I get asked from time to time, “When is the best time to begin training my new puppy?” My answer is always, “the day you bring your puppy home.” I am not talking about obedience training, although definitely what a great time to begin teaching your puppy that certain behaviors like coming to you when called, sitting, and walking on a loose leash are worth doing over and over and over again (because those behaviors get good stuff to happen).
What I mean by training from day one has more do to with the fact your little puppy is like a learning sponge. Every single interaction you have with it, every choice a puppy makes, every behavior a puppy does teaches it whether or not to repeat and strengthen that behavior – or to extinguish or weaken that behavior.
If a behavior works to get a consequence that is valued, then that behavior’s intensity and frequency is likely to increase. Additionally, classical conditioning is also occurring. What occurs after something affects how that learner feels about what occurs before. Plus sights, sounds, and living beings that your puppy has not had (positive) exposure to at a young age, has the very real potential of an increased risk of being scary later on it life. It is therefore absolutely so important that your puppy have a lot to feel good about in his/her world during those first months of life.
When you bring your puppy home, you have the unique opportunity to begin from day one of giving huge value to the behaviors you want to see more while managing your puppy carefully to prevent practice (and building a reinforcement history) of the behaviors you do not want to see. And remember, a puppy will sleep a lot, but in those hours that it is awake, it has a lot of needs to meet including eating, pottying, chewing, and playing. If you do not give your puppy choices that are acceptable to you for fulfilling those needs, it will absolutely have no problem coming up with its own choices – most of which you will not like.
It is a lot of work. I totally get it. Dawson, my now 14-week-old maltipoo puppy, has been very time consuming this past month but so worth it. He is absolutely precious and I love him to pieces. When he waggles his little body upon seeing me, lays down in my lap or by my side for cuddles, or just looks at me with those expressive dark eyes, I melt. Dawson also came to me with a lot to learn about his world and about how to behave in it – just as every puppy comes into its new home.
These are some of my very first training goals I had with him. I wanted to teach him: that humans are fun; that paying attention to humans (and particularly me) is fun; that a crate is a calming place to rest; that when he hears a clicker or other verbal marker like YES, that it means good things will follow; that settling and enjoying his own company is good; that the choices I want him to make for chewing and exercise are the choices he will mostly like make because I’ve put into place management and a selection of acceptable activities; that his world is safe and fun; that loud noises, cars, and unfamiliar things are ok; that car rides take him to safe and enjoyable places; that touching and grooming him are ok (and can even feel good). I also want him to have positive experiences seeing and interacting with other dogs, and teach him that even around other dogs, that he can pay attention to me.
In the beginning, Dawson backed away sometimes from people he did not know and so I needed to spend extra time teaching him that people of different sizes and color are good to be near. I realized when I took him for a playdate with another little puppy that he didn’t stop play when the other puppy tried to tell him to take a break, and with a big dog, he exhibited initial conflict with a lot of barking/backing up which has meant careful exposure to dogs has also been important. Dawson also grabbed my arm a lot in play with significant bite pressure so I needed to teach him to moderate the strength of his bite (bite inhibition).
And there are so many other lessons that come up daily. Wow, that’s a big list!
Notice that nowhere on this list have I included manners behaviors although in those first few weeks, I did incorporate beginning to teach behaviors, especially calm behaviors, into whatever activities I did – and do – with him. Sitting gets me to come through a gate or give him a treat, for example. His sitting and waiting gets him the opportunity to chase a toy I will throw.
Now, as his success grows, we are building on those behaviors in some more structured ways. Please check back and follow me on social media to follow our journey.
Dawson is absolutely a work in progress…and will be the rest of his life, and our relationship. I am not looking for him to be the most obedient dog there is. I just want to teach him the behaviors that will be important to my lifestyle, my home, and my world. I want him to be happy and confident. I want him to see me as a fun, safe, and consistent teacher, mentor and friend. And, I want him to be able to share all his love and joy for life with as many others as possible. Dawson definitely has a gift for that!
