Teaching puppies commands: you have to keep this in mind

A puppy moves in with you and he has to get used to his new surroundings and new family members. At the same time, it is important that he quickly recognizes what he is allowed and what is not. Therefore, you should start training immediately. Initial commands such as "No" can be very helpful for this. First of all, you should give the young dog some rest so that it can process the separation from its littermates and give it a sense of security and security.

Contents

• The first puppy commands - golden rules

• Teaching puppies commands: It all depends on the right timing!

• Teaching Puppy Commands: Types of Rewards

• Puppy Commands: The dog's name isn't one of them

The first puppy commands - golden rules

It is important for learning commands that you have the dog's full attention.

Golden Rules:

• He shouldn't be tired or exhausted, and shouldn't be distracted by other things during training. For this reason, it is advisable to practice the first commands with your dog indoors in an undisturbed place.
• Also, be careful not to overwhelm the young dog so that it doesn't build up frustration during training and lose motivation later.
• Short training sessions of five minutes several times throughout the day are ideal.
• Also, be careful not to be too strict with the dog. Learning commands should be fun for your dog and make him feel good when he's doing something right.
• Always end the training with a sense of achievement and then give your four-legged friend a rest. So he can process what he has learned.

The first commands that you should gradually teach your little companion are "come", "sit", "down" and "stay". If your puppy masters these commands, the commands will make your everyday life with the dog much easier. If you start teaching your puppy commands right after the acclimatization period, you have the advantage that he is still in the socialization phase at this point. Read more about this in the guide “ Socialize your dog ”.

Teaching puppies commands: It all depends on the right timing!

When training your dog, you usually work with the principle of reward and ignore. This means that desirable behavior is rewarded and undesirable behavior is ignored. You only have two seconds to positively confirm a desired behavior from your dog or to correctly carry out a command. Only immediately after the action in question can the dog associate the reward or praise with the action previously performed. The same applies vice versa. For example, when playing, there is a short abort if the dog gets too wild or bites too hard. If you react just a moment too late, the dog will not understand why he is being rewarded or ignored. For this reason, correct timing is essential. So that your puppy is not overwhelmed,

Teaching Puppy Commands: Types of Rewards

It's common practice to use treats for the first few training sessions—the kind of food your dog really craves. If you give treats as a reward, it's important that you subtract the extra portions from the total ration to avoid overfeeding your dog. Other types of rewards can be praise or a little play with a favorite toy. Find out for yourself what your dog likes as a reward and vary the types of reward so that your four-legged friend is always curious about what awaits him after a correctly executed command. Once your dog has mastered a command, you should stop praising him every time you perform it. However, he should be rewarded from time to time, because this keeps the motivation up.

Puppy Commands: The dog's name isn't one of them

One of the most common mistakes in dog training is using the dog's name as a command. Your puppy's name should always just tell him, "Hey, it's you, watch what I'm about to tell you or what you're about to do!" is always linked to a command that is then to be carried out: You say the name of your dog, the dog looks at you, then you say the desired command - and your puppy should carry it out.

If your puppy hasn't had a name from the breeder yet, or you want to give it a new one, there's a simple trick you can use to teach it. Wait for a moment when the puppy won't be distracted by anything else. Now say his name in a rather high and happy tone. As soon as your dog looks at you, immediately praise him enthusiastically. If you do this exercise several times a day, your dog will probably respond appropriately to his name each time. If your dog knows his name, you can start practicing the first commands with him.

Keeping puppies busy: How to properly encourage your dog!

A puppy has moved in with you and you want to take good care of it and give it everything the little explorer needs. In addition to food, places to sleep and education, the question often arises: what games, how often and for how long does the new family member have to play? First of all: Even if your puppy is a bright four-legged friend who would like to play all day long, it is a "baby". And that's supposed to discover the world, but it also needs a lot of rest. In addition, the small dog's body is not made for working out all day long. The joints and bones are sensitive and growing.

Contents

Moving into a new home is enough work

Puppies keep busy after the acclimatization period

Walks: varied and short

Puppies keep busy with play units

First commands to keep the puppy busy

Moving into a new home is enough work

When the puppy comes to you, it will be about two months old. Although he has already learned a lot from his mother animal and siblings, he has to rediscover the world in which he will live for the next ten to 15 years. He has to do a lot for this, because he comes into a completely foreign environment, with unfamiliar smells and unknown things. He has to digest the farewell to his littermates and his mother and, from his point of view, find his way around on his own. This means that when the little dog moves in with you, apart from exploring the new environment and getting to know its roommates, it doesn't need any special activity at first.

How to behave properly – little puppy basics

• Let him go, ignore small missteps, praise him when he does something right, and cuddle him when he allows it.
• Give him security and security and let him arrive calmly.
• Make sure he gets outside regularly to do his business, but don't take him for long walks. In the first few days after moving in, the new environment is already exciting enough for the puppy.
• In addition, the small dog needs regular rest and sleep units. Basically you can say that the puppy should rest around 20 hours a day and only be active for four hours a day.

Puppies keep busy after the acclimatization period

As soon as your animal companion has settled in with you, you can discover the world with him in small steps. Take him into the garden or outside for a few minutes and let him scurry around there. Always keep him safe in his new environment by being calm and composed. In this way, the young dog learns that there is no danger to him on unfamiliar terrain. Every time you go out into the local area, get the puppy used to doing his business outside by giving him praise or a treat afterwards. In the period between the fourth week of life and around the 16th week of life, the puppy is particularly receptive to getting to know new things and making positive connections. For this reason you should first familiarize him with all the things

It is also beneficial if the little youngster has contact with strangers and socially acceptable conspecifics as early as possible. Everything that your dog perceives as positive during this time will remain in its memory as an adult dog. The same applies here: take it slow! For example, take your dog for a short drive one day, and another day a friend is coming to visit with their four-legged friend. You should also get him used to the vet at an early stage, but that is only due to the vaccination appointments.

Walks: varied and short

Puppies occupy themselves with a walk because they want to sniff and explore everything. Take your dog to other places to walk the dog more often, sometimes to a forest path, sometimes to a field and sometimes to the market square. In this way, he quickly learns to find his way around in different environments. However, keep in mind that walks for puppies should be fairly short. As a rule of thumb, you should walk your puppy for around five minutes at a time for every month of life. This means that a 15-minute walk is perfectly sufficient for a twelve-week-old dog. After that, a rest phase is the order of the day so as not to overload the skeleton and muscles of the four-legged friend.

Puppies keep busy with play units

In addition to discovery tours, playing together with you is the greatest pleasure for the puppy. For example, you can start with simple hidden object games by distributing food or treats around the house. You can also try to teach the dog to fetch. Tug and fight games are also good puppy games. However, tugging games are not suitable during teething, as this can lead to a misalignment of the permanent teeth. Basically, these types of play also offer the opportunity to teach the dog boundaries and, for example, to train its biting inhibition. If the dog overdoes it during the game and bites too hard, say "Ow" out loud and stop the game for a moment. So he quickly learns that he has to take a step back if he wants to continue playing.

First commands to keep the puppy busy

Another useful employment opportunity is teaching the first commands such as "sit" or "stay". It's also a good idea to take your little rascal to puppy school once a week. With all the active activities of the puppy, do not forget that cuddling or extensive brushing are also pleasant activities for your four-legged friend. The following also applies when playing: the dog should never be exhausted to the full, but rather experience short play units and then rest periods again. Also, please never overwhelm your puppy.