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Puppy Training
As already mentioned in past articles, it is important to start training your puppy as soon as possible. This has been proven to be the most effective way of producing a loving and obedient dog, and will make the life of the owner more enjoyable as well as the life of the dog. Training a puppy can be broken down into several groups; house training the puppy, training the puppy about biting, leash and collar training, and general behaviour. Each of these sections helps start to create a well-trained and well-behaved dog for the rest of life.
House training the puppy
Teaching the puppy to become house trained is an important first step in raising a controllable dog. It will teach the dog not to go to the toilet inside the house that it lives in, hopefully forcing it to wait patiently by the door so that it can use the garden to relieve itself. As a puppy, the dog will be eating plenty of food and burning up plenty of energy, and also sleeping a lot of the time. However as they are still developing, they will not be able to control their bladder/bowels like an adult dog could. Don’t expect miracles from the puppy, mistakes and accidents are bound to happen and don’t take it out on the dog when they do.
Hopefully you will have an enclosed area for the puppy to live in whilst it is growing for the first few months. If you are leaving the puppy for periods of time, you should lay down newspapers in this area so that the puppy can go to the toilet when it needs to. After a while, the dog will have a preferred area to use when going to the toilet. Try and slowly decrease the area covered in newspapers, so that eventually there is just a couple of sheets where the dog will do its business on. Don’t try and reduce the amount of newspapers too quickly, try and be subtle when you do, without the puppy noticing. If the puppy goes to the toilet on the floor where you have removed newspaper from it will mean you are pushing it too fast. Go back to the beginning and slow down when reducing the paper left on the floor.
When you are with the dog for periods of time, try and have a set routine for allowing the puppy outside to use the toilet. After the dog has been eating/drinking, try and take it outside to use the toilet. Take it out after it has been sleeping, and also after it has been playing. Try and keep it on a lead when you take it outside, or just take it to a toilet area inside the house.
It is highly important that you profoundly praise the puppy when it does go to the toilet in the correct place, and reward it when it does so. This helps the puppy learn that good behaviour is rewarding, and makes the owner happy. The puppy will eventually learn that it has to be patient and only go to the toilet in a certain place – which isn’t in the house. At this stage in training it is important to be consistent but patient when teaching your puppy.
Training the puppy about biting
Puppies need to learn how to inhibit their bite before they are 4 months old. As they have been taken away from their usual environment and are away from their mother/other litters, they will need to be taught how to start biting. This is so the dog can begin teething properly, and so it is quite important.
The best way for the puppy to learn how to bite is by allowing it to socialise with other puppies and dogs. There are normally scheduled meets between puppies, where groups of owners bring their dogs so that they can start socialising together. Try and find out if there are any arranged meets in your area, and bring your puppy along. Puppies learn about biting from playing with other dogs. They can judge the reaction of other dogs upon biting them, and so they know if they are biting too hard when playing. This is a completely natural process, not one you can affect. Allowing your puppy to socialise with other puppies is the best way to teach the dog, and this is how the dog would have learnt if it was still with its mother/litters.
As the dog learns about biting and starts teething it will stand a good chance of being able to stand up for itself, and not to be fearful of other dogs. Expect your puppy to bite you when playing with it, but hopefully if it is given the chance to socialise and play with other dogs it shouldn’t have the urge to bite people so often. If the dog hasn’t been allowed to socialise with other dogs before it is 4months old, it may start to become fearful or aggressive when put in certain situations. In this case it will start biting, and this is obviously something to avoid as it can create a destructive dog.
If your dog does bite you, it is important not to be physical back. This will not teach the dog anything, and it will lose any respect it had for you. Tell the dog off, and praise it when it isn’t biting. Don’t ever hit or kick your dog, this will not teach it anything and will worsen the situation.
Leash and collar training
It is important that dogs wear collars, it’s impossible to be able to control them otherwise (no way of attaching a lead) and it also helps in case the dog gets lost or runs away, as the collar should have an ID tag containing the owners telephone number.
Therefore it is important that the dog should get used to the feeling of wearing a collar, and so whilst it is still a puppy this is the ideal time for it to try one on. Make sure it is comfortable, not too tight or restricting on the dog. At first the puppy will probably try rolling and scratching, not being used to wearing a collar. This is to be expected, and its best to try and ignore the puppy whilst it gets used to the feeling. You could try distracting the puppy by feeding it or playing with it, and hopefully within a few hours the puppy will be used to wearing the collar and won’t really notice it.
Another important piece of equipment is the leash, so you must get the puppy used to the feeling of having it attached to its collar. Try connecting it to the collar of the puppy and let it wander around the house as usual, with the lead dragging on the floor. Supervise it whilst it does this, and hopefully it will realise that the lead isn’t a bad thing. After a while you can try holding the lead and following the puppy around the house, making sure you aren’t pulling the lead or guiding the dog yet. Slowly try and coax the puppy to you whilst wearing the lead, and reward it when it comes to you. Do the same outside in familiar surroundings, perhaps in your back/front garden. Eventually try and guide the dog yourself using the lead, but don’t pull or drag the puppy.
General behaviour
There are other parts to training a puppy that don’t necessarily belong to any of the sections above, which we will discuss here. To help the puppy learn about its surroundings and environment, try and take it out to different places so that it can allow its senses to be overwhelmed. Carry the puppy to crowded areas with lots of people, so that it can be used to these situations. Take it out in the car too, so that it can look out the window and see its surroundings. Introduce the puppy to louder, different things. Invite friends and family around to see the puppy, so that it can meet new people. Allow the puppy to meet other dogs and animals, as long as they have been vaccinated and are healthy. Supervise the puppy but make sure it socialises and behaves okay towards the other animals. By taking the puppy to new places, introducing it to new sounds and feelings, the dog will become accustomed to most situations and will be able to adapt far quicker.
Jumping can be a bad habit for any dog to pick up. It can be a nuisance for other people, and doesn’t set a good example for the dog. If a dog tries jumping up on someone to greet them, firmly but gently bring its paws down to the ground, and stay at its level when rewarding it. Praise and reward it when it stays on its feet, and try not to allow people to let the puppy jump up at them or to encourage the puppy up.
If you catch your dog chewing on items that it shouldn’t be, try and distract it and replace the item with one of its own toys. Make sure you have a variety of toys for the puppy to use, and make sure you reward and praise the puppy when it plays with the toys on its own accord. Encourage the puppy to play with the toys, but don’t tell the puppy off when chewing other items. Instead, try to keep these items out of the puppies reach.
Whining is another habit of puppies, often done when they require something or crave attention. At first when they whine try and take them outside as they may just need the toilet. Then check they have enough water/aren’t hungry/want to play with a toy, etc. If you are certain that they don’t require anything, just try and ignore the whining. You don’t want the puppy expecting you to come running just when it starts whining, and you don’t want separation anxiety either. Try and leave the puppy on its own for short periods of time, and then increase the length of time it is left on its own.
If you reward your puppy for good behaviour by giving it dog treats, always make sure the dog works for it. Make sure it sits down, and takes the treat from you gently. Allow the dog to know that you’re in charge, and that the dog can only have the treat if it behaves properly.