Puppy Training Ideas

Puppies have short attention spans, so it is important to keep training sessions to less than 15 minutes. Avoid raising an aggressive dog by refraining from playing tugging or chasing games. Puppies have to be trained to respond to their name and commands.

  1. Initial Response

    • Designate a safe area to train your puppy by removing small objects that the dog could choke on. Hide any loose cords and keep the house quiet and calm. Keep the kids away. Let your puppy wander off and then try to get its attention by saying "Hey." Once he turns around say "Yes," in an upbeat voice and give him a treat. This will get the dog to start listening to you. Repeat the lesson three times.

    Eye Contact

    • Let your puppy wander off and then say "Hey." Once the dog reacts, hold a treat to the side of your eyes. Once the dog looks at you in the eyes, say "Yes," and give it a treat. Repeat this lesson three times so your puppy starts looking at you in the eyes. It should start making eye contact more frequently and for longer periods of time. The puppy will then start giving you full attention by looking at you in the eyes.

    Name

    • Call your puppy by name. Hold a treat beside your eye and wait for eye contact and then say "Yes." Give the treat to the puppy. Avoid calling the dog's name multiple times because it might start thinking its name is something to ignore. The puppy will get in the habit of responding to its name if you train him to associate his name with a treat. If your dog does not respond to its name, go back to saying "Hey," to get its attention before trying again.

    Locations

    • By changing locations to another room that has been cleared of all mess, your puppy will not just associate its name and eye contact with the one room. End the training sessions by telling your dog in an upbeat voice that it did a good job and give it a good long pet. After training for a few days, replace the treats with a pet and praising words. This will give the puppy positive association without necessarily including treats.