How to Train a Puppy With Good Sounds & Bad Sounds

Sounds can be used effectively to train puppies what to do and what not to do. Dogs associate sounds with upcoming events, as proved by Pavlov's experiments. Whenever he rang a bell, he fed a dog. Eventually, the dog would drool in anticipation of food at the mere sound of a bell. Using sound for training puppies works in a similar way. It is the basis for clicker training, which rewards puppies with a click and then a treat for good behavior. "Bad" sounds are those that serve to distract a puppy, stopping an undesired behavior.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic dog training clicker (optional but recommended)
  • Small bag full of treats cut into thumb tip-size pieces
  • Dog toy
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut treats into pieces about as large as your thumb tip. Appropriate treats can be cheddar cheese, cooked chicken breast, cooked beef or hot dogs. A handful should do for each training session. These treats should only be given during training sessions so they have more value to the puppy. Some puppies fill up quickly, so a brief play session with a favorite toy is a tremendous reward that the puppy will do just about anything for.

    • 2

      Take the treats or toy, clicker and puppy into a small room where there are not many distractions. Here, you will click and within two seconds give a treat. Keep doing this until the puppy is looking expectantly for the treat when you click. This is when the puppy learns to associate the sound of a click with a treat. Some trainers prefer to use their voice rather than a clicker.

    • 3

      Click and treat whenever the puppy does something you want. For example, holding a treat over the puppy's nose usually gets the puppy to sit. When the puppy sits, click and treat. Ignore all other behaviors.

    • 4

      Pick a verbal sound like a high-pitched "Yipe" to make the puppy stop whatever it is doing. When playing with each other, puppies will yip if hurt. This makes the other puppies stop playing. Mimic this sound whenever you want a puppy to stop a certain behavior, like biting your hand. The noise distracts the puppy into stopping. Praise the puppy when it stops.

    • 5

      Repeat the steps every day. Puppies have short attention spans, so doing a few five-minute sessions is better than one hour-long session. As the puppy gets older, you will not have to treat so often. Rewards can be verbal praise, going for a walk or affection. A verbal command can also be substituted for a clicker.