Puppy Training Week 1: Transform Your Puppy into a Well-Trained Companion
When is the best time to start training your puppy? Now!!
Puppies may sleep 16-20 hours per day, but when they’re awake it’s a great time to get started on basic training.
Here is the training I worked on with my 8-week-old golden retriever, Emma, during her first week home.
Note: All my training is based on positive reinforcement.
⭐️ If you’re looking for more training tips for your puppy, we compiled all our training videos and guides for puppy parents into an app. The best part is it is completely FREE! The Puppy Training Program includes:
Before Getting Your Puppy. The most important things to do in order to prepare for this new addition to your family.
After Getting Your Puppy. A four-week program to build a solid training foundation.
Resources. Additional guides about our most asked topics, such as potty training, crate training, and puppy biting.
Topics this Week
1. Attention
2. Sit
3. The name game
4. Coming when called
5. Desensitization
6. Socialization
7. Puppy biting
Before you start
Grab Some Treats
I mostly use Emma’s food as “treats” the first week. I measure out her food in the morning and give it to her in three small meals throughout the day.
🔸 Read more about how I picked the right food for Emma.
Grab a Training Clicker
Clickers are a part of positive reinforcement training and are an excellent tool to help MARK the behavior you are looking for. It is a way to communicate with your dog in a clear and consistent manner.
When training with Emma, I click when she performs the desired behavior. Emma will quickly learn that a click means a reward is coming.
Teaching Attention
I am looking for Emma to give me voluntary attention. This takes patience and waiting for her to turn her head toward me.
As soon as I see Emma giving me eye contact, I MARK (click) & REWARD her with a treat.
Likely she will look away at something else, and when I catch her looking back at me, I MARK & REWARD.
I repeated the attention game in short sessions, only 4-5 times. Emma is starting to learn that looking at me brings yummy treats.
🔸 Note: I did not make a sound or entice her to look at me. The idea is to reward your puppy when they voluntarily choose to look at you.
2. Sit
This week I used a treat to lure Emma into a sit position.
I move a treat from her nose, straight back over her head. She should naturally follow the treat with her eyes and body backward and naturally sit down.
You know the drill by now, as SOON AS their bottom hits the floor - MARK & REWARD.
3. The Name Game
I was mindful this week to limit how often I said “Emma.”
If I was inside with limited distraction, I would wait until she wasn’t looking at me.
In a very upbeat tone, I said, “Emma!”
As soon as she turned to look at me, MARK & REWARD.
🔸 You’re looking for them to be successful and look at you when you say their name, so only say their name if you think there is a good chance they will look at you.
🔸 If you do not have a clicker, choose a short word to mark the desired behavior. I use, “Yes!”
4. Coming When Called
Like most training this week, I taught Emma the command “come” when in an area of low distractions.
I turned my body sideways and started moving away from Emma. Clapping and running away is a pretty solid way to get a puppy to want to chase you.
I would reinforce her movement with a “yes!” or some form of verbal praise as soon as she started moving toward me.
After going a few feet away, I would let her catch me and REWARD her with treats.
🔸 Be mindful of when you are calling your dog. For example, I wouldn’t ask Emma to come if she was distracted by Ellie or playing tug with her favorite toy.
5. Desensitization
Handling
I watched how Emma reacted with the goal for her to remain calm and relaxed. In addition, I give Emma pieces of her food during the tasks to make it a positive experience. Handling desensitization tasks include:
Touch her tail
Check her ears
Handling her toenails
Examing her gums and teeth
Holding her in different positions
Holding her on her back while giving her a belly rub
Environment
I wanted to start exposing Emma to various sounds and experiences at a low level so that she does not become reactive. I live in an urban area, so she needs to be comfortable hearing the sounds of the city.
The first week she naturally heard:
Firetrucks
Ambulance
Fireworks
Street noise
Airplanes
I made an effort to expose her to other noises, such as:
Pots and pans
Vacuum
Blender
Alarms
6. Puppy Socialization
Take your puppy to classes where they will have free play to interact with other puppies. Your puppy will need to have their first round of vaccinations.
Read more about puppy socialization in our blog.
These classes will help target puppy mouthing, bite inhibition, and puppy manners.
During Emma’s first week home, we went to:
Puppy class
Puppy party (puppy socialization hour)
Beer garden (being held)
Veterinary appointment
Walks around the neighborhood while held
Quick trips in the car
7. Puppy Biting
🦈 Emma has shark teeth, aka razor-sharp teeth that want to latch on to anything and everything around her, including your hands and clothing. I spend a lot of the week playing defense.
To avoid her teeth from catching me, I had a soft toy which is a more appropriate option for her to dig her teeth into. Long fleece tug toys are great because they allow plenty of space between the shark teeth and my hands.
🔸 Long toys are especially helpful if you have kids that will be playing with your puppy.
🔸 I would recommend avoiding rope toys at this point because they are hard to sink teeth into, and they may avoid the toy and keep trying to go for you instead!
Pro Tips
⭐️ Pro Tip #1: Keep each training session short & sweet.
3-5 minutes at a time.
⭐️ Pro Tip #2: Have a Pizza Party
Puppies are exhausting!!! Training is hard work. Rewarding your time and effort is important, so grab your favorite meal and celebrate all your hard work.
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