The Ultimate Guide To Training Your Puppy

Helping your puppy to navigate the human world is full of challenges, but one of the first things you will want to do is to begin training your little fur ball. From learning how to use the toilet outdoors, to sitting, staying and recall training, there’s no doubt your puppy has a lot to learn in those first few months!

With some patience, plenty of treats and attention, you will have your puppy trained in no time.

Why Is Training Important?

Training your puppy is a fantastic bonding experience for both you and them. Your puppy will learn to trust you and you will learn to understand him better, making the training all that bit easier. Puppies start learning from birth and despite their relatively short attention spans, you can expect them to begin to learn some basic obedience commands such as “sit,” and “stay,” as young as 7 to 8 weeks of age.

Command Training Your Puppy

Teaching Puppy to ‘Sit’

1. Stand in front of your puppy holding some of his favourite food or treats.
2. Wait for him to sit and reward him with a treat.
3. Then step backwards or to the side, encouraging him to stand, and wait for him to sit again.
4. Reward him another treat as soon as they sit.
5. Repeat these steps, and after a few times you can begin saying “sit” right as he begins to sit.

Benefits of Sitting:

Sitting has many uses; it can eradicate bad behaviour as well as keeping your dog politely at your side. Training your dog to sit helps to maintain a calm, controlled behaviour many pet parents want.

Teaching Puppy to ‘Stay’

A puppy who understands the “stay” prompt will continue sitting in position until you instruct him to get up by giving a different prompt, called the “release word.”

1. First, teach your puppy the release word, such as ‘come’ or ‘okay.’
2. Stand with your puppy, throw a treat on the floor, say your release word as he goes forward to retrieve the treat.
3. Repeat these steps a few times until you can say the release word first, and then throw the treat AFTER he begins to move. This teaches your pup that the release word signifies he must move his feet.
4. When your puppy understands the release word and how to sit on demand, place him in staying position and give him a treat.
5. Pause, give him another treat for staying in position, and then release him.
6. Slowly raise the amount of time you wait between treats.
7. If your puppy gets up or tries to walk away before you can give the release word, don’t give out to him. He might not be ready to stay for that long, so continue training in shorter intervals.
8. Once your puppy is able to stay in position for several seconds, you can begin adding distance.
9. Place him in position, say “stay,” take one step back, then step forward to give a treat, and say your release word.
10. You can then continue to increase the amount of steps. We recommend practising this while you are facing him as well as when your back in turned.

Recall Training

For your dog to have a good recall, they must understand their name. Every time you interact with them or speak to them, always use their name so they can get used to hearing it.

1. Start off with your puppy on a short leash.
2. Throw a treat or toy away from you and when your pup starts to come back with it, say ‘come.’
3. Repeat this process until your pup has mastered it, and once they are ready, increase the distance until they are able to come back to you on a longer leash.
4. Once they have gotten the hang of it, throw in some distractions such as other people or toys while giving the command, to help your pup understand they must return to you.
5. Once they are responding to their name and recall word and coming back to you, you could play games such as hide and seek. Call them from another room, and when they find you, give them lots of praise and rewards. This is a great way to not only bond with your dog but train them to come back to you as well.

Top Tip: Training your puppy, whether it is for recall or going to the toilet, should always be a positive and fun experience. Negative associations such as punishment for not obeying a command can impede the training progress, so always keep it light-hearted and enjoyable!

Crate Training

What is Crate Training?

Crate Training can be a very helpful management tool when introducing your puppy into his new home. Puppies don’t like being left alone, and can express this dislike through destructive behaviour. If crate training is done properly, it can help reduce unwanted behaviour and give your puppy somewhere to relax where he can feel safe and secure.

Think Positive!

To ensure that the crate becomes a place where the puppy feels comfortable and loves to be, it is essential to make positive associations with the crate from the get-go. It should be a nice, safe place for your puppy to go to, but also a fun place too. The more positively he thinks of his crate, the more inclined he will be to go there when you need him to.

It is a good idea to feed your puppy in his crate, and this reinforces positive associations. You could even leave puppy treats or a Kong, a fun treat dispensing toy, in the crate if the puppy will be left alone for short periods. This will keep him busy and occupied while also nurturing his chewing urges (meaning he’s not chewing on things he shouldn’t be!)

Lead Training

Getting Prepared

The best place to begin training your dog to stay on a lead is actually indoors. Get him used to wearing a collar first, and take him around the house on a short lead. This will help him get used to the feeling of the lead on the collar as well as being led around and following you.

Once your puppy has mastered following you around the house, you can take him outside into the garden. There’s lots of new distractions, sights, and smells in the garden, so it’s a good idea to start here so your puppy will be prepared and ready for when you venture out into the park and new areas.

A good recall is critical when training your puppy to walk on a lead. Your dog should not be off a leash in public without a good recall or knowing his name, so it is essential to teach them this as early as you can and when they are still in the puppy stage.

Teaching Puppy to Walk on a Lead

1. Before you go outside, make sure your pup has a well-fitted collar and harness and give him some time to get used to it.
2. Next, attach the leash to your puppy’s harness and let him drag it around at home under your supervision until they get used to having the harness and leash attached to them while walking.
3. Practice the ‘Heel’ command at home initially. This will urge your puppy to stay focused on you, since their home environment is what they are used compared to outside with lots of distractions. Pick a side for your puppy to sit next to you and stick with this side.
4. With your pup beside you on your chosen side, and their favourite treat in hand, lower it to their nose, and with your leg closest to them, take a small step forward as you say “Heel”. As your pup follows your step, say “Good” and reward them with the treat.
5. Once your puppy begins to get the hang of walking beside you at home, you can start to move the ‘Heel’ exercise outside in your garden, driveway, or right in front of your home.
6. It is a good idea to pick a familiar location at first to limit the amount of distractions for your puppy. Continue the Heel training routine, and gradually start to increase the length of their “walk” until they are consistently staying on your side.

Toilet Training

Knowing the signs that your puppy needs to go to the toilet is really important when toilet training – whining, circling, sniffing, barking or scratching at the door are all common signs that your puppy needs to go toilet.

• Puppies usually need to go toilet an hour after eating, so take your pup outside to go around this time.
• Take them out first thing in the morning, as they may have been holding it in overnight.
• You pup can get over excited about new things or people, so take them to go before your guests arrive or the kids come home from school
• For the first couple of weeks, your puppy will also need to pee at night, so take them to their outside spot at night too, to help prevent accidents.

House Training Your Puppy

When the puppy inevitably has an accident inside the house, you simply pick them up and take them outside. It’s as easy as that! Soon, they will understand that it is outside where they need to do their business.

As with any training, positive reinforcement is a much healthier way of teaching your dog new things. Moving to a new home is stressful for your new puppy; it will miss its mother and siblings, so try not to scold the puppy when it has had an accident. The puppy won’t know what it has done wrong, so the best way is to reward and praise when the puppy pees outside.

Dog Training at Petmania

Positive, reward based training will help your dog to become a well socialised, happy and confident member of your family. It will also help ensure that they are safe and builds trust between you and your dog. Here at Petmania we are committed to helping Irish dog owners with their dog’s training and are delighted to offer dog training courses at our stores. We are now taking bookings for our training courses in Athlone and Waterford, with additional courses to become available soon.