A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 4 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 4.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 5.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 6.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 8 Weeks Old.

Early Puppy Training Tips

Dogs are very social creatures. There is a social order established in any dog pack. Dog packs are all about cooperation, reconciliation, and equal time in give and take. Dogs are peace makers within their packs, to hold the cohesiveness of a dog pack together.

Puppies begin their dog pack socialization in their litters, beginning at about the age of 3 weeks old. They stage pretend dog fights, as play. In this play they learn the dominant position of pinning down a littermate, and they take equal turns, lying on their backs, tummy exposed, being pinned down by their litter mates. If a puppy bites to hard, the other puppy will squeal, and squirm away, thus ending play. The squealing puppy, by refusing to play the game any more, is teaching the biting puppy, to not bite so hard (formally called; bite inhabitation). This is the number one reason, leaving your puppy with their litter till the age of 8 weeks is so beneficial. You don't want your puppy biting hard, and you don't want your puppy biting on you.

I don't believe in humans establishing their superior alpha position in a dog pack, but I do believe strongly that us humans must teach, and enforce our unique role of human in a puppies life. Thus, never play this mock fighting game with your puppy. You are not a dog, and it is never okay for a dog to bite a human. If your puppy is insistent on initiating puppy play fights with you, give your puppy something appropriate to chew on (a stick, a toy, a length of rope). In this way, you can transform the puppy play fight into a gentle game of tug with the toy. Remember to give and take. Let the puppy tug, then you tug, then the puppy tugs. It is game of give and take. In this manner, the puppy learns not to bite on you, but to bite on its toys instead. The tug game is a game of cooperation, not who is the ultimate winner.

"The Doggie Greeting Ceremony". Dog always go through a ritualized doggie greeting ceremony. Whether they are greeting a dog who is a stranger to them, or welcoming a member of their own pack back from the hunt, dogs go through a ritualized greeting ceremony, each and every time. They sniff each others noses, and then the sniff each others private parts. Your puppy (and later full grown dog) will always want to greet you after you've been away from them (like when you come home from work, or the grocery store). Expect this, and take the few minutes to partake in the doggie greeting ceremony. Ideally, you want your puppy siting and waiting for you to lavish pats and scratches behind the ears. But knowing that dogs greet other dogs by sniffing their noses first, you might find your puppy, jumping up to try and reach your face, for this ritualized greeting. You can try and squat down getting closer to the dogs level, and allow this face sniffing, but in all practically, this is not the way humans greet each other. To teach your dog not to jump on you in greeting, if the puppy jumps, turn your back on the puppy and look at the sky or ceiling to a count of 20, before returning to try the "dog is sitting, receiving pats and ear scratches". There is no worse punishment for a dog then being ignored, or separated from their pack. In time (depending on how persistent the jumping is) the dog will learn the quickest way to receive the desired pats and ear scratches is to not jump up on you in the first place.

Teaching a Puppy their Name, and Early Lessons in Recall. A fun way to teach your puppy both their name, and recall, or if not recall, to at lest give you their attention when they hear their name called, is to play a game of ping pong with the puppy. This game takes two people. You can sit on opposite sides of the room, each human taking turns calling out the puppies name and encouraging the puppy to come to you. When the puppy comes to the sound of its name, lavish pats and ear scratches, maybe even a treat, and then it's the other humans turn to call the puppy. Thus in a ping pong fashion the puppy goes back and forth, to the sound of its name, between the two humans. You can play this game of ping pong outside also, in increasingly further distances away from one another. Once the puppy has learned their name, another fun game, re enforcing the puppy to come to you when called, is to play a game of hide and seek with the puppy, either indoors or outdoors. Hide and seek can be played with just one human, hiding behind a bush, or hiding in another room, calling out the puppies name. When the puppy finds you, lavish pats and ear scratches, maybe even a treat.

Teaching the game of Fetch. Though Dogs love the game, never play a game of chase with your dog, or you will never be able to teach the game of fetch. Begin by tossing the toy within the puppies range of eyesight (which is about no more then 6 feet at the age of 8 weeks). The puppy will run after the toy. Encourage your puppy to return to you, and willingly give you the toy to throw again. The puppy might not want to relinquish the toy to you, but might want to play "catch me if you can" instead. This is where you never play the game of chase. Instead, turn your back on the puppy and look at the sky or ceiling to a count of 20, before turning to your puppy again, to receive the offered toy. Another misbehavior the puppy might try is to initiate a game a of tug with you. Again, turn your back on the puppy and look at the sky or ceiling to a count of 20,before turning to your puppy again, to receive the offered toy. We use the command "Fetch it" for the dog to run after the toy. We use the command "Bring" to encourage the puppy to bring you the toy. And we use the command "Give" for the puppy to give you the toy. Later, as the puppy gets older, toss the toy further, and further away. Toss the toy into all sorts of cover (brush, trees, etc) so the puppy learns the game in all sorts of situations. The day will come, when your puppy does not see the drop, and has lost the toy. We encourage our dogs to go find the toy, with the command "Find it". It is counter productive to end these games of fetch with you having the toy. The dog will associate you having the dog with end of play, and be reluctant to offer you a turn with the toy. So end the game, with the puppy having the toy.

Very early on, you will be wanting to teach your puppy to "Get Back". "Get Back" from that open door. Don't go dashing off. I am trying to bring the groceries in. "Get Back" out of my way, I am working. This is very easy to teach. Armed with treats, walk directly toward your puppy commanding (in a normal tone of voice) "Get Back". The puppy will back up, because you are walking directly toward the puppy, and the puppy will back up to get out of your way. Treat the puppy for backing up. Practice this 5 times, but practice it everywhere. Practice "Get Back" at all doors, and outdoor gates. Practice "Get Back" in the kitchen, where you might be making dinner. Practice "Get Back" in the garden, where you might be trying to plant flowers.

Leash Training, is more complicated then I care to explain, at the moment. But the way you start leash training is simple. Start with a collar one day. Perhaps the next day, attach the leash, but don't hold on to it. Let the puppy drag the leash around, perhaps even stepping on their own leash, experiencing for the first time, the tug at the collar. But the puppy can't blame you for the tug, because it was the puppy who stepped on their own leash. Next hold the leash, and follow the puppy around, being careful to avoid tugs on the collar. It is okay, for a puppy to carry their leash in their mouth. Many puppies do, but grow out of this. I'll defer to the experts on the remaining steps of teaching the puppy to walk on a leash with you. Each puppy is different. Enroll your puppy and yourself in a "Puppy Kindergarten" class. There you will both learn positive teaching of leash walking, sits, downs, stays, etc. Search in Google "Dog Leash Training" for further tips.

Puppy Socialization. The first 12 weeks of a puppies life, the puppy is open and receptive to new experiences. Try to get your puppy into all situations the puppy might encounter throughout their lives. Avoid frightening experiences, as that fright could imprint for life. Expose your dog to new people, all sorts of people, young and old people, people in uniforms, small groups of people, large groups of people, people in wheelchairs. Find and participate in a "Puppy Play Group" (as long as the experience is positive, if the puppies in the group are way older, the experience could be negative). Take your puppy on escalators, elevators. Take your puppy on walking / bicycle paths where your puppy will be exposed to new dogs, and people riding bicycles. Take your puppy to a skateboard park, to be exposed to skate boards. Take your puppy walking in all sorts of terrain. Puppies particularly like to learn about scrambling up rocky hillsides. Take your puppy for an on leash walk of Main Street. Expose your puppy to street musicians. Take your puppy to meet horses, goats, sheep. Take your puppy to the kiddie playground, to meet children, to play on the playground equipment itself (often with you holding your puppy). Expose your puppy to safe places for swimming, but never force your puppy to swim. They will swim in their own good time. Take your puppy for car rides (it is common for young puppies to get car sick, so make these short rides). Take your puppy through a fast food drive through with you. I hope this gives you some ideas, of the wide variety of new experiences to give your puppy access too. Make a list of new people, places and things to expose your puppy to, and work off the list. Search in Google "Dog Socialization", to learn more about this very important early puppy phase.

How to teach "Stay" to a young puppy. This was so easy, I recommend everyone try this. It takes a bit of persistence, but the effort is well worth the time. I have taught puppies as young as 7 weeks, to "Stay". In addition to the "Stay" command, you need to decide on a release (from "Stay") word. Choose a release word, the dog is not likely to hear in ordinary conversation (to prevent premature or accidental release from "Stay"). I chose the release word "ding-a-ling". Each dog must have their own release word (to prevent release, when another dog is released).

So armed with the command "Stay" and a release word such as "ding-a-ling", and using the puppies usual feeding time (and their bowl full of kibble) proceed to teach the 1st "D" Duration of "Stay" as follows:

With one hand, hold the puppies chest back from the feeding dish, and with the other hand set the food dish down. Command "Stay" holding your hand as if it is a stop sign, in front of the puppies face. At first, what you are looking for is a 1 or 2 second hesitation, before the puppy charges the food dish. When you get that hesitation, give the release word "ding-a-ling" and allow the puppy to eat. If you don't get that split second hesitation, pick the food dish up BEFORE the pup gets rewarded with meal time. Look toward the sky or ceiling and count to 20, before trying again. What this count of 20 does, is make it faster to get the food, by the pup to doing the right thing "Stay". To fail to "Stay" means an even longer wait to get to the food. For a particularly hard headed pup, you may want only a few kibbles in the food dish at a time, so that you can practice this "Stay" several times, in any one given feeding time.

Once the split second hesitation of 1 or 2 seconds is learned, continue the practice of "Duration" of "Stay" by lengthening the "Stay" to 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, etc. Your goal is a 30 second "Stay". Always stand ready to whisk that food dish up and out of the puppies reach, for failing to "Stay" until the release word "ding-a-ling" is given. Always do a count of 20 looking away from the pup, before trying again.

Once the 30 second "Stay" is learned, you can add the 2nd "D" of Distance to the "Stay" command. Command "Stay" using your hand as a stop sign in the puppies face, set the food dish down, and take one step back. 2 steps back. 3 steps back. Etc. Be sure and count out the 1st "D" Duration of "Stay". 20 seconds Duration, coupled with a step or two back in Distance is a good beginning. A 30 second "Stay" with you 10 feet from the dog is the goal.

And then the fun part. Teach your dog to "Stay" even when you are walking a small circle around the dog (their 1st 3rd "D" of Distraction). A dog will be watching you. So as you step back, and then proceed to walk in a circle around the dog, the dog will follow you with their eyes. As you go behind the dog, the dog will be very tempted to get up, and break the stay, when you are directly behind the dog. What you want though, is the dog to switch from watching you, say over their right shoulder, to watching you over their left shoulder. I teach this "walking in a circle" around the dog with dog biscuits. If the dog remains in a "Stay", I end the circle by commanding "ding-a-ling" and rewarding with a dog biscuit. If the dog breaks the "Stay", there is no dog biscuit, and I place the dog in a "Stay" and we try again. I teach this circle trick in the very same spot, until the dog catches on. 3 to 5 successful "Stays" per training session, is about right, attention span wise.

Using the very same spot you trained the circle trick in, the next Distraction you want to add is you being out of view. It doesn't matter how you accomplish this. Ducking behind a tree or door frame will do the trick. Put the dog in a "Stay" and walk out of view. At first this will be very brief, like 2 to 5 seconds. Walk back to the dog, and if they have remained in a "Stay" give them their release word "ding-a-ling" and reward with a dog biscuit. If they prematurely broke their "Stay", place the dog in a "Stay" and try again. You are training for being out of the dogs view for 10 to 20 seconds.

I have mentioned the 3 "D's" of "Duration", "Distance", and "Distraction". In any training session, only change one "D" at a time. As in the previous dialog, I first trained "Duration". I then introduced "Distance". I lastly added "Distraction". You an train any number of "Distractions". I merely outlined the 2 "Distractions" that are fundamental (being behind the dog, or being out of sight). You can go on to train "Distractions" of say; holding a conversation with someone, while 10 feet from the dog. Answering a telephone. Getting a drink of water. Etc.

Just because a dog has learned to hold their "Stay" in one spot, doesn't mean they know this command in any other spot. Dogs are just that way. They don't generalize. So move on to teaching your dog "Stay" in other locations. Other rooms. "Stay" in the back of the car, until I get a leash on you, and release you from your "Stay", with the release word "ding-a-ling", and then you can get out of the car, and we can go for a walk. Even if other dogs are milling around, you "Stay" in that car, until I get a leash on you, and release you with the release word "ding-a-ling".

My dogs surprised me with how well they had learned to "Stay". As young dogs, I had put them in a "Stay" in the family room, and then left the room (out of sight) to go fill up their "Kongs" with peanut butter. When I returned to the family room with their peanut butter "Kongs", much to my surprise, both my dogs had remained in their "Stays", and waited for me to properly release them, with their individual release words, before they eagerly enjoyed their treats. We now do this "out of the room, while I go fill up your peanut butter Kongs" so often --- my 2 dogs are enthusiastic about remaining in their "Stays", as long as it takes, in the hopes that they will get peanut butter.

One last word. One of my dogs had sliced an artery on her foot and was bleeding profusely. I needed her to hold still, so that I could apply pressure to the foot wound. I told her to "Stay" and she did. Much to my amazement, she let me apply bandages and pressure to that bleeding foot. Later, after stitches, and a vet bandage, I needed to put a plastic bootie over the bandage (to keep the wound clean and dry) before we went out for "hurry ups". I told my dog to "Stay" and she let me put this plastic bootie on. She had learned this "Stay" so well, that I also had to use my release word "ding-a-ling" to let her know I was done with the bootie, and we could now go outside.

With daily practice, my guess, is that within 3 months --- you will have done the hard training work, to enjoy the long "Stays" for the rest of your dogs life. I am ever so glad, my dogs learned their "Stay" lessons, and learned them well.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 4 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 4.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 5.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 6.5 Weeks Old.

A Puppy Slide Show of the Puppies At 8 Weeks Old.