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Having a well-trained pooch aid to keep him safe. If you enable yours to walk off-leash, or he has a tendency to bolt from the house when the door is opened, he must return when called. Maintaining your canine away from a speeding vehicle or an aggressive animal might save his life.
Canines with good behaviors are also great neighbors. You do not want to allow your pooch to show unbridled interest to an elderly neighbor unsteady on her feet, or a kid who’s scared of dogs.
At what age can I start training my new puppy?
You need to start right now with light training for a new puppy less than three months old. Beginning with potty training and house guidelines, like where he needs to stay throughout your mealtimes, where he sleeps, which spaces he is allowed in if he is allowed on the sofa, and more.
When a pooch is around 3 or 4 months old, he has a long attention span to learn basic puppy commands. While you can train a dog (adult dog) new tricks, It’s always less complicated to train a new command than break an old behavior. Teaching sends a message that you’re the leader of the pack. It’s likewise a fantastic way to bond.
Before you Start Puppy Training
Before you begin, get the tools you’ll need. Your vet can be an excellent resource to advise a correct training collar and leash that takes your canine’s weight and size into consideration. You’ll additionally require a supply of little treats that you can stow away in your pocket. Rare is the puppy that isn’t encouraged by something great to eat.
7 Essential Basic Puppy Commands
How to Train A Puppy to Come
The come command, or recall, can keep you from a lot of frustration and aggravation. You can use it to make your pooch come if he slips out of his leash to get him to come rapidly inside from the yard or come over for playtime.
Make sure to ask your canine to come to you for good things. By doing this, it will always enjoy coming on cue. Practice this regularly throughout your pooch’s life, rewarding compliance with appreciation and treats when available.
Tips To Teach Your Dog To Come :
- Ask a friend to assist you with this training.
- Tell your friend to kneel, maintaining the puppy close in a sitting position.
- Sit before your new puppy and enthusiastically call his name and the word ‘come.’ He won’t have to go far to reach you, but greet him with open arms.
- Now attempt it again but this time, sit additional away. Call him enthusiastically, and he will race over to you. As soon as he does, please give him a click, a reward, and lots of praise.
- Practice little and often, slowly increasing the distance between you and your pooch. Remember to reward and praise him when he comes to you.
- Once he’s able to come on command, begin calling him when he can’t see you. He has to track you down.
- After that, move outside into the garden, and introduce controlled distractions, like a friend walking past. Don’t try this phase in a public area.
- Once your pet is more reliable in an enclosed garden with distractions, then it’s time to take the teaching to the park! Use a long training line to give him a sense of freedom while you’re in control.
- Practice a few recalls. You’ll need to work extra hard to make yourself look enticing because there will be many interesting distractions for him.
- If he shoots off in the wrong direction and neglects your calls, don’t chase him– he’ll think it’s a game! Rather, run away in the opposite direction. Your new puppy will be confused and end up chasing you. This will teach him to keep a close eye on you when you’re out and about if he unintentionally loses you.
- Treats, rewards, and praise are important in new puppy training, so don’t shout or punish your puppy if he doesn’t come, or especially when he finally arrives, it may confuse him. You want your puppy to link coming to you with being praised and loved, so be patient and practice often.
How to Train A Puppy to Sit
The sit command is typically the first command pet parents teach their dogs. It appears quite basic, but it can play an essential role in managing unwanted behaviors. As an example, a dog can’t sit and jump at the same time. By teaching your dog to sit, you’ve begun the work required to avoid it from jumping. Also, teaching your puppy to sit can help him relax and settle down when needed.
Tips To Teach Your Dog To Sit :
- Show your new puppy the reward.
- You’ll get his attention, and he’ll follow it with his nose, likely trying to obtain it.
- Keep the treat above your new puppy’s head, so he looks up and takes it to just behind his nose to ensure that he needs to move his head backward.
- The only way he can take the reward is to put his bottom on the floor. As he does so ensures you say SIT.
- When he is sitting, provide him the reward and give lots of praise.
- Your pooch will quickly discover how to earn his reward, so their ‘sit’ action will get quicker.
- Once he’s understood this, say ‘sit’ each time he sits down, so he learns to connect words with the action.
How to Train A Puppy to Stay
The ‘stay’ command is helpful in several situations. It can save your dog’s life by stopping him from running into dangerous situations, or it can maintain him out from under your feet. If your dog learns how to stay on cue, you can handle his behavior well privately and publicly. It may also permit you to allow your dog off the leash in certain circumstances when he should stay still.
Tips To Teach Your Dog To Stay :
- To start with the ‘down-stay,’ when your dog is down, say ‘stay’ in a steady tone and place your hand out in front of you with your palm facing forwards.
- Wait a few secs and then reward and click your puppy for staying put. Exercise this several times.
- Then, demand him to go ‘down,’ take a step back, and say ‘stay.’
- After about five secs, step forwards and reward him. Give him lots of praise.
- Progressively increase the distance and the length of the ‘stay.’ But don’t do too much, too soon!
- If your new pup breaks the ‘stay,’ don’t shout at him. He’ll learn soon enough when the reward and praise aren’t forthcoming!
- Once your puppy has understood the ‘down-stay,’ teach your puppy to stay in the ‘sit’ position, and lastly, in a ‘stand’ position, using the same technique.
How to Train A Puppy to Lie-Down
The lie-down command is necessary for numerous reasons. First, similar to the sit command, it’s incompatible with certain unwanted actions. A canine can’t jump up while he’s lying down. By training him to lie down on command, you have a tool to manage numerous common behavior problems.
Lie down works as the building block for a few other behaviors. For example, before you can teach a dog to go to his place or rollover, he needs to master how to lie down.
Tips To Teach Your Dog To Lie Down :
- Keep a treat in your hand, allowing a little bit to stick out, so your puppy can see it.
- Show it to your puppy, and then put your hand flat onto the floor with the reward underneath it. Your pooch will try everything to get at it!
- Ultimately, he’ll lie down. The moment he does, say ‘LIE DOWN,’ give a click and give him the treat and lots of praise!
- Keep at it, and as quickly as he has learned that your hand on the floor implies ‘lie down.’
- With practice, he’ll begin to do it without a treat.
How to Train A Puppy to Heel
You can teach this command by holding your pooch’s leash in your right hand and pulling it on your left side while you are walking, and at a specific point commanding the puppy to “Sit.” You also must hold the reward in your left hand and give the command “Heel” in a positive voice.
Next, you need to take a few steps, keeping the treat on your side.
When you take a break, move the treat upwards, and the puppy will sit– then, you can praise him with a reward to show him he is performing the task well.
Through this command, the puppy will be informed to walk right close to you until you say differently, and it is a very helpful one, as it trains the puppy to act next to you– as the pet parent when he is not leashed, and your hands are busy.
How to Train A Puppy to Leave It
Leave it is the basic puppy command you use to inform your pooch not to pick up something it’s approaching. This command can prevent him from eating something unsafe or aid you to save your preferred pair of shoes from being chewed.
This cue is best used when you detect something that might interest your pet, but he has not picked it up yet. If your dog grabs something before you can say “leave it,” after that, the command ‘drop it’ can shield him from accidentally consuming harmful things.
Tips To Teach Your Dog To Leave It :
- Place something delicious on a table within your pooch’s reach. Tell him to ‘leave it,’ count to three, and then offer him a reward, but not the one that he has been said to leave.
- If your puppy goes to take the reward, sound the discs.
- Over numerous practice, increase the time your dog has to wait before he is offered a treat.
How to Train A Puppy ‘no.’
This command is particularly important as it distracts your canine from an unwanted behavior that may wind up doing at home or elsewhere. It quickly brings him back to you.
Tips To Teach Your Dog ‘no’ :
- To teach ‘no!’ first get some treats. Similarly, you would train the puppy to connect the click with a treat; you now need to show that the discs’ sound implies he won’t be allowed a reward.
- Put a treat on the floor. When your puppy goes to eat it, rattle the discs in your hand. Take the treat as you rattle the discs but say nothing, let the sound do the work.
- After a couple of repeatings, your puppy should quit being startled by the sound and will start to link the sound with not getting a treat. Ultimately, he won’t even try to take the treat, anticipating the sound, and give up.
- Now get him to perform an additional command, like a ‘sit,’ and offer him a treat. This will make up for his previous frustration and disappointment!
- Your canine will soon link his actions where the discs are included as a ‘fail’ and will quit attempting without you needing to use the discs and instead just words ‘no.’
Just these 7 basic puppy commands can help keep your dog safer and enhance your communication with him. It’s well worth the investment of your effort and time. Remember, the process takes time, so only start a puppy basic training session if you’re in the right mindset.
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