Puppy Training Tips - Holmer Veterinary Surgery

There are many different methods for training dogs, and not all methods work for all dogs.

Some methods of training can be detrimental for your dog.

For best results, start training your puppy straight away.

The most important rules to follow are:

Be patient with your puppy
Be consistent – your puppy will get confused if the rules keep changing
Keep training sessions short and fun, or your puppy’s attention will drift
Aim to only give a command ONCE, repeatedly saying the same command whilst your puppy isn’t listening only teaches him to ignore you
Never give a command if you are not in a position to enforce it – there is no point in trying to recall your puppy when he is half way across a field chasing a rabbit, as the chances of him listening are very slim, so pick your battles wisely!

Space awareness training

It is important to set boundaries for your puppy early on to prevent jumping and nipping behaviours
A puppy should be invited into your space rather than jumping up and demanding it – this is cute when they are small but when they are grown it is a different story
If your puppy jumps up onto you, use the “no” command and push the puppy off you, never reward the jumping up with fuss/play/attention. It is important to remain consistent with this – if sometimes they jump up and you fuss them, they will learn that it occasionally works to get attention. This might be fine for you, but if your dog learns to jump up for attention they may also try the same approach when meeting new people and children
If your puppy nips you it is also important to address this behaviour whilst young. Puppies use their mouths a lot to explore their surroundings, and mouthing behaviour is normal, but is important to set the boundaries of what is appropriate to chew and what isn’t
- Don’t play aggressively or “play fight” with your puppy using your hands, as it will teach your puppy that nipping your hands is acceptable
- If your puppy does nip you, try making a “yelp” noise or use the “no” command, and then turn away from your puppy and ignore him. This is what his littermates would do if he got too rough with them – ignoring your puppy is the best punishment to let him know he has done something wrong

Establishing basic commands

“Sit”

Positive reinforcement or reward based training is now considered to be the most effective method for training your puppy
This means you reward your puppy for doing something right to reinforce this behaviour, and offer no reward for an unwanted behaviour
Food based rewards are often the best for your puppy, so when he performs a desirable behaviour use a praise marker word like “Yes” or “Good” (or alternatively a clicker if you are clicker training,) and then reward the behaviour with a food treat
Food rewards should be no bigger than the size of your little finger
Breakfast and dinner time is also a great way to teach your puppy to sit
- Initially put the food bowl down and stand in between your puppy and the food, to prevent him rushing to get it before you want him to
- Sit him down and wait a few seconds before using a release command like “Ok” “Free” or “Get it” and allow your puppy to get to his food
- It is important that YOU control when he is allowed to get it – he shouldn’t just decide himself he is going to eat it until you have released him. If he gets up before you have told him to then gently put him back where he was and sit him down to try again
- Start with very short periods and gradually build up the time he has to sit before he is released. This will teach him to sit AND stay - whereas giving a food treat for a short sit may teach him to sit and get up again then to sit again to get more treats – this is OK to teach him what the word “sit” means when starting out, but you want to progress on from this and add duration to the sit

Walking on a lead

Recall

Again, teaching your puppy to recall at a young age is most likely to be effective – they want to come back to you
Start with short distances around your house/garden, call your puppies name and tap your legs to encourage him towards you. When he comes back ALWAYS give lots of praise, a treat or play a game.
You can build up distances and add distractions to increase the difficulty for your puppy, but change things gradually or you’re less likely to get the desired result!
You can also have one member of the family gently holding your pup facing you from a distance, then as you call your pup they let go of him to allow him to race towards you
If calling him once does not work, it is not a good idea to get into the habit of repeatedly calling to no effect – as this only teaches your puppy to ignore you. Therefore if he doesn’t come straight away then the best thing to do is calmly go and fetch him and bring him back to where you want him.
NEVER let him get away with ignoring you, and never try giving a command that you wont be able to enforce if he does ignore you.

Toilet training

When puppies are young their toilet habits are quite regular – they will want to go after waking up and after eating
Therefore it is a good idea to get your puppy into a set routine of waking up and feeding times, so you can take him out straight after this
Whenever your puppy toilets outside, give him lots of praise so he knows this is an appropriate place to go
There are different schools of thought on what to do when they have an accident in the house.
- You should NOT punish your puppy after having an accident – they won’t associate the punishment with the toileting.
- If you catch your puppy sniffing around as if about to go, try picking him up straight away and taking him outside, BEFORE he has the chance to make the mistake
- We do not advise punishing your puppy when caught in the act of inappropriate toileting – it may be better to ignore the behaviour then take them out afterwards, as some studies have shown that by marking that behaviour with any attention, even negative attention like shouting, you can reinforce this behaviour.

Crate training can also be a useful way of helping with toilet training, as puppies do not like to go to the toilet where they sleep. It is important to get your puppy used to being crated before leaving them in a crate.

Taking your dog to training classes can be a good way of teaching them the basics, however often these can’t start until the puppy is fully vaccinated. It is a good idea to try and start on the basics as soon as you get your puppy though, so we hope this information gives you some help towards this.

There are lots of different resources available but make sure they come from a reputable source.

Please ask at reception regarding reputable dog trainers in the area

Please note we DO NOT advocate the use of choke chains for training, or spike collars, as these can cause damage to your dog’s throat AND create fear and pain.

There are many different methods for training dogs, and not all methods work for all dogs.

Some methods of training can be detrimental for your dog.

​For best results, start training your puppy straight away.

The most important rules to follow are:

Please note we DO NOT advocate the use of choke chains for training, or spike collars, as these can cause damage to your dog’s throat AND create fear and pain.

For best results, start training your puppy straight away.