Month: September 2021

Categories
Training

Training for puppies: how best to start?

As soon as a little dog becomes a new member of the family, we start thinking about its training. Of course, we want only the best for the little one! But where to start?

Where do I start when training a puppy?

Contrary to what you might think, your puppy’s training starts as soon as he moves in with you. This is because puppies need a clear structure to which they must gradually become accustomed. You can start, for example, with housetraining. Before you pick up your puppy from the breeder, it is important that you think about where your puppy will do its business in the future. Even before your puppy gets to know its new home, it will immediately go to this valid peeing place – so that the first mishap is already avoided. From this point on, it is best to take your puppy to this wee-wee spot every 1.5 to 2 hours.

You can also playfully teach your puppy some rules on the first day. Puppies learn bite inhibition easily by stopping play with your dog whenever he uses his milk teeth too much. You can learn more about bite inhibition here.

Of particular importance is learning to rest. Puppies need up to 20 hours of sleep a day! Therefore, before your puppy arrives, set up a sleeping area that is in a quiet, yet central location. Put a chew item on this place to attract your puppy to this place in a very casual way.

Socialization

The socialization of your puppy begins at the breeder with the opening of the eyes. From this point on, your dog will be presented with a variety of stimuli over and over again to prepare him for life at your side. When your puppy comes to you at about 10 weeks, it is up to you to continue this important stage of development. Present your puppy with different stimuli that are important in everyday life. Maybe you take him on a short car ride, introduce him to other dogs, walk near a playground to show him that there are also small, loud, and yelling people, or let him watch a construction site from a distance.

For the socialization of your dog, you have approximately until the 12th-14th week of life. During this time, it is important to present your dog with stimuli that are as varied as possible, but do not overtax him! Always think of enough breaks and rest periods (20h sleep!).

The right communication

Also, interspecies communication wants to be learned on both sides. Study your dog’s expressive behavior and try to understand it. In turn, you can help your dog actively interact with you. In manding, your dog learns to communicate and actively ask for attention through a specific behavior, such as a sit. The social communication between you and your dog is largely responsible for your subsequent human-dog bond. Therefore, we advise you to invest extra time in this area. In our app, you will learn how to improve communication with your dog and will be guided step by step.

Basic Training

Of course, you can already train some basic commands with your dog. The most important basic commands include:

  • Sit
  • Down
  • Box or basket
  • recall
  • Leash leadership
  • No (abort command)

These commands can and should be integrated playfully into the daily routine at the beginning. So your dog can practice sit and down just before food is served. You can use the stop command at the latest when something falls down in the kitchen (you are allowed to do this consciously) and recall and leash handling can easily be integrated during play. For the box or basket training, we advise you to start slowly and not to train for more than 5 minutes. It’s best to have a little snack waiting in the basket or dog crate every now and then, so your dog learns that this place is definitely worth a visit.

For more tips and tricks on how to get started with dog training, check out our app!

We wish you lots of fun with your dog

Your Pupy Team

Categories
Training

The basics of dog training

What is important in dog training?

Every new dog owner wants a well-trained dog with whom you can have lots of fun, experience great things, and have a loyal companion by your side. For this, there is no way around good dog training. The question of how you train your dog is of particular importance. Because no matter what you would like to teach your dog, the way you do it determines how successful and sustainable your education is.

How do I train my dog?

You must start educating your dog as early as possible. In the best case scenario, your breeder or the caretakers at the shelter or foster home have already done a great job that you can build on for the next few weeks.

There are 4 things your dog should learn in the first few weeks with you:

  1. communication
  2. everyday suitability (housetraining, recall, leash walking, basket or box training, staying alone)
  3. social behavior
  4. problem solving behavior

Communication

Dogs are social animals and like to communicate. To encourage this in a controlled way, you can capture certain behaviors in your dog by rewarding them, such as eye contact. If your dog looks at you, it’s best to reward this behavior with something that motivates your dog, such as food, toys, or social interaction. When dogs learn how to communicate early, it can have a particularly positive effect on their social behavior and cognition.

Of course, as a dog owner, you must also learn how to communicate with your dog. Since dogs communicate physically to a large extent, it’s important to learn and use this type of communication when raising your dog. For example, preemptive gestures can body language your dog or lean back can invite your dog to come to you.

Everyday skills

Certain basic commands are important for your dog to be able to handle everyday life with you in a relaxed manner. The first of these is housetraining. You should immediately after your puppy has moved in, go out with him regularly, about every 1-2 hours, so you avoid mishaps and your puppy quickly learns his new place for the large and small business. If a mishap does happen, clean it up without comment and clean the area with an odor remover.

Recall and leash leadership can also be practiced playfully by practicing them again and again during play or the small walk. Likewise, you can accustom your dog to his basket or dog box with small surprises in the form of food and gradually make progress there.

However, you mustn’t overtax your puppy at any time. Integrate the things into your daily routine in such a way that you yourself do not have any stress and practice rather only 2-5 minutes and build it for it more frequently into your daily routine.

Socialization

Also, the contact with other dogs, different people, children, and inanimate things must be learned and must take place during the first 14 weeks and at best be repeated between the 4-6 months. It is not about that your dog has to play with all dogs because playing works best with people of the same age, care should be taken that your dog can collect and store many different experiences.

Examples:

  • A car while stationary and moving.
  • Construction site noise.
  • Children of different ages.
  • Umbrellas (open/closed/when it rains).
  • Things falling down in the household.
  • Streetcars, buses, train station
  • Riding in the car
  • Large and small dogs with floppy ears/short hair/long hair/without tail/with tail/flat nose/long nose etc.
  • Bridges
  • Garbage cans, garbage collection vehicles
  • etc.

Problem Solving Behavior

Dogs experience stress, anxiety, and fear all the time in their lives. For them to cope with these conditions, they must learn to recover from them quickly. This is best accomplished when your breeder has already begun to lovingly tease the little puppies with little stress ears over and over again. If your dog is already at home with you, you can, for example, set him small solvable tasks, before which he is a little scared at first, but which he overcomes with your encouragement. You can find such exercises in the different categories of our app, please have a look at the category “Puppy training”.

How long can you train your dog?

How long it takes to train a dog varies somewhat depending on the dog’s personality. What is certain, however, is that you should definitely have completed your dog’s socialization by the end of the sensitive phase (around 3-14 weeks). Repetition between 4-6 months is also important, as this is the time when various links in the brain are erased and others are further strengthened.

After puberty, your dog is still capable of learning new things and he should continue to be mentally stimulated. However, behaviors will not be as permanently stored as they are during the time your dog is being raised in the first 12-14 weeks.

Do you want to lay the foundation for your dog’s training? Then download our app now.