Are You Making Any of These Puppy Training Mistakes?

Puppy training is a two-way process, both you and your pup are having a learning experience…although he/she is learning about what you expect of her…what behaviors you want, you’re both learning about each other. It’s a great time for bonding and building that special relationship that you can only have with your dog. That relationship should be built on love, trust, understanding and respect…yes, you need to show respect for your pup just as you expect her to show respect for you.

Keep in mind, that puppy training is not an exact science, because mistakes can and do happen, you will need to show a lot of patience (and maybe even a sense of humor!) Puppies aren’t the only ones who will make the mistakes, their humans can make them as well.

If I could make a list of mistakes for your pup to avoid I would, but since I can’t, here’s a list for you…

Common Puppy Training Mistakes to Avoid:

1. Waiting too long…
   1. It’s never too soon to start training, the sooner the better, in fact the first day your pup arrives home, training should begin. Granted, it should be the gentle stuff like house training, where she will sleep, and when and where she will eat. If you treat her like a guest in the house and not a resident, it won’t be long until bad habits begin to develop.
2. Inconsistent responses…
   1. Being inconsistent will only confuse your dog and she will not understand what you really want. If you are training your dog not to beg for food, don’t make the exception of once in a while giving her a treat from the table. Inconsistency actually re-enforces the behavior you don’t want. Being inconsistent comprises both ignoring the rules and bending the rules.
3. Being impatient…
   1. Keep in mind, that no matter what happens, your dog wants nothing more than to please you, but sometimes she won’t get it right. At that point, you need to keep your cool, reassure your pup with kindness and then try again. If she continues not to “get it”, maybe it’s time for a break and try again another time. This will help keep you both from getting stressed out.
4. Yelling or physical consequences…
   1. Your goal isn’t to make your dog afraid of you, so avoid getting physical or loud vocally. Rather, give treats and physical rewards for proper behavior. Not only will being harsh frighten your dog, but it could hurt her or worse yet, provoke anger and aggression from her.
5. Overdoing a good thing…
   1. Training your dog is a good thing, but when the training period goes on for too long, your pup is likely to get tired and bored which could lead to mistakes. Keep your sessions short, positive and frequent.

One of the smartest things you can do for you and your new pup, is to enroll her in a puppy socializing class, where she will learn many great skills.

Pawsitive Steps Dog Training offers Puppy Charm School, where we focus on socialization, housetraining, bite inhibition, problem prevention and solutions, handling, with beginning “basic obedience” the Pawsitive way and more!

We believe that the most effective method of dog training revolves around teaching your dog what you want them to do, how to behave, how to act in their environment, and what appropriate behaviors are under given circumstances and situations.

Contact me or check out my family friendly classes.