Mistakes to avoid

2 – Wait until your puppy is older to begin training

 

“He’s too young, we’ll see later.”

No. Learning begins at a very young age.

🐾 When does education begin?

It begins:

• with the mother (social codes, self-control),

• then at the breeder’s,

• and continues from the moment he arrives in his new family.

A puppy is constantly learning, even when you’re not intentionally teaching it anything.

🎯 Why start early?

The first few weeks are crucial:

• He discovers his environment.

• He learns the rules of life,

• He builds his confidence.

The longer you wait, the more bad habits can take root.

To remember

We don’t wait for the puppy to grow up to train it. We guide it from day one.

Education is not a stage: it is a continuous process.

3 – Thinking that education only lasts for a limited time

 

We often hear:
“He’s educated, that’s good.”
or
“He’s too old now.”

Education has neither a fixed start date… nor an end date.

🐾 Why is this idea wrong?

Dogs learn throughout their lives.

Each experience:

• reinforces a behavior,

• modifies another one,

• or creates a new one.

Even unintentionally, you continue to train your dog every day through your reactions and consistency.

🎯 Can an adult dog be trained?

Yes.
At any age.

A puppy learns quickly.
An adult dog learns differently, but it learns.

What changes is not the ability to learn.
It’s sometimes the time required and the habits already ingrained.

To remember

Education is a continuous process.

This is not a period,
this is not an internship,
this is not “over”.

It is a relationship that is built and adjusted throughout the dog’s life.

4 – Should you come as soon as he cries?

 

The answer is no… at least, not systematically.

If you intervene immediately when your puppy cries, it may associate:
“I cry → my owner arrives.”

The goal, however, is for him to understand:
“I am calm → my master returns.”

Learning to be alone is an integral part of training. A puppy must gradually learn to stay alone without stress.

How to proceed?

• Place it in its basket, in a quiet place.

• Leave him some toys.

• Place an item of clothing with your scent inside to reassure him.

• Leave the room for a few minutes.

If he cries, wait.
It’s important that he doesn’t see you come back while he’s vocalizing.

As soon as he calms down, even briefly, you can return to the room. He will then understand that calmness encourages your return.

Be careful though:

It is not about ignoring a puppy in prolonged distress, but about gradually teaching it that solitude is neither dangerous nor permanent.

Patience and consistency are essential. Absences should be short at first, then gradually increased.

7 – Should you let the puppy jump on you when you arrive?

 

The answer is no.

A simple principle in education:
Don’t allow today what you won’t want tomorrow.

A jumping puppy may seem endearing… but a jumping adult dog can become intrusive, or even dangerous, especially with children or the elderly.

🐾 How to react?

If your puppy jumps:

• Don’t look at it.

• Don’t talk to him.

• Don’t touch it.

• Turn slightly to the side or turn your body away.

The goal is not to reinforce the behavior through your attention.

As soon as the puppy puts all four paws on the ground, calmly praise it. You can then:

• speak to him gently,

• caress it,

• or reward him.

He will gradually understand that calmness and having all four paws on the ground attract your attention, not jumping.

🎯 The objective

Your return should remain a pleasant, but controlled, experience.

By remaining consistent and steady, you teach your puppy a simple rule:
attention is obtained through calm behavior.

This is how you build a polite and balanced dog.

9 – Should we pick him up or comfort him as soon as he is scared?

 

The answer is nuanced.

If you react excessively to a minor fright, you risk unintentionally reinforcing the feeling of fear. By immediately picking them up or insistently reassuring them, they may associate the situation with a real danger.

The goal is not to ignore your dog, but to teach him to gradually manage his emotions.

🐾 What the mother naturally does

When a puppy hears an unusual noise, it observes its mother’s reaction.
If she remains calm, the puppy understands that there is no danger and relaxes in turn.

The puppy thus learns to analyze its environment by referring to the adult’s attitude.

🎯 How to react?

Faced with mild fear:

• Stay calm.

• Adopt a relaxed posture.

• Avoid sudden movements and worried voices.

• Continue your activity as normal.

You can then distract him with a game or an enjoyable activity.

Your attitude should convey a simple message:
“Everything is fine, there is no danger.”

Beware of genuine distress

It’s not about leaving a dog in a state of deep panic without support.
In cases of intense fear (violent storm, trauma, truly stressful situation), assistance may be necessary, but always with calm and control.

10 – My puppy is refusing his kibble: should I give him something else?

 

It can happen that a puppy occasionally refuses its kibble, especially if it has recently tasted more palatable foods.

Dans la majorité des cas, il ne s’agit pas d’un caprice grave, mais d’un comportement d’apprentissage : le chiot teste.

🐾 How to react?

• Offer the food bowl at fixed times.

• Leave it for 20 to 30 minutes.

• If the puppy doesn’t eat, remove it without comment.

• Offer it again at the next meal.

A healthy puppy won’t starve itself.
If it skips a meal, it will usually come back to eat at the next one.

Important rules

• Avoid immediately replacing kibble with a more palatable food.

• Don’t give in to the persistent stare.

• Do not share your meal.

It’s not a question of “hierarchy” or challenge, but of consistency.
If the puppy learns that refusing gets him something better, he will repeat that behavior.

⚠️ However, if the refusal persists for several meals, is accompanied by lethargy, diarrhea or vomiting, consult a veterinarian.

A stable diet contributes to the puppy’s well-being.

12 – My dog ​​has done something wrong: I gave him a command and he no longer responds to it.

 

Sometimes a dog stops responding to a command that it previously knew well.

In many cases, this is easily explained:
the dog has associated the command word with a negative experience.

For example :

• You raised your voice,

• You were angry,

• The order was followed by a punishment.

• or the context was stressful.

The dog does not associate the word with “exercise”, but with the emotion experienced at the moment it heard it.

🐾 Why isn’t he responding anymore?

If the word has been repeated with tension or frustration, it can become predictive of something unpleasant.

The dog can then:

• hesitate,

• to slow down,

• avoid,

• or ignore the order completely.

This isn’t stubbornness, nor is it a challenge.
It’s a negative association.

🎯 What to do?

1. Change the command word.
   Use a new, neutral term.

2. Resume learning calmly, as if you were starting from scratch:

   • in a quiet environment,

   • with positive reinforcement,

   • without pressure.

3. Value every success.

Over time, the new word will be associated with a positive experience.

To remember

An order should always remain associated with something clear, consistent, and secure.

If negative emotion takes over, learning is compromised.

Education is based on consistency, patience and calmness… much more than on authority.

13 – Does he know he’s done something wrong?

 

It’s a phrase we hear very often:
“He knows he’s done something wrong, you can see it on his face!”

In reality, dogs do not experience guilt like humans.

When he lowers his ears, avoids eye contact, or adopts a low posture, he is not saying:
“I know I did wrong.”

He said something like:
“Your attitude has changed; I sense tension.”

🐾 What he actually understands

The dog lives in the present moment.

He cannot make the connection between a past mistake and an anger that arises later.

If he caused destruction in your absence, he doesn’t make the connection between:

• your return,

• your anger,

• and the past action.

It simply reacts to your posture, your voice, your energy.

Its signals (averted gaze, low posture, tucked tail) are signals of appeasement, not guilt.

🎯 How to react to a “stupid” act?

• Never scold a dog for an act committed in your absence.

• Clean it up, no comment.

• Look for the cause: boredom, anxiety, lack of exercise, too long an absence?

Education is only effective at the precise moment of the behavior, not several minutes or hours later.

To remember

The dog isn’t trying to provoke you.
He doesn’t plan his mischief.

It acts according to its needs, its level of learning, and its environment.

Understanding this profoundly changes the relationship.

14 – My dog ​​is growling: should I punish him?

 

No. Punishing a growl is a mistake.

Growling is a warning signal.
It’s the dog’s way of saying:
“I’m not comfortable.”

🐾 Why shouldn’t we punish?

If you punish the growling, you remove the signal… but not the emotion.

The dog can then learn to stop warning and go straight to biting.

A dog that growls is a dog that is communicating.

🎯 So what should we do?

• Stay calm.

• Analyze the situation.

• Identify the cause: pain? fear? resource guarding? misunderstanding?

• Work on the underlying problem.

The growl is valuable information.
It should be listened to, not suppressed.