlier during the day.
- Be watchful. In training your puppy, it is important that you do not allow him to develop bad habits. Bad habits are hard to break. While it is possible to unlearn a bad habit, doing so would require a lot of time and effort. Getting it right the first time should always be your goal.
- Keep it short. It is important to note that puppies have a short attention span. Training sessions with the puppies should not last more than 15 minutes. Conducting a training session longer than this will not be effective as the puppy will lose its interest.
Training your puppy can be one of the most exciting things you do. Seeing a creature grow is astounding and when they learn all the things you are teaching them you are also helping their brain grow.
Now with the help of K9course we can give you that extra help to get on your way to having the perfect little puppy grow to a wonderful dog. Begin the training now and you will see that the struggle for training your puppy will not only be easy but tons of fun. |
