Dog Days Behavior and Training Center

Puppy Training 101

Never hit or physically punish your puppy. Make sure your children aren't either. Hitting or hurting your pup signals the end of your relationship with him. If your pup doesn't like or trust you or your kids (and he won't if you hurt him), he won't trust you and won't want to obey you. Even worse, he is much more likely to bite you or your children if he's been hit or hurt. There are much better ways to get your pup to obey you - read on.

Reinforce your pup's good behaviors with praise and treats (when he pees outside, sits for a toy or treat, chews on his toys, or even just lies quietly on the floor). Don't be afraid to use food as a motivator - later on, when he's gotten into the habit of always doing whatever you want (because you always had food for him), you can phase out the treats and only use praise. Puppies learn much more easily if you use part of his daily food ration as a motivation for good behavior. If you scold or punish your puppy for bad behavior, yet ignore him when he is good, you are reinforcing bad behavior. Instead, withdraw attention from him when he's jumping up or barking, and enthusiastically praise when he's doing what you want, even if he's only sitting and looking at you, or quietly chewing one of his toys. Remember, a lack of your attention = enough punishment for a puppy.

Start House training as soon as possible. Be consistent and patient, and remember that any accidents are your fault, not his - click here for our Housetraining page. If your pup pees when greeting you or your guests, or when you reprimand him, click here for info on Submissive Urination.

Start Socializing now. Socializing your pup is the most important thing you can do during the first few weeks of his life. Your pup's most impressionable "imprint" period is from birth to 16 weeks of age. Many puppy owners don't realize how easily they can have a well-behaved, calm and happy dog in the future just by daily proactive socialization of their new pup. Please click into our socialization page now, for your pup's sake!

Practice Handling Exercises daily. Baths, brushing, clipping nails, cleaning ears, examining and brushing teeth should become a regular and pleasant part of your pup's life. Include many tiny treats. Your goal is to have him look forward to being handled by you and the kids (supervise handling exercises with children and pre-teens). Go gradually, praise/treat throughout, and build on success. Once daily, lift your pup's lip up for a quick instant and immediately praise and treat. Each day you'll be able to hold his lip up a bit longer. Now move to the other lip until he's OK with that too. Within a few weeks he will be happily allowing you to open his mouth for 10 seconds or more. You can also gradually get him used to your finger rubbing his outer gums and teeth. Once he's OK with that, incorporate some canine enzymatic toothpaste (not human toothpaste) into daily 2 minute teeth-brushing sessions.

Use a similar, gradual technique to get your pup used to having his collar held and nails trimmed: Start with a quick touch at the collar and treat/praise. Each day you'll be able to touch this area longer, as long as you treat/praise each time and never move too fast. With nails/feet, start by simply touching one toe, or gently holding a paw for 1 second, then quickly praise/treat. Gradually introduce the nail clipper; clip one nail one day (only the very tip) and add one nail each day, praise & treat. Ear checking & cleaning, brushing, and bathing should also be introduced to your pup and practiced frequently, with treats & praise.

Start Bite Inhibition exercises right away, and make sure your children really understand and are involved in these exercises. It's natural for all dogs to bite, yet many dog owners don't take the simple steps necessary to teach their pup to have a "soft mouth" and that contact with human skin is inappropriate. The way you deal with your pup's playbiting now can really influence the way he uses his mouth later. He may seem very cute and harmless right now, but when he's older his bite can cause serious injury, not to mention an expensive lawsuit and even euthanasia. Yes, even your darling yellow lab! No one plans for their dog to bite someone but everyone can and should plan for their dog NOT biting. Go to our Mouth Training page now.

Start Chew Training now. Teaching your pup what's OK to chew and what's not is at least as important as housetraining him properly - otherwise, you'll end up leaving him in a crate or the basement all day to stop his destructive behavior. It's easy - as long as you do it now and don't let him start bad habits. Chewing problems can start long after your pup is housetrained (and out of the crate) - when your dog has reached adolescence or even adulthood. Prevent this problem now and you'll be glad you did. Click here for info on how to Chew Train your puppy.

Correct bad behavior such as chewing or housesoiling only if you catch it "in the act" (within 2 seconds of the act). Otherwise,your pup will not understand why he is being corrected. A sudden, loud noise ("OUTSIDE!" if pup is caught housesoiling; "OFF" or "STOP!" or clapping rapidly if chewing) followed by praise when good behavior begins (you rush pup outside to finish peeing & praise/treat; you give stuffed chew toy and praise/treat). Bringing him to the "scene of the crime" does not improve his understanding; if you discover a mess, chalk the experience up to either not being there in time, or not having prevented the situation. Click here for House Training and Crate Training information.

Start some basic obedience training as soon as you get your pup. Positive reinforcement methods allow us to train the youngest pup without pain, choke chains or other aversives used by old-fashioned trainers. The easiest ways to do this are to watch Sirius Puppy Training videotape (click here for order info on our Recommended Reading page), and find a good, positive reinforcement puppy kindergarten class which has the added benefit of socialization (click here to search the APDT web site for a trainer near you). Always get several client references from all potential trainers. Early training will allow you control in a wide variety of problematic situations and better yet, it'll offer you a lifetime of clear communication with your dog. Click here for a listing of Dog Days of Buffalo's puppy kindergarten and other obedience classes.

Walk your pup around the block every day, and play with him every day! Play is an important and fun daily interaction - even if you only have 10 minutes to spare! Great games are Fetch (train by praise/treat when he returns the ball; stop playing when he won't return or drop the ball), Hide & Seek (call his name from a room in the house and praise/treat when he finds you), and Tug-o-War (control with frequent "drop", "sit" and "down" breaks throughout). And even if you have a fenced yard, take him around the block for a daily on-leash walk - he needs the stimulation!

Puppy-Proof Your Home! Click here for our Puppy-proofing page.

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