when should puppy training start
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When Should I Start Puppy Training?

So just adopted a puppy don’t know when should puppy training start. Training is an important aspect of your puppy’s life and lucky you’re in the right place!

Puppies get into everything and anything so when you consider training for puppies remember that 

with young puppies, you are essentially molding your puppy into the adult dog that he will become.

When Should Puppy Training Start?

Training your puppy begins the very moment that you bring your puppy home. “Training” is essentially teaching your puppy everything from potty training to what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. 

Training your puppy shouldn’t be seen as “Training Time” 

When considering when should puppy training start, you have to look at training your puppy should not be seen as “training time”, instead it should be viewed more like a lifestyle where you are teaching your puppy good habits!

For instance, if you want your puppy to wait at the door don’t just open the door and allow your puppy to fly right out with excitement; practice rewarding your puppy for waiting at the door!

Little training sessions like this will ensure that your puppy will get into the routine and build good habits around your everyday life!

You are always molding your puppy’s perspective especially at a very young age, so why not use every opportunity to teach your young puppy positively what is right and wrong?

Your Puppies Attention Span

when should puppy training start

One thing to always take into consideration with young puppies is that at a young age they just have small attention spans, so you never want to drag out training longer than it has to be!

Your puppy’s attention span is huge when considering “when should puppy training start?”

Short, fun training sessions are way more beneficial than a grueling, long training session.

You want training to be viewed as fun for your puppy If you elongate training more than your puppy can handle, you might make your puppy dislike training and become avoidant to the whole concept.

I recommend no more than 5-10 minutes a session. You’d rather leave your puppy wanting more than your puppy wanting the training to stop!

Distraction-Free Learning Environment

Now that we know that puppies have a very short attention span when initially teaching your puppy anything new you want to make sure that you start in a distraction-free environment.

Think about it, can you teach your puppy anything if your puppy is not paying attention to you and focused on something else instead?

When you’re initially teaching something new, ensure that there is nothing that can distract your puppy.

Once your puppy starts to understands a concept you can then start increasing the difficulty when it comes to distractions.

But the learning phase should always be distraction-free!

What Should Training Your Puppy Consist Of?

when should puppy training start

When deciding “when should puppy training start” you have to consider everything that training your puppy may consist of!

 If your puppy is between 8 weeks and 18 weeks your focus should mainly be socializing your puppy to everything you intend your puppy to be around.

For instance, if you intend your puppy to live in a city environment be sure to socialize your puppy to large crowds, loud noises and a variety of different scenarios.

Between the ages of 2 months – and about 4 months puppies have a critical developmental period where your puppy is forming a broad view of the world we live in. 

Socializing your puppy is the most important aspect of owning your puppy, to learn more about Socialization Read our Socialization Article!

With any puppy you will have to both crate train and also house train your puppy, they both go hand in hand!

Crate training your puppy will help your puppy not into trouble when you’re not supervising him.

and we all know that nobody wants their puppy to leave them an unexpected smelly surprise!

Taking the proper first steps in crate training the right way will ensure that your puppy views the crate as something positive as-well-as make house training an easy learning experience! 

Now Let’s not forget about your puppies name which is one of the first things that you will teach your puppy

How Do You Teach Your Puppy His Name?

Teaching your puppy to respond to his name isn’t too hard but here’s some a simple way to ensure that your puppy knows his name.

First, you want to have your dog’s food or a “treat” that you can reward your puppy with, you want the reward you’re giving your puppy to be small and bite-size.

The second step is simply to say your puppy name and when your puppy looks at you reward him with a treat!

ex: “Fido” puppy looks at you, you then reward your puppy with a treat.

If you do this correctly pretty soon when you say your puppy name he will be attentive to you.

To Recap 

1.Training your puppy shouldn’t be viewed as “training time” but more as a lifestyle where you are teaching your puppy good everyday habits so that your puppy becomes accustomed to your lifestyle.

2. Be aware of your puppies attention span, Short fun and sweet over long and hard.

3. Start teaching in a distraction-free environment

4. Training your puppy should consist of socializing your puppy and creating good everyday habits like house training

5. Use crate training to prevent accidents

5. Teach your puppy his name y rewarding your puppy every time he looks at you after saying his name.

To awaken your dog’s true potential contact us here or Give us a call!

Receive your free dog training consultation and set your pup up for success!

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