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Puppy obedience training is the first step for any future training you will make with your pooch; this first step is essential. Lots of people anticipate mastering the basic come, sit, and stay commands with their puppies. However, obedience training is, in fact, just a part of the whole picture when developing a foundation for your canine.
Puppy obedience training goes in parallel with socializing your pup, which is the other side. At this beginning, your puppy is discovering the world around him and shaping that learning is more crucial than just training him obedience commands alone. These two parts comprise the whole, and in this article, I will walk you with the basics of one of those parts, puppy obedience training.
Our objective is to build fundamentals for obedience training via interacting with your pooch. There are many easy actions and goals to reach that will place us on the right track.
The best area to begin puppy obedience training is at home where your pooch is familiar and where you don’t have distractions so we can prevent the environmental stress factor that takes place when a puppy is in an unknown area. Keep in mind your canine is in the teaching phase; later on, we will include different distractions and stress factors throughout the following actions.
When to Start Training Your Puppy
You wish to begin training your puppy quickly, or when your pooch is eight weeks old. Puppies can start to identify reward and learn to wear a collar at about eight weeks, and you can begin training basic commands at 12 weeks. Since many pups leave their mom when they are between 8 and 10 weeks old, you’ll be able to start teaching the moment you bring your puppy home.
Your puppy requires to learn quickly that you are the leader of the pack. If you wait to train your pooch when they are older, you may have to break bad behaviors and teach them new ones. It’s simpler and quicker to train pups when they are young and flexible. Whatever you do, do not reward unwanted habits and make sure you reward actions you do like.
How Your Puppy Learns
Your pooch will learn very rapidly, so they must learn how to behave correctly right from the beginning.
Canines learn by association, so if your pooch does something good, provide a reward. Then the good habit is a lot more likely to be repeated. The reward needs to be connected to the action, so reward rapidly, within a second or two. The reward itself can be praise or a couple of kibbles of puppy food or both.
Your puppy requires to learn what they can and cannot do. Some safe habits can be ignored, but potentially harmful ones need to be managed quickly by interrupting the behavior with a sharp “no” to obtain their focus– make sure to reward when they stop and focus on you. Hitting or shouting will not help your pooch learn.
How Long Should You Teach Your Puppy Each Day?
Think of a three-year-old child. You possibly would not intend to begin educating them algebra, right? Pups are no different. They have small attention spans and need to learn basic commands before progressing to more complicated training.
Since pups get distracted quickly, try to maintain training sessions short but regular. When you’re training your pooch new abilities, aim to train every day for 15 mins or less per session. You may separate 15 mins of daily learning in five-minute sessions each day– it depends on you and what works great for your dog. The trick is to keep training short, positive, and enjoyable.
There is no set guideline on how often to train your puppy. Instead, aim to teach when your pooch appears interested. If there are many distractions in the house or if they act tired, do a training session at a different time. If your dog seems frustrated or bored, finish the training session, and try again later.
So, since we covered a little bit concerning how your puppy thinks and how long should you train him/her, let’s look at the commands your pooch must know.
5 Basic Commands
The first one that we will begin with is the most essential, the “Come” command.
- Come
- Sit
- Stay
- Down
- Heel
When your puppy understands these basic commands, they’ll be more prepared for advanced training or a training class, including other canines.
Puppy Training Tips at Home
One advantage of training your puppy at home is you can manage the environment and the number of distractions in the space. It’s ideal not to teach new skills when a lot is taking place in your home since you need to keep distractions to a minimum. Also, when your pooch learns a command, ensure to practice command around different people, and in different spaces, so they learn to listen in any type of circumstance. Below are a few tips to remember while training your puppy:
- Be consistent: To prevent confusing your puppy and make learning the most efficient, ensure other family members and you react to your dog’s actions similarly.
- Be instant: puppies can only attach consequences to their actions if the results are immediate. Unlike humans, dogs do not consider punishment days or even hrs later. Consequences and Rewards need to be instant. So, if your puppy had an accident at home while you were away, punishing them much then is worthless. Instead, concentrate on training your dog to go potty outside.
- Be clear: Our language is a foreign language to puppies, so try to interact in clear, short words when teaching. For instance, if you are training the “sit” command, simply say “sit.” Do not say “sit down” or “sit on the floor”. Keep commands sweet and short.
- Be patient: Training takes effort and time, and you might experience problems. Take small actions and wait till your pooch becomes a master at each action before moving on to the next one. If your dog appears stuck learning a new command, return to something they understand and practice a couple of times before increasing difficulty.
Most notably, do not stress out about training. With consistency, practice, and patience, your puppy will learn new skills. Ensure they have a lot of love and time for play, and they’ll be eager to train.
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