The Importance Of Puppy Training

Puppy Training Tips and Guide

While preventing your puppy getting into trouble is essential, it's also an idea to teach him some good habits. A few things you need to tackle from day one, both good and bad, are:

house-training (teaching the puppy where to relieve himself) chewing play-biting (biting your hands or feet during play) jumping up at people

House Training a Puppy

House-training can be challenging because you are dealing with an animal that can't control his bladder and intestines until five to seven months of age. However, if training is effective, your puppy can learn to relieve himself in the right place even if he can't always control himself. There are times when your puppy is most likely to seek relief. These are:

as soon

I recommend a cage, but you may prefer a playpen. However, caging your puppy for longer than two to three hours isn't advisable. Cage-train your puppy before using the cage as a house-training aid. Begin by allowing the puppy to investigate the cage, at will. Leave the cage door wide open so that the puppy doesn't run the risk of having it shut on him during his exploits. Let him take a few steps towards the cage, sniff it and go inside if he chooses. Reward him for investigating the cage without being fearful of it. Once the puppy has investigated the cage, encourage him to go inside. Do this by placing a food treat inside the cage, but near the front. Allow the puppy to get the food treat and toss another treat a bit further in and allow the puppy to get that one, too. Gradually toss the food treats farther until you are tossing them right into the back of the cage. At this point, toss four or five treats at once so that they scatter and the puppy needs to stay longer inside the cage to get them. Proceed by closing the cage door, with the puppy inside it, and open it a few seconds later. Gradually increase the time during which the puppy remains inside with the door closed. When you increase the time, place a chew-toy inside the cage so the puppy has something to keep him entertained. This cage-training process is important because under no

Have some puppy training pads scattered around so he can easily access them.

Teaching a Puppy Not to Chew

Just as toddlers go through a stage of picking up all sorts of objects and putting them in their mouth, puppies also explore their surroundings in this way. Furthermore, they need to chew and tear. Unless taught what can and can't be chewed, everything is a chew toy - it makes no difference to your puppy if he chews on a rubber bone or your Persian carpet.

Your life will be simpler and the puppy will learn faster if you keep personal items out of reach, and have plenty of toys scattered around. This way, if your puppy starts chewing something he shouldn't, you can redirect his attention to one of his toys. But be careful . . . if your puppy gets hold of your shoe, starts chewing, and you give him a toy in the hope that he'll let go of the shoe, you're rewarding him with a toy for having chewed on your shoe. It's better to interrupt the shoe-chewing with a sound such as a hand clap, make a pause of about three seconds, and then give the puppy a toy. That three second pause is long enough for him to learn he's not being rewarded for having chewed on your