The Importance of Puppy Obedience

Puppy obedience should start early on in the whelping box. The breeder who you bought the puppy from could have begun basic puppy obedience training already.

Puppies, according to studies, are not ready for any training until at least three weeks of age. They are not aware of anything else except for their mom, food, and sleep. During this period, puppy elimination is done by reflex, but they change around the 21st to 28th day of puppy life as they begin to leave the blanket and search for a place to eliminate. Now, dogs begin to gain an awareness of the environment surrounding them, and to respond more directly to external stimuli. Now is the time to make great strides in a puppy’s mannerisms and behavior.

Getting Puppies Started with Encouragement

When you want your pet to do the right thing, the best thing to do is to not use punishment as a form of readiness. Positive reinforcement and treats work best of all. Saying “no” and holding your hand in front of the puppy are the only acceptable methods of negative reinforcement. You should not hit or otherwise hurt a puppy as it is counterproductive.

Puppies should receive positive affection and praises each and every time they correctly respond to a command. Puppies rely on love, praise and reward to keep them engaged in a training regimen. When your dog has executed a command properly given a praise soon after will help teach them the fun and rewards from being obedient. Good feedback and rewards are the surest path to puppy obedience. Praises and treats, when used as positive reinforcement, can enhance the training and encourage the puppy to respond to your commands.

Persistence Mixed with Great Timing

While puppy training, you should keep in mind that timing is everything. Your movements, actions, and corrections are related to the puppy’s ability to understand the lessons and trainings taught to him. It is important for puppies to learn that corrections are given for the action or behavior that is expected from him.

For instance, a puppy who chews on a toy in a different room may not respond to the command “come,” and unless it is reinforced, he will not learn to obey it.But if the puppy is told to “come” under controlled situations, like when he’s on a leash and is gently pulled toward the trainer then praised, he will find out that “come” means that he should head for the trainer and that it will also bring in the goodies.

While instilling puppy obedience training on your pet, keep it simple and do easy exercises one at a time. This will be a much simpler concept for the puppy rather than trying to teach them the whole exercise in a single session. Be patient and always allow for positive reinforcement so that your puppy will learn to obey your commands though slowly, yet surely.