How long roughly does it take to train a puppy going to dog trainers?

[woofwoofandwoof]

I would be first time puppy owner. I know that having a puppy is a massive amount of work and I would be aiming to have a very well trained dog and would want to take it to a dog trainers and am prepared to commit the time and money.

My questions are (I know this is very general and would depend on lots of factors but am looking for ball park average - months/years - so not a genius dog that gets it in a second or a disobedient dog that remains untrainable for years and dog trainers + average time input). This would be a working group breed type if that makes a difference.

1.roughly how long does it take to get a puppy to be house trained to go outside?

2.how long does it take to train a puppy to be "well behaved" at a basic level - sitting on command, walking to heel type ?

3.how long does it take to train a dog to be well behaved at a very good level - excellent recall, barking controlled ?

How long is a piece of string? Every dog will be different depending on breed, temperament, environment, how you train, your relationship with the dog etc. There are so many variables.

Our golden retriever is 19 months. She was trained to go solely on puppy pads by 8 weeks (breeder’s choice, not ours). Accidents indoors didn’t fully stop until she turned 1.

Sit to command is simple, she was probably doing it consistently by around 10/12 weeks. Training to walk nicely is a long process and DPup has been no exception. She can walk to heal in a quiet environment but still pulls a lot when she is somewhere more exciting like the beach or park.

Recall is still hit and miss depending on how busy an area she is in and the amount of distractions. We can let her off on our local dog beach though and be confident that she will definitely come back, just not quite as quickly as you would want! She can be quite barky at times when she wants our attention.. this is a new thing for her though so hoping to nip it in the bud with our behaviourist.

I’ve had golden retrievers for my entire adult life and this girl has been by far the hardest - even with a specific breed you never know what you’re going to get!

There really is no set answer, it varies massively between dogs - even siblings within the same litter can be incredibly different.

Our beagle had one accident after 14 weeks of age, but I know many others who were still having accidents up until one.

He's six and still struggles with heel work, and especially in a busy environment. He's fine on pavements but there's no way I could walk him around the woods in a heel position - but to be honest, I wouldn't want to anyway. Basic commands he picked up very quickly, he was already sitting etc. when we got him at 12 weeks and it doesn't take him long to pick up new tricks.

As for barking and recall - honestly, some dogs never get it. I walk dogs for a living and walk several who I would never be able to trust off a lead as they would just run after a scent or towards other dogs. Others have been perfect off the lead since day one.

It totally depends on the dog and how motivated they are by food, toys etc. also depends on the amount of time you put into them.

I’ve had golden retrievers for my entire adult life and this girl has been by far the hardest - even with a specific breed you never know what you’re going to get!

here really is no set answer, it varies massively between dogs - even siblings within the same litter can be incredibly different.

Thanks both - this is all very useful info. Sounds like up to age of one for house training then.

I think the mistake a look of people make is not to use meal times as an opportunity for training. I trained my dogs around meal times, so they got their biscuits as 'reward' for training. That way they also began to associate me with food from day one. Instead of feeding your dogs meals in a bowl and then training them with treats separately, train them using their meals. It helps tire them out as well. Likewise, doing this helps in other areas like loose-lead walking - because your dog associates you with food.

I've found people who train their dogs that way often have an easier time installing good behaviour such as loose-lead walking, recall etc as from the day they got their puppy, their puppy has associated them with food. It's a lot harder if you have a dog that isn't food motivated. My parents had working line GSDs growing up and they had to train them using toy rewards instead as they weren't food motivated.

House training is different - it requires real commitment and focus and not missing a thing. Some dogs are harder. I've had dogs trained within a few days and dogs that still had the odd mistake up to six months old.

I've never used puppy training classes because I often find they are poor environments for learning and people don't bother training their dogs on basics at home first before they use them - they think puppy training classes are when you start training whereas, actually, it should be day one. The end result is you have 5-8 people all with dogs that have never done a 'sit' before trying to do it in a busy environment which is actually going to make training harder as the dog will ignore cues. It's better off to teach at home before the puppy can go out IMO - distraction free first to ensure they know their commands, then add in distractions. That being said, if you are a first time dog owner I imagine training classes can be useful. You should ask your local vet if they have any recommendations because a good dog trainer is like gold dust and most of them are questionable at best.

But my overall piece of advice would be: train from day, one using meals as prime training time. If you want a well trained dog, you need to start soon and not wait a few weeks.

If it's any help we are long time dog owners ( 50+ years) . We have trained all our dogs the same way. With respect love repetition and treats. Our German Shepherd was fully trained in around 6 months. He was a brilliant dog and we still miss him. The next 2 dogs ( Westies) were less compliant and although one was better than the other they took about a year to be trained to our satisfaction. Although as with the GS they lost it sometimes but could do sit stay etc easily early on but would occasionally lose focus and need reminding on return etc now and again. Our latest ( Cairn Terrier) is still an ongoing project. Yesterday he sat on first command stayed whilst food was put in bowl and waited for Eat command. Cue congratulations hugs and neverending praise fur his first time in getting it right. He's ten.

I think the mistake a look of people make is not to use meal times as an opportunity for training. I trained my dogs around meal times, so they got their biscuits as 'reward' for training. That way they also began to associate me with food from day one. Instead of feeding your dogs meals in a bowl and then training them with treats separately, train them using their meals. It helps tire them out as well. Likewise, doing this helps in other areas like loose-lead walking - because your dog associates you with food.

Which only works well if you have a food motivated dog.. if like us you don’t then it’s all a lot more complicated. @Killingoffmyflowersonebyone

As others have said, depends
One thing i woudl add though is that don't ever think your dog is "trained" , its a constant ongoing process that you need to keep up with forever

As well as the difference between dogs, people's definition of well trained varies massively.

Both ours were house trained within weeks, and by 8 months would walk nicely on a lead, heel, sit, good recall etc. but I wouldn't consider them particularly well trained.

Which is what I said in my comment if you had read it all 😊 My parents had to do it with toys for their GSDs - which was harder, but still eminently doable.

It can also set up huge amounts of frustration in some dogs - terrier for example - and be detrimental.

House training - depends how much you supervise. Can be weeks, months or even years.

General training - ongoing. Dogs need their brains worked and worked every day. A working breed dog will not generally do well in a 'pet' household. They need a job to do.

Totally depends on the dog.

Of my current dogs (all labs)

Oldest bitch- took about a month and a half to fully house train. But now won’t wee in the garden - has to be taken out. All other training completely nailed by 6 months old. Most obedient dog ever.

Middle dog- fully house trained within a couple of weeks. Will toilet on command outside. Rest of the training depends on what day of the week it is, and often acts as if none has been undertaken at all.

Youngest bitch (just over 18mo)- didn’t hold her wee overnight until she was 6 months old. Then been clean since. Other training good, apart from recall can be hit and miss.

All three trained using exactly same methods/ same trainer etc etc

There's really no scientific formula for raising or training puppies. Some breeds are certainly a lot more receptive to training than others are, but each dog is very much an individual. You can't totally rely on a dog trainer though - you really need to be able to put the hours in and know your own dogs mind. It takes time and patience to rear any puppy but generally the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

We've had 8 dogs. House training for us has varied greatly; one of our girls was stubborn and took 4 or 5 months but one of the boys was dry through the night by 9 or 10 weeks.

With regard to how to behave in the house, a trainer can't really teach your dog that. We establish a good routine with our dogs early on and gently teach them not to be food possessive or toy possessive. We use puppy gates rather than crating because we work from home so the pups very quickly learn what is acceptable behaviour in the household. We don't have any chewing issues etc. We're not strict, we do force free training but we are 100% committed to spending a lot of time with our dogs.

We socialise the pups as much as possible in the first weeks after the vaccines but we prefer to that naturally on walks than attending puppy classes. That's just personal choice for us. Our breed is not food orientated at all and is also not renowned for obedience so any great degree of "training" is a struggle and recall is nigh on impossible but we're okay with that. So it is, in some ways, a case of researching your chosen breed and knowing what are realistic expectations from the start.

Good luck with the puppy.

Ours was housetrained reliably by 6 months.

Have a look at Easy Squeezy puppy book as well. You have to be consistent and also be kind. And everyone in the house has to treat the puppy the same really. They are so eager to please when they are little you can train them loads.

They then forget it all at adolescence but it comes back.

Let them off the lead as soon as you can to train recall as they stick to you like glue when they are little - and have lots of treats.

1.roughly how long does it take to get a puppy to be house trained to go outside?

As a rule of thumb, you are looking at 16-20 weeks of age. Some get it quickly others not. It depends on a lot of different factors: like the weather, how quickly you learn to see the signs, ...
For that reason I prefer to get spring or summer puppies, as I can spend a lot of time with them in the garden so 'accidents' happen there and I canrewardratherthanbe annoyed with myself for missing the sign.

2.how long does it take to train a puppy to be "well behaved" at a basic level - sitting on command, walking to heel type ?
3.how long does it take to train a dog to be well behaved at a very good level - excellent recall, barking controlled ?

I just lumber these 2 points together, because a puppy can learn basic commands very quickly at home with a bit of effort on your behalf.

BUT to actually do that command reliably in an unfamiliar place with distractions, it takes an average of 18-24 months.
I would highly recommend the Kennel Club good citizen dog scheme
https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/dog-training/good-citizen-dog-training-scheme/

Good things to know and reinforce from day 1:
Puppies sleep, go toilet, play, (feed) go toilet sleep, rinse repeat! It's similar with older dogs, so if you plan to leave them, it's walk, food & sleep (=you can go out for a bit!)

Religiously give your puppy a tasty treat when you call it! That's coming in from the garden, when food is ready, you don't know where he's hiding, training sessions, ... that will reinforce your recall.

An 8 week old puppy will follow you around (this will stop at around 10-11 weeks)
Use this precious time to walk your puppy around the house and garden. Use a comand like "walking' (& I also tap my leg) and walk a few steps with puppy beside you. Relise with another comand like 'free". Obviously keep doing this past the 11 weeks, as puppy should have learnt this.... so when it comes to loose leash & heel walking, you already have a solid comand that your dog understands!

When it comes to training, little and often will give you the best results, as you are conditioning your dog to do a desired behaviour.

Our Springer is 15 weeks today

He could sit, laydown and wait reliably by 12 weeks. He is just starting heel, but we've worked on heel by using "place" when we sit him so just need to transfer that to walking. We never greet our dogs when we come in from somewhere until after shoes, coat off, bags downs etc. I don't like them being all over people as they re trying to get in the door!

He's off the lead when down the field with the horses, he's already cow, horse and Jack Russell proof! always comes to the whistle at the farm without hesitation but as we learned last weekend, doesn't come to call at the beach as it was too over stimulating! so straight back on the long line in new places like that. He isn't a barker so not had to work on that.

House training wise, he uses puppy pads started by breeder, we can see the cues for poopy so can get him outside, but wee is a bit more difficult as he doesnt have a cue. It's slowly improving but reading this thread on timescales, it doesn't seem he is behind on the "norm"

Just be realistic, it wont go like clockwork, it will be a roller-coaster. Somethings they get quickly, other things take weeks and you'll feel very disheartened.

It as pp have said a lot to do with individual dogs.

Puppy should be fixated on you. The problem with dog training classes I think is that especially for a sociable pup it is easy to lose focus and the pup to associate other dogs with a good time.

Socialisation really means watching from a good distance away, rather than joining in a general mele.

I've found dog training advice and support on Facebook enormously helpful. They have a specific group for puppies and guidance on how to set up you and your new pup to win; introducing to household . Also house training, crate training, recall etc.

Another thing to remember is just because they get something at four months, doesn't mean they'll still "get it" at eight months.

Adolescent dogs are prone to forgetting everything they've ever been taught and taking (what appears to be) a massive step backwards. At four months our beagle was an angel but at nine months it was a whole different story 😂

Housetraining varies massively dog to dog. We've had four puppies, and one of them (not the first) was a bloody nightmare to housetrain.

Lovely heelwork, though...

It’s an ongoing process. The best training tip I had is to consider every interaction with you pup/dog a training exercise. My dog is now two, and even this morning, I did some basic training on the walk (because stubborn fool wasn’t listening/responding).

Good training classes are about the pup focusing on you despite the distractions of other dogs. Not playing. That is a poor class structure.

Except most young pups are not born with that skill, therefore the amount of meaningful training that actually goes on in these group classes is negligible. Far better to invest in one to one sessions that are properly tailored to your dog.

But you are starting off with a puppy class full of young, exitable dogs for say 10 weeks. By that time, your puppy would have learnt some basics, including starting to ignore the other puppies and focus on you instead the class is finished.
The main issue is, most people stop at this point and a lot of trainers offer very little in terms of a follow up class.

However, in order to progress and get the most out of group training with all its distractions, you need to continue with the training ... hence being an advocate for the KC good citizen dog scheme.
Imo, group training can provide valuable lessons for dogs in terms of socialisation. Try and make your 6 month old puppy sit for a minute in a room full of exited dogs and people who have lovely smelly treats.... a 1:1 session can't provide that.

Considering most classes start at 12 weeks (when a puppy has just been allowed out into the world after becoming fully vaccinated, therefore won’t have been socialised with any other dogs outside their family), you would be wrong.

6 months is too old for the vast majority of basic training classes and is a very different age with different expectations than a very young pup, which is what I was talking about.

Both our dogs, springador and welsh sheepdog were toilet trained day and night within two weeks. After fostering adult ex puppy farm dogs I have got pretty good at it though and my two pick things up quick.

The Springador had brilliant recall and basic training all nailed by 9 months but her adolescent period lasted around 1 week and she isn't really interested in other dogs. Her loose lead walking is pretty pants though as the nose is strong with that one.

The Welsh sheepdog took longer for recall in busy environments but we got it okish by 10months Then her first season and adolescence hit and it's now a work in progress but in general I can call her back providing people and dogs are 20m and over away. Not so good with wildlife so she is back on the long line. Her loose lead walking can be brilliant though and alot of my time she walks by my side off lead.

With the first we did three 121s and the second puppy classes. I found the 121s better. I know pay for online training for the sheepdog, dingbatts border collie, as its breed specific and it helps work through her car chasing and movement sensitivity.