Dog Training Tips: Learn How to Not Spoil your Puppy

While puppyhood is a stage that requires meeting our puppies’ immediate needs, we must be careful not to spoil them. Puppyhood is very similar to the infancy and toddler stages of parenting a child. The important part about this stage isn’t so much what the puppy learns skill-wise, but rather what he experiences about his environment and his leaders! This is the most impressionable stage in a dog’s life and attitudes about his environment and leaders are imprinted on the brain as it grows. Are you ready to be a good leader and teacher? This stage ranges from two months to roughly five months of age.

Your puppy must learn to be confident with the things in her environment. Socialize her in a positive way every day to different places, textures, objects, people, noises, etc. A good rule of thumb is to take her to at least three different places per week.

Your puppy must learn confidence in herself. The more good direction you give, the more she can succeed. The more she succeeds, the more you can praise her. The more you praise her for accomplished tasks, the more confidence she will gain. Give no less than ten simple tasks per day to have her earn praise and confidence.

At this early stage, your puppy is gathering impressions of how you act as her leader and primary caregiver, but she is also developing a perspective of humans from the examples you set while raising her. How you behave and interact with your dog sets the stage and tone for the rest of the relationship. Keep your behavior positive and trustworthy to gain her confidence.

Help her to investigate things and to accept new objects with good direction and praise. Praise her for following your lead. Expose her to many different objects with a positive outcome each time. Touch the object you wish for her to investigate and praise heartily when she shows interest.

Have her do many small tasks so she can earn praise for each. Doing tasks and earning praise will help her gain confidence in doing new things under your direction. She will also learn to accept new challenges without fear.

Using the crate and other methods to limit your puppy’s freedom will help her develop an acceptance of boundaries. If this is not achieved during her first several months, she’ll have a difficult time developing acceptance of confinement and boundaries later in life.

Your puppy must also learn to be comfortable being alone. Small periods of crating in a quiet room away from the family will help her develop this confidence. Frequent breaks in between crate sessions will help her see that it’s only temporary and it’s not abandonment.

Keeping the proper chew toys available, using proper redirection techniques, and having the appropriate chew toys will teach chewing etiquette. Proper chew toys are described in Section Four.

A proper housebreaking schedule will help her learn the concept of where and when to “potty.” A good schedule will teach your puppy where and when.