Off to School

There are many important guidelines that you need to keep in mind when teaching your puppy the basics about good behaviour. Exercising the right training techniques is what will make or break your training regimen with your dog.

Although we have had dogs in our lives for over fifty years, we felt that it would be best to have formal training for Cocoa, to let him be the best he can be. We enrolled in the Puppy Training Class offered at the local PetSmart. The class is geared for pups 10 weeks to 5 months old and runs for six weeks on Saturday mornings. It is an introductory class that teaches communication, basic skills, socialization & more.

The trainer, Marissa, has an easy-going manner with both owners and pups that keeps the sessions relaxed and fun.

There are five critical guidelines for teaching a puppy that will make it easier than ever to learn.

1 – Be Gentle
Your new puppy will be extremely sensitive at first, and as a result will not be able to handle anything that is too stressful on both an emotional and a physical level. Although learning generally takes place quickly, now is the time when your puppy will react poorly to stress or being trained too rough. If fears are picked up too easily during the training process, then it may inhibit the puppy’s ability to learn, so make sure to be gentle but firm in your training.

2 – Keep Things Brief
Puppies have even shorter attention spans than children. Your puppy is only going to learn when his or her attention is on you, and you will not see the results that you are looking for when your puppy is tired physically or mentally. Make sure to be brief when putting your puppy through training activities, and then you can move on.

3 – Exercise Patience
Expecting overnight results is only going to frustrate you and cause your training regimen to lose its focus. Relax, and understand that things like this will take time, and puppies learn in spurts. Puppies also do go through brief memory lapses, so do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed if your puppy seems to forget some of its training from one day to the next. Exercise patience when it comes to training, and you will be just fine.

4 – Exercise Simplicity
Teaching your puppy should be done in a step-by-step process if you want to attain the best results. This is the best way that your puppy will learn. Exercise a simple, step-by-step approach, and your puppy will learn more quickly and will enjoy the process more thoroughly than if you were to employ a more intensive training regimen.

5 – Build Confidence
Confidence is the core of every healthy adult dog, and confidence begins with building confidence in a young puppy. Building confidence in your puppy is not hard at all to do; all you need to do is spend positive time with your puppy as often as you possibly can. This will help to build self-confidence in your puppy. You should not always be in training mode when you first get your puppy, but instead sometimes you should step back and play with your dog, having fun with him or her in the process. Training is important, but above all else, your dog needs to know that you are friends.

These five fundamental training foundations are vital in preparing your puppy for an effective training regimen and will drive better results when properly integrated into your step by step puppy training process.