One of the most common questions pet parents have is often regarding how to train a puppy. What is the best way to go about training your puppy ? What do I need to teach him? There are many topics associated with training a puppy including puppy house training and obedience training.
Obedience Training your Puppy
Overall, obedience training is the number one topic when it comes to how to train a puppy. Obedience training as a puppy can prevent many behavior problems for an adult dog. Obedience training lays the foundation and provides a solid form of communication for you and your dog. Effective communication is key when it comes to how to train a puppy.
There are many activities your dog may do which are “normal” to him. Like what, you ask? Well, digging holes in your yard provides an excellent example. This is a behavior you do not want your puppy to do; however, it is an instinctive behavior to him. In order for him to understand that is not okay with you, you must teach him that it is not okay. Chewing on furniture is another problem which pet parents experience. This is also a natural behavior for a puppy. He is teething so his natural reaction is to chew. You must teach your puppy this is not an acceptable behavior.
Housetraining your Puppy
Housetraining can be extremely frustrating to the pet parent. This section will discuss how to train a puppy to use the bathroom in a desired area. Puppies eat quite a bit and as such, they will eliminate quite a bit of matter. Your puppy may or may not have effective bladder and bowel control so it may be difficult for him to make it outside even if he understands. This is why keeping your puppy under watch is extremely important. Many puppies are not fully housetrained until they are about 6 months of age. In order to be effective in your house training, you should reward the puppy for using the bathroom in the correct area, implement a feeding schedule and provide continuous access to the outdoors.
Training a puppy can be rewarding as well as frustrating at times. Training a puppy is often a “rollercoaster” process. You, the pet parent, will have your ups and downs as you train your puppy. Learning how to train a puppy should help you significantly, though. If you are experiencing any problems with training your puppy, contact our pet behavior professional to implement a plan which best suits your puppy.
Find more tips on how to train your puppy here: potty training, puppy clicker training, and crate training. Visit our Behavior and Training Center for more articles on training your dog!
Amber Johnson, Animal Behaviorist
Miss Amber Johnson has many years of experience with pets and is a licensed cat and dog nutrition and behavior specialist. She currently collaborates with PetPremium where she counsels clients in pet behavior and nutrition. The statements made in this article are the personal opinions of Miss Amber Johnson and based on independent experiences and could be different from the opinions of PetPremium Pet health Insurance or any other pet health insurance provider.
