Jun 15 2009
Positive Non Violent Puppy Training
Here’s a little advice about how to train a puppy. Puppy training doesn’t have to be difficult. It may take a little patience, but dogs are smart and their goal is to make you happy. When you are annoyed with your dog, keep this in mind.
There’s loads of books, videos and free puppy training information online. First of all, you need to learn to reward good behavior and not to reward bad behavior. Give your puppy heaps of attention when he’s been good and put him into a “time out” when he’s been bad. You can use a crate, or a basket for a smaller dog. Crates are very helpful when housetraining, as well.
Puppy training begins with teaching him his name and a few simple obedience commands. Dogs don’t automatically understand “sit, stay or down”. They won’t learn to respond to their names, if you don’t use it regularly.
Most owners find that a dog will respond best to a short name with one or two syllables. That’s why the names Rover and Fido are popular. To teach your puppy his name, say it when you are petting him, grooming him or feeding him. It is particularly important when you place his food dish on the floor. Say, “Here Rover” or something similar. This will ensure that your puppy has a positive association to hearing his name.
Other than his name, the most important command that you can teach during puppy training is “down”. Down becomes even more useful as the dog grows. If you allow them to jump up on you when they are young, it is more difficult to break the habit when they get older.
Dogs love to jump up. So, when you see this behavior, take their paws. Place them on the floor and say “down”. Be consistent and repetitive. That’s how to train your puppy the correct way, regardless of the behavior you are trying to encourage or extiguish.
Teaching commands is one of the fundamentals of puppy training. Basically, you show the dog what you want and then you say the command. For example, when teaching “sit”, take a treat and hold it right up to his nose, but not close enough that he can take it. Raise the treat up and above his head, this should put him in the right position to push his bottom towards the floor. Once his bottom gets close to the floor, say “sit”. He will learn to associate the word with the action of planting his butt on the ground.
All other commands are taught in a similar fashion. You see, how to train a puppy isn’t as hard as you thought it was. All it takes is a little know-how, plenty of repetition and of course, some patience.
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