When and How to Train Your Puppy

As for the when, the answers is quite simple. Ideally, you should start training your puppy as soon as you bring him/her home if you want to achieve optimum results. Although, you should go easy on them at first.

Puppy training can be performed by yourself or you can leave that to a professional puppy/dog trainer. Either way, the important thing is that puppy training is dog-friendly and not violent or in any way unpleasant for the dog. Otherwise, the puppy might get frustrated, scared or even aggressive some time later in life.

As for the training methods, there are basically two types of dog training: behavioral training and obedience training.

Behavioral training is very useful to start as soon as possible because it prevents some behavioral issues that a dog might develop later in life. These issues include: jumping on people, aggressiveness towards other dogs or other animals, obsessions with an object, tail chasing, chewing on and pulling their leash, incessant barking or whining, chasing cars or bicycles, overprotectiveness or jealousy, mood swings, hyperactivity, separation anxiety, etc.

With this type of training it is particularly important to be consistent. For example, if you want your puppy to learn not to sleep in your bed, then there should be no exceptions! If you sometimes give in and sometimes you forbid him, the puppy will easily get confused because they’re receiving mixed signals. Although, behavioral training is not just about training your dog, it’s also about training yourself. If you want to communicate with your dog you need to learn to recognize how he expresses his needs and instincts. You need to learn to predict your puppy’s behavior, and then figure out how to address it. Proper exercise and physical activity is also important in this type of training. If your dog is energetic and you haven’t walked them in a day or two, he won’t be willing to listen to your commands.

Obedience training involves teaching your puppy to obey instructions like sit, stay, heel and come through dog whispering, clicker training, positive reinforcement, reward training, etc. Training sessions should last no longer than 15 minutes up to three times a day. Anything longer than that and your pup will get fidgety and won’t pay attention to you. Make it a habit to train your pooch right before their meal so that they associate training with a reward.