Bringing a new puppy home is an exciting journey filled with playful moments and learning opportunities. However, it also comes with a lot of responsibility and patience as you work to guide your puppy into becoming a well-behaved dog. Setting a strong foundation early on will make training easier and help your puppy feel secure and motivated to learn. Whether you're a first-time puppy owner or just looking for fresh tips, these tips will help you raise a confident, well-mannered dog from day one.
Leashes and Collars
Your new puppy will need to get used to wearing a collar and walking on a leash. While we don't have any expectations for them as far as standards for obedience, we will eventually so we want to desensitize them to wearing equipment early on. They will most likely scratch at the collar. This is normal because it's new and it feels funny on their neck. When wearing a leash, don't drag them towards things they're hesitant about. This will instinctually make them want to resist or fight it. Encourage the dog to move with verbal praise and use treats if you need to.
Toys
At a young age your puppy will not destroy toys like stuffed animals, but that won't last long. We recommend using toys that will not destroy quickly; this will be easier on your wallet in the long run, and safer for your dog! Brands like Nylabone, Starmark, WestPaw, Kong, and JW are brands that last that dogs enjoy. The Starmark "chewball" is a favourite for many dogs. I tend to discourage rawhides and tennis balls as they can be dangerous for dogs if ingested. Tug toys can be fun to play with but most can be easily destroyed and ingested if you leave them with your dog alone. We recommend having a tug toy that you only bring out for play time.
Playing Tug With Your Dog
You may hear various opinions about playing tug with your dog. Some say it will make your dog aggressive or they may mistake someone's arm for a toy and bite it in the same way. These are myths! Many dogs have the desire to play tug and it's a great outlet for their energy and drive to play. This comes from having prey drive. If you don't give them the proper outlet, dogs will make their own outlet, usually the wrong one. Dogs also have food drive. We wouldn't deprive them of it, and giving them food doesn't make it worse. In fact, just the opposite; if we deprived them of food, they would try and find food in ways we don't like, such as counter surfing and garbage eating.
If they learn to take their energy and excitement out on toys, that can help stop things like mouthing, jumping, etc.
Freedom
It's important to not give your puppy too much freedom. The more freedom they have, the more chances they will have to do something wrong. It's much easier to avoid wrong behaviours than it is to fix them, and puppies are extremely curious at a young age.
As an example, if the garbage can is out of reach and your dog doesn't know that it's full of fun smells and treats, then they will likely not bother the trash as they get older.
Keep an eye on your puppy! You can let them drag a leash around to guide them away from things that you don't want them to get in to. If you can't watch your puppy, they should be away either in a crate or an exercise pen.
Positive Reinforcement and Motivational Obedience
We are very good at pointing out things we do not like our dog to do. Some dogs may even think their nickname is "no". While it's necessary to correct unwanted behaviour, it's more important to reward the behaviours that we like. A lack of reward for these behaviours can be the biggest reason dogs will perform unwanted behaviours for attention or reinforcement, even if that attention is negative. If they don't know what will get them treats and praise, how can they offer it?
You can start some motivational obedience as soon as you get your puppy. Dogs are quick to learn, especially if they are working for something they really like. Just keep the sessions short and only practice one or two commands at a time, keeping your expectations low until they get a bit older and more experienced with the training.
Teaching a Recall
The best thing you can do to start a dog's recall (or "come" command) is to use it when you don't need it! One thing that we are good at is demanding our dogs to come to us when they are doing something wrong or when we want to take them inside, put them in crates, etc. Why would they come to us if the fun ends? It makes sense when we think about it, yet we are still very quick to get upset with them when they don't come. If we make the recall command something fun, they will have the desire to respond properly to the commands. As an example, while puppy is just hanging out in the house, not too heavily distracted, call them in an excited manner and reward them with a yummy treat, and then let them go back to doing whatever they want. If we create that habit and fun mindset for them, the chance of them coming when we really want or need them to will be so much greater.
Check out our article on socialization for more information on building a confident and happy puppy!
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