Puppy training

1 – Stimulate the puppy to be more confident and self-assured.

 

Making noise with your hands and feet, playing music, vacuuming…

Petting him, playing with him, brushing him, running with him…

Take him out, have him meet people…

The puppy continues to explore and learn throughout its life.

With all this stimulation, the puppy learns more about his environment. He gains confidence. It will be much less stressful for them to deal with new situations.

2 – Socialising the puppy means helping him discover the world

a – Mother socialisation

b – Socialisation to all types of dogs

c – Socialisation with other animal species

d – Socialisation to all types of humans

e – Socialisation to society

a – Mother socialisation and then in parallel with the breeder

The socialisation of the puppy begins on the day of its birth with its mother and develops as it acquires sight, then hearing…

The puppy stays with its mother for the first 10 weeks of life. If necessary, he will stay with us until he is 3 months old.

The mother must have a well-balanced character. She will teach him the first codes. If he hears a new noise, and sees that his mother is not paying attention, this will soothe him. He will gradually get used to the new sounds around him. The mother will teach the puppy to control itself. She will correct him if he plays too violently, if he hurts her.

From 3 to 4 weeks of age, the puppy becomes increasingly active and begins to explore the world around him. During this period, all new findings should be positive.

A “world picture” is formed in the puppy based on daily experiences and stimuli that are remembered as positive.

As they grow up, they will be able to draw on this “world picture” throughout their lives and thus better cope with new situations.

It is the breeder’s duty to socialise the puppy.The puppy should explore the inside of the house as well as the outside. It is important to get him used to being stroked, handled, brushed, having his ears, eyes and paws touched and cleaned. The puppy also needs to be socialized to others.

b – Socialisation to all types of dogs

=children, young people, adults, seniors, young and old…

The puppy must learn the rules of dog society.The sooner he learns to communicate in a respectful manner, the better for him and he will not put himself in danger.

After the age of 4 months, the puppy enters the fear phase, and anything new will tend to scare him.

The first 4 months of life, which are focused on curiosity, should therefore be used to introduce them to new situations.

On the other hand, adults will be more tolerant of the puppy until he is 5 months old. Afterwards, the puppy will have to behave or be reprimanded.

At home, the puppy lives with his mother, his brothers and sisters, but also all the other dogs in the house.

Finally, socialisation is not a given. If your dog stops seeing dogs or has bad experiences, he will become desocialised! It will then lose the canine codes and may develop fear or aggression towards other dogs.

c – Socialisation with other animal species

The puppy must crossbreed with other animalswith whom he may live on a daily basis in his family, or whom he may meet on outings, holidays, etc.

At home, puppies are quickly accustomed to cats, birds, horses, sheep, goats and many others.

d – Socialisation to all types of humans

=babies, children, adults, elderly

Contact with children should, of course, be supervised and the child should be told what he or she can and cannot do, to avoid bad experiences for the puppy, which would be a bad memory. These experiences must always be positive for the puppy.

e – Socialisation to society

=in the city, in the country, in the car, in parks, stations, lifts….

When the puppy leaves his first home (that of his mother and the breeder), he will not have seen or heard everything.

You must continue to socialise him by letting him discover your environment, your surroundings…

This should be done gradually so as not to create trauma.

3 -The puppy should only obey his owner.

 

It is therefore important to reduce the number of hugs from strangerson your walks to avoid your puppy getting into the habit of going too far towards others, even following them without your permission.

Learning from others is much more difficult. You are not always in control of your dog because of “others”. Unfortunately, some people come and pet a puppy on their own without asking permission.

In this way, they encourage him to jump on them and get excited. You will then find it more difficult to calm them down.

You must remain vigilant, anticipating the puppy’s reactions.

If he stares at something or someone, say “leave”and fertilise him (add a reward, such as a kibble, at the beginning of the training).

(See the chapter Learning the “leave” )

In the past, not only was coercive training in the majority (the dog had to obey and there was no room for its feelings and individuality), but it was also recognised that a dog had its own way of saying “stop” (the bite).

Most dogs could evolve without being considered as living stuffed animals. Now, the slightest sign of rejection, the smallest grunt is considered a flaw.

Today, the dog is not really allowed to say “no” and it is up to us to do it for him. It is up to us to block the way when children throw themselves at him to touch him, it is up to us to explain, to educate and even more so when adults are involved.

What other learning methods are there? Who created them? What do they teach?

4 – Use what motivates him to educate him: kibble, toys, cuddles, etc.

Teaching your dog to give up something is clearly asking him to stop doing what he is doing, even if it gives him great pleasure, but to offer him something else instead.

So you can ask a dog to stop digging a hole in the garden, to stop chasing a cat, to stop jumping on guests… while offering him something much nicer in return.

“Giving up is winning”.

The indication of “leave” is just as important as a basic indication such as “sit“, “stay“… It allows a return to calm to your puppy who is in a too strong emotional state (be it excitement, fear, aggressiveness…).

5 – Use mealtimes to teach him some exercises (maximum 2 minutes).

Take some kibble and with your puppy start:

learning to sit

learning to be “at the foot”

learning to “lie down”

learning to stay here

Put the bowl down, the puppy stays calm.

Show him his bowl by saying “bon appétit” or “table”. To free him from the exercise.

You use the same word as for the other orders.

An order = a word = an action (an accomplished act)

6 – At each outing, teach him obedience

Repeat the exercises learned at home.

Walk him without a leash (or with a lanyard if you cannot leave him off the leash) in protected areas (park, etc.).

At the age of 2 – 3 months, the puppy follows you everywhere.

The puppy needs to exercise (he will be calmer when he gets home).