Pet Care
A Well Mannered Puppy
You should begin early when training your puppy. Begin as early as 8 – 12 weeks of age. Training early on can help prevent bad behaviors later in life.
Puppies do not respond well to forceful training methods and should be trained using praise and positive reinforcement. Forceful training can ruin your bond with your puppy. Use praise when he does something good. Use social attention, a favorite toy, affection, and food.
The healthiest food reward for a puppy is to use its own dry food, assuming you have him on a high quality diet. Training just before feeding dinner is an opportune time as his interest in the food will be focused.
Remember to use hand gestures along with food rewards. A dog is more likely to respond to a double signal command rather than only a verbal command.
Teaching your puppy to come is really very simple. Hold a piece of food in your hand between your thumb and forefinger and say his name. As he gets closer, wave your hand towards your chest and say “come”. This gives him both visual and verbal clues to look for. When he gets to you, give him the reward. As he eats, quickly take a few more steps back and repeat the procedure.
To teach him to sit, be sure he starts out in a standing position. Hold a piece of dry food in front of his nose and say his name. Slowly move the food over his head so that his nose points straight up. As his nose goes up, he will sit. Say “sit” as he sits down and give him his reward. Continue to practice this and he will begin to sit when you sweep you hand in an upward movement, even without food.
Try to use a smooth surface, such as tile or linoleum, when teaching a puppy to lie down. Have him sit before practicing. Hold a piece of food directly in front of his nose. Say his name and with a swift movement, move the food down to the floor directly next to the puppy’s front paws. As he slides to the floor, say “down” and reward him. This may take a bit more time and patience than “sit” or “come”. Be sure to move the food to the floor right next to his paws. If it is five inches or more in front of him, he will probably want to stand up and he tries to get the food. Soon, he will lie down with the downward sweep of your hand.
The most difficult command to teach a puppy is “Stay”. Young pups don’t like to sit still for very long and love to follow you around. Keep this in mind and you will better understand his actions, allowing you to better train him. Training sessions should begin when the puppy is calm, perhaps after a long walk or play session.
Have him sit, asking him to sit without using food. Lean towards him, make eye contact, and extend the palm of your hand toward the pup, and in a firm voice say “stay”. Wait one second, return to the dog, praise him, and give him a food reward while he is still sitting. Continue to repeat.
Gradually increase the amount of time spent sitting and the space between you and him. Immediately walking away after giving the command will trigger a puppy to follow you. If he strays from eye contact, calmly repeat "stay” as you lean towards him. Once he can stay for ten seconds at one step away, slowly increase your distance. Over time, he will begin to understand.
Patience and consistency are the key to good training. Avoid long training sessions, especially on days when the pet is fired up and has a shorter attention span. Training should be done in a quiet area, moving to areas with more noise and distractions when he becomes comfortable with the commands. Tone of voice is important. Sit, Come, and Down should be done with a happy, high-pitches voice. Stay should be said with a lower, deep-toned command. Don’t repeat the command over and over. If your puppy is not taught to obey on the first command, he will learn that it’s not necessary to obey until multiple commands are given. Say “good dog” whenever praising your puppy and giving him a food reward. This will reinforce desired behavior and help in training as the food reward is gradually withdrawn.
If you are experiencing difficult behavior with your puppy or adult dog, please contact us. Most problem behaviors can be corrected. We want to help and encourage a happy and healthy relationship for you and your dog for many years to come.
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