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The Puppy Guide >> Puppy Training >> Obedience Training
Obedience Training
Obedience training will not only ensure you have a well behaved puppy, it will also stimulate your dog mentally and ensure your dog grows up to be happy and confident.
You should start basic obedience training as soon as your puppy has settled in to his/her new home. Puppies, like young children, only have a short attention span, so aim for no more than 5 minutes at a time for obedience training in the early weeks. As your puppy gets older he will be able to concentrate for longer.
As well as training your puppy at home you should look for obedience classes or puppy classes to take him to. This will provide him with a chance to socialise as well as giving you other ideas on training and obedience.
There are some basic principles of obedience training that you can apply to much of the training you will be doing:
- Use lots of treats and praise. Your dog will think 'if I do this, what is in it for me?', so make it worth his while!
- Take small steps in the training. Teach only a few new commands over a period of days and teach little bits at a time.
- Use the same command for the same task and make sure everyone in the household sticks to it. Why not write all the commands down and pin them up somewhere for a reminder.
- When giving a command say it firmly but in a calm tone. Never be cross with your puppy or he will associate the command with getting told off.
- Keep going with an exercise until your puppy gets it right.
- If the puppy gets something wrong say 'uh-oh' or something similar and start the exercise again from the beginning.
- Always try to end training sessions on a positive note. If your puppy is finding something too difficult end with something you know he can do.
- Never punish your puppy in any way, for example by shouting, screaming or hitting.
Sit and Stay
Recall and Down
Common Commands
Behaviours to Discourage
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