Puppy Training

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Here you will find everything about:  Puppy training, training puppies, dog training, dog training tips, dog training collars, dog obedience training, home dog training, dog potty training, therapy dog training, dog training equipment, best dog training book, dog agility training, dog training, puppy,puppy obedience training  and much more.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Here you can find everything about puppy training. Whether you are looking for information about puppy proofing your home, puppies and small children or train puppy not to bite and much more, please explore this site with the eagerness of a puppy!

When Should I Start Training My Puppy?
 

If you have a puppy, you must start training early, but do it gently.

Your puppy has to have confidence in you before he can begin learning.  Remember that puppies are like children - they have growing bodies, short attention spans, and will only learn things when the conditions are right and when they understand what it is you're trying to teach them.

That said, the earlier you start training dogs, the better.  More specifically, it's best if you start “socialization” from 8 weeks, simple commands like “come” and “sit” from 12 weeks, and more intensive training at 5 to 6 months.

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While some early training can be started as soon as you bring your puppy home, the optimum time to begin obedience training is somewhere around 9 to 12 weeks of age.

Keep in mind that training can cover a broad range of topics – I’m not suggesting that you begin training your puppy at 8 weeks of age for agility competitions!  Your training should start off with the basics – teaching him “No!” and beginning house-training. 

Socialization skills are next – experts tell us the best window for your puppy to learn socialization skills is between 3 and 16 weeks – that’s the best time to insure that your puppy grows into a well-adjusted adult. 

And remember, socialization isn’t about teaching him the right fork to use at the dinner table – it’s about giving your dog the self-assurance to deal correctly with any social environment he finds himself in is one of the most valuable and lasting lessons you can teach him.    

A well-socialized dog will interact well with all types of people and situations, even those he has never been in before.  With appropriate social skills, your dog will show little or no fear of most objects, people or other animals, and even if startled, will recover quickly and won’t panic. 

Bottom line, a well-adjusted dog is one that is comfortable in a variety of situations and surroundings. He may be excited in a new setting, but not fearful. The key here is to create positive experiences as you expose your dog to more and more new situations.  

Even training your puppy for 5 – 10 minutes per day as soon as you bring him home will make a big difference in the social skills and adaptability of your puppy.

Keep in mind that puppies have very short attention spans, so keep your lessons short and fun.  How short an attention span?  That depends on the age of the puppy, his breed and how mature your individual puppy is – but a good rule of thumb is to keep the training sessions within that 5 -10 minute range. 

Depending on your puppy’s age and maturity level, sometime between 3 and 6 months of age you should be moving the training into the area of the basic commands such as Sit, Heel, Down, etc.

 It’s important you have realistic expectations about your dog’s capabilities at this point – I don’t expect a puppy to be responding to the basic commands with any degree of regularity until they’ve reached 6 months of age.  

Training puppies

Here is an information list:

• Never hit a young puppy.
• Praise exuberantly.
• Be consistent with your dog, rather than harsh.
• Don't allow biting, but only correct after 14 weeks (yelp and replace hand with toy before that)
• Never correct a dog after the fact.
• Dogs need new experiences with other people, dogs and places, when very young to get socialized.
• Praise exuberantly.
• Dogs need successes and less correction before full maturity so they can develop confidence.
• Train your dog in order to establish communication and give it purpose, and make it tolerable.
• Dogs need to be in a dominance hierarchy with everyone; if you are not above your dog, you will be below it.
• Praise exuberantly.
• Dominance over a dog is achieved with leadership, never harshness.

 

 

Many breeders believe it is best to NOT have two puppies together. They tend to bond to each other and not to you and that can cause serious problems when it comes time to train them. Having two puppies needing housetraining at the same time can make that process go on for much longer. This implies that you would not introduce a second dog before the other six months old and properly trained.

There are always exceptions, of course, and there are many happy dogs dogs that were littermates or otherwise puppies together out there.

                                                                                                                                       

 

Puppy-Proofing Your Home

                                                                     

You should consider that a puppy has an absolute right to chew whatever they can get at in your absence. You must put the puppy where either it cannot do any damage, or you do not care about the possible damage. Puppies can eat kitchen cabinets, destroy furniture, chew on carpet, and damage a wide variety of other things. Besides the destruction, the puppy may well injure itself, even seriously.

A good solution to this is a crate. A crate is any container, made of wire mesh or plastic, that will hold the puppy comfortably, with enough room to stand and curl up and sleep, but not too much that it can eliminate in one corner. See the section on housetraining below. Other solutions include fencing off part of the house, say the kitchen or garage or building an outside run. Be sure the area is puppy-proofed.

Please put your pup in an environment it can't destroy. Puppies are too immature to handle temptations. Depending on the breed, most dogs begin to gain the maturity to handle short stints with mild temptations when they're about 6 months old. Consider the analogy with a baby, where you keep it in a crib, stroller, or pen if you are not holding it.

It is essential to puppy-proof your home. You should think of it in the same way as child-proofing your house but be more thorough about it. Puppies are smaller and more active than babies and have sharp teeth and claws. Things of especial concern are electric wires. If you can get through the puppy stages without having your pup get a shock from chewing a wire you are doing a great job! When puppy proofing your home, get down on your hands and knees (or lower if possible) and consider things from this angle. What looks enticing, what is breakable, what is sharp, etc. The most important things are watching the puppy and, of course, crating it or otherwise restraining it when you can't watch it.

Another step in puppy proofing is house proofing the puppy. Teach it what is and isn't chewable. The single most effective way to do this is by having a ready supply of chewable items on hand. When the puppy starts to chew on an unacceptable item (be it a chair, rug, or human hand), remove the item from the puppy's mouth with a stern, "NO!" and replace it with a chew toy and praise the puppy for playing with the toy. If you are consistent about this, the puppy will get the idea that only the things you give it are to be chewed on! Don't stint on the praise, and keep the "No!" to a single calm, sharp noise -- don't yell or scream the word.

There are some products that can help make items unpalatable and thus aid in your training. Bitter Apple and Bitter Orange (available at most pet stores) impart a bitter taste to many things without staining, etc. You should not depend on these products to keep your puppy safe, but use them as a training aid.

Remember:

• Breakables up out of reach
• All wiring and cords put out of reach behind furniture, or encased in hard plastic flexible tubing (available at hardware stores, can be cut to size) to slow puppy down
• Anything small enough to be swallowed (pennies, bounce balls, shoelaces, bits of paper, socks, nuts, bolts, wire) removed from the floor
• Block access behind furniture wherever possible
• Put childrens toys and stuffed animals away

 

Puppies and Small Children

Keep puppies and very small children apart or under close supervision. Small children do not understand the need for keeping fingers out of puppies' eyes or refraining from pulling painfully on their tails, among other problems. So keep children 6 years or so and younger away from the puppy until it is grown, for the safety of the puppy.

Teach your children how to approach a puppy or dog, to prevent being jumped on. They should understand that they should put out their hands below the pup's chin, to keep it from jumping at a hand above its head. They should not scream or run away, as the puppy will then chase the child.

There are several books dealing with children and dogs. Try Jack and Collen McDaniel's Pooches and Small Fry, published by Doral Publishing, 800-633-5385. This book is full of good suggestions for teaching both children and dogs how to behave with one another.

 

 

Training a Puppy not to Bite

                                                                           

Puppies and even adult dogs bite for many reasons like fear, boredom, hyperactivity or even invasion of personal space. When puppies are teething, just like a child, their mouth involves the need for stimulation this is an appropriate time to teach the puppy right and wrong biting. If the puppy bites, remove the dog from the area and place them in their crate or outside for a few minutes.

How to use the puppy bite inhibition

Bite inhibition involves following several phases of bites, this helps the puppy develop a "soft mouth." Teaching a puppy their biting inhibitions helps the puppy learn the strength of their bite and not to bite anyone, including clothing items like bracelets and shoes. This involves three biting phases.

• No Painful Bites - when a puppy non -painfully bites you (this involves not breaking the skin) while playing or socializing, ignore your puppy. This means walking away after making startling sounds, do not play with your dog. This suggests to your puppy that what he did was wrong. However, be careful not to over exaggerate your startling sound or body language behavior.

• No pressure with teeth (gentle mouthing only) - this occurs after learning that non-painful bites are bad. Now as the owner, you can train your puppy that any pressure with its teeth is bad and wrong.

• No mouthing at all - this step includes teaching your puppy that mouthing is wrong. Once the puppy learns non-painful bites are wrong and gentle mouthing is wrong, it is easier to transition to teaching the puppy using their teeth on an adult or child is wrong.

Some experts recommend taste deterrent that is readily available at pet stores to use on your hands, clothing, and shoes. Owners should remember to be patient with their puppy because it could take a week to 2 months for a puppy to learn their biting inhibitions. Owners should never get overly-frustrated with their dog. Owners should not hit, or deny the dog food as a punishment for not controlling their bite. Actions such as those may create an aggressive dog in the future and someone may become a victim in a dog bite-related injury or fatality.

Even with puppy training, an adult dog or puppy can still bite and injure an innocent victim. A dog owner is legally responsible for the actions of their dogs and is liable for damages, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.