Puppy Obedience

Puppy obedience can begin with three simple commands; Sit, Down, and Come. You can begin teaching these basic commands to your puppy at the age of 2 months. Their attention span at this age is minimal, so keep it short to about 5 minutes a day.

Although it is only 5 minutes, it should be a quiet time with no distractions.

Your puppy needs to focus on you and what you want her to do, and vice versa. Indoors would be the best place, that way you don't have to worry about a bird landing in the yard, or, if you got em, a neighbor coming over to see what's going on.

Now, you have potty training, early socialization, exercising, grooming, and puppy obedience training, so busy, but you can do it. Be consistent and patient, it will pay off in the long run because a well trained dog is a happy dog. When you begin obedience training at 5 minutes a day, don't set a specific time, mix it up, after all, she will need to learn and adhere to any of these commands at any given time.

The most basic command is sit. Sit to brush her teeth, sit to clean her ears, and sit before you put on her leash and head out the door. Get the idea? As she gets older she will be able to hold that command a little longer, until you release her.

Teaching "SIT" With Treat/ Reward

• While your puppy is in the standing position, hold a treat just above her nose, say "Sit" and slowly move it backward over her head.
• When she follows the treat she will automatically put her bottom down and sit. This may take a few seconds, but when she does, give her the treat immediately while she is in the sitting position.
• If she does not sit, say she backs away, don't say anything, and don't give her a treat, simply wait a few seconds and try again.
• Don't force her bottom down, otherwise she will expect you to do that every time when you say sit, and that's not what you want.
• Once she gets the idea, keep repeating, each time she sits, give her a treat/reward, and some verbal praise.
• If she doesn't sit, after a couple attempts, don't get angry or frustrated because your puppy will sense this and she may loose interest. All you need to do is not give her a treat, and try another time or day. Sooner or later she will realize that in order to get the treat, she will have to sit.

One word is best, and that word is, you guessed it, SIT. Don't say, sit sit, sit down, c'mon sit, sit now, or whatever.

DOWN

Think of the future when training your puppy to be obedient. One day you may invite some friends over to play a friendly game of Texas Hold-em, and your dog, who is much older now, wants to get in on the game by jumping up on you to see what's happening. Teaching the command down as part of puppy obedience would be a good thing in this case.

Teaching "Down" With Treat/Reward

• With a treat in your hand, hold it to her nose and say, "Down" while moving your hand down to the middle of her two front paws.
• She should automatically lie down as she follows the treat. When she does, give her the treat/reward immediately, while she is in the down position.
• After you give her the treat/ reward, you can praise her and give her a few hugs, thus releasing her from the down position.

COME

Puppy obedience training starts early for a good reason. Not only is it good to form that ever important bond that you need between you and your pup, but it is also important to keep her safe.

When training, your puppy learns to trust you, and does what you say, to please you. That is probably why the dog is man's best friend.Return the friendship, and teach her the command, Come.

This command should keep her safe and away from any harm or danger that she may encounter. You may also want to use this command to keep other people and other pets safe and away from any harm that your dog might do to them, if she sees them as a threat.

Keeping your dog on a leash at all times is best, but, at some point in time, you will also learn to trust your dog and have her off leash, sometimes, somewhere.

Teaching "Come" With Treat/Reward

• You will need another person for this command. The other person will hold your puppy, and you will call your puppy to come to you.
• Your puppy will need a collar and leash.
• Remember indoors, quiet, no distractions, and the 5 minute rule of puppy obedience training.
• Have the other person hold your puppy on leash. You then show her the treat/reward and back-up about 6 feet, making sure that she can see the treat. Stop at 6 feet and say, "Come Puppy". If she comes, give her the treat/reward and praise.
• Repeat if she gets it the first time. You can make the distance a little further each time.
• If she has a hard time with this command, you can nudge her on by pulling her towards you with the leash, say,"Come Puppy" while showing her the treat/reward.
• Be patient, puppy obedience training takes time, and some puppies take awhile to learn.

Puppy obedience training should start early and should be done daily. They grow up very fast and time does fly by. As your puppy matures, the 5 minute rule can be increased to 10 minutes. You will get to know your dog's "dogonality" and pinpoint the times that she is attentive to you and the training exercise.

Once you begin training, it doesn't end, train everyday, regardless of age, from a young puppy to that older and wiser dog. As time goes by, you'll see that it's our dogs, that teach us about ourselves.

Have Fun!

Want to learn more training techniques by watching and listening? Dove Cresswell a Professional Hollywood North Dog Trainer, has developed a great way to help anyone that wants to train puppy obedience or dog commands. All I ask is that you simply check it out, as Dove says, "I'm not pulling your leash."

• Dog Obedience Training
• Good Puppy & Dog Manners
• Walking Politely on a Leash: The Informal Heel
• Good Puppy & Dog Manners
• Special Dog Tricks
• Plus a lot more....

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