Everybody is excited about having a new puppy to join the family- a new furry friend to bring love and joy- until you find your furniture is chewed, your socks have gone missing and your favourite shoes have been happily eaten. Welcome to reality! So, how can you train your new companion to become a family member you’re proud of?
Your Pet, Your Pill: 101 Inspirational Stories About How Pets Lead You to a Happy, Healthy and Successful Life
DO:
· Start training right away
You must decide what is allowed and what isn’t before your puppy comes home so you can start with basic training from day one. Start by teaching him or her to listen to his/her name and to pee and poop outside.
· Use positive reinforcement
Did your puppy do something well? If so, reward the good behaviour. Positive reinforcement of good behavior can make training much faster and the learning effect lasts longer.
· Be consistent
Dogs need consistency. Once you decide what’s allowed and what isn’t, always stick to this and carry out your commands in the same way.
· Socialise your puppy
A healthy puppy needs to have contact with other dogs and animals and become familiar with all kind of places. The sooner you start, the easier your fur baby will get used to everything unfamiliar, lose his fear and develop self-confidence as well as a deep trust in you.
· Teach your puppy to stay alone
Although maybe you would love to, you can’t be with your new friend all day long. Therefore, it’s a must that your puppy learns to stay alone at home, although ideally for short periods of time. If he/she is a passionate chewer and destroyer, it is better to leave him/her in a closed crate so that he can’t eat anything harmful or your favorite Jimmy Choo shoes.
DON’T:
· Allow him to bite
Right from the start, don’t let your puppy bite your hands or anything else. If he/she does, make a high-pitched shriek that sounds like you’re in a lot of pain. Usually, puppies stop immediately as they get startled by the sound.
· Allow jumping
Although it might look funny when the little puppy jumps up on you, this fun is over once your pup develops into an 80-pound dog. So, stop it right from the beginning and make him sit in front of you.
· Vent your anger on your puppy
If you feel frustrated by the disobedience of your furry friend or from a training lesson that isn’t going at all well, don’t shout at him or her as this will only intimidate your pup and not help the training process at all.
· Hit or punish
Never hit your puppy as punishment as this will make him/her fearful and hand shy. Also, pushing a puppy’s face into his/her poop isn’t the way to teach him/her to become house trained.
· Repeat your commands
Give your command only once and don’t repeat it continually.
Nothing is more relaxing and pleasing than a well-trained dog. Starting from day one is the right thing to do to get a well-mannered companion for life. But don’t’ forget – the training never stops!
Article by Dr Margit Gabriele Muller, leading vet and award winning author of Your Pet, Your Pill: 101 Inspirational Stories About How Pets Lead You to A Happy, Healthy and Successful Life, out now, available on Amazon.
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