Deep South Pets article when to start training your puppy, puppy care

When Should I Start Training My Puppy?

If you have a puppy, you must start training early, but do it gently.

Your puppy has to have confidence in you before he can begin
learning. Remember that puppies are like children - they have
growing bodies, short attention spans, and will only learn things
when the conditions are right and when they understand what it is
you're trying to teach them.

That said, the earlier you start training dogs, the better. More
specifically, it's best if you start “socialization” from 8 weeks, simple
commands like “come” and “sit” from 12 weeks, and more intensive
training at 5 to 6 months.

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While some early training can be started as soon as you bring your
puppy home, the optimum time to begin obedience training is
somewhere around 9 to 12 weeks of age.

Keep in mind that training can cover a broad range of topics – I’m
not suggesting that you begin training your puppy at 8 weeks of age
for agility competitions! Your training should start off with the
basics – teaching him “No!” and beginning house-training.

Socialization skills are next – experts tell us the best window for
your puppy to learn socialization skills is between 3 and 16 weeks –
that’s the best time to insure that your puppy grows into a well-
adjusted adult.

And remember, socialization isn’t about teaching him the right fork
to use at the dinner table – it’s about giving your dog the self-
assurance to deal correctly with any social environment he finds
himself in is one of the most valuable and lasting lessons you can
teach him.

A well-socialized dog will interact well with all types of people and
situations, even those he has never been in before. With
appropriate social skills, your dog will show little or no fear of most
objects, people or other animals, and even if startled, will recover
quickly and won’t panic.

Bottom line, a well-adjusted dog is one that is comfortable in a
variety of situations and surroundings. He may be excited in a new
setting, but not fearful. The key here is to create positive
experiences as you expose your dog to more and more new
situations.

Even training your puppy for 5 – 10 minutes per day as soon as you
bring him home will make a big difference in the social skills and
adaptability of your puppy.

Keep in mind that puppies have very short attention spans, so keep
your lessons short and fun. How short an attention span? That
depends on the age of the puppy, his breed and how mature your
individual puppy is – but a good rule of thumb is to keep the
training sessions within that 5 -10 minute range.

Depending on your puppy’s age and maturity level, sometime
between 3 and 6 months of age you should be moving the training
into the area of the basic commands such as Sit, Heel, Down, etc.

It’s important you have realistic expectations about your dog’s
capabilities at this point – I don’t expect a puppy to be responding
to the basic commands with any degree of regularity until they’ve
reached 6 months of age.

And if you want to start today . . . just click here to check out my
book “Dog Training Secrets!”

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(c) 2004 by Charlie Lafave, author, "Dog Training Secrets!"

To transform your stubborn, misbehaving dog into a loyal, well-
behaving "best friend" who obeys your every command and is the
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