Puppies are very cute and irresistible and it can be really hard sometimes to say ‘no’ to them and really easy to give in to them – just this once! However, you want that cute, adorable puppy to grow up into a controlled, well behaved dog then you do need to say ‘no’ and you need to discipline him right from the start.

It doesn’t matter what age you get your puppy you can start training him straight away. Puppies usually join their new homes at around eight to ten weeks of age and this is a great age to start training that adorable little puppy.

Keep the sessions short and relaxed and don’t have too many expectations at first. Training will take time and it will be more effective if you make your training sessions fun and your puppy will be able to trust you.

Teaching Your Puppy His Name

Your puppy needs to know his name and be responding to his name before you commence any other training. Your training will not be effective if he doesn’t yet know his name.

Teaching the ‘sit’ command

The ‘sit’ command is usually one of the first taught and can be taught quite early. Start by giving him the ‘sit’ command and as you do so gently push down on his rump to place him in the sit position. You may need to do this a few times until he understands what the command means. When he sits, then give him a reward, either a food reward or lots of praise. You MUST let him know that he had done what you wanted him to do. It is good to use food rewards some times and praise reward other times. It shouldn’t take too long for your puppy to learn the sit command.

Introducing The Leash

Your puppy will not know what you are attaching to him when you first attach the lead to his collar. So the first time you do so, don’t expect too much from him. Attach the lead to his collar and just let him wander around and get himself comfortable with it.
Once he is comfortable with the lead then you can start encouraging him to walk next to you in the heel position. Use food rewards to encourage your puppy to heel. Only have short sessions as your puppy will tire quickly so keep the sessions to just a few minutes each and gradually increase this time as they puppy gets older.

The most important points to remember for training your puppy is to be patient and consistent and give that adorable little puppy dog lots of praise and love and don’t expect too much too soon.