Puppy Training

[KeepCalm]

Top tips please!

It's been a while since we've had a pup and sadly lost our lovely lady at the ripe old age of 16.5yrs earlier this year.

When we got her we had no DC and she was a dream to train. Never gave us a moments bother bless her.

Kids are now 'up' so we'll involve them in training our new additions.

But apparently the time lapsed in between has turned my brain to mash.

So all top tips gratefully received.

Thank you

Place marking as I need all the tips I can get

We lost our darling boy this year too and am currently snuggling a 10 week old BUT I forgot what hard work puppies are!

Do you have pup now?

How are you both getting on? Are you crate training? Find any good books? I too am looking for tips!

I seem to be recommending it constantly at the moment but if you're on FB the group Dog Training Advice and Support is absolutely brilliant. There's an absolute wealth of great information in their 'Files' section (all modern, science based and force free techniques) including a selection of articles/guides specifically aimed at new puppy owners and a reading list if you'd prefer books to websites.

They can also direct you to decent puppy classes in your area as well which is a great help as they can be a bit of a minefield.

I think that the massive core of puppy training is consistency, not letting them do things that you won't want them to do when fully grown, and rewarding them with appropriate treats. The first two are an absolute arse with children tbh - my 12 year old can still be found slipping food to the dogs from the table even though he knows full well not to, and encourages them to lick his face

Personally, I'm all about concentrating on the important skills and reinforcing them all the time - walking nicely on the lead, stop, sit, recall, leave it and manners like keeping paws on the floor and not begging for food.
Its tempting to try all sorts of commands and tricks, but you need a dog which will leave what they want to be doing, come back to you to have their lead put on, and walk without pulling you over so thats the focus. And the reward should be better than what they were doing. I always say to people that if you were doing something and I waved a ryvita at you to come to me, you wouldn't be very interested. If I waved a bar of chocolate and you know that sometimes I'll break out the prosecco, you'll be there like a shot! Same thing with treats - it should be something that floats your dogs boat (currently dried sprats here, sometimes chorizo or cooked sausage/chicken), not just their regular kibble

Thanks for that - I've requested to join the fb group. And yes I'm thinking my children (6 and 10) might hinder my training...

Everyone has a different home and a different view on puppy care.
Teach your puppy what he needs to know to live with you. Most family pets don’t need to learn twenty commands but if he’s bright he’ll learn as much as you want to teach him.

I'm interested in this (for a future puppy hopefully) and have seen a lot of articles recommending socialisation. What does that mean exactly? Taking a little puppy to lots of places in your arms, like playground, on train, past horses etc, or does is just mean taking them out around places they will go to when they're older?