What is Puppy Training?
Teaching Your Puppy 5 Basic Command – Puppy training is a great activity between the owner and the puppy. It can be a lifelong bonding experience. If you take your puppy training seriously, you’ll be much happier with a well-trained dog in a later period. With puppy training, a puppy can learn the basic life skill to be more comfortable and confident enough as a pet to enjoy several interactions within its environments including other animals, humans, places, and many activities. Through training, a puppy can communicate within its society and expose to a variety of new things such as new peoples, unknown places, noises, and smells.
It is recommended to begin very simple puppy training as soon as they come home, usually around 7 weeks old. The training sessions require to keep short—just 5 to 10 minutes—and always end with a positive treat. It requires a lot of patience during this training. Your puppy may face some trouble in learning a new behavior. You can encourage him by giving plenty of praise and a big reward for his success. Boredom can destroy his learning interest. Harsh training must need to be avoided.
Teaching Your Puppy 5 Basic Command
1. Come
The first and most important command during a puppy training program is “come”. This session begins by recalling your puppy by his name or the word “come”. Each time you say “come/name,” give him praise or reward. This is a very easy training. Just repeat this word and give him a treat every time.
2. Walk
In the second phase of obedience training, use the word “heel” or “forward” to command your puppy for walking beside you. Heel means the dog is walking on your left or right side with his head at the level of your knee while you hold the leash loosely. First, make sure your puppy is comfortable while wearing a leash. Be consistent and always use the same word. If the puppy makes a positive response, continue giving treats to your puppy at the level of your knee or hip as you walk forward.
3. Sit
There are two different methods to show your puppy about how to “sit”. The first method is known as “capturing”. During this process, stand in front of your puppy and hold some dog food or treats and wait for him to sit. After then, say “yes” and give him the food. The next option is “luring”. You have to get down in front of your puppy by holding a treat as a lure. Just put the treat right in front of the puppy nose, then slowly lift the food above his head. This will allow him to sit.
4. Stay
Before starting training with the word “stay”, teach your puppy about release word. Teach them to move their feet when you release the cue. When your puppy knows the release cue and how to sit on cue, put him in a sit, turn and face him, and give him a treat. Now stop! And give him another treat when he stays in a sit and then releases him. Repeat this process several times with positive reward every time.
5. Lay down
The last command “lay down” is very much similar to “sit”. Wait till your dog lies down and capture the behavior by reinforcing your dog with a treat when he lies down. Always give a positive reward when he lay back. This can also do by the luring process. You can hold a treat right in front of the pup’s nose and lure a down from a sit or stand to the dog’s nose and slowly bringing the treat to the floor. Just like other commands, end every session with a positive reward every time.
Finally, these 5 basic commands will help your puppy by giving a sound foundation for any future training. This training will make your puppy more playful and friendly and help them to build a positive attitude with the owners and their families.
