Puppy Training
Puppy training is essential, especially for puppy toilet training.
The ideal puppy is one that is sweet, calm and thoughtful.
A puppy that is able to stroll leisurely beside you without any leash, and sleeps on your lap when you watch the TV on the sofa.
However, it takes time, efforts and training for you to shape your puppy that nip, bite, chew, bark and create potty accidents into the perfect pup you have always wanted.
If you are looking for puppy trainers and want your puppy to settle to his new place as soon as possible, it might be wise to find puppy training near your place.
This is so that the trainer can conduct the training at your place.
Puppy Training Checklist
Here’s a list of puppy training checklist for new owners.
- Potty Training
- Basic Commands
- Crate Training
- Bite Inhibition
- Handling Seperation Anxiety
- Exposure to Noise
- Routine Keeping
Puppy Training Schedule by Age PDF
Here’s a puppy training schedule chart (pdf)
Puppy Training Schedule by Age pdf
1. Use Reward-Based Training
Reward-based training helps to ensure your puppy stays focused and motivated to learn.
With high-value rewards like food treats, your puppy is more likely to have respect for you.
They are also more encouraged to work for the treats and correct their behavior.
2. Exercise Patience and Be Consistent
It is easy to forget that puppies are young animals and have no prior experience with the world.
They do not understand the expectations owners have on them and how they should behave in the correct manner.
Therefore, it is important to be consistent and create a schedule catered to their potty breaks, feeding times, play times, training sessions, and nap times.
With a proper structure and routine, they can perform the tasks with repetition and is less likely to make mistakes.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
Since the attention span of puppies is only about 5 to 10 minutes, it is useful to train puppies during their meal times.
Meal times provide good opportunities for puppies to practice their commands sonce they are motivated to work for their meals.
At the same time. they get to correct their behaviors.
Since different dog breeds learn at different speeds, it is important to follow the learning pace of your puppy and not move on to the next phase if they are not ready.
8-10 Weeks Old
This is around the age that many new puppy owners bring home their new puppy.
During this phase of your pup’s life, they should be learning the basics such as their name, good manners at home, introducing some commands, and some early socialization.
Get your puppy used to a daily schedule that includes their feeding and water times, play and training times, potty breaks, and naptimes.
Potty training your puppy should start as soon as your puppy comes home!
The best way to start potty training your pup is by incorporating a potty schedule to teach your pup where to go on the right spot, and how to hold it!
If you are trying to determine your potty training schedule, as a general guideline, take your puppy’s age in months and then divide it in half to determine how long they can go in between potty breaks.
For more information on potty training your puppy, visit our potty training blog post!
Crate training is one of the most valuable assets for puppy training and puppy parents!
We find that it is super helpful at speeding up the housebreaking process and how it helps create an independent puppy and reduces separation anxiety.
For more information on crate training your puppy, visit our crate training blog post!
Introduce basic obedience commands Sit & Come at this stage.
These will be two of the most useful commands in your arsenal that you will probably use every day for the rest of your pup’s life.
We recommend that you introduce these commands during mealtime.
Start with some of your puppy’s food in your hand, let them smell it, and start taking backward steps away from them as you say “Come” with your hand extended out to lure them towards you.
When they come to you, reward them with a “Good!” and the food! Next, you can teach them how to sit by arching your hand, with their food in it, up over their nose and past the top of their head as you say “Sit”, and when their butt hits the ground, again say “Good!” and give them the food again!
Say the word “Come” when your puppy is following you for their food and water bowls.
And have them settle and even guide them into a seated position and say the word “Sit” before giving them their bowls.
Start socialization with your family and close friends first.
Throughout your pup’s life they will encounter new people so getting them used to it early on will help them positively associate those interactions.
Name recognition is super important and will be the one thing you’ll certainly use for the rest of your pup’s life!
When interacting with your pup, say their name throughout the day and get their attention on you while saying their name.
We love using food with this! Each time they look at you or come to you, reward them with excitement and the food!
To help encourage eye contact, bring a piece of their food up to your eyes, and reward them when they look at you!
Want a fun way to teach your puppy their name? Play the name game!
Start to redirect chewing and mouthing behaviors as they occur with the help of a chew toy!
Your puppy will be exploring their world with their nose and mouth.
You’ll want to make sure that they know the difference between your hands, feet, and shoes from their chew toys!
Visit our puppy chewing and puppy nipping blogs for help!
10-12 Weeks Old
At this point, you will begin to expand on your pup’s commands, socialization, and impulse control.
Introduce more basic obedience commands such as Place, Down, and Heel at home.
For these commands, you’ll want to utilize a high-value reward to help in teaching them.
For puppies with higher energy, you can also begin to teach them Fetch and Drop-It during play sessions!
Introduce the leash and harness to your puppy if you have not already done so at 8-10 weeks.
These will be the two most utilized tools in your pup’s life when they are out and about with you.
Let your puppy get used to their harness and leash by letting them wear it around the house while you supervise them.
For help with getting your puppy to love their leash and harness, visit our leash training blog!
Continue socialization by introducing new people and letting your puppy meet calm dogs post-vaccinations.
Additionally, start getting them used to common noises they will hear in everyday situations such as construction, traffic, garbage trucks, etc. by playing recordings that you can find in YouTube videos.
We get that “socializing” is a bit tough these days with social distancing orders, so make sure to visit our socialization blog for help!
Impulse control practice by having your puppy wait for their food and water bowls.
Ask them to Sit before setting down their bowls.
Place their bowls down once they are calm and release them from sitting with a word like “Break” or “Okay”!
Start threshold training which involves asking your puppy to Sit at doorways, open doors, crosswalks, etc., and then walking through them calmly.
This will help discourage your puppy from lunging and pulling each time they see an open doorway to another room a.k.a. a new adventure to explore, and helps your walks be calmer.
3-4 Months Old
Your puppy is starting to grow up quickly and you can start to work in more complex training routines with the commands they’ve learned!
Introduce Stay and Leave-It commands to your puppy!
Start command combinations and working indoors.
Try to get your puppy practice duration work by holding their commands longer, for example, a long Sit and Stay, and also try to link some commands together!
Here’s a fun combination to try: Sit > Down > Stay > Come > Place.
You can work on different combinations to really keep your puppy engaged!
Practice Heel outdoors in your driveway or sidewalk in front of your house to ease them into some of the outside distractions!
Begin to socialize with other new pups after your puppy has received all their vaccinations!
4-6 Months Old
At this point, your puppy should start to work on their commands outside your home and in public spaces, as well as continue to socialize!
Advance on their commands by practicing them outside your home in the front or backyard. Bring your puppy to a new location, such as the park, and practice their commands and some command combinations.
Extend your walks with your puppy from down the block to further down the block. Work on your puppy’s leash training and Heel command!
Start to wean your puppy off of food rewards at this point while they are training by asking for several commands first before giving a food reward, or by using praise or affection when they respond with the correct behavior instead!
6 Months – 1 Year Old
Your puppy should know all of their basic commands and have a solid foundation of potty training, crate training, and socialization.
From this point on, you will continue to work with your puppy to reinforce what they have already learned!
Continue to reinforce all the commands your puppy has learned and stat to incorporate what we call the 3Ds: distance, duration, and distractions to them!
Introduce more distance between you and your pup as you practice their commands, have them hold commands for longer periods of time, and had in more distractions to have them work through!
We recommend using a long time to practice these safely outdoors and don’t forget to include Recall to practice your pup coming to you from longer distances
Maintain structure at home!
Your puppy is in an adolescent phase and can act up if left to their own devices.
It’s not uncommon for pups to start chewing, nipping, potty accidents, or other behaviors if their training and structure start to ease up at home!
Generally, every week and month should progress with socialization: meeting new people, other puppies, experiences, noises, etc.
You should continue progressing their potty schedule and eventually as your puppy grows and can hold it longer, start increasing the time between potty breaks.
The first whole year of your puppy’s life will involve basic obedience training, reinforcing good manners in the home and training, and maintaining structure.
Doing this consistently, you can ensure that your puppy will retain their training and good behaviors throughout the rest of their life.
Even if your puppy started at an older age, you can work on catching your puppy up so they are on track to being well-behaved by the time they reach their 1-year mark!
Dog Training
Dog training is available and is never too late for dogs of any age.
However, it is advisable for training to be conducted at an earlier age, the earlier the better to allow more time for positive reinforcement to settle in.
It is important to review and check on the training methods adopted by the training schools.
Some of the training methods may be inappropriate or controversial, such as choking dogs on their leash, kicking them, employing e-collars.
Train a Dog at Home
Dog Training Tips for Beginners
Training a dog requires patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement.
Here are some general steps you can follow to train your dog:
-
Start with basic obedience training.
This can include commands such as sit, stay, come, and heel.
Use treats and praise to reward your dog for good behavior and follow-through on commands. -
Establish a routine and consistency.
This can include regular meal times, walks, and training sessions.
Dogs respond well to routine and will learn more quickly when they know what to expect. -
Use positive reinforcement.
Reward your dog with treats, praise, and affection when they exhibit good behavior.
Avoid using punishment or negative reinforcement, as this can cause fear and anxiety in your dog and hinder their learning. -
Be patient.
Training a dog takes time and persistence.
Don’t expect your dog to learn everything overnight – it may take several weeks or even months for them to master certain commands or behaviors. -
Keep training sessions short and engaging.
Dogs have short attention spans, so keep training sessions to a few minutes at a time and make sure they are engaging and fun for your dog. -
Gradually increase the difficulty of training as your dog progresses.
Once your dog has mastered the basics, you can start teaching them more advanced commands and behaviors.
This can include things like trick training, agility training, and scent work. -
Continue to reinforce good behavior and reward your dog for their progress.
As your dog continues to learn and improve, make sure to continue rewarding them for their good behavior and progress.
This will help them maintain their training and stay motivated to continue learning.
In conclusion, training a dog is a process that requires patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement.
By following these steps and continuing to work with your dog, you can help them become a well-trained and well-behaved companion.
With time and persistence, you can help your dog learn a wide range of commands and behaviors, and continue to reinforce their training to maintain their good behavior.
Dog Training Singapore Price
Dog training prices in Singapore can vary significantly from school to school.
If you are looking for cheap dog training in Singapore, there are dog obedience training with Singapore SkillsFuture.
A list of cheap dog training school is available soon.
Best Dog Training Singapore
Coming soon!
Private Dog Training Singapore
Private dog training are 1-to-1 training session with a professional trainer and it caters to those who need to see faster results.
This is especially for owners who are looking for home based dog training or aggressive dog training, where it is an issue to be addressed quickly.
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Dogs Trust
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