“WHEN SHOULD I START TRAINING MY PUPPY?”

This is a really common question and the answer is simple…as soon as you get it home. In fact, if you have chosen a good breeder your puppy’s education will have started before it even left the nest box.

EVERYTHING IS TRAINING

As soon as your pup opened it’s eye and ears it started learning about the world. A good breeder will have introduced all sorts of sights, sounds, and experiences in the first two months of life. At this age a puppy can’t learn to be afraid of things so anything it meets is accepted as a normal part of life. Puppies come with lots of ‘pre-programmed’ behaviour too, like not wanting to go to the toilet in their ‘nest’. Good breeders will provide a toilet area (usually on newspaper or puppy pads) so even house training is started before you pick your puppy up!

TRAINING IS FUN

Many older dog books will tell you not to start training until a pup is 6months or a year old, but as long as the training is in small bite and is always fun it makes sense to start while your pup is young and ever so eager to learn. Most puppies really want to be with their new person, and most puppies a really into their food so why not use these two things to teach a great recall?

At dinner time instead of giving your pup it’s food from the bowl use it for some training. Throw a bit of food away from you so the pup chases it down…then encourage pup back to you with another bit. What a fun game! And there’s food! Pretty soon you can say “Fido Come!” just before you show the food in your hand and hey presto Fido has learnt a recall, and most importantly that coming back to the person is fun.

Playing training games like this with your pup is a great way to build a bond, prevent food issues, and start teaching your pup without it even realising.