How old for puppy training?

The question: "How old for puppy training?" is often asked by new puppy owners, especially first time puppy owners.

Normally when someone asks that question, he is actually asking "how old should my be puppy be to be taken to a dog training school?" Most dog training schools also offer puppy classes and puppy can be taken to puppy class as soon as it had all its vaccination injections. The age would normally be around 10 weeks. Dog obedience training classes, which normally start with a 8 week basic obedience course, are more for puppies and dogs from 6 months and older.

But to get back to the original question: "How old for puppy training?"; most professional dog trainers would agree that a puppy should not be taken away from its mother before he is 8 weeks old. Many dog breeders (not the responsible one's) give the puppies away when they are only 6 weeks old. Whatever the age when you receive the puppy, puppy obedience training should start the moment the puppy enters your house. Training a 6 week old puppy or a 8 week old puppy, should resemble the way the mother dog would train the puppy.

The mother dog would for example growl at the puppy when he bites her too hard. She would growl and if necessary grab the puppy's mouth with her mouth (without hurting it) when she does not agree with the pup's behavior. We would learn much about dog training if we would tale the time to sit sit down and observe how a mother dog trains her pups. Many of the behavior problems that we face would not even have started if we copied the mother dog.

So apart from teaching the puppy some ground rules like not biting, the puppy should undergo toilet training, but mostly a new puppy owner should focus on bonding and playing with the puppy. Consistency is very important from the very start.

Happy training!

Dog Problems and Solutions

House training
Probably the number one problem puppy owners have to deal with is house training.

I hear these questions every day:

• How to I get my puppy to go outside?
• My puppy messes in the house, what should I do?
• House training 11 month male dog?
• House training a dog in cold weather?
• Please give me advice on puppy toilet training?
  

I have written and posted an article: How to house train a dog - easy steps.
The keywords are patience and consistency.

Stop Leash Pulling
This is probably the second most asked question:

• How can I teach my dog not to pull on his leash when I take him for a walk?
• How to break dog from pulling on leash?
• How to stop a boxer from pulling on a leash?

Read my article: Don't let Fido pull you.
Here I would really advise you to start early. Do not let your dog even come into the habit of pulling you, especially if it is a strong large breed. Again be patient and consistent.

Do not give in!

Dog Barking

Another question that I'm often asked goes like this:

• My dog barks all night, why?
• My dog barks at the ceiling, how can I stop that?
• My dog barks in the morning to wake us, what can I do?
• Dog barks while I'm gone, what must I do?
• My dog barks at people in hats, why?
• My Australian Cattle dog barks at husband, is the dog jealous?

All these and many more are questions I hear regularly. Most barking is because the dog seeks your attention, and it mostly works for him and that is why he will continue to do so. Read my article Stop the Barking.