Love Your Puppy - Train Your Puppy

     Whenever a family adopts a new puppy, all the excitement and fun often overshadows important things like obedience training.  However, it is very important to start obedience training when the dog is young, for they will learn more quickly and they will retain the knowledge much better.  There are many different ways to approach obedience training, but if you follow just a few simple steps, then training your new forever friend will be stress free, fun and very rewarding.

       First, the most important thing to remember when obedience training your new puppy is that it is all about the positive feedback.  Dogs are especially sensitive to their owner’s mood and attitude.  Puppies really do want to please their master, so the best way to teach them how to do something is to let them know how happy you are when they do something right.  Each time they follow your command, praise them brightly and frequently.  It will not take long for the pup to understand what you want.

      Start out with something basic.  A good command to start with is “sit.”  It is simple for the puppy to understand sit, and it will be a quick and easy command for him to learn.  By starting with sit, you will be off to a good start.

      Keep commands simple.  It is important to not confuse the puppy with convoluted or long commands.  Stick with single words, like “sit,” “lay,” “come,” and “stay.”  It will be easy for the dog to discern separate commands if they are short and simple.  Long and multi word terms may cause the puppy to not understand, get distracted, or mistake one command for another if they sound alike.

     Limit the time of puppy training sessions.  If you wear out puppy with long amounts of training, he will not learn well because he will get tired, distracted and grouchy.  By keeping each training session limited to about half an hour, then puppy will not get worn out.  Also, it never hurts to throw in a command between training sessions just to refresh the pup’s memory.

     Last, but not least, the most important thing to do when training a new pup is to be patient.  Keep in mind that he does not have the reasoning power that a human does, and he is still just a baby.  He will take time to learn commands, and sometimes, he may get distracted. So, be patient and steady in voice, motion, and commands.  Your puppy will learn quickly, and you will be happy.