When Should I Start Training My Puppy?

From the moment you bring your new puppy home the "game" starts. This game is the game of teaching your puppy how to be a responsible, well behaved dog who respects and loves you.

Notice respect came first in the sentence above. Why is that?

Out of all the questions and problems I've helped people find the answers to, the number one reason they are having problems is they failed to raise their puppy correctly and respect was not built.

Why am I talking about this when the article is when should I start training my puppy?

Simple. Training starts with building a bond and a foundation of respect between you and your puppy.

Formal training should be started around 5-6 months old.

Formal training is teaching heel, down, sit, come when called and the go to bed exericses.

Before that time you should be building a bond with your puppy, house training them, and teaching them to accept the leash.

All of these are important to establishing a good foundation for future training.

So the answer to the question, when should I start training my puppy is formal training should start at 5-6 months old and the time prior to that should be spent teaching your puppy rules and respect.

Rules and respect does not mean use force and intimidate the dog into doing what you want.

It means you should be a fair and consistent leader who serves their needs before serving yours (giving them attention serves people's needs, not dogs.)

Building a bond and respect is so important that I devoted an entire article to it. You can read the article 5 Rules to Raising a Happy, Healthy, Puppy by clicking here.

Puppy Training Tips

For puppies that are between the ages of 8 and 16 weeks old you can start to establish a pattern that will be used later in formal training.

This pattern is basically the building blocks of all obedience commands you will ever teach your dog.

Starting with food you will start to teach your puppy that you are the bearer of all things yummy.

I recommend hand feeding puppies until they are 5-6 months old. You can use this feeding time to prime your dog for later training. Here's how...

Feed the puppy 5-6-10 times per day using small handfuls of their food. You will be using this as their treats. Load up your hand with 20-30 bite sized pieces of food. When you load your hand don't let your puppy to see you.

Now, with a clicker in your hand (you can use a word if you like) say your puppies name and start acting like a fruit cake. You know, patting your legs, making kissy sounds, etc... Don't act to fruity though. Just enough to get them excited and running your way.

The exact moment your puppy comes to you click and feed 5-6 pieces of food to them.

Continue to click and feed or say your word (a popular word is "good") and continue this pattern until you are out of food.

Go slow and put 30-50 seconds between clicks (or the word) and the feeding. Keep them interested in you. If they start to walk away repeat fruit cake behavior and get the puppy to come back to you.

Do this every time you feed them.

The method behind the madness...you are making coming to you fun, happy, and stress free. This builds your dogs trust in you and the fact that in order to get their food they have to come to you quickly teaches them to seek you out for goodies.

Important: Say their name one time and do not repeat it. Do not use any other words like "come here" or "here" or anything like that. Just say their name once and follow the above steps.

Using Toys and Rewards. Puppies test the world with their mouths. Unfortunately for use their mouths contain tiny sharp teeth.

Chewing to a dog is like drinking water to a person. It comes natural and it's good for them.

Some breeds, like American Pit Bull Terriers for example are life long chewers. While others are super chewers while puppies but grow out of it.

In either case you can use this need to your benefit.

Using a safe chew toy (Nylabones, Kongs etc... Avoid Raw hide it's not safe) get your puppy interested in it. When they start to nip at it, toss it away from you but close enough they don't have to run and get it.

Through out the day repeat this little pattern. Pick up the toy, toss it a foot or two away, and allow them to chase it and chew it.

During this time you can start taking the toy from them and giving it right back to teach them that you are in control of the item (helps avoid toy aggression).

Puppy Training Conclusion

By setting a good foundation through using natural behaviors and needs (food+eating, Toy+Chewing) you can start to train your puppy and teach them some household manners at the same time.

I highly recommend using a clicker because it has a distinct sound that can be repeated again and again.

For more information about building a bond read the article 5 Rules to Raising a Happy, Healthy, Puppy by clicking here..

For more information about how to use a clicker read the article Clicking Your Way to a Well Trained Pooch