A friend of mine just got an 8-week puppy! I’ve raised two dogs from puppyhood, and helped a dozen other people do the same. Here’s what I’ve learned…
Expect interrupted sleep
Interrupted sleep comes with the territory. I often suggest raising a puppy to people who are considering having a child. It’s good practice.
As with a human baby, a puppy needs whatever it needs right now! Whether that’s to be let out in the middle of the night to pee or just your comfort and attention because your puppy has never slept apart from its litter, expect weeks or months of interrupted sleep.
Torn slippers are your fault
Your puppy peeing in the house or tearing up a slipper is your fault.
A young dog doesn’t know, at first, that the house isn’t somewhere to pee. Similarly, an anxious or a teething dog wants to chew. It is up to you to give it something to chew on.
Like a young human baby, a puppy doesn’t have bladder control. It is important to remember that your puppy isn’t doing something wrong. It is just following its natural proclivities.
It is your job to monitor your puppy, so don’t get angry when your dog makes “mistakes.”
Crate training
If I could teach every new dog owner one skill it would be crate training. The first rule of crate training is never use the crate as punishment. Encourage your dog into the crate. Make it cozy. Make it home.
Think of the crate as the spot the dog returns to when it is tired, wants to rest, wants to be alone. A crate has the additional benefit of being a closed container, so your puppy can’t escape and peer and chew your slippers immediately upon waking.
Training cadence
To raise a young dog, develop a training cadence:
- When your puppy first wakes up, take them out of the crate and outside to potty.
- Offer your puppy some water and food.
- Play with your puppy until it is tired.
- Take your dog outside to potty again.
- Put it back in the crate for a nap.
This will be your cadence for the first few months!
Positive reinforcement
Those metal spiked collars people sometimes use are cruel and hurt. A lot of early animal behavior management was done with dolphins. You can’t force a dolphin to do something it doesn’t want to do. The same is true for puppies (and, I believe, humans).
Train your dog exclusively through positive reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement
For minor issues like peeing on the carpet: your puppy didn’t do it to upset you. Even if you catch it in the act, aggressive scolding is more likely to scare your dog than inform it. Puppies don’t yet know how to control their bladder. Focus on reinforcing the behaviors you do want, and the others will fade naturally.
Reinforcement words
In the 1960s, dolphin trainer Karen Pryor used a clicker to train dolphins at Sea Life Park, Hawaii. This marks behaviors before giving a reward. A reinforcement word works the same way.
Pryor popularized clicker training in her book Don’t Shoot the Dog!, a foundational text in positive reinforcement training.
Pro tip: Don’t use “yes”
Pick a word you don’t use daily to mark desired behavior. Otherwise, your dog may get confused.
Your dog reflects your nervous system
When I’m stressed, my border collie Riley is anxious. When I’m calm, Riley is likely asleep. Dogs are mirrors of their owners’ emotional state. Being aware of your own emotions improves your training.
Know their motivation
Some dogs are food-motivated, some aren’t. Some want petting, others want a job. Understand your dog’s motivation first.
Know your breed’s tendencies
- Labradors want attention, praise, and food.
- Herding dogs need a job.
- Bully breeds want to keep their people safe.
Food is a simple, concrete motivator; praise works too but is less tangible. Plan according to breed tendencies.
Say “Come” only when sure
Don’t misuse “Come.” Only call your dog when you know it will obey. Otherwise, you teach them they can ignore you.
Puppies are rude
Puppies lack the social graces of adult dogs. They want attention, to play, to greet, and frolic. Adult dogs may set boundaries; puppies learn social rules through interactions.
You’re the one who needs to change
We have a belief that dog training is about changing the behavior of your dog. Actually, it’s the opposite. Dog training is an opportunity to get to know yourself, and for you to change so that you can become a good steward of your animal.
Your dog is just being itself. If your puppy pees on the floor, it is because you didn’t take it outside in time. If it chews a shoe, you should have given it more opportunity to chew appropriate toys and shouldn’t have left your dog unattended.
Your dog behaves according to its instincts. You are the one who needs to adopt, and only by doing so will you be able to train your dog.