When Should I Start Training My Puppy?
Adam G. Katz
If you have a puppy, you must start training early, but do it
gently.
Your puppy has to have confidence in you before he can begin
learning. Remember that puppies are like children - they have
growing bodies, short attention spans, and will only learn things
when the conditions are right and when they understand what it is
you're trying to teach them.
That said, the earlier you start training dogs, the better. More
specifically, it's best if you start “socialization” from 8
weeks, simple commands like “come” and “sit” from 12 weeks, and
more intensive training at 5 to 6 months.
While some early training can be started as soon as you bring
your puppy home, the optimum time to begin obedience training is
somewhere around 9 to 12 weeks of age.
Keep in mind that training can cover a broad range of topics –
I’m not suggesting that you begin training your puppy at 8 weeks
of age for agility competitions! Your training should start off
with the basics – teaching him “No!” and beginning
house-training.
Socialization skills are next – experts tell us the best window
for your puppy to learn socialization skills is between 3 and 16
weeks – that’s the best time to insure that your puppy grows into
a well-adjusted adult.
And remember, socialization isn’t about teaching him the right
fork to use at the dinner table – it’s about giving your dog the
self-assurance to deal correctly with any social environment he
finds himself in is one of the most valuable and lasting lessons
you can teach him.
A well-socialized dog will interact well with all types of people
and situations, even those he has never been in before. With
appropriate social skills, your dog will show little or no fear
of most objects, people or other animals, and even if startled,
will recover quickly and won’t panic.
Bottom line, a well-adjusted dog is one that is comfortable in a
variety of situations and surroundings. He may be excited in a
new setting, but not fearful. The key here is to create positive
experiences as you expose your dog to more and more new
situations.
Even training your puppy for 5 – 10 minutes per day as soon as
you bring him home will make a big difference in the social
skills and adaptability of your puppy.
Keep in mind that puppies have very short attention spans, so
keep your lessons short and fun. How short an attention span?
That depends on the age of the puppy, his breed and how mature
your individual puppy is – but a good rule of thumb is to keep
the training sessions within that 5 -10 minute range.
Depending on your puppy’s age and maturity level, sometime
between 3 and 6 months of age you should be moving the training
into the area of the basic commands such as Sit, Heel, Down, etc.
It’s important you have realistic expectations about your dog’s
capabilities at this point – I don’t expect a puppy to be
responding to the basic commands with any degree of regularity
until they’ve reached 6 months of age.
Author, “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!“ which you can
read more about at:
http://tinyurl.com/4efaq
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