Puppy Training

Puppies are very cute and make a great addition to the family household. Many people who have had dogs before often get a puppy. In every case we hear them say "I forgot how much work a puppy was".

When it comes to puppy training, what things do you need to know? There are many common mistakes we see made with puppy training that turn into life long problems.

First and foremost with puppy training is potty training. Many people give their puppy the whole free range of the house when they first get them. To make your puppy training easy here are some things you should follow:

Whenever the puppy is out always keep an eye on the dog. If you are unable to watch your puppy put them in a kennel or exercise pen where they can't get into trouble. This will make puppy training much easier and you will eliminate problems.
Have scheduled feeding times so you can regulate when your puppy has to have potty breaks.
Take your puppy out often to go to the bathroom and reward them for going potty outside with praise or a very small treat. Give your puppy time to play after going potty before bringing them in or else your puppy will learn to "hold it" when going oustide.
Give supervised playtime when back in the house.
Use a bell to teach your puppy to ask for outside. You can buy special dog bells that your puppy can ring to go outside.
Just remember when you are puppy training make sure there is no free range with complete run of the house unsupervised. Even supervised is a bad idea as your puppy is likely to find things to get into. Give your puppy something constructive to do and find ways to tire out your puppy. A tired puppy is a good puppy and this will make your puppy training much easier.

For help with training your puppy contact a Calgary Dog Trainer to get you set up on a plan for success.