5 puppy training tips to teach strong behaviors that last a lifetime
Are you fully training your puppy?
When people decide to start puppy training, they usually start by thinking about which behaviors they can teach. Sit, lie down, stay where you are, walk nicely on a leash, and come when called are all common examples. Folks usually also think about the behaviors they don’t want their puppy to do, like jumping on people, barking in socially less-preferred ways, pulling on the leash, stealing items and not giving them back, or eating things off the ground.
So, what does it take to really train your puppy to consistently do the behaviors you teach them and avoid the behaviors you don’t want them to engage in? Here are a few pieces of strategy to consider.
1. Train behaviors that work
Imagine what you would like your puppy to do in various scenarios throughout the day. Which behaviors would they need to learn how to do in order to achieve these goals? How can your puppy practice those behaviors in useful ways? For example, if you teach your puppy to lie on a mat and relax, can your puppy do that behavior while you’re cooking in the kitchen? If your puppy learns to come to you when called, can they come to you when someone else is distracting them?
2. Practice, practice, practice
Teach new behaviors in easy, low distraction places. Practice daily and reinforce real world opportunities in between practice sessions. Keep your practice sessions short - five minutes at a time is plenty! Set up treat stations throughout your home and bring a treat pouch with you if you bring your puppy out. This way, you can reinforce your puppies correct responses to your cues even when you’re not in a formal practice session so your puppy knows it pays to listen to you even when it doesn’t look like you’re training.
3. Build distractions and duration into your training
Sometimes, after a puppy has learned to respond to a cue such as sit, down, stay, or leave it, people expect the puppy to be able to do the behavior all the time. However, puppies need practice responding to your cues in the face of many kinds of distractions before the behavior becomes consistent. Likewise, if the behavior needs to be done for an extended period of time, you’ll need to increase the time gradually. Increase distractions or duration one at a time. Make a plan for your practice session to set your puppy up for success.
If your puppy is doing well with a new cue without distractions, slowly start adding some. If your puppy starts to struggle, you’ve gone too far. Aim to increase the challenges gradually so your puppy can perform the behavior on cue the majority of the time. When your puppy is doing well with various distractions and duration, try the behavior in a real world environment.
4. Maintenance training for challenges
Schedule reflection time for yourself each week. During your reflection time, write down the things that improved for you and your puppy from the week and the things that challenged you and your puppy from the week. Use that list to plan the coming week’s training sessions. For example, if your puppy had a hard time resisting eating leaves from the ground outside, you can collect some leaves and set up some short training sessions throughout the week to practice your puppy’s Leave It cue with this specific distraction.
5. Training meets maturity
Your puppy can learn all of the behaviors you want to teach, and sometimes they may still continue to struggle despite all of your best efforts and time you’ve put into your training. Remember, in order to consistently perform behaviors that require relaxation or impulse control, your puppy’s brain needs to fully develop. As your puppy goes through adolescence, they may experience distractions differently, and impulse control may be particularly challenging. Like a human teenager, they may know the right thing to do, but they may not yet be able to choose to do it consistently. This can feel frustrating on the human end of the leash - especially if you’ve been diligently training your puppy throughout this time! Don’t worry; it gets better. As your training and your puppy’s maturity come together, you will see the results of all that practice start to show up in wonderful ways that make it all worth it.
