Dog training is a constant and continuous process, but if a pet has appeared in your family, the first questions that need to be addressed are how to train a puppy at home and at what age can classes begin?
At what age should you start training your dog?
The first thing you should clarify is at what age the dog came to you. If you got a puppy from a breeder, that’s one thing. In this case, you get a fairly independent, well-mannered dog, with whom you can try to find a common language. But if the addition to your family was unplanned and you plan to keep the puppy, you need to start establishing contact from the first days.
At least from the first days, the dog should understand who is the boss in the house, but this should be done with restraint and care. A puppy is the same child, he wants to play, fool around, and is not ready to strictly follow your instructions. Attempts to teach and raise a puppy like an adult dog will not bring results.
The age at which you can start training depends on the breed and character of the dog. Each has its own temperament, level of intelligence and developmental features. Before 4 weeks, you should try to make friends with the puppy, but no more than that. As for the age for the first training, you can only give an approximate period: from 3 to 16-20 weeks.
Dog training will be faster and more effective with a dog trainer (1-2 lessons per week will be enough), however, you can also train and educate your dog at home.
Preparing for training
Before you start training your dog to follow specific commands, make sure he learns as much as possible about the world around him:
- Meet other representatives of its species. In order for a puppy to become a full-fledged dog, capable of reproducing offspring in the future and taking care of it, acquaintance with “brothers” should happen at a young age. Dogs should never be isolated from other animals.
- Saw not only adults, but also children. If at a young age the puppy does not understand that the child is the same person, then in the future this can lead to problems in their relationship.
- See as many locations as possible, be in different situations. Walk with your puppy not only near your home, but also in forests, parks, and squares. Roughly speaking, the dog should know what other animals, trees, rivers, etc. look like, so that in the future such basic things do not distract it from training.
In other words, the dog needs to be socialized before real training can begin.
Why exactly 3-20 weeks?
There are several factors why it is necessary to start the first serious classes during this period:
- Training is not just a way to teach a dog to follow your instructions. First of all, joint training is an opportunity to begin to understand each other better. You study the dog’s behavioral characteristics, just as it studies yours. The dog begins to understand by gestures and facial expressions when you are pleased with its actions, when you reprimand it, etc. The earlier you establish communication, the easier and more fun it will be in the future.
- Training with a dog will help establish friendly, gentle communication. Each prohibitive command has an alternative: for “no” – “come”, for “no” – “sit”, etc. Ask, how is this? We explain. Of course, the dog should know the prohibitive commands, because situations are different, but if you start training from a young age, you can achieve an amazing effect – the command will tell the dog not what it cannot do, but what it should do in this situation. That is, not to chew your slippers, but to sit next to the owner, for example.
- Training is a kind of stage of the same socialization. During training, you can notice what the dog is afraid of, what it is wary of, and what it pays special attention to.
- It is during this period that the puppy begins to play, which means that the whole process can be turned into entertainment. For example, use favorite toys to practice commands instead of treats, as is done with older dogs. Experienced dog handlers confirm that, for example, “work on the sleeve” depends on how much the dog played in childhood.
Besides, training is a great way to spend time together. If you don’t let your dog’s development take its course, its life will become much more interesting, and you will raise an obedient and diligent dog.
Commands for training
The most popular commands used in dog training are: “Come”, “Place”, “No”, “Give”, “Next to”, “Wait”, “Sit”, “Lie down”, “Fetch”. For learning, you need to take no more than 2 commands at a time. It is recommended to hone skills outside, in the morning, in an open area where there is nothing that could distract the dog’s attention.
The training time depends on the age and perseverance of the dog. For puppies, training lasting 15-20 minutes is optimal; for older dogs, the training can be increased to 30-40 minutes.
When giving the command, be persistent, but at the same time friendly with the dog. Be sure to praise it for its efforts with a treat at first and gradually replace them with petting.
Peculiarities of dog training
Here are a few reasons why you might want to reschedule your workouts:
- Vaccinations. If you live in a big city, the probability that your puppy will “catch” a dangerous infection during walks is quite high. Therefore, before your vaccination sheet is filled with all the necessary records, it is better to refuse active walks and especially training. However, this does not mean that the first lessons cannot be given at home.
- It has been experimentally proven that training methods where the owner uses “mechanics” (presses with his hands, trying to show what pose the dog should take) lead to the dog becoming stupid. Dogs become unmotivated and lose interest in development in the future. So if your pet does not yet show “perseverance” and is not ready for serious training, do not pressure him. Try to gradually instill in the dog an interest in training, for example, by conducting them in the same game form.
Remember that puppies are as impressionable as people. During this period, the dog begins to learn to distinguish between safe and dangerous. If it sees someone hitting the dog for not following a command on the training ground, this can lead to fear of training. So it is better to start training the dog away from a crowd of other dog owners.
Training of adult dogs
A dog, like a person, is capable of learning throughout its life, so you can start training even if your pet is no longer a teenager. You just need to find your own approach to such dogs, choose appropriate training methods, reward methods, etc.