14 Preliminary Training
Description
This article is from the Your New Puppy FAQ, by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
14 Preliminary Training
It is essential for every dog, no matter how big, or small, or whether
you want to show, or work, or just play with, to have basic obedience
training. If you want to go beyond the basics, that's great. But at
least do the basics. One way to think of it is that without basic
obedience, you and the dog don't speak the same language so how can
you communicate? But with basic obedience, you can tell the dog what
you want it to do and it will understand you and do it. Another way to
think of it is getting your dog to be a Good Citizen: it doesn't jump
on people, or run off, or indulge in other obnoxious behaviors --
because it knows what you expect of it.
Obedience classes
Find a good class and attend it. Many places have puppy kindergarten
classes; this also helps socialize your puppy. Do 10 minute training
sessions every day. And if you like it, keep going. You'd be amazed at
all the activities you can do with your dog once you and the dog learn
the basics! Training is fun and simple if approached that way. Enjoy
it!
Around the house
Puppies can be started far earlier than many people believe. In fact,
waiting until your pup is 6 months old to start training it is VERY
late, and will be the cause of a LOT of problems. Start right away
with basic behavior: use simple, sharp "no's" to discourage chewing
hands or fingers, jumping on people, and many other behaviors that are
cute in puppies but annoying when full grown. Don't be severe about
it, and praise the puppy *immediately* when it stops. Tie the puppy
down in sight of people eating dinner to prevent begging and nosing
for food (if you put it in another room, it will feel ostracized and
begin to cry). If your puppy bites and scratches you when playing,
give it a toy instead. Give a good, loud *yelp* or *ouch* when the
puppy bites you. This is how the other puppies in the litter let each
other know when they have crossed the line, and it is a good way to
get the puppy's attention and let it know that biting is not
acceptable.
The other side of the coin is immediate praise when your puppy stops
after a "no". You may feel like this is engaging in wild mood swings
(and you may well get odd looks from other people); that's all right.
You're making your wishes crystal clear to the puppy. It also needs
positive as well as negative reinforcement: how would you respond if
people only ever yelled at you when you did something wrong?
Introduce things in a fun way without "corrections" just to lay a
foundation for formal training later on. Formal training, demanding or
exact, is not appropriate at this stage. Instead, concentrate on
general behavior, getting its attention, introducing things that will
be important later in a fun way, and some other preliminary things,
such as discouraging it from lagging or forging on the leash (but not
making it heel!). In sum, lay a good foundation for its future
development and behavior.
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