Puppy Training: The Basics

What you need to train your puppy is entirely dependent on the kind of training you plan to do. Puppy parents can choose to use positive only training where they reward desired behaviours and ignore anything they don’t like. Negative forms of training include reprimanding undesirable behaviour to prevent it from happening less and then there is a mixture of the two.

One report shows that a study by Generation Pup indicated that 99.7% of pet parents intended to use positive-based training methods when they brought their new puppy home. Another study that focused on watching puppy training classes found that in classes where punishment was used, 65% of the dogs showed stress-related behaviours like licking or yawning with only 8% giving any stress cues in the positive reward based class. While we can’t stop every stressor from affecting our puppies, even withholding a treat can sometimes cause them to give a little stress yawn. To raise a confident puppy who has the best bond with you, positive, reward based training is the most up to date and scientifically proven method. You’re trying to teach your puppy how to cohabit with you and do things that make you proud, negative methods risk building a relationship based on the fear of being reprimanded.

The most important tool you need for positive training is treats! Eventually, behaviours become self-rewarding and your dog just knows to do specific things. A little scratch behind the ear and telling them they did well can be plenty rewarding to get them to sit. At the beginning of your journey together, you need powerful rewards to entice them to try new behaviours. The best kinds of training treats for puppies are small and can ideally be broken down into even smaller pieces so you can get more practice in. Wagg Training Treats with Chicken & Cheese or Wellness CORE Chicken with Carrot Puppies Training Treats are both fantastic options to get started with.

Knowing what treats to get and how to use them is one of the most important aspects of training your new family member.

When you start training your puppy, it’s good to have a think about the things that are most important to you. In reality, training them in anything at all will start the ball rolling and teach them training as a concept. A puppy who knows how to sit will learn other cues much faster because they understand training as a process and will try to get things right for a reward.

Toilet training is probably going to be one of the first things you want to get right with your new puppy and the time it takes is really going to depend on how close an eye you can keep on them and the individual puppy. Some pups tend to pick it up easily with only the odd accident here and there while others seem determined to make indoors their toilet. For that period in between you can give your pooch an indoor toilet while trying to catch their pees and poos and get them outside in time. Puppy pads like the Rufus & Rosie Puppy Pads are great for managing accidents and giving them something to aim for indoors.

If they learn to aim for the pads, you can start moving them towards the back door to close the gap between their two toilet areas. Puppies will usually need the toilet right after food, after they have a rest period or even after they play so as they’re settling in, taking them out often to catch these pees and poos. Rewarding them is going to start to teach them to go towards the garden every time they need to go outside. It’s a gradual process but as long as you make a big fuss every time they get it right with treats and praise and ignore any accidents, they should learn.

Even if you tell them off for going to the toilet indoors, you risk feeding into the behaviour. You will either have a puppy who is scared of being shouted at so hides away when they need the toilet or a puppy who loves all attention and thinks it’s great fun. If they have an accident, keep quiet, let them walk away from it and clean it with a pet-safe cleaner that will remove the smell of urine like Furbulosa Pet Urine Destroyer.

Even before your puppy can go out for walks you can start getting them used to the basics of dog walking. By law, all dogs need to wear a collar and an identification tag when they’re out in public so they need to get used to wearing one before going for their first walk. Before a puppy knows how to walk nicely on lead, they might be a little all over the place so getting them a harness while they learn can help to make the whole process more gentle on them. The Doodlebone Airmesh Dog Harness is a great option as it’s super soft and really helps to soften any sudden changes in direction.

When they’re ready to start exploring their new walking routes and run around with other dogs to learn their social skills, they might not be fully trained with recall. Having a long line like the Clix Long Line Training means that you can give them the freedom to run around while knowing that you can get them back if you need to in a pinch. It prevents them from practising unwanted behaviours like running away from you when you try to clip them back on the lead. If they get used to you approaching while holding the long line to prevent them zooming off, giving them a treat as you get to them is the very first step of training a recall. They’ll start to learn that you’re much more interesting than their environment and come back to you.

Obedience training might sound a little military but it just means all the basics your pup needs to know for day to day behaviour that you find desirable. Things like waiting on the side of a curb to cross the road instead of dragging you into traffic or sitting calmly before you put their food bowl down. Knowing not to barge past you in doorways is another behaviour pup parents tend to find useful, walking to heel and not jumping up at strangers are all behaviours that need to be trained.

When you train any behaviour, you’re looking to make it as easy as possible to teach your pup what you want. An easy method is to lure the behaviour to begin with while they start to understand what gets them a reward. If you want to lure a sit, slowly lift the treat above their nose and their bum will usually go to the floor and then reward. If it’s walking nicely on lead, you can start by holding the treat near your side and giving it to them when they come into the desired position. You can reward your pooch for anything you like as long as it’s consistent.

When you bring your puppy home you may hear the horror stories of other new puppy parents dealing with their new family member crying through the night when they try to get them to sleep in the kitchen. Puppies are similar to babies in that when they’re young, they do better sleeping closer to you. If you don’t want your puppy in the bed with you to avoid accidents, you can teach them to sleep in a crate. By crate training your pooch, they can be close to you, see you and even smell you while not making a total mess of where they’re sleeping. Having some nice blankets and soft toys like the Kong Cozies Ali Alligator to cuddle up to can help them settle. You can even add something you’ve worn so they can feel nice and close to you.

When they start to sleep through the night you can then gradually move the crate further from your bed until it’s where you want your pooch to sleep in the long term. Puppy training isn’t about quick fixes, it’s about teaching a new member of the family how to live in harmony with each other. Getting a puppy is like getting a new best friend and you should enjoy being around each other during these fun training sessions.